BOCA DA VALERIA

Boca da Valeria (pop 75) is a tiny village on the Amazon River located about 850 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.  The name means Mouth of Valeria.  The Valeria River is one of over 1,000 tributaries flowing into the Amazon River.  The highlight of visiting Boca da Valeria is interacting with the residents.

The Zuiderdam arrived a little before 7 am and stationed herself near shore using engines and thrusters to stay in the same spot.  Tenders were soon in the water, and a steady stream of guests headed ashore.  Open tendering was announced around 9:40, which means a tender ticket was no longer required.

Based on our research, we knew that we could see most of the small village in a couple of hours, so we relaxed onboard before heading ashore.  As we were heading ashore around 11 am, there were long lines of guests waiting for tenders to return to the ship.  The last tender was at 1 pm.

EXPLORING THE VILLAGE

There is a small, covered platform that serves as a tender pier with a wooden walkway taking you ashore.

Once ashore – a gauntlet of small children will want to grab your hand for a tour – they will expect a few dollars.  We weren’t interested and kept walking – the children were not persistent and would leave you alone after a polite no or shake of the head.

As we continued along the single path, lots of small children dressed in costumes were standing alongside the path looking for 1 dollar to take a picture  – others were holding various small animals, turtles, lizards and sloths; men were selling 30-minute boat tours for $5.

NOTE:   I would not take a boat door unless you have at least 1 hour until the last tender.   There were about a dozen people who were late returning as their boat tour was late returning.

The gauntlet continued for about 200 yards – then started to thin.  We continued on passing a school, church, tourist stalls, and a few bars, which made up most of what you could call “downtown.”

As we continued, we encountered small groups of children ready to pose with various animals and a few adult men trying to sell boat tours.

The wooden houses were all on stilts, some were open on one side, some didn’t have windows.

We continued on the only path we saw for about a mile before turning around and heading back, arriving at the tender pier with about 10 minutes to spare.

FOR CAKES’ SAKE

The Lido was transformed into a delightful bakery as the Zuiderdam Chefs created dozens of tasty treats.  The Lido was open for viewing at 2:45 and they started serving around 3 pm.

ON THE WORLD STAGE

The Zuiderdam Singers and Dancers returned to the main stage for “B Side” featuring outstanding singing and dancing.