Comments on: The Amazon River, Brazil

By: Luis Augusto Mendes de Farias

Luis Augusto Mendes de Farias — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:50:24 +0000

Presidente da
ASSOCIAÇÃO CULTURAL NORTE E NORDESTE, Em defesa da vida e do planeta.

By: Luis Augusto Mendes de Farias

Luis Augusto Mendes de Farias — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:48:50 +0000

Sou brasileiro, sou presidente de uma associação que defende a Amazônia, gostaria de contar com seu apoio e ajuda à nossa associação.

By: RoundPicture

RoundPicture — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:14:15 +0000

Hi Marty. Apologies for the late reply.
1. Is it worth it? I would say it would be better to include this trip as a part of your whole Amazon experience combined with other activities instead of it being the main reason for going to Amazon.
2. The cost shouldn’t worry most tourists. The best way to get cheap tickets is directly from the boat as you’re boarding when the boat docks again very closeby after leaving the official terminal, like most locals do. It’s described in my post. Ask locals (not the terminal people) when and where to find the boats. But for you (despite your ruggedness), if you want to guarantee that you have a cabin to sleep/rest in instead of hammocks, you might not want to take this approach. 5 days indeed is a long time if you can’t lie down to rest from early morning till evening. And don’t expect much (if any) privacy without a cabin. You could go to the terminal first to see how many cabins are still available before taking the calculated risk.
3. There are different boats leaving on different dates but from what I’ve seen and heard they are pretty similar.
4. It won’t be a trip to hell. Expect a lot of downtime (take a good book), no wildlife, and be open to the experience of basic 5-day communal living on the crowded boat and the lives along one of the longest rivers in the world.
I’m glad to see you taking the initiative on this trip, not your adult children. It kind of reminds me of what travelling should be like. Please do ask again if you have any more questions.

By: Marty

Marty — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:43:03 +0000

I was told the trip from Manaus to Belem, while rustic, was still worth the trip. Now I read that the sleeping in hammocks or bunks is not only not desireable, may be pretty hard to take. We are rugged individuals, but of retirement age. Five days is a long time. Is it worth it and by the way, what is the cost and where is best to buy your tickets, directly before boarding the boat? Do various boats leave on differing days and is one boat better than another? We wish to take our adult children on this but don’t want them to remember this as a trip to hell.