(Click on photos to enlarge.) We have done some interesting trips since our retirement. Definitely self-driving through Africa was one, as was our incredible trip to Uruguay, The Malvinas Islands, Patagonia, Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, and Antarctica. Another amazing trip was our river trip up the Amazon. If you want to do this trip prepare yourself for bugs, bugs, bugs, some discomfort due to heat and humidity, and an unforgettable experience!
DEVILS ISLAND
Our Amazon experience started with a visit to Devils Island. The island is part of the Iles du Salut Island group in the Atlantic, located 9 miles off the coast of French Guiana in South America. This island was a infamous penal colony run buy France for over 100 years discharging its last prisoner in 1953. It was in fact one of six prisons run by France in South America during this time frame.
Famous inmates included Alfred Dreyfus who was innocent but imprisoned for treason, and Papillion.
The island still contains the cell block structures, the “insane” asylum, the hospital, and the solitary confinement cells, where prisoners like Papillion were held for years. All can be toured except the asylum, which we toured anyway. (Hey, I wanted to see it!)
This place is truly one of the most forbidding places I have ever been. The temperature and humidity seemed equally in the 100’s. The insects, despite industrial strength DEET applied all your body and hair still tortured us. We learned to slather DEET on ourselves, then cover with mosquito proof clothes and hats, and then spray your clothes, hair and hat with DEET. This helped. The insects that bit my husband on Devils Island caused huge ulcerating sores that lasted for several weeks. Sharks surround the island.
Not exactly a typical tourist destination. Although several people who were yachting around the world were anchored off the island and there is a small restaurant.
We next crossed the area where the contents of the Amazon empty into the Atlantic Ocean, called the Atlantic Confluence. An amazing sight! The fresh water from the river, being lighter, flows up on top of the seawater, diluting the ocean and changing its color over an area up to 250 square miles. This is a big river confronting and beating, for the aforementioned miles, a really big ocean. Remarkable.
See photos: (Hard to get good ones.) The process was so diffuse, lasted so long, and was so frustratingly hard to photograph, because there was no clarifying markers. In the photos you see odd brown water mixing with ocean water. This is something you have to see yourself to fully appreciate.
SANTAREM (Note: the river was seasonally low when we visited. The Houses, ramps, etc., are built to accommodate seasonal changes in the river.)
Our next stop was Santarem, a town 500 miles upriver, near the confluence with the clear water of Rio Tapajos. This was once a thriving rubber port supplying Henry Ford with rubber for car tires. It is the third largest town on the Brazilian Amazonas.
In Santarem we saw “The Meeting of the Waters,” where the blue Tapajos River and the silty Amazon River meet. We went on jungle hikes admist the incredible flora and fauna and saw monkeys, boas, many different types of parrots, sloths, turtles and a huge variety of large and small insects. We visited the incredible Mercado Modelo, which is a large market halfway between Belem and Manaus, selling amazing fish, produce and supplies.
Traveling further upriver we were constantly sighting the elusive pink dolphins which was quite exciting.
BOCA DE VALERIA
Our next stop was Boca De Valeria, home of the Cabacio Indian Settlements. This was an incredible place. We hiked in the jungle with indigenous guides seeing much more flora and fauna. We took a trip up a tributary off the Amazon in a dug out canoe with a native guide and his two-year-old son and visited villages scattered all around. We spent time in the main village and interacted with the very friendly people. We toured their school and donated school supplies we had brought for this purpose.
One does get a very clear sense in the Amazon that one would probably not be able to survive here if lost for several nights. It is a stunning, but sobering place. The people who have adapted to living here permanently are remarkable and impressive. They were also very nice and were welcoming towards us. Once you have been here, your desire to protect and preserve the people, animals and jungle becomes even more intense! It is a amazing place!
PARINTINS
Parintins is an island town halfway from the mouth of the Amazon to Manaus. It has a population of 100,000. In Parintins we toured the interesting floating markets, essentially shops on boats on the river.
We explored downtown and the water front markets, visited the cathedral and most exciting of all took a small riverboat down a tributary for a day, where we fished and caught piranha, observed the incredible homes along the river and watched the spectacular wildlife.
We were mesmerized by the constant flow of water taxis up and down the river. People jump on the boats with the items they came to buy, sling up their hammocks and get ready for the ride up or down the river.
MANAUS
Our final stop was Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas. This is the most populous city in the Amazonas, located 1000 miles from the mouth of the Amazon. It is situated near the confluence of the Rio Negro and Rio Solimoes, the two major rivers that form the Amazon. Manuas is becoming an eco-tourism destination and has some wonderful Eco-resorts which we did not stay at.
In Manaus we explored the city on foot, visited the Teatro Opera House, The Our Lady Immaculate Church and took a tour by riverboat up the Rio Negro to the January Ecological Park where we saw the giant water lily pads, more of the natural flora, fauna and Riberinhos (river house) settlements along the river banks.
This was the end of our Amazon experience. Several people we met were continuing on up the river for more adventure. Highly recommend you add this experience to your bucket list. It is a fascinating other world!
Interestingly The Opera House in Manaus had a plaque on the front of the building, stating that Matt Damon had paid for the building to be restored. It was strange seeing this sign in the middle of the Amazon. I guess he gets around!
We flew to Eleuthera on our way back to the US by puddle jumper. This is an interesting Caribbean Island in that is uncrowded and untouristed. The neighboring Harbor Island receives the bulk of visitors, so Eleuthera gives one a sense of the Caribbean without all the development. Apparently it was once a major tourist destination, but the tourist infrastructure was destroyed by a hurricane and never rebuilt.
We didn’t have room in our luggage for all the shells we collected in Eleuthera!
A trip up The Amazon isn’t for everyone. I am grateful to my husband for going along with me. It was a trip of a lifetime, that we will never forget!
Wow, Cindy, sounds like the trip of a lifetime, indeed! 🙂
Best, Miret
Miret-
It really was amazing!
Still enjoying wandering through your great blog!
i think its neat to see those rustic farm and fishing houses
Ark-
They were incredibly neat! I have lots of them and I love them all. A great series of a young couple building their new home together on the Amazon. They looked so happy! Thanks for noticing!
Funny you should mention Devil’s Island – I was just thinking about the Steve McQueen movie the other night. – Papillion What an adventure you were on. My favourite travel quote is by Maya Anaelou. “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”
Clan-
No worries, I knew who you meant and you should see my typos! Coincidences happen a lot with my blogging these days. I think they are important! Should be contemplated…..
Maya is pretty amazing. Hadn’t heard this quote & it IS wonderful!
I meant May Angelou!!!
Excellent trip Cindy! Thanks for taking us along. I loved the young children with their pet birds, monkeys and sloths. There were another few with children playing on the river banks which were also enjoyable. Thanks again. Wally
Thank you Wally! Yes the children playing in the river and all their pets were remarkable to me.
Still enjoying your daily Adirondack posts! Such wonderful old photos and interesting narrative!
It’s wonderful that you have the photos. Your blog is truly fascinating and thank you for taking us along for the ride. I have nominated you for the Beautiful Blogger Award Cindy. See details at http://countryliving4beginners.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/on-beauty-and-blogging-awards/
Wow! What an incredible experience. You write most reverently about the places you visited and it reminds me of the feelings I have for my time in Vietnam. If you haven’t been there, you might add it to your bucket list. The photos were stunning. Thanks for sharing the adventure.
Lea-
Thank you! Yes Vietnam & Cambodia are on my list. I notice people who visit usually return.
What will you do over TG in France? Cheers & thanks for your kind comments.
Vietnam will always have a place in my heart. I didn’t do the tourist thing but went with a friend who was from there. We stayed with her family, and visited places not open to tourists. TG here, being on my own, it will be another day. I tend to celebrate what is celebrated here and it is all good.
Yes it sounds all good! The travel experience where you go, or meet up with, a local friend are the best. I hope to do this in Japan! Always great chatting with you Lea.
Hi Cindy
sorry I haven’t popped over for a few days, but my valve WordPress interface lost a diode or something.
Never been to South america but have seen rainforest in Sri lanka, and in Malaysia (mangrove swamps in Malaysia too). Bugs bugs bugs bugs sums it up.
The other thing they don’t tell you about rainforests is just how damned noisy they are. Insects chirping and whirring, monkeys barking and howling, frogs croaking and bubbling away, birds clattering through the branches. Very noisy indeed. You need ear defenders
Everybody-
I remember being in the Yucatan as a kid (1972) and being stunned by the insects and snakes. Nothing prepares you for experiencing the Amazon. Yes, the jungle noise is a symphony, but even eerier when it suddenly stops……And then starts up again! What was prowling around to make it stop?
I don’t know what makes things stop, but they do stop very suddenly. Don’t know, prefer not to think, to be frank. Definitely something to run away from, and hope you’re fast enough
Yes. the silence, more ominous than the din!
Cindy, impressive pictures and summary of an amazing trip. Must have been breathtaking hiking in the jungle; wow!
Petit-
It was incredible and quite an adventure. You could literally can go 10 feet and get lost. It is so dense. Gorgeous!
Cindy, this is my favorite of all the trips you’ve taken us on–some of the areas you visited did look rather forbidding, but the wildlife, fauna and people made it worth it, I’m sure! What great pictures!
Becky-
Thank you ‘ma deah!’ It was pretty incredible.
I loved the photos you posted of your town. Such a wonderful slice of life and so unique. Can’t wait for more!
Description and photos were amazing. I would love to visit the Amazon.
Thank you John. Yes. One can look at photos, read about it, but until you are actually on the river, in the jungle for days on end, you cannot get the full appreciation. I hope you go sooner rather than later. It is an incredible and precious place and it will affect you powerfully.
Really like your poetry & blog.
I was station in Honduras. I travel to parts of the South America and most of Central America. I love the tropics.
John-
Yes it is beautiful isn’t it! We are going back to Patagonia and Argentina soon to spend more time. I have spent a lot of time in Central & South America and love it too! All it does is make you want to go back again! Thanks for commenting!
The pictures are great, they allow you to see whaat the Amazon is like. I’m like your husband with the bug bites. I read about or saw a movie about Papillion. This blog was interesting . thank you
Thank you for visiting & commenting MH! Happy TG!
What an amazing journey… and your photos add to the exquisiteness of it all… I don’t like bugs so if I visit the Amazon, I will make sure to cover myself from head to toe in all stuff. 🙂
Eof-
Definitely! The bugs aren’t to be underestimated! Thanks for commenting! Enjoying your blog.
Sounds like a really great experience, except for the mosquitoes.
You’ve got that right! Thanks for visiting.
I’ve noticed you are elaborating some of your older posts. Great! 😀 Fae.
Fae-
Yes because you were one of the few who looked at them!!!! 🙂 Can’t wait to hear about your trip!
Not your average tourist trip was it?! Thanks for sharing it, it looks amazing and I always think that the best part about visiting any foreign country is having the opportunity to understand how people there live by experiencing their way of life even if only for a short amount of time. My only issue about visiting may be the bugs! I’m not a bug person, one of the reasons I had to get out of Greece! 😉
It wasn’t. I think it is the bugs that would kill us if we were lost in the jungle. We are too maladapted to the environment.