Amazon, Boca da Valeria, Brazil

Our second stop on the Amazon was at Boca da Valeria. This is a little community where the Valeria River meets the Amazon. It is located midway between Parintins and Santarem. Boca means mouth of, and is an entrance of the Valeria River into the Amazon, located on the south bank of a 121 m high hill. There is a distinct meeting of the waters. The people are Caboclo.

It's a controversial stop, as the ship's newsletter says “the village is unparallel to any other Brazilian destination because of the extraordinary and authentic lifestyles of the local Indians. There are brightly dressed children and natives who welcome guests with open arms. It is a primitive village of 75 inhabitants". 

However it was obvious that most of the people waiting in the village were from neighbouring villages. When our ship arrived, there was a loud gun shot or firework, and the villages rushed down in their boats to Boca da Valeria.

When I got to the village I immediately went for a $5 boat ride up the Valeria and a tributary.

The boat boy took us to his village, Santa Rita de Valeria, which is high on a hill. He showed us his house, 2 storey made of brick. There was a huge freezer, washing machine and most houses had a satellite dish. There is a large newish church. The school has wifi and a lot of old computers. It was all very similar to a village in Sarawak. We saw pet tortoises, then 2 boys with a small cayman and a small green lizard came back in the boat with us.

At Boca da Valeria the young children were dressed in Indian costumes, and many children had pet animals, such as sloths, a toucan, parrots, lizards etc. I didn’t like it. They were being given sweets, pens or $1 for photos etc. Amazingly there were virtually no dogs in either village, I only saw a couple.

I went for a walk along the jungle path. It was really dry. Didn’t see anything of interest. It was remarkably similar to Malaysia.

It was really hot back in the village after being in the forest.

There are also lots of pink dolphins, the boto, in the river. However I couldn't get any good photos. There are 3 dolphins in this photo!

It is obvious that the villages do rather well from the cruise ships that visit Oct - Apr. Some of the ships donate items to the schools and encourage passengers to give pens, paper etc. And with so many tourists giving $1 for photos and paying $5 for boat rides, the people do well!!!

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