The 
Amazonia exists of almost 7 million square kilometres. Hard to grasp. It covers more than eight countries. The Amazon river is the longest in the world being more than six thousand kilometres long. What I wasn’t aware of is that the river has several different names. Here I am thinking I am travelling along the Amazon, but it is called Solimoes. It isn’t until after Manaus that the river becomes the Amazon!! There you go, learning something new every day! Since then I learned that that this name changes only here in Brasilia! For English speakers the whole rivers is called the Amazon! Phew! So glad to hear this!! Which WHY it is the longest river in the world, which is disputed by Egypt, which thinks it is the Nile!
On my last day in Leticia, I got up very early in the morning. I needed to find a cable for the camera, as it is no longer recharging. It is either the cable or the battery! Also I wanted to watch the comings and goings at the market. I wanted to visit the a Ethnological museum, which is housed in the library, it is free and opens at 8.30 am. It was an amazing museum.
I took lots of photos, but barely any notes, which I regret now! There are many different tribes in the Amazonian region. One of the tribes locks young girls away from the community when she first menstruates. While locked away, she learns all about being a woman. After a few months, all her hair gets plucked out, strand by strand until she is completely bald. Then covered in feathers, bald and painted she is welcomed back as a woman into the tribe. The party can last for days or weeks. What a way to celebrate becoming a woman!
There were dress up clothes as well, which I understood to be for funerals. Although the museum was extensive, the translation into English was rather thin. Three boards of extensive Spanish writing was translated into one paragraph. The Spanish made the assumption that all indigenous peoples were cannibals. So they tortured, slaughtered and dismissed the First Nation people.
At seven o’clock in the morning, I caught a taxi to Porto Voyager, Tabatinga in Brasil. This sounds like an enormous trip, but it is literally ten minutes. Tabatinga and Leticia run into each other. The check in had started, except it was for the FAST boat! Now this was interesting as Solange had told me that there was NO fast boat to Manaus, only to Iquitos! May be I should say, I understood that she said that! What I understand and what is said is often NOT the same thing!
Anyway, waiting is what I had to do. Since I am an extremely patient person, this is not an issue. I made friends with Laureano, from Buenos Aires. Also with a young couple, Camila and Alan, also from Argentina. This was suggested by the Lonely Planet and also re enforced by the travel agent, so that you have people looking out for you and your belongings. Since I make friends easily it was not an important issue.
Finally it was our turn to go and check with the police on site. Photos were taken, passports checked, and back in line to do some more waiting. It wasn’t very busy as most people came after nine o’ clock. The boat was leaving at twelve midday. After more luggage checks, dog patrolling the luggage in search of drugs, I presume, we could climb on board. I followed Laureano, as he seemed to know what he was doing. We claimed a spot on the top floor.
The middle deck was soon chokker block full, while the top deck was spacious and bare. I was also meant to find out where the engines were, so you could go as far away from them as possible. This was all too much to think of as I was to busy organising my Letician’ hammock, I bought at the market for twelve dollars and stuff. I had a problem. I had seen an old man selling white cords at the dock, not realising what they were and what they were for! Well, it is simple really, if you want to sleep in an hammock strung up on high ceiling hooks, you need to put an extension on both sides of the hammock. This is if you want to be comfortable!!
I was fortune enough that Brasilian Max had a spare cord which he lend me! Okay, now I was lump sided! I went back down to see if I could get back off to find the old man selling the cords. This proved not possible. It occurred to me after a while that I had picked up some bits of rope somewhere along the way, as I was planning to send a parcel home. Was it going to be strong enough? Luckily, Alan, who is extremely tall, helped me out there. I can’t reach the hooks! So here I was all roped up, hanging and ready to go. I was very, very exited.
and Janika from Germany. Thank god, I can speak English for awhile! Dinner was called early, didn’t look to appetising. Some sloppy soupy type meal, with big blobs of fat and meat floating in it. I fished for beans and potatoes, ignoring all the rest. I had not eaten lunch, so I was hungry. Mind you if all the meals are like this, I might start my fasting now!
Since I didn’t sleep at all the night before, I turned into the hammock early. I slept surprisingly well, waking up at three for a toilet break and some star gazing! The night sky is just amazing! I didn’t expect the river to be so enormous! I mean, I have sailed on the Nile, kayaked down the Zambezi river, I have seen lots of rivers in my time, but never anything this enormously HUGE! I wish the boat would switch off the lights at night so the sky would even be more impressive! It is all encompassing, infinite, beyond enormous, intensely black, stars galore, it is overwhelmingly stunning.
It is amazing how fast the days past. We made five stops on the way, each time more people getting on board! By now the top deck is getting cramped too! An old lady strung up her hammock, nearly into mine! I became aware that as a person living in Australia, I have an enormous sense of personal space, which Europeans, nor Brasilians seem to have! In the end I just moved my luggage, tossed her luggage from underneath my hammock, under her own hammock, and moved one end of the hammock onto a different hook. At least I no longer have her feet or her face in my face!
The second day we had an enormous storm, which didn’t affect the stability of the boat, like it would have on an open sea! We just needed to move all our luggage, to keep it dry!
One of the nicest things is that at meal time, elderly people have priority! So the long queue can be passed! When the kitchen woman came to drag me out of the long, long lunch queue, I thought I had done something wrong! But no, it was because I was an ” abuela” grandmother!! Well, I don’t mind pulling the age card once in awhile! About time old age brings about something positive! The lunch was much nicer, choices are rice, spaghetti and bread! Well, there goes Keto!! I just LOVE spaghetti and now I am getting it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
The sunsets were just stunning! So we’re the sunrises! It pays to be an early bird! There are showers on board, for some reason on the upper deck we had less toilets for women than below. So up early, shower, cold, brush your teeth and having my coffee before anybody else is awake!! After five stops I tried to count the hammocks to see how many people would be on board. I asked the lovely kichen staff several times. I understood six hundred, but didn’t think this could be right! I counted, roughly, two hundred and forty hammocks, add the children who shared with the parents, and it came to about three hundred I reckon! Don’t quote me on this!!
One of the Brasilian women told me I was NOT on the Amazon, which shattered me completely!! But Sinnaed looked on google maps and there it was mentioned that it was indeed THE AMAZON! It wasn’t until I googled information about this mighty river, that I found out that it goes by a different name in Brasil! Also in Peru! So there you go, in English the whole long, over six thousand kilometre river, is called the Amazon!
After four wonderfully relaxed, gadget free, wifi free, days we finally arrived in Manaus! Only four hours slower then anticipated!! Next adventure to start after I have a solid sleep in a BED!
The trip to Leticia was fast and easy. I slept all the way! If only I could do this on the long haul flights! The taxi took me to my hostel. I had a four bunk dormitory all for myself. Not bad for twelve dollars! I dropped all my gear, showered and changed and went for a walk. The first thing I saw was the travel agency across the road! I went in to inquire about the boat to Manaus, Brasil. I forgot that I had decided not to do a tour here, I booked and paid for a two day tour. So bank, buying water, long sleeved top that isn’t a thermal one! Most important of all, anti mosquito spray! Bought one with DEET! I had bought TWO aerogard tropical strength, but used them up on the Galápagos and in Tayrona.
My original plan was to leave on Saturday, but it seemed to much of a rush! Couldn’t possibly deal with leaving so fast. Okay, next boat is on Tuesday. Hm! Losing important days here. I had worked out that if I have more than fifteen days left over I WILL go to Suriname! Even for two weeks it is worth it, I reckon! Anyway, the tour was booked, get on with it. Do other travellers have this problem? I work everything out on paper and then there is this inner child that just takes over. I suppose it is because it really doesn’t matter one way or another.
Leticia is in the south east corner of Colombia. It is isolated. The nearest highway is over eight hundred kilometres away. It is splendid in its isolation. Motor bikes fill the streets, as do tuk tuks. There are nightclubs everywhere and I saw a few casinos too. Leticia is right on the border of Brasil and Peru. Hard to believe that just an hour away you can be in the middle of the Amazonian jungle!
In the end, I got fed up, no longer polite, and I firmly told him he could go now. I did notice that at ten o’clock in the morning the man was already smelling of alcohol. As I wandered more, I was offered drugs, thank you dreadlocks, by a very drunken local person. I declined. The bars were already full. Sunday morning ten o’clock. I had seen enough, was tired after my full on two days away and decided to go back to the hostel and work in my diary. I am very far behind.
I did buy my boat ticket. At sunset time I wandered back to the harbour, the day was winding down. The drunks are now laying all over the streets. Not a pleasant sight.
People watching is my favourite pastime, and watching the comings and goings at a small harbour is interesting. Found a wonderful restaurant, had a zucchini boat filled with vegetables, delicious, and as it was Happy Hour, ordered two zombies! Delicious! One more day in Colombia. It is hard to leave!!
On my last day in Colombia I got up very early to watch the sunrise. Saw thousands of birds, parrots, making a racket in the Central Park. I was in awe! Never seen so many birds in one place! Today was a day of boring stuff such as migration, getting a stamp from the Colombians. Then onwards to Brasil getting an entry stamp from a very unfriendly Federal police man! My last meal was fried piranha !! All set and ready to go!!