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When you hear the name Boca, you think of pink high rise condos and, in general wealthy people. The “Boca” we went to today wasn’t like that at all. Boca da Valeria is, for sure, the most primitive place we will go on our Circle South America cruise. The village consists of just 75 residents and it sits on the edge of the Amazon River surrounded by the rain forest.
Ray, the Cruise Director, was finally honest about the weather. He just said “it is really HOT!”. At 7:30 am it was already 87 degress with 90+% humidity. Margaret had to stay on board and work so I decided after eating breakfast, taking one of the morning fitness classes and bringing Margaret her soy latte, to make my way ashore.
We were anchored about a half mile from the shore and I rode on top of one of the 3 tenders operating today. It was HOT! But as I say…once you are dripping sweat it really doesn’t matter how hot it is — you just go with it. On our way to shore we saw a few of the river dolphins swimming around and everyone tried in vain to get photos of them — unlike the dolphins we are used to, these guys barely break the surface so it is really hard to get a picture.
When we arrived on the rustic pier there were many children and a few adults standing on both sides of the wooden railing. The way it works is that the children pair up and hold the hands of an arriving adult, the idea being that they will guide you around the village in exchange for a payment, typically one US dollar. It is also customary for people on the ship to bring miscellaneous items like candy, gum, coloring books, school books, perfume, etc. to give to the local people. Only about 10 cruise ships per year visit this village, so you can imagine it’s quite an event for them to have us here. Margaret had put a bag together for me so I had a bunch of stuff to hand out — including the chocolates Regent gives us every night that Margaret has been collecting. Because I had a full bag of stuff I had a LOT of children interested in walking with me and guiding me around.
When we arrived in the tiny village I handed out my goodies, spreading them around so that as many people as possible could pick what they wanted, which wasn’t all that easy. As it turns out I wish I had saved some of the stuff for others at the end of the road but now I know for next time. On either side of the dirt path there were some very rudimentary stands setup to sell what appeared to be handmade crafts, some rather well done, some very crude. The people living here are dark skinned native Indians and most wore basic clothing while others were dressed to impress (see photo above). The older folks seemed rather frail with bad teeth, etc. while others, especially the younger ones, were quite snappy.
Many of the girls were dressed in their native dress complete with feathery headresses, makeup and holding bow and arrow or other local accouterments. Once again, one US dollar would allow you to take a picture. Some of the children had sloths or other local animals that appeared to be their pets. Terry Breen (our on-board anthropologist) had told us to not support these activities as the animals very seldom live long out of the wild.
After walking to the end of the path I accepted an offer from a woman to take a look inside her home. It was built on stilts and had two rooms with “open” air conditioning (this means that the windows had no glass!). The home was bare bones but they did have two beds while most of the people here sleep in hammocks. There were soccer posters decorating the front room and her three young kids had some sparse decorations as well (probably things that other cruisers had gifted them) She said she had 6 kids but 3 were grown and, by waving her hand towards outside I interpreted that they were out working or at school (I don’t speak Portuguese so I was pretty satisfied with myself to understand this much)!
They had a one room school that I didn’t go in to, but some of the others did and said it was very interesting. There were a number of people holding pieces of cardboard with “Jungle Rides, 1 hour, $5”. I never really considered doing this but later I heard it was an excellent ride, providing the view of the Amazon that we had all expected including large tarantulas crossing the path down to the river, snakes moving around right off the path, wild parrots flying overhead, etc. They take their passengers in their narrow canoes up the river for about 30 minutes and then back, giving a great overview of life on the river.
After checking out the local crafts and taking some more pictures I boarded the tender and returned to the ship.
So, my recommendation, if you ever go here is to take a bunch of items as described above and use them as barter for going into several of the homes. Definitely go into the school house and take pictures of the kids showing you the activities they perform there. If you are adventurous, take the $5 jungle ride and savor life in the Amazon rain forest. Also, bring a lot of $1 bills — it’s amazing how many beautiful smiles you will get for a dollar!
Boca da Valero Picture Gallery: http://travelwithdm.smugmug.com/Travel/South-America/Boca-da-Valeria-Feb-4-2010/25178348_Lkq6zf#!i=2065169646&k=JHWwffR
Marlene Shirley - This looks like a place I would love to go! I think the main reason I love to travel (which hasn’t been much) is to experience cultures, but I love the bond that you can feel with others who live so far away in such different circumstances. Be safe. LOVE, Marlene
Marlene Shirley - This looks like a place I would love to go! I think the main reason I love to travel (which hasn’t been much) is to experience cultures, but I love the bond that you can feel with others who live so far away in such different circumstances. Be safe. LOVE, Marlene