36 hours from Manaus to Santarém, Brazil via locals Ferry

In the picture below, you'll notice how excited Doug and I are to begin this journey. Thirty-six hours in a swaying hammock, on a breezy ferry, down the Amazon River sounded like just the kind of adventure we were looking for! We would travel in the 'local style' and make local and traveler friends along the way.

All the other blogs and guides we read said to arrive early, in order to get a good spot (for our hammocks) aboard the ferry boat. We found a pole and set ourselves up next to it, so that there would be a little more room if things got cramped. This was at 8:45am and the boat was to leave an hour or so later, at 10:00am.

We met a Swedish guy named Erick during our time at the Ararinha Jungle Hotel in the Amazon, and since he was also taking the boat, we went hammock shopping together a few days before. We discussed arriving at least an hour to an hour and a half early, but Erik had a hot date the night before and was late!

At 10:00am, we still had not left the port, and we noticed the boat getting more and more crowded each passing minute. I continued to hang out in my hammock, as people squeezed into any available space to the left, right, front of and behind us. Doug stood saving a spot for Erik as people kept coming around trying to take the empty space, he would point to it and state 'amigo aqui'. There were a couple of folks that still didn't understand and our neighbors, two young couples, helped us translate in Portuguese.

Around 11:30am, the boat finally sounded the horn and we were 75% more crowded than we were 3 hours earlier!! Below are some photos of how packed in like sardines we really were. As you can see, this is quite a difference from what the boat looked like when we arrived.

This boat was heading in the opposite direction, and gives you an idea of how full they can get.

As you can imagine, the reality set-in and our breezy expectations went out the open ferry windows. It was difficult for much air to circulate in there and even though we were on an open ferry, I was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic. I asked Doug to help me change the heights of our hammocks so that we were stacked high and low allowing more airflow and this helped tremendously!

The day went on and we met some of our neighbors. An older gentleman who taught me the alternating hammock trick and a couple of friends on the other side of him traveling from Sao Paulo on a two week vacation. They told me that they have never traveled this way and did not expect it to be this crowded. They later found out that there were supposed to be 3 boats that day, and the only one running was ours. That coupled with no boats running on Sunday, made for an extra crowded ferry boat.

Ferry Route

Our boat made 4 quick stops in the following cities: Itacoatiara (AM), Parintins (AM), Juruti (PA), and Óbidos (PA). Stops took just a few minutes for passengers to board and disembark. During this short time, local vendors take the opportunity to sell snacks, even late at night. Some get on the boat and others sell from the dock using really long poles with baskets at the end, so that people can grab their snack from the basket and put the money in for the vendor to collect.

The Anna Karoline II Ferry Route from Manaus to Santarem, Brazil.

So, what do you do on the boat for 36 hours?

Chicken (frango) with rice, beans, spaghetti noodles and slaw.

Other than relax in your hammock, you can chat with your neighbors, play cards, and READ. I started a new book when we left and finished it right before we arrived. There's also a snack bar selling ice cold beer and soft drinks and plenty of chips and even grilled sandwiches and ramen. If you're hungry, you can eat one of the meals prepared on board...but make sure you go when they announce meal time, because once the meals are gone...they close up the kitchen.

• Buy your hammock (and tie ropes) close to the port in Manaus. There are plenty of options (street vendors and stores.) We liked the touch and feel of the fabric from the street vendor better, so shop around before you commit. There was not much wiggle room for haggling with our vendor, but he threw in the ropes for free when I asked if he could discount a bit more. We thought the price was fair at $R50,00 reais = $12.50 so I didn't push too much.
• At the port in Manuas, there are Tourist Information folks available for assistance. Go during the week, since we did not see them there on Saturday when we purchased our tickets. Also, we learned that there were no boat departures to Santarém on Sundays so keep that in mind if you're a planner (unlike us.)
• If you take a ferry that's over-booked like ours was...DO NOT leave your hammocks until the ferry is underway and people have found free spots to tie their hammocks to. The nice couple we met from Sao Paulo left their hammocks and people pretty much squeezed them into a spot for one by putting their hammocks on either side of them.
• Even better, if you can avoid it...don't take a Monday ferry since they seem to not run on Sundays and are most likely more full Even better, if you can get assistance translating, make sure that you are not taking the only ferry available due to other cancellations...that will result in an FULL ferry.
• Most of all, enjoy the journey!!