My neighbor had forgotten her education rather quickly again and had pushed me, had hit me and had woken me up twice on her way to the bathroom. Being awake though I did not miss the arrival in Santarem at midnight, our port for the next 12 hours, leaving the ship allowed. The Amazon Star did not have an agreement with the regular port but with the commercial port. The commercial port was far away from the center, was obviously in a commercial area and did not have much of an infrastructure, still I could see a light and it appeared that something was still open. I decided to go and have a look and really 1 snack bar was still open, only hamburger but that was fine with me, I was hungry. I had to go back to my hammock and to my rude neighbor and I tried to sleep the rest of the night or the first hours of the early morning, sunrise was not too far away.

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.

I had maybe 3 more hours of sleep before the activities on the deck started. All the passengers had access to the schedule of the Amazon Star, the names of the cities, the arrival and the departure times and everybody knew that we had arrived in Santarem and that passengers would have the opportunity to leave the ship and do some shopping. I was tired and wanted to sleep but at the same time I did not want to miss this opportunity either, have a decent breakfast at the snack bar and do some shopping.

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.

A handful of the passengers decided to take a taxi and drive to the center of Santarem, I decided to go back to the snack bar and have breakfast, ham and cheese sandwich and a Coca Cola. Next to the snack bar some other small businesses related to the Amazon Star were open, ticket offices, package delivery service and even some souvenir and art stands. Everybody had time until midday but once finished with breakfast I could do anything else but go back to the ship. The bar was still closed and the deck completely empty, the right time to take 1 of the desks, 1 of the chairs and place them underneath 1 of the electricity plugs and prepare my personal small office to work on the computer.

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.

Punctual at 12:00 hours the Amazon Star left Santarem, we passed the commercial area, the port area, the historical center and yet another impressive “meeting of the rivers”. I went to my desk, stayed all afternoon and worked on the pictures and on the diary. I had a break when we arrived in Monte Alegre, obviously to take some pictures but more to leave the ship quickly and eat a small snack for dinner but everything was back to normal on the Amazon Star and normal meant, I could not leave the ship. I had to decide for the hamburger at the bar again; I had to, but I was hungry. Time for another scenic sunset and nature offered even more tonight, a rainbow in the sky, in between the clouds that were shining golden from the last rays of the sun.

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.

I went back to my office, to my desk, continued to work and then decided to watch 1 of the 3 movies that I had downloaded onto the computer rather than being pushed around in my hammock by my rude neighbor. I wanted to give my neighbor the chance to freely walk in and out passed my hammock and wait for my neighbor to sleep.

I enjoyed watching the film “Lost” with Robert Redford and became really, really tired. I went to my hammock with the same funny feeling like days before about more strange surprises during the next days on board of the Amazon Star.

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.

Please click on map to enlarge!!!

See map and distances / Siehe Karte und Entfernungen / Ver mapa e distâncias / Ver mapa y distancias

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.