Aaahhh, I am so happy I did that!
 
I am a bad organizer, and realised I should have left Belém for Manaus on a boat, and take my flight to Rio Branco from Manaus! But I booked my flight from Belém, and since the boat trip to Manaus takes a week ... impossible. Me angry because I am such a lousy organiser! Then a roommate tells me about Macapá! to go there by boat, 24 hours. That is perfect!
So, I left on the 7th, arrived there the 8th, stayed two nights in a hotel, and took the boat back on the 10th to arrive here the 11th. Perfect!

I was a little nervous. I bought a hammock and thought, will I be able to sleep in that? I never did! 

Moreover, the boat arrived a little late, so to get on board it was the big rush. By the time I understood I had to find two hooks to hang my hammock, all were taken! But finally I found some, which my direct neighbours did not like, because this meant we would be a little squeezed. Families take the nearby hooks, each 50 cm, but strangers try to leave a hook in between. Too bad, I wanted to hang my hammock.

From then on, FUN! I tried the hammock, lied down, heard the boats engine hum, the hammock gently swinged with the movements of the boat, and I fell asleep ;-)

The 24 hours passed quickly! Sometimes the river banks were very far away, sometimes we went through a natural canal cutting an island in two . then the banks were close and I saw houses on piles (? maison sur pilotis). Children waited for us in their canoes and then paddled quickly to reach us, why??? Then I saw plastic bags, well closed to keep floating, thrown over board, and the kids went to fish them up. "Presents", people told me, "they are so poor here!" 

On the lower deck, a kitchen, I mean Galley, where one could have a simple good dish for 10 reals. Good to know!

Around 4 pm, when the hot weather cooled off, I saw people walking with wet hair and a towel! In fact the toilets here also have a shower hanging on the roof! So I did like everybody and went for a shower! Do not look too much to the walls, rusty metal that definitively needs a coat of paint, and enjoy the lukewarm water!

When the night fell, after looking at the beautiful scenery, like everybody I went to bed ;-) I had seen that yes, using some rope one can lower the hammock, and so I did not bump into my neighbours anymore! I slept like a baby, but woke up several times because I was a little cold. On the Amazonas! 

In the morning, a nice lady told me there was a café da manhã, a breakfast served at the galley. Coffee and bread and butter, simple but very welcome, and so nice to enjoy while seeing the scenery passing by!

The arrival at Santana, the harbour close to Macapá was... colour full, very exotic, full of noises and people hurrying everywhere. I easily found a taxi to my hotel, and on the way, the driver showed me a monument: we just passed the equator! Picture!


It was just so great ;-)