Status: Anchored
Conditions: V Warm and humid
AirTemp: 36 deg C
WaterTemp: 33 deg C
Wind: Calm
SeaState: Glassy
Visibility: V Good
Wednesday October 31st, 2001
A night under the mosquito net in my hammock - in the remains of what once was the old tavern - now overgrown and crumbling away.
Around 12 to 15 cm across.
By the time of my early morning wander, it I had to get up around 2am to adjust the height of the hammock - it seemed to be rather too close to the ground for comfort - and while I was up wandering around with my torch, I checked on the tarantula that we had seen nearby just before going to bed.
I have never seen a tarantula in the wild before - but there was no mistaking this one - quite beautiful in its own way - with a furry body and long chocolate coloured legs with narrow orange stripes. My guess was that it was had retreated back into its hole - just the legs showing.
I couldn’t see the scorpion that had been there before, either.
My first night in a hammock - to be spent here in the Amazon one night before full moon - in the old ruins - was an absolute treat.
Did I sleep much - no - but my book “Head-hunters of the Amazon” certainly helped keep my eyes open.
The sounds of the night were quite different to what I am used to - and made up for the tiredness today. Frogs started around moon-up - soon after our dinner of steak and rice cooked over an open fire under the trees.
They continued until around 3am - there was a pause of an hour or two - then the cicadas drowned out all silence with ease. The flights of extremely noisy parrots around 6.30 made sure we were all awake.
The coffee was excellent.
As for the comfort of my hammock: it was ok - but took a little getting used to. My pillow kept flipping out and bypassing the mosquito net on its way to the tiled floor - to land amongst the insects of unknown origin.
I found my feet hard up against the mosquito netting - and decided to wrap them in the sheet and lightweight blanket in case a vampire bat took a liking to them.
The torch worked well - but when I fell asleep it seemed to easily find its way under my rear end - along with my book - and uncomfortable knots of blanket and sheet.
But it didn’t rain, the moon was magnificent (I watched it intermittently for most of the night) and the tarantula spider in all its glory kept its distance.
I enjoyed the experience immensely.
As did the rest of the Jungle Team.
And while there were a few weetbix and warm reconstituted powdered milk for breakfast, I was happy to wait for the fresh papaya with limes, and freshly squeezed juices onboard Seamaster later in the morning.
Dr Mark Orams (alias Clutch) joined us in Manaus from New Zealand.
He raced with me around the world on Steinlager 2 when we won the Whitbread race.
He was a key member of Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup.
But most importantly, he is a world authority on dolphins.
He is finding the presence of both the elusive pink and grey river dolphin to be particularly appealing - and frustrating, due to their shyness.
The following is his day today, to be followed in the next few days by a look at the Amazon dolphins in detail.
Clutch’s Diary: 2/11/01
“The last couple of days have been relatively cool (low 30s) due to the frontal system, rain and clouds we have had. Today we are back to normal - high 30s. We spent the morning exploring the coast area next to Foz do Jau.
A local showed us some petroglyphs on the rocks. I learned today that petroglyphs differ from hieroglyphs in that the former are rock carvings whereas the latter are rock paintings. So, the rock carvings were pretty cool - reputed to be pre-Columbian (i.e. pre-European) which here means over 300 years old. Figurines, butterflies, flowers and a turtle - very faded but interesting.
We also found a small coral snake that the locals had macheteed - so it was dead - but nice to see the colouration. The coral snake is very venomous (a neurotoxin) and the locals kill them if they see them. However, like most snakes, they don’t bother you if you don’t bother them. In addition, while the coral snake is venomous - its fangs are located well back in its mouth and so it is extremely unlikely to be able to get you - unless you actually shove your finger far back in its mouth. It’s interesting that there is also a false coral snake - a snake which is not venomous at all, but through convergent evolution has the same colour pattern as the true coral snake and thus it is protected from attack from predators. In truth I am not certain whether the one I saw was a true coral snake or a false coral snake - they look very similar.
We left the anchorage on Seamaster soon after midday and continued on our way up river - it got very shallow for quite a while - down to less than 2.5 metres - so we hauled the centreboards right up and eased our way along with only centimetres to spare. I actually think Blakey quite enjoys the challenge of navigating through these tricky spots and he does a nice job of just feeling our way along, with the RIB (dinghy) with a depth sounder looking ahead. Tonight we have anchored in a lovely spot at the edge of the main river next to a small channel which heads off to the south.
Upon arrival we saw a number of Boto and Tucuxi dolphin (pronounced “Too-coo-shee”) - so I got in a RIB and managed to get a look at them for a few minutes - although photos are very difficult because their surfacing behaviour is so erratic and quick. We heard some macaws (parrots) in the trees but didn’t see them - hopefully in the morning.
We are making our way slowly to the Rio Branco - the water level is very low so it will be slow going. The Rio Branco is a “white river” - which means the tannins and acidity of the Rio Negro which have protected us from insects thus far will no longer be with us. A turtle researcher we met in Manaus (who we christened “Dick Turtle”) called it possibly the most inhospitable river on earth - due to the insects - so we will see how that goes - and I don’t have my wife Renee (my insect repellent) here with me (they go for her and leave me alone when we are together). I am looking forward to being in the Branco though, as the wildlife is supposed to be wonderful.
Thus far the wildlife has been few and far between - which has surprised me as it’s certainly not the reputation of the place. Perhaps we are just not off the beaten track enough - the river is a highway really and seldom does a day go by that we don’t see a ferry or bongos (canoes) going past.
Last night we had a beautiful sunset and a full moon. Full moon over the Rio Negro was really something. Because the jungle team were off overnight ashore, those of us left on board decided to have a little party. I was introduced to something called a caiparinha - it proved to be the most dangerous thing I have yet encountered in the Amazon.“
Love,
Mark O.
That full orange moon is back, rising in all its splendour over the tops of the jungle a few minutes before dinner. The surface of the river is as calm as can be - like glass - with hardly a ripple, and the golden path of the moon reflected straight at Seamaster was something to see.
It’s warm here, and very humid.
But it is also very quiet - with only the occasional river craft passing by further out from where we are anchored near a sandy inlet.
This is the Rio Negro.
This is the Amazon.
All the best from the Seamaster crew.
Kind regards,
Peter.
PS: This Log is being sent by our remote satellite system that will later be used from the river bank in the jungle of Venezuela.
We are making sure that the system is working well now, for what is to come in a few weeks time.
Don and I will now go on deck, aim the aerial at the Atlantic East satellite in orbit 26,000 miles overhead equatorial Africa, and once transmitted this e-mail will be with you and on the web site within a few minutes of being sent.
Sir Peter Blake
"Having vision is not enough. Change comes through realising the vision and turning it into a reality. It is easy to espouse worthy goals, values and policies; the hard part is implementation."
Learn about Sir Peter Blake and his journeys around the globe
