Jay’s Internet Log

Early this morning, Pacific Princess will arrive at the port of Santarem, and following the completion of our arrival checks, we will make a sharp turn to starboard and out of the main river flow and manoeuvre alongside our designated berth for the day. In the evening, when all passengers and crew have returned to the ship, we will secure the ship for sea and slip our mooring lines. Once the ship is clear of the berth, we will turn to port and retrace our steps back up the Amazon River to Boca da Valeria.

Today we were in Santarem, Para. The city looks bigger than Parintins, but we never made it into town as it was far away from the pier. We took a river boat tour, which took us to a meeting of the waters, where the black water of the inlet meets the brown water of Amazon River. They mix like water and oil and both flow together. The river boat then took us down a narrow passageway where we saw lots of birds, cows, horses, and indigenous people. They live in little huts on stilts and the kids run up and down the banks waving at us. The boat stopped for us to see a sloth, but it was really hard to spot. Once we got to the end of the small river, we stopped and fished for Pirhana. Our boat only caught a few small catfish, but we could see the Pirhana nibbling at our lines. They kept stealing Heather’s bait off her hook. We both got a little too much sun on this tour, and once we got back to the ship, we shopped at a few small stands on the pier. The dinner menu didn’t look all that appetizing, so we decided to eat up in the Sterling Steakhouse. I had a tenderloin steak and rack of lamb, both of which were amazing. After dinner, instead of writing this up and seeing a show, we both fell asleep for about 10 hours.