Our time at Mamirauá has fairly flown by and Christi and I are down to our last short hike to a lily pond. Off the water and away from the lodge, wildlife photography is very challenging because the jungle canopy is so damn dense and the animals have such good camouflage. Of course it’s during this last and shortest hike when we finally see a 3-toed sloth. I get one shot off before he lazily merges back into the canopy again and is lost forever. Challenges with photography aside, the opportunity to spend even a few days in such a pristine part of the Amazon rainforest has been a rare and wonderful experience.
Christi and I have chosen to return to Manaus by boat, a regular working boat rather than a dedicated cruise ship, but nevertheless this will be our version of an Amazon River cruise. It’s a 36-hour journey, which will be long enough to get a taste for life on the river, but not long enough to get bored. We could have undertaken longer trips from Belem or Porto Velho to Manaus, but the journey from Tefé to Manaus fits into our schedule just perfectly.
Having said that we are disappointed to leave Mamiraua. We pack reluctantly, say goodbye to Eduardo and Pedro, and then take the speedboat back along the maze of waterways to Tefé. From there we are transferred to the docks and our ride, the MV Monte Sinai II. Our cabin (we are of course going first class, which is a step up from hammock class, although those among you who vacation on cruise liners would be horrified by the conditions and limited amenities). Our cabin is on deck 3 (no times wasted on fancy deck names here in the Amazon!) in the bow; officially, we are ‘suite 8′.
The boat does not depart until 6 pm giving us 6 hours to kill. And being delicate foreigners we’re advised to buy provisions from the local grocery store since the boat food may be inedible. We scramble to purchase water, tinned meats, bread, crackers and Pringles. Return to the harbor to find our boat… gone, taking our backpacks with it. Not again, surely? Have we learned nothing since that far off day on the Ecuador-Peru border where our bus disappeared in a cloud of dust with our packs in the hold? Frantic questions to anyone who can understand us reveals that the boat has not left Tefé, but has simply moved out into the river to allow another boat to dock. Relax brother, the locals say, Monte will return soon. We smile unconvincingly and wait nervously until Monte does indeed return (yay!) and when it does we board quickly and don’t leave again.
From the safety of the boat, we watch the frenetic pace of human endeavor as rippling muscles unload endless cases of beer, soft drinks, and just about everything else Tefé needs to survive (there being no road links). As this is the dry season, trucks drive through soft sand to the docked boats, but get continually stuck and have to be dug out. Finally, at 6.45 pm , the horn sounds and we slip silently out into the lazy waters of the Amazon River. Our first major stop will be Coari at some point during the night. But for now, the sun is setting and Christi and I do finally begin to relax. Life on the Amazon River is magical.
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching, laugh-wrenching ride.
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