Amazon

Travelling by boat is a bit like travelling in a dream state; you´re half-awake and half-asleep for the entire time you´re aboard. The heat of the day and the lack of places to go make lazy naps in the hammock inevitable, and with the boat stopping periodically through the night and turning all the lights on, or someone bumping you with the rock of the boat or on their way to the bathroom, a full night´s sleep is unheard of. There´s usually a child crying and always the dull rumble of the boat´s engine as it slowly chugs downriver. Breakfast is served just after sunrise and consists of bread, margarine and sugar-loaded coffee that even the smallest children drink. Lunch and dinner consists of white rice, noodles, soupy beans and miscellaneous meat. Salvation arrives at every stop though (unless you prepared and brought fruit and snacks along) and children usually, but sometimes adults, come aboard to sell any number of things for eating and drinking.
While the bottom two decks are for hammocks, the top is always for a lounge. LOUD music is always played until 11pm and usually its the same two discs over and over and over again. In Brazil, most people without children start drinking beer shortly after breakfast and keep it up all day and I say the crew of one of our fancier boats tying and unruly drunk to his hammock. And damn that was funny. The drinkers play cards and dominoes, but most of the other people just pass the time idly chatting or sitting there. There are few people reading or doing miscellaneous hobbies. Most people just sit in a trance, drifting off from time to time, until the meal bell rings.
Its amazing how fast you can get used to all this though. It becomes kind of relaxing after a while. We get a lot of work done, a lot of reading and writing, and there´s even time and space for juggling if the boat is big enough not to rock too much or we´re stopped at a port to unload for a while. There´s always a beautiful sunset, always a beautiful sunrised, and at night, you can always see lightning somewhere in the distance. The most brilliant display was right behind us one night, I was on the back of the boat with a friend watching bolt after bolt strike the river a few hundred meters behind us, then listening to the thunder crack overhead and slowly grumble and rumble along the water for a seemingly impossible amount of time. Truly impressive.
But that´s river travel in a nutshell and here´s a brief synopsis of the stops:
Leticia, Colombia: Old friends encountered; lazy cool nights; an impromptu motorcycle and scooter parade to celebrate a soccer victory; Colombian coffee and cheesy corn bread; all the taxis are motorcycles; my Brazilian visa cost $150!!!! my right arm at this point; our room was cheap and basically just a wooden box.
Manaus, Brazil: Fancy boat (same crowded crowd and crappy food); new friend named Renán, a Brazilian who spent time in the States on a soccer scholarship, and spoke great American English usually about Waking Life; big sprawling city; Sunday market and good sales (and better trades for delicious bread and cookies); dirty beach with warm, dark water; a place where the black water of the Rio Negro meets the brown Amazon and the waters don´t mix for miles; escape from Babylonia.
Santarém, Brazil: Smaller, homier boat trip; slowly learning Portugues; smaller, homier city; long river walk; nice artesans; yet another party for yet another virgin.
Alter do Chão, Brazil: Beautiful, white sandy beaches; old hippies; Argentine jugglers; hammocks in abandoned huts and restarants on the beach - a free place to stay; rowing to ¨The Beach¨; a small jungle community and lots and lots of animals: Paradise?