Too Many Onions
29 July 2005 (Friday) – To Manaus, Brazil
I was beginning to recognise certain characters sharing my hammock class by now – a couple of old geezers, some women recognisable by their children, guys who wear the same pair of pants everyday, even a few girls by the ear-rings, slippers or hair-clips. I would give them a small nod or a smile when I meet anyone’s eyes. Usually, most smiled back. Some children found me fascinating and would burst into shy giggles. One boy just pointed and laughed. Right.
There were perhaps a dozen tourists around. A little snooty, I felt. I sat next to a couple at breakfast today. I tried to be friendly by asking them where they were from. “Holland”, and the girl quickly returned to her conversation with her boyfriend and poof!, I ceased to exist. Oooo, sorry for the interruption. Except for 2 guys, the others, I could not even catch their eyes to even try and smile at them. They just looked through, above, behind, whatever me. Doesn’t matter. I hope they treat the Brazilians better.
This morning, I was greeted with a surprise as I gazed out of the front to the river. The front of the Lower Deck was covered with stacks of wooden poles. Wow, it must have happened overnight at some port because yesterday evening, people were still hanging around there, watching the sun-set. I had no idea some people were working really hard through the night last night.
We docked at Almeirim and there was some serious unloading of goods. I decided to sneak down to the Lower Deck for a look as I had not been down there yesterday at all.
I was shocked beyond belief!!! 3/4 of the hall below was filled with cargoes!!! At 4pm 2 days ago when I embarked, only the base of the hall had goods. Now, more than half of the area was stacked with bags and bags and bags of onions, potatoes, oranges and the same stacks of wooden poles up front. I had never seen so many onions in my life! I wondered if the people in the Lower Deck get shooed away to make more room for the goods. I had a strange feeling they were and I had a strange feeling they were kept awake all night with the loading of the goods. Thank goodness I ‘upgraded’, heh heh…
The riverboat sounded its horn a few times and perhaps, 20 minutes later, it departed. As all of us watched the little town of Almerim become smaller, we spotted a lady who came running to the edge of the dock, waving her two hands in the beckoning way… like what I saw the little Indian children did yesterday.
Whooopsss…. We had inadvertently left her behind! Someone yelled at someone who yelled at someone who yelled at the boat driver who immediately stopped the engine. Then, we watched the drama at the dock as the lady was driven to some boat much nearer to us and some kind boat-guy brought her back to our bosoms.
Yep, that was probably the most exciting thing that would happen to us today… or even for the rest of the trip!
Tags: 04) A River Runs Through It, Amazon River
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