Boca Do Valeria

Today, we dropped anchor just outside Boca Do Valeria.

I think it’s fair to say that Boca Do Valeria divides people rather spectacularly. It is billed as an opportunity to experience something of the indigenous way of life; to see a small, real-life Amazonian village at close quarters.

In many ways, that is exactly what it is. Boca Do Valeria is, indeed, a small village situated at a point where a tributary of the Amazon meets the main river. Only a dozen or so cruise ships visit each year, but when they do, the locals are ready for them….

The only way into the village is by tender boat, so passengers were asked to obtain lettered tender tickets from Deck 10 from 9am onwards. This meant the queue started at around 8am.

We decided we would take a relaxed approach to the tendering operation, picking up tickets later on, once the scrum had died down; even then, however, there was still quite a wait until our letter ‘M’ was called.

Once on the tender boat, the wait continued. Even though they had four boats in operation, the small channel to the village and diminutive wooden quay isn’t large enough to take more than one tender at at a time, so we found ourselves sat in the tender boat, bobbing about, first by the ship, then in the area just outside the tributary, waiting for clearance to go in. Fortunately, there were a few pink dolphins in the water to entertain us as we waited.

The first thing we did as soon as we were on land was to pick one of local boat operators offering 30-minute rides for $5 per person. Christine, the creative writing tutor was with us, so we picked a boat that could take the three of us, and also one that didn’t have a roof.

The boat trip was brilliant. Our driver weaved the tiny little wooden boat through narrow channels, past a boatyard, where several boats were in a state of repair and refurbishment, and several homesteads, all of which were built on stilts, most of which also had one of the small river boats parked alongside. The weather was dry and hot, but the breeze as we hurtled along was very welcome.

We stopped off at a small landing area, where we were encouraged to disembark and climb a short hill to another village. Tracey and I have been here before on a couple of occasions, but its always great to see. A group of about half a dozen young girls insisted on accompanying us around their village, clearly proud of their school, and the improvements that have been made to their church (new doors and a lovely new floor).

Back in Boca Do Valeria, we spent some time in the bar, where cold beers were available for
only $2 per can, before taking a meander through the main village, where little craft stalls were bedecked out in all manner of crafty goodies, locals were dressed up in native costume and the kids proudly showed off their exotic pets (sloths, iguanas, toucans etc.)… always for the princely sum of a single dollar, of course.

It’s this transactional thing that folks seem to get upset about, yet it clearly helps their economy. The villagers have electricity generators and TV; they may not get Netflix, but all Brazilians it seems are passionate about their football. The young girls we spoke to knew all about mobile phones and texting. Talking to some people on board ship, I also get the impression that some folks believe the locals are in some way unintelligent or uneducated – which they clearly are not… I would go much further and say that they are actually very smart, and would tentatively suggest that those outraged passengers who find themselves wrestling with their conscience, who make the case for exploitation, and bleat on about inequality and the poor living conditions of the people of Boca Do Valeria (which really aren’t that poor, all things considered) should perhaps think again, and look a little more closely at precisely who it is that is being exploited. Bottom line is; cruise ship passengers are a nice little earner for them.

And that’s all I’m going to say on the matter. Both Tracey and I always enjoy our visits to Boca Do Valeria, and find ourselves, generally, spending more money there than anywhere else (on the boat trip, the bar, and on local crafts). The begging that we’ve experienced on earlier visits has all but been eradicated, replaced by a more efficient economic infrastructure. Some of the children can still be a bit pushy, but hey…