Today we entered the Amazon River- super exciting. It will take us 4 days to reach Manaus. Manaus is the furthest west we go on the Amazon River but it’s still days away from the start of the Amazon.
Every day while on the Amazon, water conservation has been requested because the ship cannot make more water while on the Amazon river. Normally they take the ocean water and filter/reverse osmosis it to get the water we use on board. The gold mining upstream has made the river too toxic with Mercury to be able to filter the water and use it.
The laundry and Jacuzzi are closed and they are reducing the number of times they replace our bed sheets and have requested we use towels sparingly. The announcement ends with “The amazon is beautiful yet delicate.”
We are here at the start of the wet/rainy season when the Amazon river starts to rise. It will rise 15-17 meters by the time the rainy season is over. And it will be about 60 kilometers wider! There is a drought which is just ending. In November a cruise ship had to cancel because there wasn’t enough water for them to get thru and many of the cargo ships couldn’t get thru either.
Those living on the edge of the river build two story houses on stilts and live in the second story when/if the river rises to flood the first story.
Below are random pictures of the Amazon.
