April 18 – On the Rio Negro River

Our cruise is on the Iberostar Grand Amazon.  It has four decks plus a huge top deck that is partially covered with a bar and there is also a good size pool and hot tub.  Our room has a small balcony. 

Turns out the cruise is in 2 parts, one on the Rio Negro and the other on the Amazon.  Some of the guest, including our new friends from Canada and Utah, are doing the parts in the reverse order that we are. 

So for the next few days we are sailing the Rio Negro river instead of the Amazon.  This morning’s tour was a cruise on the Negro…

and eventually turning into the Jarqui Stream.  The stream isn’t too wide so we are able to see all the vegetation well. 

Some areas the river and stream that we are traveling on are like glass with almost perfect reflections of everything along the banks. 

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Video of cruising the Jarqui Stream
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There were a few houses and settlements along the stretch that we traveled.

We saw very little wildlife and we only managed a fairly close photo of one bird, a Kiskadee,

some circling birds that might be vultures,

and a dragon fly landed on the boat and someone’s hat.

There were also large bird’s nests.  They were like bags, similar to the weaver’s nests we have seen in other places. 

And there was a large “growth” on a branch in the river.  The guide said it was a river sponge but we could find no other information about it on the internet.

The ride was enjoyable but a bit disappointing.  We saw so much wildlife along the rivers on our recent trip to Costa Rica that we were expecting similar experiences here  But that didn’t happen.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing.  Paul is getting a bit of the sniffles, probably from going from cold, air conditioned rooms to the hot, steamy Amazon weather.