A taste of Paradise

Once in Santarem we headed straight to Alter do Chao, which is this small paradise in the middle of the Amazon. A well deserved break after our ordeal getting here.

A peninsula of sand divides the river to form a lake on the right hand side. the peninsula itself is maybe a 15 minute swim from the village but we always got the canoes, which get u there in a couple of minutes, dry. We did swim though, once on the peninsula, which is spotted with palm huts where we had a couple of beers and enjoyed sunset on the Amazon river and then the moon rise on the lake. Breathtaking.... seriously!!

Apart from the striking beauty of the penisula, Alter do Chao itself is a very pleasant village to chill out. The only annoyance is the hippies with beggar traits, who try and sell you their artesan everywhere and all the bloody time. But kebabs sold on the street made up for that on my part. We also stayed at a family run hostel named Hostel Oriental, which family turned out to be the excellent hosts, even inviting us to a family bithday party. Birthday party interrupted by rain and later and amazing thunder storm so close the electricity went out like 50 times.

On the last day here we had a game of beach soccer on the peninsula, Julian and I versus German dude and Vince, Maltese side obviously winning. I could have stayed here for weeks but unfortunately, travelling means making decisions and moving on all the bloody time. So off we went to another 3 day boat ride... yippieeee

I do have to admit that the boat ride from Santarem to Manaus was a million times better than the previous one. We managed to sleep much better, boat was much smaller and we had the top deck this time. Plus it cost us a third of the price. I was also introduced to a spiced up version of what we call draughts, Dama. The guy teaching me did insist he was the champion after every single game I lost and when finally i got to the point of beating him, well let`s just say he didn`t take it very well and we never found the game the next morning...hehehe Music was the same loud cheesy shit, but we did see dolphins, pink ones too which some brasilians claim to seduce thier lovely young women into the river and then make love to them !! Can´t blaim the poor dolphins, trust me...