Santarém and Alter do Chao

In Santarém it was very humid and we had tropic fruits and plantain porridge for breakfast. The town is located at the confluence of the creamy-brown Rio Amazonas and the much darker Rio Tapajós. For kilometers the two rivers flow side-by-side without mixing, two bands of different-coloured water clearly distinguishable. Santarém appeared somehow backward. It doesn't have a proper harbour but a weird, dirty landing place. The river's water level is abnormally low at the moment so all the dirt shows.
After one night in a very simple but pricey hotel (Things, especially accomodation and transport, are not cheap here. And luckily we're already used to the lack of comfort.) we cought the bus to Alter do Chao, which is a hamlet at the river and lagoons in the Amazon jungle where a sandbar forms a picturesque white-sand island. It's an island during most of the year but since the water level is so low we could simply walk over to it. It was packed with families from Santarém and around that spent their weekends in this little paradise. The next day was a Monday and the town was, apart from some locals and a couple of elderly hippies on Ayahuasca, pretty much deserted. We were off the beaten track!
With the only other younger traveller we had met so far -a clever swiss guy named Lukas- we went for a couple of drinks.
After the first night in our new hammocks and tapioca (a gel-like omelette made of manioc flour) and a fermented manioc shake for breakfast we went -well aware of stingrays!- swimming in the shallow, wee-warm water. I tried Tacaca (an interesting manioc soup) for lunch. At the beach we saw some cute peculiar animals called Paca Pacas digging tunnels in the wet sand, ate mangos and cashew fruits straight from the trees and saw colourful birds. With Lukas we climbed a hill for an enchanting panoramic sight on the wide, wide river and the beaches and lagoons surrounded by forest as far as you could see. As we walked back there were thunderstorms with the brightest lightening coming up from all sides.
Panorama, Alter do ChaoPaca Paca
We spent another relaxed day in the heat, Malte and I did lots of planning so now our route is pretty much set.