BELEM - SANTAREM (2 days, 3 nights by boat)

No words can express the grander, majesty or sheer size and wonder that is the Amazon river, nor will any experience ever come close to that of rocking to sleep in a hammock alongside 200 people on a boat.  People literally strung within inches of each other, staggered hammocks from floor to ceiling, bow to stern, a chaotic mess of limbs and string and colour. 
The noises and smells were overwhelming at first - a sensory overload, however, they became backdrop within the first 24 hours, and tangled rocking sleep soothing and peaceful.
We left Belem on Tuesday night and rolled down the Amazon in torrential rain and pyrotechnic lightening. It took a few goes to master the art of clambering in and out of a hammock without breaking a limb or standing on the person below. 
The scenery encountered on the trip was utterly amazing - never could I have imagined the variations in landscape, the houses on poles literally meters away from the boat as we sailed down tributaries...people living waterbound in the jungle will never cease to amaze me! From narrow tributaries to endless river where we couldnt see either side, dense jungle to flat marshland and swamp, cliffs and mountains to flat nothing...sky meeting river meeting jungle...for the first time in my life I was truly awe struck by the majesty that is nature.
I think the two most mind blowing sights for me were the hundreds (literally) of children (tiny children) rowing solo or in pairs up river and chasing the wake of the boat in an attempt to clamber on board to beg or sell Coconuts and bags of shrimps. Nimble toddler pirates...utterly breathtaking and nerve wracking to watch these tiny children brave the wake of our huge boat and with lightening speed lash onto the side of the boat and shimmy up to clamber on board all the while carrying bags of food to sell...(I manged to capture it all on film and got chatting - in my very broken Portugese - to the kids. They left me moved, inspired and filled with a new found sense of thrill and joy and appreciation for the way they live).
The further upriver we went, the more índigenous´the people became, I can quite honestly say, the people I saw are the most beautiful I have ever seen, and the more incredible the way they survive in such a watery environment.  Farm life (pigs, donkeys, buffalo and cows) literally up to their necks in water munching on what I can only describe as Amazonian grass, satellite dishes dangling precariously on thatched rooves all perched on poles, canoes tied afront and thick impenetrable jungle directly behind them...I stared in amazement (and shamelessly took hundreds of photos) as we sailed past. 
The last night onboard was the first without rain so we lay up deck watching the stars rocking lazily...nothing compared to such an experience - Realising the scope and infinity of the night sky, and our tiny selves afloat the huge river had me speechless and awestruck - I am indeed blessed to have experienced something so magical and so great.

We will spend the next few days in Santarem exploring, going on a jungle tour, going to a couple of river side villages, visiting the wondrous Altar Du Chao (Carribbean of the Amazon) and sailing up tributaries into more dense jungle to see untouched Amazonian Wildlife.

Love to you all!
PS at this stage uploading photos is proving to be difficult and we have over 3000 now so I will do my best to get some up asap.
xxx

FAREWELL BELEM ...

Its hard to believe we have already been here four days but it is time to farewell another wonderful city and begin the next stage of the adventure...sailing up the Amazon river!
Hammocks are hung, bags are packed, supplies (including Machetes) are replenished and mossie repellant liberally doused...
We will spend three nights sailing from Belem to Santarem where we will disembark and begin a four day jungle exploration! I am tingling with excitement and a healthy dose of apprehension.  The boat is a monster of a thing but very basic and will no doubt yield no sleep, plenty MORE smells to tantalise and smash the senses and a mixture of people to keep us entertained.
The thought of lazily swinging in a hammock whilst keeping eyes keenly peeled for Bull Sharks, Pihrannahs (sp) and Monkeys (no real hope of seeing these whilst sailing) has kept me awake all night (child the night before Christmas-esque) ...
I wont be online until we dock in Santarem but will let you all know we are safe and sound on arrival!
CANT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING WOOOOPPPP
xxx
<3 to you all
BRING ON THE JUNGLE YAYYYYY

Rendered Speechless

I looked you in the eye and saw
Naked and real
Unashamed humanity and soul
It moved me
Rocked me to my core
A spirit transcending
Hopelessness to live empassioned
I am humbled

So overwhelmed i am brought to my knees
You fill my senses
Surging real compassion thru the need
A sensory overload
Inspired and overwhelmed
Whilst heartbreaking
Such breathtaking beauty
Such mind blowing misery

I am rendered speechless
In the presence of raw human spirit

Bla Bla

Quick rant...WE  are still in BELEM! the port city at the mouth of the Amazon...a chaotic, hustling town that, as I~ve found in every place so far, the passion, intensity and raw humanity that seems to pervade this nation.
Standing on the banks of the Amazon was breath taking...and last night we went to a reggae gig ON A BOAT in the river...mental! Belem is another mixture of new, old, poor and ridiculously wealthy...commerce runs with markets on its door step, beggars litter pavements walked by business men with cell phones...I will never adapt to the poverty or the smells!

I am still adapting to travel and the lessons that go with it. Lessons hang on every experience, and for all the awe and joy and elation, there is also the frustrations and homesickness that from time to time pop up...I think even the most seasoned travellers feel the same sometimes.

Realising how selfish, impatient, intolerant and reliant I am on creature comforts, that the only constant is change, and that the very things we use at home to measure life and importance, matter not on a global scale.  The facade that is wealth and success counts for nothing...I never realised how lucky, blessed and smugly content we are at home - I am confronted daily with human suffering, yet the fearless raw energy of human determination, and the joy and vibrancy that pervades, what I would have (until now) seen as being hopeless situations.  The judgemental frameworks that are so ingrained in coming from a rich country have become so glaringly obvious to me that I am now determined to immerse myself further here to really learn the places from a soul point of view...
I am re-contacting the people re volunteer work in Colombia and Peru cos I~m feeling like I~m stagnating here, I dont want to travel just to see stuff, I wanna have purpose and serve, not just take as a tourist. The arrogance of tourists astounds me here, and I am NOT going to be the same.  It is hard to know what to do - I buy food for the homeless children but I know that there is such a greater need here that I cant begin to fathom...
I am moved daily and have been mesmerised by the resolute faith of people in this country.  I have been spiritually brought to my knees witnessing the grace, compassion and love people have here...despite the danger, the crime and the poverty, there is something that underpins it all and it is the human spirit, and to look it in the eye has moved me to tears here...

ANYWAY we are leaving tomorrow to go down river to Santarem so I am not sure when I will be online again...I miss you all and love you xxx

Belem - The Mouth of the Amazon

OLA!
We made it - survived a 36 hour bus ride with nasty locals, blaring music and toilet overflows to Belem! Standing on the bank of the Amazon river today was the most amazing experience! I was leaping out of my skin with excitment and awe...it is mind blowing how huge it is.
Belem is all hustle and bustle - ruin amidst the sky rises and hotels, street hawkers, men carrying baskets of shrimps, live poultry in cages on the road side waiting to be someone~s lunch, and the smells that no words can describe - people, salt, electric air, waste.
Beggars are everywhere, on the doorway of the main church here all praying for a donation, and SUV~s drive mercilessly round narrow streets air con wound up and tinted windows - oblivious.
I am so moved, so excited, and again, so aware of the level of need in this massive country.  I am still sad that I haven~t had a chance to help yet I am excited to be moving on to a place where I can do some good (I hope!) - my purpose has yet to be fulfilled on this trip.
We will spend 4 days here then boat (2 days and 3 nights) to Santarem - a jungle village - for two or three days. 
Just so you all know we are safe and sound! The adventure continues, and perhaps the biggest one of my life is about to begin!

<3 you all x