Santarem continued

We met Alec's family and saw his home. The river is high now and rising until June- sometimes 50 feet. Therefore the caboclos - traditional forest dwellers of Amerindian and Portuguese descent - must abandon their houses and move to higher ground or just live in the hammocks. No one has a bed. The small animals live with them. The livestock such as horses and Brahman cattle and the larger pigs are moved on a barge. The huts are simple, outdoor fire, no electricity, bathe in river. Diet is local berries, tapioca and, of course, fish. We saw several fishermen in their dugout canoes catch piranha and many other species.
In the canoe we paddled into the flooded forest. It was, in a word, awesome.. Basically we were floating just below the canopy up close and personal to the monkeys, sloths and birds. Perfectly silent except for the noisy calls of alarm from the various species. Alec used a machete to cut a slice in a rubber tree and we each felt the white "bleed" latex sap running from it. Rubber was "king" here for 50 years until an enterprising Englishman stole 70,000 seeds- they are the size of walnuts- and brought them to Malaysia where they grew so much easier than here.
We spent hours wandering in the canoe throughout the forest. Fascinating- another "lifetime experience". Towards the end, Paolo spotted a sloth near us and Alec climbed up the tree to get her. He carried her down for us to meet. She was pregnant and so sweet-looking. Many of the jungle children keep sloths as pets. The eat leaves , sleep 20 hours a day and move so slowly it is comical to watch. they are, however, excellent swimmers which seems at odds with their phlegmatic natures.
We transferred back to the Genesis 2, pictured above and eenjoyed a caparinha made by the crew. It is a mixture of lime juice and cachaca. Cachaca is the local moonshine made from sugar cane. It is so good I bought a bottle and a bag of limes as soon as we got back to shore.
We ended our day with a short walk through downtown Santarem and then a 3 mile walk back to the Veendam. Along the way we passed many dozens of riverboats tied to the shore. They are all open-sided. Passengers use the river as the highway since there are virtually no roads. Trips go for days. Everybody brings their own hammock and they tie them up next to each other. Have to get there early to get a good spot- not next to the toilet. Very, very colorful. The hammocks not the toilets.
We also passed the fish market. Never saw fish like these! Such a great day. I was sorry to say goodbye to Paolo. He is a great guide. Gave the me the kiss- kiss -like Javier in Mendoza Argentina- I like these South American men- A great, great day!