Today we visited the small village of Boca de Valeria. It sits at the mouth of the Valeria River where it flows into the Amazon so there is another "meeting of the waters" where the clear water flows into the dirty Amazon. We dropped anchor at 7am and just departed at 1:30pm. Early this morning the Captain said we could see pink dolphins on the tender ride ashore but I did not see them at 10am when I went ashore. Pink dolphin is only found in the Amazon River.
After the heat yesterday, Rebecca did not go with me today. Again, she missed a real treat. Today I saw what I had expected to see in the Amazon basin. Only 75 to 100 Caboclo people lived in this village but people from nearby villages showed up, especially the kids. Kids everywhere!! They knew we would be bringing gifts so they mobbed us as we walked off the wooden dock. I had a big bag of the candies Regent leaves on our pillows every night. The kids spotted it immediately and about 20 of them encircled me. I put it in my pocket and they left me alone. I later gave it out when there were only a few around at a time. A little boy held my hand and walked with me for a while. Other kids were doing the same with other passengers. Several locals had animals to take photos of and it is customary to give them a dollar for a photo. Luckily I had some dollars. The village was not much. A church, very small school, and hut to buy a soda or beer. Regent supports the school and took boxes of passenger donated items as well as ship supplies to the school today. I was there on shore when the general manager and other crew members brought it to the school. Several friends ask if I had taken a boat tour. They raved about it and I wanted to do it but did not have sun lotion on. More people told me to do it so I did. It was $5 for an hour but I gave the guy $10. He took me up the Valeria River and stopped after a while at a place along the river. We walked up a approximately 200 foot high hill and there was another village. It looked almost deserted but he led me all around it. I could see people in the houses. Windows had no glass or screens on them, just a hole. No doors. We finally stopped at a house that was his and took me inside it. It was very small and his wife was in the small kitchen in the back. They did have electricity in the village but I noticed a small portable generator. The kitchen was very basic but they did have a big convection like oven. Apparently they had a bread business as he opened a pantry that had lots of small loaves of bread in it. I wanted to take photos inside the house but obviously I could not speak Portuguese. I did not want to offend them by taking photos without asking. As we walked he was chattering away and I wished I could have communicated with him. These people were so nice. A few of the houses had satellite tv dishes. I suspect their neighbors come over to watch tv also. I'm not sure how they make money to live on. Some fish and I saw one little saw mill. Maybe they work in the bigger towns. One thing for sure, they are poor. This was a great day and everyone loved it.
Tonight I have arranged another "Italian" dinner in Compass Rose. Toni & Evie from Connecticut will be joining us. Will have garlic bread, fried shimp & calamari, Caesar salad, and veal Parmesan. Tomorrow we will arrive in Manaus and be there for two days.
