Up the Amazon

We bought a ticket to take a large river boat up the Amazon river for 6.5 days from Manaus to Tabatinga. The boat was very large, it could fit up to 400 people if I remember correctly. The river being the main highway in the amazon was used for transportation of most of their goods. On the lower level of the boat was anything you could want- massive amounts of soda and beer, mattresses, plastic chairs even a pickup truck. At times the boat would stop for 5 or 6 hours to unload what seemed to be an infinite amount of supplies.

Riding this large boat up the center of such a wide river didn't prove to be the jungle experience that you expect when you hear 'amazon'. However, we did sleep in hammocks every night and shower with river water. On a couple of lucky occasions we saw river dolphins, some of which were pink!

There wasn't a lot more happening on the boat besides the occasional stop and unload. We ate the same rice, beans, spagetti and meat for every meal. I got pretty sick for 2 days, which wasn't made any easier with the frequently disgustingly dirty bathrooms. Other than that I was able to read a lot and lay in a hammock.