Macapa to Santarem

We finally left Macapa at 7:00 PM yesterday some five hours late. The Captain made up about two hours overnight and we arrived at Santarem about 1:00 PM today. It appears the authorities do everything to make sure we understand they are in charge. Apparently they inspected not only all passports and visas but inspected food service to make sure it met their standards. Exasperating for passengers

I did not notice but Ruth told me this morning the ship was listing from one side to the other, sometimes referred to as port to starboard, ever since we entered the Amazon. This morning the Captain anounced they had to empty all of the ballast tanks before entering the Amazon and then continue flushing them with river water to make sure we were not introducing any new critters to Brazil. As though it would make a difference - they already have perhaps 10,000 critters they have not even identified!!!

This is their dry season - January commences the wet season. Everything, of course, is relative. The river still flows over 3 knots at its widest which overnight was 7 or 8 miles wide. When the river narrows the rate of flow will increase. So far there very few mountains visible - in fact, the largest I saw looked about the heighth of Mt. Miguel in San Diego. The land is actually quite flat and we saw many pastures with cattle and perhaps sheep or goats. It is very difficult to know if the land on both sides of the ship are mainland or islands. Often we would pass what looked like mainland only to see in the distance a barge going by on the far side. Apparently there are multiple passages that smaller vessels can navigate to shorten their transit.

The Captain said he had to trust the onboard pilot as in some areas the pilot was steering the ship, the Captain's charts showed dry land but in fact the channel was 60 feet deep. During some flood the waters had carved out a new channel. Only a local pilot would know of that fact.

It reminded me of when we visited Cecil Robert's family in Kentucky in 1940. One day Cecil took us to see turtles in a lake that once had been the channel of the Mississippi River. In those days during Spring flooding the high waters would take the fastest course to the Gulf and would straighten out the curves on the way, leaving behind areas that was the channel but now had become a lake.

Santarem is nearly impossible to reach overland and is set at the confluence of the lighter brown Rio Amazonias and the darker brown Rio Tapajos. For some distance seaward the waters of the two rivers run side-by-side before mixing. The town is surprisingly large for being so isolate and appears to be the central distribution center for the entire area surrounging it. There is a large grain unloading dock with huge cranes and conveyor belts leading to a large Cargill grain storage facility.

On the morning cruise toward Santarem (pronounced like Santa Claus except Claus=rem), we passed all kinds of small vessels and tugs pushing barges. I took pictures of the various vessels which I will post ASAP.

It was so hot and humid Ruth did not even consider going ashore. I waited in line for a while to do ashore, but decided a 20 minute shuttle ride into town to be greeted by vendors, was not my cup of tea either. Many that went ashore got back on smaller two-decker boats to take another ride around the perimeter of the town. Exciting.

The weather has clouded up this afternoon but we have had no rain yet since entering the Amazon. A lady told me we have had lightning every night but I have not seen it so far.

It has been very interesting to observe all the traffic on the river and surprising to see how flat the countryside is.