Day - 153 Rio Madeira, Manicoré

(Ursula) We left Manaus five days ago and are about halfway to our destination.

Today was cloudy. The Rio Madeira became much narrower, and we could see where the water channel was deeper and where the sandbanks were—the morning passed without anything special.

Wally caught fish yesterday in Manicoré, using pieces of banana as bait. The crew’s cook showed me a unique technique to prepare this type of fish so we would barely notice the little bones. Wally was very pleased with that, of course!

Heinz was taking an afternoon nap. Walo sat in his hammock and read a book. I was showing Ute how to play the Patience game. Her little monkey was nibbling on our journal; he loves paper.

After a rainstorm in the afternoon, the skies cleared up again. Our transport carefully navigated upriver by moonlight and docked late at night at Manicoré. Luckily, there were almost no mosquitoes.

October 2nd
(Ursula) Shortly before noon, we were gliding upriver again. I was glad about the wind because it was hot and humid.

Heinz, Wally, and Peter were shooting movies and taking pictures (or at least pretending) daily and occasionally interacted with the captain and crew members. We must live up to our pretext and give the impression that we were European photographers documenting the Amazon waterways!

I’m preparing the two catfish for lunch that Heinz caught this morning. Catfish taste so much better that we decided not to settle for smaller fish anymore.

Afternoon: relaxing, playing cards, reading, cloth washing. The ship’s crew must have been wondering what there was to wash all the time - I see them daily in the same shorts and t-shirts. Yuck!

For dinner, I prepared something different for a change: an appetizer, then potatoes with Sauerkraut and Frankfurter sausages out of a can.

What a treat!Read more