Manaus, Brazil

Had a very calm journey across the Atlantic to Brazil. About 200 miles from the Amazon river delta the sea turned brown, which are the waters flowing from the Amazon. At 7.30am the ship dropped anchor in the river to await immigration clearance. This was slightly delayed but then we set off cruising up the river towards Manaus, approx 800 miles upstream. The river is immense. It is really awe inspiring. Very wide, deep and fast flowing. It is the wet season here so the Amazon has overflowed its banks, making it appear even more vast. There is a constant stream of floating vegetation, tree trunks and branches. We arrived in Manaus at 3pm this afternoon and disembarked to walk around the city and particularly the Opera House. It is hot and humid. The following day we took a tour to see the meeting of the waters between the Rio Negro river, which is black because of the high content of tannin in the water and the Amazon, which is brown. These waters do not merge for several miles. We then took a boat tour around Lake January to see the birds but we also spotted two small alligators and a pink dolphin as well as a family of monkeys.Read more