I woke up by the noise of the people using the bathroom and the screams of the small children playing and it was Christmas. Not only that I did not feel Christmas within myself, the whole boat, the crew and the passengers did not feel Christmas and this would not change during the whole day. Most of the carriers and the passengers were indigenous and may not have the tradition; still they were all Christian and familiar with the religion. At the same time there were a good number of children on board and you might have expected some small signs of Christmas, but nothing.
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Families stayed together all the time and formed groups with other families in case they were from the same country, the same village or neighborhood. Quickly you had an understanding of who was from Peru or Colombia and who was from the different villages in Brazil. Then you had a girl from Austria, a boy from Italy and another from Japan and finally me, the gringo from Germany. You pretty much get to know all the decks, the cabins, the command and the bathrooms of the boat within an hour and all the crew members and passengers in another hour.
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Rio Amazonas 2 Rio Amazonas 3 Rio Amazonas 4
Rio Amazonas 5 Rio Amazonas 6 Rio Amazonas 7
The Voyager V would make eight stops of one hour to twelve hours length in small indigenous communities and small towns along the way. The drive on the Amazon River was slow and smooth with pretty much the same views all the way and all day, trees, bushes and grass, trees bushes and grass, trees, bushes and grass.
The boat passed small fisher boats and small speed boats, midsize cargo or passenger boats, big transport boats and an endless number of trees and bushes, individual homes, small communities and small villages, children taking a bath, women washing clothes and whole families and villages just watching us passing by.
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The night had been warm and I did not need cover, now at midday I preferred to stay in the shade, the sun was intense and dangerous, the air was hot and humid. Breakfast was every morning between 06:00 hours and 07:00 hours, lunch between 11:00 hours and 12:00 and dinner between 17:00 hours and 18:00 hours.
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Rio Amazonas 10 Rio Amazonas 11
I had missed breakfast this morning and was hungry and one of the first to be in line for lunch, salad, rice and pasta, feijao and chicken. The kitchen and the eating hall with a desk for thirty people were on the lower deck at the end of the boat and above the noisy engine room. It was good education after your meal if you clean your plate and bring it back to the staff in the kitchen.
The first change to the routine on board was the arrival of rain, tropical rain pouring down and hitting the hammocks to the corners of the passenger deck. The crew closed the boat with plastic covers to all sides and it became dark, even darker than the dark grey that the clouds had already brought with them. It was time to take a rest; all the people including the children took a rest and enjoy the fresh air, the drop in temperature and the sound of the rain hitting the plastic cover and the roof.
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The rain passed, the day passed and dinner was served, rice and pasta, feijao and chicken. After dinner and for the next two to three hours all passengers had to use the bathroom and prepare themselves and the children for hammock. The television showed telenovela, the news and then again telenovela and all the mothers and daughters, sisters and aunties, grandmas and girlfriends were watching. It was just a different culture, just a different culture. I bought a Christmas gift to myself, not only one but two hamburgers from the snack bar.
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I never told you how
How much you mean to me
What in the world I would do
I just never made it through to you
Ooh, to you
There goes a day, there goes a week
So many goals I had to reach
The more I did, the less I cared
The more I miss the love you shared
If life is a song, somehow it`s sad
I don`t know the words without you dad
You`ve been on my mind all the time
And I’m missing you
Home used to be just some walls that I knew
But the truth is that home means nothing without you
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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 Picasa album. At the top left of this Picasa album you will find the button for a Slideshow.
Please click on map to enlarge!!!
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