- Visas and Luggage (Post #2)
- 2024 Grand World Voyage (Post #1 )
- Grand World Voyage Activities (Post #3)
- Grand World Voyage Packages (Post #4)
- A LAZY DAY IN FORT LAUDERDALE (Post #5)
- The Grand Adventure Begins (Post #6)
- BLOCK PARTY AT SEA (Post #7)
- MEET AND GREET AT SEA (Post #8)
- MEET ME AT THE JUNCTION (Post #9)
- GOAT RACING IN TOBAGO (Post #10)
- A TASTE OF TAMARIND (Post #11)
- SWIMMING ON DEVILS ISLAND (Post #12)
- CROSSING THE AMAZON BAR (Post #13)
- HOT BRAZILIAN NIGHT ON THE AMAZON (Post #14)
- Alter do Chao – Rubber Trees and Brazil Nuts (Post #15)
- BOCA DA VALERIA – BACK TO BASICS (POST #16)
- OPERA HOUSE ON THE AMAZON – MANAUS (Post #17)
- 2026 WORLD CRUISE SURVEY RELEASED
- BOI BUMBA FESTIVAL & TRICICLOS IN PARINTINS, BRAZIL (POST #18)
- MEETING OF THE RIVERS IN SANTARÉM – (POST #19)
- LEAVING THE AMAZON & CROSSING THE CARRIBEAN (Post #20) 17-19 JAN 2024
- CHOCOLATE IN GRENADA (Post #21)
- CARIBBEAN ISLAND DREAMS AT THE LIDO POOL (Post #22) 21 Jan 2024
- WALKING THRU WILLEMSTAD, CURAÇAO (Post #23)
- Panama Canal Transit and Burgers! (Post #25)
- 2024 WORLD CRUISE – RED SEA REVISION (Post #24)
- Quepos, Costa Rica – Iguanas, Sailfish and Sodas (Post #26)
- Ice Cream Social at Sea (Post #27)
- Manzanillo Street Tacos (Post #28)
- PUERTO VALLARTA – TRAVELING SPOON (Post #29) 30 JAN 2024
- Six days at Sea from Mexico to Hawaii (Post 30)
- Kona “Pirate” Food Tour – (Post #31)
- Super Sunday at Sea (Post #32)
- MARDI GRAS IN THE PACIFIC (Post #33)
- Mid Pacific Valentine’s Day (Post #34)
- HILO’S RAINBOW FALLS AND LAVA FLOWS (Post #35)
- Ishigaki, Japan – Glass Bottom Boats and Fu Chanpurū (Post # 37)
- Naha, Okinawa – Street Food and Pub Crawl (Post #38)
- 2026 Grand World Voyage – Itinerary announced
- Two days in Tokyo – Yarn, Food and Knives (Post #39)
- Kobe & Himeji Castle (Post #40)
- Singapore Pulau Ubin Island and the Night Safari (Post #41)
- Malé, Maldives (Post #43)
- Aprils Fools day at Sea (Post #42)
- Victoria, Seychelles (Post #44)
- Walvis Bay and Sandwich Harbor, Namibia
- The World Cruise in Black and White & Derby Days at Sea
- WRAPPING UP THE WORLD CRUISE
- Another World Cruise in the Books
Cruising the Maicá River in search of sloths with a taste of insects
SANTARÉM
Our final stop on our Amazon adventure was Santarém. The city has a population of over 300,000. The ship offered a free shuttle bus to the Praca Do Pescador (Fisherman’s Square), about 2 miles from the tender landing and near the town center.
We arranged to take our second Gil Serique tour, which would take us down the Tapajós River to where it fed into the Amazon and then continue down the Santarém until we reached the Maicá River. Once on the Maicá River, we would continue upstream past Maicá Lake until we reached a landing where we would go ashore.
MEETING OF THE RIVERS
The Zuiderdam anchored in the Tapajós River, a large Amazon tributary. There wasn’t a line for tenders, and we were ashore in 15 minutes. Gil met us on the tender pier, and one of his two boats arrived in a few minutes. We boarded with about 1/2 of our group of 30-35 people. The rest of the guests moved toward another boat about 50 yards down the tender pier as we shoved off and headed down the river.
Little did we know at the time, but the other boat experienced major issues while boarding due to the angle and width of the boarding gangway. Please read Tom’s blog post here, which describes his experience as he was on the other boat.
We continued slowly down the river, waiting for the other boat to catch up, which it did after an hour. Along the way, we saw the meeting of the Tapajós River and the Amazon, contrasting the Tapajós blue water with the Amazon’s brown water.
HEADING UP THE MAICÁ RIVER
As we headed up the Maicá River we came across the numerous boats on the HAL tour “Maicá Lake & Piranha Fishing”. We saw a lot of lines in the water but didn’t spot anyone pulling up any Piranhas.
Continuing upstream, we saw numerous birds and a few cows but not much else.
SPENDING TIME ASHORE
Around noon, our two boats grounded on a shallow bank, and we went ashore. A fire was already going, and we could watch as they grilled some fish – and, to our surprise, some giant insects.
The fish was good, and I tried the grilled insects, which looked like large ants. They were crunchy without much taste. Our guides discussed the various plants in the area, but we didn’t see any animals. Gil promised to get a sloth and bring it to our boats on the way back. We were ashore about 90 minutes before returning to our boats and heading back to Santarém.
WE MEET A SLOTH
About halfway back, Gil’s boat came alongside, and they passed over a large branch with a fully grown sloth hanging on.
We didn’t go back to the tender landing, but we moored at a commercial pier about a mile away and returned to the tender pier using vans.
OI BRAZIL
The Brazilian Cultural show wowed the crowd with a high-energy performance on the World Stage.
WOW ! That was quite a day..Loved yr pics of the sloth..have never seen one that close up.
Glad it’s all going so well and many thanks for taking time to post.
WOW ! That was quite a day..Loved yr pics of the sloth..have never seen one that close up.
Glad it’s all going so well and many thanks for taking time to post.
We had a great time. Thanks for following!
Great adventure! Thanks for sharing it!
We took that tour on the GSA and found the sloths in the forest
We were delayed by the boarding problems so Gil was determined to get us a sloth on the way back.
what have you heard (or seen…. ) about rerouting the ship around africa ?
Nothing – Those who know aren’t talking – Those who are talking don’t know
We loved our tours with Gil. Sorry that Tom had such a difficult time.