Day: March 25, 2012

Quite a ride for the final quarter of the boat journey home. We seemed to stop and start a lot until the captain finally pulled into the side of the river for a few hours. Once we started up again we definitely hit the roughest waves. Instead of the gentle sway our hammocks were being thrown from side to side. Several of us had support poles next to us and were slamming into them repeatedly. I figured out a way to wrap my toes around one to stop from rocking – it worked but not before my left calf had taken a battering. As night turned into morning, most of us were up and drinking our first coffee around 5:30 am. The scenery kept getting a little more industrial the closer to Manaus we got.

Continue reading “Back in civilization (and wifi!)”

Because the boat was moving all through the night, as with the outward bound journey, I couldn’t hear Mark ‘the Olympic gold medalist for snoring’ for the constant hum of the engine, consequently, a good nights sleep! It appears that however noisy – a constant noise works a treat. I woke around 5:30am and after a quick wash grabbed a coffee and sat and relaxed on the deck, watching the rainforest go by. As we were fighting a very strong current, it made sense to hug the riverbank rather than going in the center where it was strongest. This meant that we were almost touching the scenery on left and later right hand side of the boat. After breakfast the day became one of spotting animals and birds waving at the gradually increasing population and generally grabbing some sun.

Continue reading “Amazon river journey. Day six (the long boat ride home)”

So, our last day at the Vila Nova. Despite the discomforts, the visit to these wonderful people has been far too short. After the morning routine we split up so that the majority of the team went to the village center to give some more classes and play more games, while the rest headed to the church construction site. I took my camera and went with the latter in the smaller boat with the intention of walking through the village later to the main group, photographing the scenery as I wandered around.

As we approached the construction all the workers were sitting around, the roof was all up and the guys from the US were late for work… as usual! We weren’t a complete waste of time though because we had brought a big pot of pasta, juice and granola bars – gratefully accepted by all. It looked like the building had come to a standstill. They cut and finished all the wood for the building straight from the rainforest (not Lowes!) and so far hadn’t got around to the flooring. So other than raking the earth and bringing up some pews from the existing church hut, ready for this afternoons dedication, there was nothing more we could do. Before I headed over to see what the rest of the team was up to back in the village hall I gave chief Joao my set of heavy duty work gloves (oh yes, I know who to side with, just in case?)

Continue reading “Amazon river journey. Day five (final day in village)”