The Voyager III is bigger than the Cisne Branco with far fewer people. Our hammocks didn´t seem to need to touch anyone elses. The layout is almost identical, with the exception of a dining room at the back on the middle deck where we would go for all meals (included in the ticket this time). Despite the fat Brazilians urgency we were on board by 11am and the boat didn´t depart until 12:30pm. That said, we would learn that the Voyager III almost never left when...

We got off the Cisne Branco and walked through the port where men were busy loading up other boats for their voyages, and Oh My God it´s hot. So SO hot. When Alex was on facebook chatting to her Aunt she told her that Manaus is sticky. That is exactly right. The walk through the port to the main plaza was agonizingly hot, and once we got to the plaza Alex had to immediately drop her bag and apply suncream. Alex, Maria and I walked in silence to the hostel which ...

Aboard the Cisne Branco our hammocks are squeezed on the middle deck of three, towards the back next to the toilets and above the engine - prime position! The entire middle deck is basically hammocks and the toilets. Downstairs there are hammocks at the front and freight and a kitchen towards the back. Later we discovered it was actually illegal to have hammocks on the lower level as when the police boat came by everyone stuffed their hammocks up in the rafters! ...

4th semaniversary... almost our 1st mesiversary. And what better way to see it in than on a bus! Despite it being extremely uneventful, today I achieved a first... I read on a bus. Usually I get travel sick but quite unbelievably I read 2/3rds of my new book (quite an improvement on 1 month for my last book). The landscape was similar to much of the rest of Brazil: various palms, green vegetation, donkeys, cows, horses, goats, villages, bicycles / motorcycles, v...

This night bus was one of the worst as the journey was bumpy and abnormally stuffy. The toilet was actually too hot to go in. I spent the rest of the day mostly blowing my nose (I have a cold), much to the amusement of the two guys in front of us... in Brazil you either sniff it up or shoot it onto to pavement from your nose directly. Despite my mild illness, Alex has it worse - she has a poorly tummy - something that I thought might happen to one of us sooner or...