My second disappointment was our expensive bottle of ‘champagne’ - specially^167
bought for New Year’s Day, turned out nothing more than slightly fizzy apple juice.
Hahaha!
As our boat headed deeper into the Amazon, the weather became more humid,
overcast, and windless. Tiny birds settled on the deck railing without as much as a
feather moving in the breeze.
I was looking forward to sunset as not once did the Amazon produce the same
display. That evening, the sun didn’t set with a bang as on other evenings, but
came with a soft and subtle array of pinkish colours.
Day 6
Again, we emerged to overcast conditions, and I went to breakfast which Amanda
skipped, as she didn’t feel like (by then) stale bread and soggy watermelon.
By then, we had settled nicely into the rhythm of eating, drinking, sleeping and
lazing about while gazing over the river and forest. Five days was a long time to do
nothing, and I was ready to get off the boat. We knew it would be our final day, but
no one could tell when we would arrive in Manaus. The staff’s best estimate was
something between three and seven p.m.
Closer to Manaus, more settlements appeared along the riverbank, making the
scenery a little more interesting.
And so came to an end our life on the Rondondin, and I thought I would’ve nothing
to say other than, “We were on a boat for five days”. We docked in Manaus at
around 5 p.m. in pouring rain, just the thing one would expect in one of the last
wildernesses in the world. We walked our bikes to a hotel and settled in for the next
few days as this marked the end of Amanda’s holiday.