Belém to Oiapoque

This involved a ferry ride, a surprise experience in Macapá, and a long drive on roads that were much better than their reputation.

We spent a couple of days in Belém, the city on the edge of the delta of the Amazon River. This is the last city on the south end, and known for being a place where you have to be awake with what is going on around you. We arrived late on a Tuesday, organised a taxi to take us to buy ferry tickets on the Wednesday, and were ready to sail on the Friday.

One special thing we had time for was to try a selection of local Amazonian food. It is fair to say that it was a special experience, and we are pleased we did it. We are not running to try a second time.

The Friday arrived fast, and it was a nervous drive to get to the boarding place. One of the people who helped us buy the tickets told us to go there again on the Friday, and when we got there he organised a passer-by on a motorbike to guide us to the right place. It was very helpful and the fee was USD10. That was the most money we spent all day!

There are several different types of ferries taking people and goods across to the north end of the Amazon River. We realized fast that we had thought we bought tickets for a fancy one, but those don't take cars so we were sold spots on a different - more utilitarian - ferry. We had a cabin, so at least we could lock ourselves away, because most people get a fare to get a hammock. It was about 30 hours to travel, and the common areas were not that inviting. We took our own food, pillows, towels, and a blanket, and of course a bottle of whisky to help pass the time.

It was certainly a special experience to actually see the Amazon River with your own eyes. It looks like the pictures you see on documentaries. We didn't see any animals other than a bunch of seagulls following the ferry.

Arriving late afternoon on the Saturday we had a short drive, from where we landed in Port of Santa Ana, to the hotel in the city. Macapá is a very nice place, it is a modern city with tidy streets and buildings. We walked around to see Amazon River again, and visited the fort. After keeping a close eye on the weather forecast, we thought leaving for Oiapoque on the Monday would be the best we could do, given that it had been dry for a couple of days and the mud on the 100km stretch of dirt road along the drive would possibly not be too bad.

It was a long day, but we did the distance of 580km, including the 100km of dirt road, in one day. Finding a hotel wasn't the easiest, but by luck we got to the one where flight crew have their stop-overs, and those hotels are always reasonable. And we could see the bridge with the bridge to the border with French Guiana from the room. This was our last stay in Brazil, going from south to north. We enjoyed the food and the scenery, found Rio de Janeiro a good place to visit, and didn't by any measure enjoy driving there because of all the trucks.