Historical/Background Info:
This small village is on the banks of the Valeria River where it flows into the Amazon. We viewed another “meeting of the waters” where clear water from the Valeria flows into the dirty Amazon. This village is about as primitive as it gets. There are only about 100 Caboclo Indian people living in the village but many more from nearby villages show up when a cruise ship like Regent stops.
We tendered ashore again and was on lookout for pink dolphins which are only found in the Amazon River. Once ashore we were immediately mobbed by kids. The kids know that passengers will be bringing little gifts for them so they mob you. I usually bring the chocolates we get every night on our bed but the ship is now discouraging that due to litter of the wrappers. Many passengers did however. Regent supports the small one room school here so crew members bring ashore boxes of supplies for their little school. It is normal for a boy or girl to “adopt” you. They hold your hand and walk with you all the time you are there. The village has no roads, sidewalks, or anything sanitary. There is the small school, a little church, and a hut to buy a beer or soda. The women were trying to sell us little handicrafts they had made.
What We Did Today:
No excursions here. The local men did have small power boats and would take you for an hour tour up the Valeria River for $5. I joined Eddie and Lyn to go on one of these boats. Pedro was our driver who seemed to understand some of what we said. It was a very pleasant ride up the small river with occasional little crude houses along the banks. After about 20 minutes we stopped at a very small village of sorts. There are not grocery stores or any other stores for that matter. The river boats bring supplies and they are their "stores". We were greeted by Pedro's dog and walked up a small hill to his house. There we met his family and were invited into the house for a tour. No chairs, beds, or furniture of any kind sitting on the floor. Pedro had put a nice tile floor down and the house was really very clean. I could tell he was very proud of it. The walls were even painted. This is not usual here. They had electricity, old tv, satellite for the tv, freezer/frig, small gas stove, and old sewing machine. No chairs or furniture in rooms. They slept on hammocks. No screens or glass on windows. Three little neighbor kids showed up at back door. Very cute!! Pedro's oldest daughter played us a song on her guitar. Eddie did video of it then showed it to the little kids. Big smiles on their faces. Then Eddie gave them each a dollar. At the time I thought that not a good idea. I figured every kid in the village would be there real quick for their dollar. Sure enough but we were boarding boat to head back. I asked Pedro to show us some of the giant lily pads so he took us up a more shallow branch to see some. I reached out to see how thick they were and found the bottom to have lots of thorns. OUCH! Once again I did not see any pink dolphins. BUMMER!
I have lots of photos detailing more of what I did and saw here. It really was a neat day here. Very hot and humid but thankfully it was overcast so I did not fry. Here is the link to my photos:
https://goo.gl/photos/zi9UTUFfsoJmMAXPA
We are sailing again at 3:00 pm so as to arrive in Manaus at 8:00 am tomorrow. We will be spending two days there. Tonight we will be dining with Susanne again. I have asked the chef to prepare fried calamari, a special salad, and veal parmesan for the three of us. Tonight's show features Marshall, the male JAR singer. He is a very talented showman and singer.
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