CLAUDIA & CARSTEN'S WORLD EXPEDITION

Vessels on the Solimoes

After getting off in Santa Rosa and visiting Leticia, we had to cross to Brazil, to the port of Tabatinga, to take the second ship that would take us through the Amazon river to reach the city of Manaus. This trip took us 4 nights and 5 days. There are faster options, but we had time, so we decided to take this ship.

Trip Tabatinga to Manaus

This ship was in far better condition than the Peruvian one and we had a lot of fun. Brazilian people are very nice and we even saw the football game between Chile and Brazil...which Chile won...we couldn't celebrate though...

Day 2

Day 3

Sunset in Solimoes river

The Amazon river starts very close to Iquitos and ends in the Atlantic ocean, however, the Brazilian stretch of the river between Tabatinga and Manaus is called Solimoes river.

Solimoes river and Rio Negro

Solimoes river (sandy and brown) meets Rio Negro (black and clear) in front of Manaus and due to different temperature and density of the waters, they don't mix for many kilometers.

Manaus Airport

One of Carsten's biggest dreams was to fish in the Amazon, so our friends in Manaus managed to put us in contact with a very famous Brazilian fishing guide who arranged fishing trips on Rio Negro. Lucky as we are, we managed to get the two last spots on the tour for a very good price!

Flying above Rio Negro

To start the trip we had to fly in this small plane to the town of Barcelos, up in Rio Negro. This city is famous because most Amazon ornamental fish are farmed in this area. Upon arrival to Barcelos, the pilot had to circle the airfield for a while because there was a turtle crossing the landing strip.

Welcome to Barcelos!

Barcelos viewed from the river

We arrived

Kalua

Kalua would be our home for 6 nights and 7 days. We had an AC cabin with private bathroom and shower. All food and drinks included.

First briefing

Ian, Kalua's owner is briefing the passengers of the tour. We were the only non Brazilians in the trip, so we had to quickly improve our Portuguese, and we had a lot of fun.

They made the best caipirinhas

Happy camper

Fishing boats

There was one fishing boat for every couple and you have your own fishing guide.

Off they go!

First day catch!

This was the biggest Piraiba caught on the tour. He was 136 cm and weighted around 25 kilos. Piraibas are catfish and they can grow up to 250 kilos.

Weeeeeeeee!!!

Not bad for a first day

Sunset in Rio Negro

Morning fishing

Catfish are more active during the early morning and late at night, so here we are fishing at 5:00 AM.

Tempestade

Tempestade is Kalua's service ship. It carries the crew, fishing guides, laundry machines, etc.

Our second night stop

Second day catch!

The purpose of this fishing trip was to catch Tucunaré (Peacock bass), which is easy to catch for experienced fishermen and on a good day you can get many of them. While others got 30-40 fish a day, Ian and his wife fished between 180-200 a day. Carsten was hoping to catch Pirarucú (Arapaima), which is the Amazon river's biggest fish. We couldn't find any, but instead he was very lucky with catching large Piraiba.

Dinner

Tucunaré sashimi

All fishing is catch and release, but this one happened to be caught by his head by a dolphin, so he ended up in our stomachs instead. It was delicious.

Piranhas

Fishing in the Amazon is not easy because there are many piranhas around. They always eat your bait...

Third Piraiba

Carlinhos was our fishing guide on this tour. He was fantastic!

Another evening

Sunset in Rio Negro

Lagoon and Jacaré

Caimans, Jacarés in Portuguese, are VERY big in this area. We were in the Amazon during the dry season, so the whole river was around 8 meters lower than it is in the rainy season. This creates many lagoons, such as this, where the fish get trapped until the river rises again. This Jacaré was around 3 mt long.

Piraiba

Pirarara

Pirarara

Redtail catfish. This one weighted 20 kilos and they can grow up to 150 kilos.

Walking to the lagoon

Luxury....we don't even have to get off the boat...the guides push the boats through these tiny rivers in order to reach the good lagoons.

Tucunaré

Spotted Tucunaré

Oscar

Your typical aquarium fish grow very big around here...

Beaches along the river

The picture doesn't show but the average temperature during our days in Rio Negro was over 42 C degrees, with at least 90% humidity.

Sunset

Piraiba

Waiting

To catch one of these catfish we had to wait for many hours.

Piraiba

Small beach

Piranha

This day we sailed with Carlinhos up by a small tributary of the Rio Negro. We were warned they had big piranhas, so Carlinhos told me not to put my feet in the water. Five minutes later, Carsten caught this 3kg piranha.

Piranha

These teeth can chop off a toe in one bite.

Yellow butterflies

Sunset

This one was the most beautiful sunset we have seen in all of our trip.

Sunset

Waiting

Waiting

Dolphins!

It is very easy to spot dolphins in a trip like this. They are always around you, but since you are in a small boat close to the surface, you can never see them very well, just hear them breathing around you.

Time to rest

Luau!

Our last night on the boat we had a big surprise when we returned. A barbecue on the beach had been arranged! Needless to say, the food and drinks were awesome!

Caipirinha de abacaxi

Pineapple caipirinha... excellent!

Final day

We arrive back to Barcelos, where we spent one night before flying back to Manaus.

Teatro Amazonas

This is the Theater of Manaus, the opera house. It opened in 1896, when Manaus was one of thd richest cities in the world due to the rubber trade. When the rubber seeds were smuggled out of Brazil and planted in Malaysia and later in other Southeast Asian countries, the Brazilian rubber empire started to end. You might remember this theater from the movie "Fitzcarraldo".

View from tower in MUSA

Our first time in Manaus, when we arrived on the boat from Tabatinga, was one night only. We had a horrible room, it was very hot and humid and we quickly escaped by bus to the city of Boa Vista, where we arranged our trips into Venezuela and Guyana. When we returned to Manaus the second time, we stayed with our friends Rosa and Karol, whom we met in Venezuela, and they were very sweet to show us around. This is MUSA, the Amazon Museum, and you can see how much jungle surrounds Manaus.

MUSA Museum

MUSA Museum

Walking to Museu do Seringal

Seringueira is the brazilian name of the rubber tree. This museum depicts the life in a rubber plantation fazenda in the late 1800s. It was built as set for a Brazilian film called "A Selva", which tells the story of a Portuguese men who works in a rubber farm.

Visit to Museu do Seringal

Hot day...

Dry season at the river...

In the wet season, the water reaches all the way to the entrance of the museum.

Museu do Seringal

Rubber Tree

Museu

How to make rubber

The guide is showing how the rubber was made, after obtaining the liquid from the trees.

The houses of the seringueiros

Houses of the workers had to be elevated to avoid jaguars and other animals from coming in.

Museu

In reality, the workers of the rubber farms were slaves and had to work under a system that kept them permanently indebted to their bosses. If they managed to pay and decided to leave they were hunted down by the owner's servants, killed and robbed of their money, so they could never disclose what the life in the farm was really like.

House of the Coronel

The Coronel was the plantation's manager. His house was very different from the workers' house.

Inside the house

Walking back

Best fish restaurant in Manaus

I always knew it!

Lunch by Dona Maria

Dona Maria is a good friend of Rosas' family and she was so kind and sweet to make food for us everyday. Today she cooked Tambaqui, one of the Amazon's tastiest fish.

Manaus

Sushi with Karol

This was our final day in Manaus. We hope to come back soon!