The River: General logistics

In the case that you ever want to follow our - and Orellana's - trail down The River, here are some basic considerations to take into account before hitting the water.

General planning

• Allow yourself four weeks for The River
• If you plan on coming from Ecuador, make sure you are with a large enough group to ensure an inexpensive ride from Pantoja to Santa Clotilde (we heard of groups that did it for $90 per person for a group of seven people) or directly contact a boat captain for the only reliable information
• Make sure you have a comfortable hammock. Know that you are going to have to spend several nights in your hammock, not nap in it for a couple of hours.
• Bring a pair of flip flops for walking around the boat
• It might be possible to spend the night in your hammock on the boat the night before or after you arrive in port.
• Bring ear plugs if you have trouble sleeping with noise.
• Eye mask might be a good idea if you think that'll be a problem
• Bring a towel for bathing on boat

Food

• Bring snacks (trail mix, crackers, fruit, and water)
• Most large passenger boats have a cafe, but it is cheaper to bring your own food and water.
• Bring a bowl, spoon, and cup. 
• Boats don't provide food for vegetarians.
• If you want to cook your own food, you can be met with a variety of responses. Boats come equipped with kitchens to prepare food for hundreds of passengers. Some of the boats let us use the kitchen after they served the other passengers. Other boats let us cook with our camping stove. One of the boats said that we couldn't use our camp stove but invited us to use their kitchen.

Security

• We brought a chain to secure our bags to poles on the boat. It would have been hard for someone to run off with our bags, but we felt more secure. One of the passengers on our boat had his wallet taken from him in the middle of the night. The stuff might have fallen out of his pocket, but we are not sure. It's best to keep your valuable in the most secure place possible on your person.  
• There are many drug checkpoints on The River in Brazil. Some of these inspections also include drug-sniffing dogs.

Jungle experience

• One benefit of coming from Ecuador is that jungle excursions are cheaper in Ecuador than anywhere else, except Bolivia. In Ecuador, jungle experiences cost about $50 per day.
• Don't expect to see animals from the boat.

Book exchanges

• Reading material is important. Bring enough - especially if you don't speak the language and don't want to learn.
• There are decent book exchanges at the Hostel Manaus and Manaus Hostels. You will also find many book stores in the Praca de la Policia where English language books cost about $2-3. There is a book store in the shopping mall that sells new English language books. Hostal Amazonia in Belem has a pretty good book exchange. Iquitos hostels have subpar book exchanges, but you can exchange book at the Yellow Rose of Texas restaurant. There is also a book store in town that has a mediocre. We can't speak with any authority on the book exchange at Leticia hostels. 
• The Kindle holds great potential for the backpacker who is comfortable using his or her digital reader in public