Live from the Wind - From the Amazon to Africa

[labrasett]

On 4/30/2024 at 9:23 PM, Woodrowst said:

 

 

I do not know why so few are on your cruise.  But I do know that the stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to Manaus - the trip most cruise lines take - is considered the most boring part of the Amazon.  It gets much more interesting as the river narrows and splits into the Amazon and Rio Negro - where the meeting of waters occurs.  You generally need a much smaller boat to go up the rio negro.  I took a 12 passenger boat for a week from Manaus up the rio negro and we got very up close and personal with birds, insects, trees, plants, flowers, fish (piranha fishing), and the indigenous population.  We bought fish from local fisherman who made their catch within hours of using their canoes to come alongside the boat.  We swam in the Rio negro (the piranha get a bad rap and will only attack if they smell blood).  We went out in canoes after dark to see Caiman, snakes, spiders, sleeping birds, the amazing night stars, and other things you can only see at night.

 

I guess what I am saying is that maybe there were few passengers because word gets around that a cruise ship that goes from the Atlantic to Manaus is not the best way to see the Amazon; there are better options.

 

Please understand I am not trying to be mean or belittle your choice of cruise.  I just want those researching Amazon cruises to have this perspective as part of their research.

I too have wondered about the Amazon but rejected it as too hot and steamy and too many insects, then to follow with a trans Atlantic which is pretty devoid of life once you are a good few hundred miles clear of land and finally to end up in West Africa would in total for me be a kind of hell.  Many years ago I worked as cabin crew for an airline with serviced west africa.  I am afraid there is very little there which would attract me back and certainly I wouldnt want to go on an SSC cruise there.   It was interesting to read of the discussion between Fletcher and the young man who was asking why there were so few tourists going to Sierra Leone.  In the late 70s there were a couple of hotels there which did have occasional tourists but there are issues with malarial mosquitoes in Sierra Leone, food which is not entirely to the taste of most tourists and there was general poverty.  Since then there has been a pretty bloody civil war and there is very little positive news which comes out of the area which might encourage even the most curious mind to visit.   Both the Amazon and most of west africa experience similarly high humidity, excessive heat at times and torrential rain, I wouldnt suggest that no one should ever consider travelling to these places but I would advise doing so only after having done very significant research so anyone actually travelling would not be too taken by surprise.

[Woodrowst]

1 hour ago, labrasett said:

I too have wondered about the Amazon but rejected it as too hot and steamy and too many insects,

I can attest that the Amazon is hot and steamy. 90 degrees and 90% humidity in the afternoon.   That is why our small boat took us out in the morning, late evening, and night.  They let us rest onboard in the heat of the day.  It was still hot and muggy when we went out but not being in the direct sun made it manageable.  Wearing hot weather performance fabrics makes a big difference.  As to insects: If you are referring to insects that bother people that is surprisingly not much of an issue if you go up the Rio Negro.  That river has a salinity and ph that bugs don’t like.  In a week on the Rio Negro I did not receive a single mosquito bite.

[labrasett]

14 hours ago, Woodrowst said:

I can attest that the Amazon is hot and steamy. 90 degrees and 90% humidity in the afternoon.   That is why our small boat took us out in the morning, late evening, and night.  They let us rest onboard in the heat of the day.  It was still hot and muggy when we went out but not being in the direct sun made it manageable.  Wearing hot weather performance fabrics makes a big difference.  As to insects: If you are referring to insects that bother people that is surprisingly not much of an issue if you go up the Rio Negro.  That river has a salinity and ph that bugs don’t like.  In a week on the Rio Negro I did not receive a single mosquito bite.

Thank you so much Woodrowst that is really good information as the Amazon has long fascinated me (I think it is tales of Anacondas and big cats, neither of which I actually want to meet close up) which captured my imagination.  My bucket list still has a few places on it and ano dominii is fast catching up plus my husband really doesnt like hot and steamy places so the Amazon may get missed but it certainly looks and [now] sounds like somewhere I could have enjoyed but maybe no on the Wind!!

[Fletcher]

I think if wildlife is a real priority then you might need to find a lodge in the Pantanal for things like jaguars and anteaters.  Also, a cruise on something like the Delfin in the upper Amazon or a lodge in Peru or Ecuador.  I found this friendly anaconda in the grounds of Sasha Lodge a few years ago.

[labrasett]

19 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

I think if wildlife is a real priority then you might need to find a lodge in the Pantanal for things like jaguars and anteaters.  Also, a cruise on something like the Delfin in the upper Amazon or a lodge in Peru or Ecuador.  I found this friendly anaconda in the grounds of Sasha Lodge a few years ago.

He's certainly long though not as fat/round as I would expect but sadly I have little chance of getting down to the Amazon although I am very glad for the recommendations should there become an unexpected opportunity to do so.

[whogo]

We went with the lodge in Peru route a number of years ago. Howler monkeys, caimans, pirana and hoatzin were our fauna sightings, no anteaters, jaguars or snakes. There were lots of muddy trails and huge insects. We saw little but green river banks from small boats on the tributaries.

 

Cruising on the Amazon does not appeal to me. Pink dolphin sightings are the best thing cruise reviews mention. Visits to small villages seem intrusive. I hope those villagers have monetized the visits to the point where they can walk a few miles to their real homes with air conditioning and satellite TV.

 

 

[drron29]

A cruise up the Amazon can be interesting but if you really want to experience wildlife up close you need to stay at a jungle lodge. In 2008 we stayed at the Napo Lodge in Ecuador. Yes it was hot and yes I perspire excessively but it was well worth it. I couldn't post pictures back in 2008 but here are a couple of paragraphs from that stay.

 

"Day 3 and another 5am wake up call.The group has decided on the 5 hour hike through the jungle.As always it starts with a canoe trip to the trail head.Along the way we see Golden Tamarin monkeys.A short way into the endurance trip(drron has a ****y knee),we see 2 groups of 4 blue and yellow macaws-magnificent.Thanks to our native guide we get close up to 3 different groups of spider monkeys-1 group feeding and 2 traversing the jungle-a privilege indeed.soon however drron is doubting the wisdom of this pursuit.Several times he has to put in the hard yards to catch the peloton.Although the ups and downs are minor hillocks they are starting to feel like the Pyrenees.Just over 2 hours and my shirt is totally soaked.3 hours and so are my pants.By now I start to realise that i have only been going through the foothills of the pyrenees.Now these little rises are really like mountains.We have a rest and are refreshed by Ecuadorian passionfruit.another hour and drron calls for another break.Now I can empty the sweat out of my wellies-our native guide has never seen anything like it."

 

"Another day in the jungle,another 5am wake up call!Off to the viewing tower in the middle of the jungle-38M up in a kapok tree.The others are really keen and soon we see macaws,toucans,capucin monkeys etc.Poor old drron though is rather fragile today and after an hour I requisition the one seat up in the tree and retire to the shade.
Now drron has this peculiar belief-he can talk to the birds.Sitting by myself i start imitating the various bird calls.Over the next 2 hours at least 25 different species come and sit on the branch near drron including 2 rare sightings and 1 species that is not supposed to be here.The highlight though is a little flycatcher who decides to catch a cicada half his size.Bangs it around a bit then flips it head first and swallows it whole-sits on the branch for the next 45 minutes-now this I can relate to!
On the way back we pass million of army ants and leaf cutting ants.Then a nest of marching wasps-everyone makes a loud noise and from the nest is the unmistakable sound of a thousand marching feet.
Lunch again is a very nice fish dish.Late afternoon a canoe ride around the afternoon and down a small creek.One of our dutch police spots something-the canoe stops and drron finds his head is about a foot from the head of a 4M Anaconda-its body the size of my thigh.Snakes are not my thing but fortunately it takes fright first,backs up then slithers off quickly into the water in front of the canoe.
After this we head off to see the night monkeys-nocturnal feeders-we are in luck and see them depart their daytime hiding place close up"

[Fletcher]

All my Amazon/Brazil photos are now available on Flickr -

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Wonderful photos.  You have a great eye for composition.  What camera did you use?

[Fletcher]

5 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Wonderful photos.  You have a great eye for composition.  What camera did you use?

Thanks Gourmet Gal.  Most were taken with a big heavy DSLR, a Canon EOS 6D,  Also, a Leica 7 D-Lux which is a brilliant compact when discretion is called for.  I decided this trip would be my last carrying a lot of heavy kit around and I was inspired by a passenger on our Silver Cloud trip last year who had traded in his heavy kit for a Leica Q2.  I have just followed him and bought a Leica Q3.  It's fantastic.   

[Lirio]

12 hours ago, Fletcher said:

All my Amazon/Brazil photos are now available on Flickr -

 

Great pictures!

[Lirio]

On 6/6/2024 at 7:05 AM, labrasett said:

Thank you so much Woodrowst that is really good information as the Amazon has long fascinated me (I think it is tales of Anacondas and big cats, neither of which I actually want to meet close up) which captured my imagination.  My bucket list still has a few places on it and ano dominii is fast catching up plus my husband really doesnt like hot and steamy places so the Amazon may get missed but it certainly looks and [now] sounds like somewhere I could have enjoyed but maybe no on the Wind!!

If one wants to see impressive fauna in Brazil, Amazon is not the right place. It is very very rare to spot then. It is much better to go to the Brazilian savanna area (called Cerrado) where Brazilian wolf and jaguar can be spotted. But Brazilian wolves are smaller than similar in the north hemisphere. Jaguars are impressive. Another place to spot fauna is Pantanal area. Cerrado and Pantanal are very distant to the shore, which means it is necessary 4-5 days to visit. But it is not compared to Africa. Below are pictures I took from internet, it is not my photos.

 

 

 

 

 

[labrasett]

Thank you so much Lirio, animals are very much my "thing" but age and resultant decrepitude are somewhat a limitating factor in my ability to get right into the places to see them!