Today, I have chosen an afternoon river cruise for our somewhat brief call at Santarem. Like Manaus, 500 miles away, Santarem is not on the Amazon itself. Thus, this trip affords a further opportunity to witness the confluence of two rivers, the River Tapajos and Amazon River, both of different temperature, and density and other properties, flowing alongside each other for a short distance; the clear dark blue of the Tapajos and the all too familiar light brown muddy appearance of the Amazon.
The three pictures below, taken at 1743hrs illustrate the scene I am attempting to describe. 
Today feels much warmer than it was during the Amazon Experience tour from Manaus.
Santarem is industrialised, but with a history dating back several centuries to its foundation in 1661….& I quote, “as a Jesuit mission to a Tapajo Indian settlement (Aldeia) and grew around a fort built by Pedro Teixeira.” It received Town Status (Tapajos) in 1758, becoming a city in 1848.
Our boat is smaller than that provided at Manaus, and annoyingly, the upper deck is out of bounds. Accessed by a steep ladder, I guess Cunard, or the boat operators, are “playing it safe!” I am grateful that the young tour guide only speaks to point out that which is of interest, and also relevant; I am very pleased, so far, with this boat trip.
The pictures below illustrate the “crescendo of magnificence” as the dull industrial-scape of Santarem faded far behind, and the waterways of yet more jungle manifested themselves.
Wildlife was aplenty, birds, butterflies and the teasing dolphins, all of which would cause excitement among the seated passengers.
But now, we are stationary as said guests attempt to fish for piranhas. Modest results caused further excitement. I declined the offer to effectively kill a living being. However, the hypocrit in me would allow cooked consumption of the same…lunch is passing me by!
The poor creature illustrated is a catfish.
Seemingly, the piranha population had a fishy suspicion that a bunch of Cunard tourists were on their way, and thought that it might be wise to scarper!
Other pictures illustrate various views taken from when we set off from Santarem.
I shall submit another tranche of photographs shortly.
Thanks for reading,
David. 17 59 hrs 2/2/20.
David's Cruise 