Near where the Valeria river flows into the Amazon is a village of a couple of hundred people. We're anchored off-shore here today. Tenders, mud and insects are just a few of the reasons I'll be staying onboard. TBH, I have very mixed feelings about cruising/traveling in remote areas like this. I saw the impact of tourism in Samoa, both good and bad. How letting the outside world in, whether via tourists or the internet, impacts local culture. I want to experience authentic, local cultures yet don't want discomfort or to harm the people and places I visit.
I finished the book "The Midnight Library" the other day. I highly recommend it. It struck a chord in me and I've been thinking about it ever since. The author seems entranced by the idea of a parallel universe. That we have many lives beyond our "root life". As a child I was raised to believe I had infinite options. I was intrigued by the choices (and consequences) available to me. And astonished by how so many people are constrained by what they perceive as their lack of options.
I met a woman on a cruise in 1999. Over dinner each night she complained that she hated her job, her apartment and her city. After several evenings of explaining how horrible her daily life was, I suggested that she move. She was flabbergasted. "How could I move? That's where I live." She had options but didn't see them.
Do the people in this remote village have options? Does interacting with tourists make them crave another life or reinforce how much they value the life they have?
Enough of the deep thoughts. I'm going to spend my day watching the river, reading, drawing and eating (of course!). There may be a nap.
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| I normally start each morning on the balcony. Too buggy for me today. |
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| More award-worthy nature photography. If you look carefully you'll see what I think are mosquitoes on the window. There was one large insect, perhaps 4 inches long, scuttling across my balcony but he was too fast for me to get a photo. There have also been a number of critters that look like a cross between roaches and grasshoppers. |
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| The River is wide. |
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| I'm obsessed with this painting. I love the purple wall behind it. I haven't been able to find a print online. |
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| More by the same Dutch painter. |
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| They have three by the same artist. Surely they wouldn't miss one painting |
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| "My" table for breakfast and dinner |
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| HAL - I love these bread plates. Always placed in the same spot, with the knife carefully placed on the right, with the blade facing inward. HAL, a set of four or six would make a lovely "pillow gift" |
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| Well, humpf! This morning I seated myself and there was no one to put my napkin in my lap. And they call this service? Seriously, it was the first time someone hasn't pulled out my chair and placed my napkin in my lap with a flourish. But within literally a minute, someone brought coffee and juice. After 10 days, they know my routine and preferences |
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| The waiter said I'm one of the few to order the wild rice and quinoa bowl. It is delicious |
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| The tender at the dock for the village of less than 300 people |
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| After a few hours at anchor we head on toward Manaus |
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| There is an amazing amount of debris in the water |
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