Peter's Travel Blog

Today, we arrived in Santarem, on the Tapajos River. With no tour escorting duties assigned to us, we had all morning to take a leisurely walk into town (all-aboard time was 2:30pm). It’s only about one and a half miles from the quayside, where the Marco Polo was berthed, to the centre of town. It’s a hot walk, though, and...

Today, we dropped anchor near Parintins and prepared to launch a tender operation to get everyone to shore. Parintins is quite a small town notable for one particular event; the annual Boi Bumba Festival, where teams from towns and villages from all around the area (roughly split into two categories; The Reds and The Blues) compete against one another to...

This morning, Tracey and I were breakfasted and on the quayside by 8am, ready and raring to escort a tour grandly titled ‘The Amazonian Experience’. Because each river boat (of which there were three) had 60 passengers on it, two escorts per boat were assigned, which meant we got to enjoy the tour togevva… Our all-day tour began with a...

Today, at around lunchtime, we arrived at the capital city of Amazonas, Manaus. It’s a two-day, overnight stopover; Tracey and I are escorting a tour tomorrow, so we had all afternoon to wander into the city and explore. Marco Polo is berthed alongside the cargo quay, which has advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is that we are some way...

Today, we arrived in Boca Do Valeria. Billed as an opportunity to experience life in a genuine Amazonian indian village, Boca Do Valeria never fails to divide passengers. Throughout the year, there are about half a dozen or so cruise ships that stop by and visit the village, bringing gifts and 21st Century values and prejudices to an existence that,...