What better way to see the Amazon River than by travelling on it.
Brazil - Amazon River – Indigenous People 3
Like many things in my travels, this was something I wasn’t sure I could do until I arrived in the area and did some research. I found out about passenger/cargo boats that made regular trips between Manaus (a big modern city in the middle of Amazonia) and Belém (another big city on the Atlantic coast), and signed up for a 5 day trip leaving the following day.
Day 1
When I arrived at Manaus’ Porto Flutuante boat terminal in the morning I was told I had to bring my own hammock to sleep in on the boat. I hurriedly returned with a newly purchased hammock in 15 minutes, just in time for the scheduled departure at 12 p.m. I was then told the actual departure wasn’t for another hour.
When the boat did leave at 1 p.m., it moved only about 200 m down the river and docked again. The near empty 3 deck vessel soon filled up with new passengers and cargo. People bargained and paid the captain directly and got big discounts by avoiding paying tax and other charges they would have paid had they bought their tickets at the terminal. I then found out the boat wasn’t scheduled to leave till 5 p.m.
The boat finally set sail and soon we came to Encontro das Águas (Meeting of the Waters) where the dark Rio Negro we’d been travelling down on joined up with the muddy Rio Solinões to form one river. It’s a nature’s oddity where the two rivers refusing to mix with each other at once, left a clear line of division visible in the middle of the river for a few kilometres.
Day 2
I have been surprised by the large amount of rubbish in the river: very noticeable even in this huge stretch of water. Pollution was bad especially near big modern cities. It totally shattered the image I had of Amazonia being one of the last frontiers on the planet where primitive indigenous people carved out subsistence.
Day 3
During the 6 hour early morning stop at Santarém, I went to the popular white sand beach at Alter do Chão reached in about 30–40 minutes by car.
Brazil - Amazon River – Santarém - Alter do Chão
The boat was full and everyone slept in hammocks on open deck – except a small number of cabin passengers. The hammocks were packed in so tightly that you often touched the people on either side if you moved a little or the breeze picked up.
Brazil - Amazon River – Manaus - Boat
Every morning we had to untie our hammocks to make space for the 6:30 a.m. breakfast which comprised of simple white bread and coffee. For lunch and dinner we were given rice, spaghetti, meat and salad (for lunch only). All the meals were served in 3 quick sittings due to limited space and the menu stayed the same the entire trip. I was eating for survival and felt like a slave being transported to some distant colony.
Day 4
The slow, routine life on the boat was punctuated by regular stops the boat made along the way, picking up and dropping off cargo and passengers. At each stop locals were waiting to sell us goodies like fruits, nuts, cheese and ice cream.
One of the highlights of the trip came in the form of encounters with the indigenous people. They would spot us coming down the river and row out to us in their small wooden boats from their riverbank houses. Once they were close enough to our boat they would start flapping both their hands up and down in front of them. I first took this peculiar gesture as a form of greeting but soon realised how mistaken I was when people on our boat started throwing overboard plastic bags stuffed with food and other items which the indigenous people rushed to collect before they sank.
Brazil - Amazon River – Indigenous People 1
Brazil - Amazon River – Indigenous People 2
Some Brazilians on my boat explained to me how poor the indigenous people were and needed help. Outside their simple wooden houses on stilts, I could see lots of brightly coloured western clothes hanging on the lines. None of the indigenous people had traditional clothes on. Quite a few houses had a satellite dish and every cluster of houses had a church. Their traditional way of life was being eroded away.
Day 5
The arrival in Belém at the mouth of the Amazon River at around midday marked the end of the trip that broke many of my fantasies about the lifeblood of Amazonia.
RoundPicture 
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.
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.
Sou brasileiro, sou presidente de uma associação que defende a Amazônia, gostaria de contar com seu apoio e ajuda à nossa associação.
Presidente da
ASSOCIAÇÃO CULTURAL NORTE E NORDESTE, Em defesa da vida e do planeta.
Roundpicture… thanks so much for your comments. Very helpful. I was considering a rought trip down from Manaus to Belem. Now I am thinking it over. It seems like you then traveled down the Atlantic NE coast of Brazil. Was that part great? I imagine it was by bus. What were your favorite (small) towns there? Thanks ! Joaquin jdulitzky@yahoo.com
Hi Joaquin,
Yes, I caught buses down the coastal route. Some of the highlights for me would have been: 1. São Luís – I found this ‘smallish’ city quite interesting thanks to its Colonial history and unique Afro-Brazilian culture. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 2. Pity I didn’t get to see The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. 3. Olinda Carnaval was amazing. 4. And Salvador (a big city) is well worth a visit. 5. Don’t miss Lençóis. My pictures really don’t do it justice. Have you heard of any other good places to visit?
Great articlce – thanks! I`ve made 3 trips UP the Amazon from Belem to Mauaus. Please note my emphasis un upstream, rather than down streem. The average sped of the river flow is around 4 knots (about 8 km/hr) which is a good percentage of the average Amazon river boat speed. So when going upstream, the boats tend to hug the shore (and I reallt mean hug) affording a fantastic look into the jungle.
Your comment on the cramped cummunial sleeping spaces is spot on, so it really is worth the outlay to take a cabin at a premium of around us$ 400 for the 5 day trip. The love to call these cabins `suits` because they include a bathroon of sorts with a small wash basin, and a shower over the toilet – YES – you actually sit on the toilet while showering, so I guess multi-tasking can be in order.
I`d sugest you pack lots or reading material, a good pair of binoculars (bird life is fantastic!) and if you are a where-are-we freek, a simple GPS would also entertain. That way you can tell the captain where you are. He relies entirely on a built in homing instinct and at all times knows exactly when you arrive at the next stop, even in the depths of the darkest nights. But he certainly does not have any form of map anywhere on his boat. Nor does he know the boats speed, and will be clueless as to distances.
Entertainet? You make your own. The locals will be friendly enough, and the beer (top deck bar) is served at minus 2 C. A good camera is a must too. And at night the bar area will be pretty noisy, with local Brazilain music at full volume. Enjoy the dancing – but only as an observer, or you are sure to have the Brazilians falling overboard with laughter.
Watching the jungle drift by is like watching washing dry on a rainy day. So if you are an active sort who prefers lots of bustle and activity, this is not a trip to take. But if you simply need to unwind and refresh your sole, then a trip up the Amazon will be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Thanks Peter Wilson. Your comment is the best and most informative I’ve seen on a trip heading upstream!