29 & 30 October. On the heels of yesterday’s high on the river, today was meant to be a quiet one — time to re-organize, do a bit of schoolwork, and catch up on admin.
I don’t think I mentioned my little Apple fumble? A couple of months back when I ordered an iPhone and Pencil for Therese to bring down. By nature, I’m a little impulsive and tend to click too many buttons before reading the fine print. Ordering the phone was no exception.
First attempt: my credit card was declined. So naturally, I tried again. Denied. Hmm. Maybe another platform would work, so I went through the Apple Store. Declined. So — in true Sarah fashion — I tried again. Still declined.
Now properly determined, I thought, fine, I’ll just use Tim’s card. That worked first go. Success!
A while later I noticed the order emails. Confirming all my attempted transactions. What I didn’t notice — but Tim later did — was that Apple continues to re-attempt declined orders for up to seven days. Oops. Meanwhile, I’d contacted my bank and released my credit card, which had automatically blocked for security.
So, while I was off merrily kiting along Brazil’s beautiful beaches, the wheels were turning in the background. Then a message from Therese popped up — a photo of several big white Apple boxes. Gulp, taking a moment to register that I was now the proud owner of five brand-new iPhones and Apple Pencils, with a whopping $11,000 charge sitting on my credit card.
Oh gawd!
Making calls from Brazil isn’t easy when my cell phone plan is for domestic calls only. I had to purchase credits on an internet number so I could contact Apple, explain my blunder, and began the process of returning everything. This involved roping in another girlfriend to help: she collected the boxes, printed return labels, and dropped them to UPS. Slowly, one by one, I received emails confirming each return and refund in progress.
Now, here I am in Porto Jofre, still waiting on the last two credits to come through. After another long phone call (and a few chuckles from the support agent), I think it’s finally sorted.
Note to self: read all the instructions first.
River Camp
The owner of the lodge where we’d booked our river tour kindly let us camp for the night free of charge. Still no word from our boat captain, though. The boat was supposed to arrive tomorrow, but messages to Herbert, our skipper, went unanswered.
By 1 p.m. we packed up and moved down to the dock to wait. It was scorching hot — easily mid-30s — and with no shade. One local said the boat wasn’t due for a few more days. After a few hours of sweltering, we retreated back under a shady tree, grateful the camp manager allowed one more free night.
What a Difference a Day Makes
We’d barely re-parked when a car pulled in — a traveller from France. An hour later, a Swiss man arrived on his little 125cc motorbike, halfway through a six-month tour of South America, introducing himself as Manuel. Later, a couple from Belgium rolled up in their VW camper — the first travellers we’d met since Manaus!
What a difference a day makes.
Had the boat arrived on schedule, we’d have packed up and gone, missing them all by a day. Funny how plans falling apart sometimes line up exactly right.
Finally, Herbert replied: the boat had broken down and needed a part from the city. He hoped to arrive Thursday night for an early Friday departure.
That gave us two more days. Manuel was easy to get along with — relaxed, chatty, and without a fixed route. He soon decided to join us on the river barge to Corumbá and into Bolivia, a plan he’d once ruled out due to the fuel shortage.
Not wanting to fork out the robbery rate for camping (R600 a night, about $50 CAD), we moved back toward the public boat ramp, where Manuel managed to negotiate a full-day jaguar river tour for half the price and two nights of free camping.
Jaguar Tour #2
Saturday morning we squeezed into a smaller boat with a smaller engine, heading up the river once more through that glorious cool morning air. Manuel declares he’s already had the best day and we’re only 45mins in.
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for — this boat was slow and small, but perfectly fine for the adventure ahead.
It was nearly 11 a.m. before we saw our first cat: a female gliding silently along the bank. She paused, then slipped into the river to cross. All the tour boats respectfully parted, engines cut, cameras clicking in rapid bursts as she moved with surprising speed.
No two days are ever the same on the river. This mornings clear sky promised full sunshine and searing heat. The boat did have a sunshade, but not nearly enough to protect us. We took to soaking our sarongs in the river and wearing them wet to keep cool.
Today we saw seven jaguars in total — including a male and female lounging together in the shade, then heading down for a drink and a cool dip before vanishing into the reeds. I didn’t take so many photos today, wanting to just watch the cats and enjoy them without the lens.
The sixth jaguar was the biggest of all, a massive brute easily 300 pounds of pure muscle. Crashing through the long grass almost silently — the only sign of him the rippling movement of the reeds.
Our final sighting was a female missing the tip of her tail, likely from a caiman fight. We followed her as she walked and swam for nearly three kilometres before disappearing into the jungle.
Back on land by 4 p.m., the kids went off to fish for piranha while Tim & Manuel had a cold beer and I a gin and tonic.
As we sat under the fading sky, two hyacinth macaws flew overhead to a palm tree close by. Grabbing the camera they seemed happy have Jaxon take their photos. Including a toucan as it swooped past with a cheeky little bird hanging on its tail.
1 Comment
The joy of meeting other travellers.
Jen is giving me a hard time for not persisting and going Jaguar hunting. Oh well, we’ll just have to go back, in another life..:)
Did you find out why your card was declined? Bet Tim was excited about having five new iPhones ..;)
Dad xx