Up the Rio Negro: Manaus to Barcelos

Photos of the 30 hour passenger boat trip up the Rio Negro from Manaus to Barcelos:

Houses on stilts, ready for rising water levels, near the Sao Raimundo passenger boat port.

Boats on a polluted creek, seen from a bridge.

Genesis III (the boat I was about to take) and the pontoon café/ convenience store.

The other boat heading upstream- bigger, busier and with blaring Forró music.

Nylon cord and foodstuffs, essential for a long boat trip.

Departure.

Sun sets as we pass under a huge bridge being built over the Negro.

The upper sleeping deck.

View from my hammock.

The following morning, close to a river bank.

The speedboat used to take people ashore to villages along the way.

On-board entertainment.

View from the kitchen.

Looking out.

A fishing boat heading upstream- one of only three boats we passed in 30 hours.

Captain.

Amazon state flag on the prow of the boat.

Sleeping, the most popular way to pass the time on board.

Looking down.

One of a handful of villages passed in this thinly inhabited part of the Amazon.

Manioc, the staple food of the Amazon.

View from the stern.

Lucas, who took a shining to my camera.

Antoniwe writing his name on my netbook, with Lucas looking on.

Serene river.

A pair of macaws way up high.

Juma forest walk and river dolphins

Watch this space for upcoming video clips.

Juma reserve

A three hour trip south of Manaus (by taxi, river boat, VW combi and motorised river canoe!) is the Juma reserve, where there is a small eco-tourism lodge on the river. Here are some photos:

The port to cross the Amazon river.

My travel companions: a good group of young outdoorsy and well-travelled Americans (from the Semester on the Sea program), an Australian and an Italian:

Meeting of waters of the black Rio Negro (originating in Colombia and Venezuela) and the muddy Rio Solimoes (originating in the Andes). The rivers don't mix for many kilometers downstream of their meeting point due to the different density of each.

Looking across the Solimoes to a peninsula, on the other side of which is the Negro, just as wide.

Arriving in Careiros port on the south bank.

Along a narrow river, bordered by farmsteads, and with floating houses tied to the banks (as the waters rise 12 metres from the low point in the dry season, the houses are tied progressively higher up).

Locals on motorised canoes- ranging in size from a bath-tub to a 20-seater.

Our lodge on the water, with a dormitory under a mango tree, at the top of the hill.

Jumping in the water after lunch. Piranhas apparently have enough to eat and don't go for you (unless you're bleeding). 

Afternoon boat trip to see birdlife, river dolphins and the forest.

Jacana.

Mahogany.

Telegraph tree.

Hawk.

Catching piranha.

Sunset.

The guide explaining to us about the ecology and body parts of the caiman alligator. This one was two years old.