I woke up on this grey and rainy morning when the ship hit the riverbank of the fourth indigenous community. It was very early and the kitchen was still serving breakfast. I wanted to know and taste what kind of breakfast the ship offered to the passengers; 2 soft bread with nothing and a cup of hot Avena; not really exciting. The meals on the ship seemed to be a copy of a Peruvian prison meal; the procedure how the meals were rationed and handed out seemed to be a copy from Peruvian prison procedures.
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A curiosity at this indigenous community was that a small stream with black water entered the Amazon River and created a small ‘meeting of the rivers’. I had just enough time to take a picture of this natural phenomenon and off the ship went again to the next indigenous community. I went to my hammock and waited for one of the few plugs to become available only to realize that the plugs were without electricity. I asked the cleaner and he explained to me that the ship would only turn on the electricity as from 17:00 hours but then throughout the whole night and turn off the electricity again with the beginning of the new day.
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I had nothing to do except to explore the ship, take a picture here and there and wait for the next stop. Just before lunch we arrived at the indigenous community ‘Nova Jayatai’ and I decided to join some of the Gringos and leave the ship quickly, take some pictures and buy a drink. I bought my drink, walked slowly to the end of the community and slowly back to the ship. No signal from the ship announcing departure but visible activities of the crew pointed to departure and so I rushed to the ship.
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The ship had just left the riverbank and only with an extreme effort, a strong and long jump I managed to reach the ship and managed to hold on; someone gave me a hand and pulled me up which just by me was impossible; I had nothing to crab or hold on to and my feet were in the air just above the river. 2 Gringos did not make it and I could see their faces fading away. I took the last picture of them and also the first when the fast boat appeared at the horizon to deliver them back.
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A real curiosity on the ship was the presence of a mother with her 3 children from a particular indigenous tribe; they were different form the other indigenous, they had very special aura, even to the indigenous passenger who pointed the family out to me. I could have looked at them for the next 3 hours but I decided to rest during the afternoon and wait for the clock to run down and turn to 17:00 hours. Electricity went back on and rice, feijao and chicken was served at the same time; I actually wanted to start working immediately but the sunset did not allow me to, the sky turned from yellowish to orange to light red to red to dark red to purple. The clouds played their own game with the changing colors and I could have looked at them for the next 3 hours but the disappearing sun stole the light and the yellow, the orange, the red and the purple.
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I worked for 4 hours and started to think about my friend the car and the way back to Natal after I would have picked him up in Boa Vista. The only way to drive out of the Amazon is from Manaus to Porto Velho or from Santarem to Tocantins. With a normal car both options are impossible during the rainy season; you need a strong 4 x 4 to make it. I will probably have to take another ship from Manaus to Belem and I will probably have to pay a lot of money for the ticket and the transport but I had no alternative, I had to go back to organize my documents and credit cards, see my baby Matilda and think about the continuation of my project Rio 2016.
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For a small understanding of the days travel, I have included a Google Earth map. The red pins mark the locations I have stopped and taken pictures. At the bottom of the page you will find a link for all the pictures I have taken. The link will open in a Google+ Album.
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See map and distances / Siehe Karte und Entfernungen / Ver mapa e distâncias / Ver mapa y distancias
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