Thursday, 24th February 2011
06.00 It seems the whole of the Village are out playing games and jogging out the long pier that stretches about a quarter of a mile into this huge tidal river. Skipper had his early morning swim for some exercise. Ohhh, it is soooo refreshing, and warm as well, and NO crocodiles, actually, there are no mosquitos either, we find this amazing as the river is lined with Mangroves which would normally be crawling with the things, and no seagulls, but plenty of Buzzards floating high up there in the sky. The early morning temperature is also lovely, a nice 24 C.
Skipper would be happy to sit here and soak this up for ever, but the "first mate" has itchy feet and wants to go and visit a town miles away up another tributary, so we got a lift ashore from Dick (Tucanon) and with Moe & Bubbly Bev, we walked up the village to the main square to catch the 10.20 Rattle trap "Onibus" to Cachoeira (Cash-ware-ah). First, we did a tour of the church before getting on the bus.
The journey took 50 minutes, through undulating hills and real authentic villages, very very poor, and the old crocked cars were bobbing along the roads just fine. We crossed a steel one lane bridge in Cachoeira which was also the main railway bridge, and on the east side we got off and wandered around the town, It had lot of interesting buildings, and again here, a lot of money is obviously being spent on renovations, we even managed a visit to the local police Station, thinking it was the " Tourist Office" and had a bit of a giggle with the good looking female officer behind the desk.
Later, we returned to Maragojipe on the bus and wandered back through the village to pier, where Dick picked us up and brought us back to the boat. 30 mins later, we took off in the rib to Voyaguer for drinks and popcorn. This was all very enjoyable, and when we eventually returned to A Lady we hit the scratchers early for a good nights sleep.
That's all for today,
Signed :- Stephen Hyde ( Skipper )