The life in a hammock

Swing to the left, swing to the right. I really can get used to that. I put my hammock next to my friend Matze on the upper deck of the boat Ana Beatrix. I am quiet tired, cause we left Alter do Chao very early in a super full bus to get a bit earlier to the ship for getting a nice spot for the hammock. Some people on the dock were sending us to the wrong direction and after 2 KM walking with all our backpacks the said, that we are on the wrong port. Luckily a guy with a pickup gave us a ride to our ship. But after I finally landed here in my super comfortable hammock I organized some fruits and water for the 48hours tour from Santarem to Manaus. But now I organized everything and wait for the boat to leave. We’ve got a quiet nice one, it’s very new and the middle deck has air-condition which the majority of the Brazilians prefer and which gave us more than enough space on our deck. Its 12:45 now, the boat was supposed to leave at 12:00 and still after its is 45min late, there are people arriving with no hurry to miss the boat. But that’s Brazil. Swing to the left, Swing to the right.

Now we are leaving the port of Santarem. Its 1Pm, only one hour late! Cool. I build myself a construction to bring my hammock to swing only with a movement of my feet. Only the noise of the moving hammock is getting on my nerves. I put my earplugs in, listen to chill-out music and observe how the brown Amazonas river and the darker Tapajos river are melting together and form a long borderline for the next kilometer. We are lucky to go upstream, because of that the boat is going next to the shore where the current is not that strong. With that we can see the fishermen houses, the trees, a lot of birds, some Tucans.

Damn not is 2pm, one of 47 hours are gone, what should I do all the time? Matze is reading his book – I will write my diary. I have a lot to write, the last entry is 7 days old…

Ohh what a nice surprise! Matze is bringing some cold beer and the captain said that’s dinner time! A German-Swiss couple, Dirk and Karen, are taking care of our luggage that we can go for dinner. They met this trip in a camp next to Brasilia (Joao de Deus) and felt in love after some days. Karen quit her job in Switzerland and now they are traveling together. It’s cute to watch them and their story sounds like a real love story. And we can go for dinner without any fear that someone steals our stuff… We are eating rice, noodles, salad and chicken. A standard food in Brazil, and a standard meal on the boat. But now I am very full. After I collected some pictures on my notebook (hell yeah this boat has electric plugs over the hammock places) they turned off the light. It’s a sign, we should go to sleep! Swing to the left, swing to the left, I am falling asleep…

Aaaallllo!! Alllloooo!? Quem fala? Siiiiiim estou na barca para Manaus…. That was the first sentence of a drunk guy to his friend of the other end of the line in a volume level which kicked me almost out of my bed, I mean of my hammock. And for the next 20min he was speaking even loader because his friend was talking to quiet, and he is speaking bull shit. “I will kick his face soon” said Dirk. He left his hammock for a beer and a cigarette because of this annoying Brazilian. All the other people seem relaxed. Nobody cares. After 10 more minutes it was even enough for me. I jumped up, told him in my best Brazilian slang Portuguese to be quiet or leave with his phone to the bar. He was surprised or scared, but he left. Back to the hammock. Back to sleep.

Its 6 in the morning. I can’t really sleep because I have to take care of my luggage. We arrived a port and people from the city try to sell their food. So weird people are around. I watch my stuff that nobody gets a chance to take something. They warned me to take care at the ports and I do. 90min later we leave the port and I am falling in a deep sleep. I wake up and see the trees of the Amazon passing my hammock. What a nice waking up. Now a shower with the Amazon water and a Papaya for breakfast. Day starts very cool. And I am not bored and at. Swinging to the left and to the right brings me inner peace. And the hammock is not making any noise after I found some Vaseline in my backpack and put it on the hook of the hammock. Together with some smooth jazz I feel comfortable. I am super nice right now…

Wow its already six in the afternoon and the sun is going to set. The boat is emptier after another port and faster. The captain said that we are arriving 5 hours earlier than we expected. Hmm I got used to the life in the hammock and now I have to leave? Well it will be cool, I can’t wait to use a real toilet, I don’t have to tell how the boat toilet was. Keep it in your imagination….

I wake up at 7 in the morning. No, now it’s 6 in the morning, in Manaus is one hour time difference. People a very noisy because we are not far from the port of Manaus. I back my backpacks. I put my hammock inside too. No more swing to the left and swing to the right the next days. Now I will sleep in a bed. How boring. Live in the hammock is over. My big Latin American trip continues.