Thursday October 4th, 2001
We had to anchor Seamaster in eleven metres of water, far further out in the river than we had planned; it’s a changing place and the depths on the charts can’t be relied upon. Our first choice only had 2.5 metres of water instead of the 12 metres expected.
With an
hour to go before sunset we launched the red RIB - motored slowly into the
shore around a mile away - through a narrow entrance with the island of Acara’
Acu to port and a shallow sand bar only 50 metres away to starboard. Lush
undergrowth and large trees met the river on the island shore - with pink
dolphins playing in the narrow channel. We spent some quiet moments just
drifting with the slow current - there was no wind at all.
The
trees soon gave way to water plants and reeds - a hiding place for caimen and
who-knows-what-else. A further mile inside the entrance we came across a large
log floating end-up out of the water - with a dugout canoe tied up to a
drooping vine under some trees nearby. The pink dolphin continued to play
around us, snorting in a very distinctive way - quite different to the clean
“whoosh” of the common dolphin. They are an extraordinary colour - almost like
something out of a cartoon, almost unreal.
The sun
set on the hazy western horizon - the glow sending a golden path straight
across the still waters of the lagoon to us.
Back
onboard the crew tried their hand at fishing, using some meat as bait - but
apart from a few bites had no luck.
It was
a very quiet night with little wind - a few more insects were evident but the
screens on all openings kept most out of the interior.
On
Ollie’s watch in the middle of the night he found a bat hanging just above
Franck‘s hammock - looking down at him. We had passed a cattle farm in the late
afternoon and Marc thought it had probably come from nearby there.
Franck
didn’t have his mosquito net in place - but from now on they will definitely be
on all hammocks at night. Even though there may be few insects at the moment,
the potential problem from the vampire bats is worse. They are known to carry
rabies and leptospirosis. The mosquito nets should keep them away.
We all
take our anti-malarial tablets each day, but there is nothing to take to help
prevent against dengue fever - that will become more and more prevalent the
further we travel up river. The correct grade of insect repellent and the
wearing of long-sleeved shirts and trousers tucked into boots will give the
most protection.
We left
before sun-up this morning; it looks a similar day to yesterday - a wide brown
stretch of water, with the hills and mountains now giving way to low land once
again - a dark green line of jungle with a much brighter green of the grasses
and reeds bordering the river’s edge - and long sandy beaches.
We have
seen a container ship today - heading up river; as well as a number of
passenger boats that call into the small villages at the side of the river; and
a cruise ship from the Bahamas.
Paulo
told us that it costs only 140 reals (about US$55) to travel the 6 days from
Belem to Manaus on one of the local boats - sleeping in your own hammock - or
twice as much for a cabin.
The
Amazon River varies enormously in depth and width - sometimes 20 metres deep
and 4 miles wide - at others 60 metres deep and 2 miles wide. But a HUGE amount
of water flows to the sea via this river - an estimated 160,000 to 200,000
cubic metres per SECOND into the Atlantic Ocean.
This
river is longer than from Berlin to New York.
It is
vast in every respect.
We are
pleased that we are here during the dry season, with a slower flow; what it is
like at the peak of the rainy season must be very different.
There
was not a cloud in the sky this morning - but the blue is a hazy blue - not
crisp and clear like the Southern Ocean.
The sun
rose orange-red - but soon turned to a white-hot disk that quickly activates
the day in this part of the world.
Around
the middle of the day, Ollie mentioned that we were coming level with another
small river entrance that led away parallel to the main river for a number of
miles, past Ilha Gurupatuba and up to the town of Monte Allegre, before
rejoining at a second opening back onto the Amazon.
We
launched the RIB and headed off - planning to meet Seamaster up-river a couple
of hours later.
It was
a very interesting time - motoring past small farms, seeing children playing in
the river, pigs and horses cooling off in the river, and large green and black
iguana lizards that watched us as we sped by, or lazed in the branches of trees
and hardly opened an eye when we stopped to look. The vultures circled overhead
or sat staring from the tops of trees. There were numerous large, snow-white
herons, flashy kingfishers, black Amazon cormorants and one green parrot.
We even
came across an iguana swimming across the river entrance - surrounded by a
number of pink dolphin and the smaller grey dolphin.
The
afternoon has been another hot one - motoring downwind directly into the sun -
but we have anchored early off the entrance of Rio Curua. This entrance also
has many pink dolphin feeding across it.
The
younger members of the crew have put on their boots and are off in the RIB to
look further up-river and possibly ashore. Marc is itching to get into the
water and swim with the dolphin. He says: “if the dolphin are present, the
piranha aren’t.” It’s an interesting theory!!
Ollie
has the hydrophone in the water - and the rest of us are sitting in the shade
in the cockpit listening to the sonic clicks of the dolphin - it’s adds a whole
new dimension to what we are looking at.
The
cruise ship we saw this morning, the Clipper Adventurer, is anchored nearby -
with their passengers away in large black zodiac inflatable dinghies. Their
itinerary means that we may see them again over the next few days.
Don and
Franck have been likened to paparazzi ever since we anchored - endeavouring to get
the definitive shots of the pink dolphin - because they really are so
extraordinary.
7pm:
Our dinghy team is back - having seen large flocks of green parrots. We plan to
return after dark to look for caimen by torchlight. It makes for a different
Saturday night to normal.
That’s
about it from me.
I’m the
hottest I have been all day.
Even
with the fan in the communications room throwing a full blast of air straight
at me, the air remains hot and dry, giving little relief.
A long
shower on the aft deck in the late evening breeze is the only thing that will
help - that and a cold beer in a few minutes time.
Sometimes
it is worth being hot for the luxury of that first icy mouthful.
Until
tomorrow,
All the
best from me and the Seamaster crew.
Peter.