Mamangua Village 26032011 Saturday

Dawnbreaker
Lars Alfredson
Sat 26 Mar 2011 22:22

Pos 23:16.10S 44:37.53W

 

A 10am start as agreed and the dinghies from Grey Pearl and Dawnbreaker set out on the Great Waterfall expedition.

We reach the mouth of the small river after scraping our way through the shallow bar at its entrance and slowly make

our way up river through the mangrove swamp.

 

                           

                                           Up the river                                                                Mangroves and crabs

 

Hundreds of red crabs wave their arms at us as we glide by carefully following the outside banks to keep in the deepest water.

After several miles the waters clear as the mud of the mangroves gives way to jungle forest.

 

Rocks begin to appear on the bottom to add to the hazard of sunken trees until eventually we spot a landing site and

path through the Jungle. Tying up to a nearby tree we advance on foot, one eye on the path taking care not to tread

on any sunbathing snakes, the other searching out the route through the tangle of trees and bushes.

 

    

                          Landing spot                                                                  Team work

 

Soon we come to and open cultivated area with Banana trees and corn. Then its decision time as the path runs

out and we now have to cross the river. Another mile on the track and then we’re there.

 

More of a cataract than a high falls, the river runs over great boulders into a deep pool before continuing

it’s decent through the forest, meeting the sea at the mangroves. Everybody jumps and the water temperature is perfect,

refreshing but not too cold.

 

    

                                   Baby Thomas                                                                         New Tarzan

 

Karine produces a picnic from here bag and Yves shares some rolls with us. Lars has spotted a trail on the other side

of the river accessed by climbing along a fallen tree that forms a bridge across the falls. So we decided to try this to

avoid crossing the river later. All cross successfully and head off down the trail which has several offshoots but we keep

in earshot of the river until the trail ends and we arrive opposite where we had crossed the river earlier.

 

    

                        The log Bridge                                                                Wading

 

Once more into the river, Lars slips but valiantly manages to hold his camera above the water as his dignity slips

beneath the waters. The journey to the dinghies is uneventful, but the tide has gone down and navigation becomes

difficult and groundings mean we have to resort to pushing ourselves off and paddling with the oars.   

 

Later in the afternoon we move the boat to the small fishing village of Saco de Mamangua which is completely

isolated landward and can only be accessed from the sea, where we partake of a few beers, Caipirinhas and prawns as the sun goes down.

 

    

                                       The Bar                                                                      Mosquito war

 

   

                                   The Village                                                                        The Villagers 

 

Then all back to Dawnbreaker, Yves brings another fine wine from his dwindling stock and Thomas rustles up

a Shepherds Pie. All suitably wined and dined, Onzo decides to stay with the big boys while parents depart to

their boat and Rocky (who swam the back the whole length of the river) is resting.

 

Bob the Blog.