At 06:00 hrs. precisely Manicoré was rudely awakened by blaring music from loudspeakers in the square. I walked around the town with Mike and Marlene browsing through the stores buying drinking water and bananas.
We sat at a café overlooking the dock and drank freshly squeezed orange juice while loading and unloading continued. Men humped boxes and sacks between a truck and the boats in the dock. Frederick and a few other familiar passengers returned to our new boat, somewhat the worse for wear for drink, having found a discotheque and an all-night bar to see the night out in. Most of them continued drinking the potent lime and cane spirit drink which is the national drink of Brazil.
Brazilian spirit cachaça is typically mixed with lime, sugar and ice to make the cocktail caipirinha There is no other drink that represents Brazil more than the sugar cane spirit cachaça.
Before the sun got too hot dolphins and/or huge fish could be seen breaking the surface of the muddy brown river and gliding gracefully back into the depths. Lunch was served at noon, by which time the sun was blazing and most people had been driven into the shade.
Those with direct tickets to Manaus were served with a heaped-up plate of spaghetti, rice, beans and chicken in a surprisingly orderly sitting. At 13:40 hrs. we finally sailed off from Manicoré. I lay in my hammock reading my books.
Just after dark there was a commotion as our boat towed a barge away from one bank with a lot of shouting, frenzied paddling of our unpowered tender and even some swimming. Millions of stars came out in the night sky and it began to get cool. The air around the light bulbs was solid with insects.
We retreated below where I had a beer while lounging on the deck below the hammocks. Most of the men played cards and dominoes at the long dining table. Dinner was the same as lunch but served in the communal trough fashion.
I slept quite well that night in spite of the ridiculous density of hammocks in our part of the boat.
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