Out of the storm and onto the sandbar.

After a two-and-a-half-hour walk through the jungle and clambering through the stone labyrinths of the Grutas do Madadá, we were treated to a tasty (even relatively lavish) lunch, lovely weather, and hammocks to lie in. Everything around us was whispering: “Relax, stick around, there’s nowhere you need to be.” But then a cloud of ominous size and coloring appeared on the horizon being blown straight our way, so we decided to evacuate at once. Too late though: soon enough we were caught up in a mega windy rainstorm – with whitecap crests racing down the river.

And did it pour!

The… poor tourists huddled as far inside as they could under the canopy, some even pulling on life jackets – just in case.

But!…

Though I complained about this very thing just a few posts ago, turns out… cruising the rivers in the pouring rain is a special kind of thrill!

But everything comes to an end sooner or later, and sure enough, the rain passed – just as we were getting dropped off on a sandy shoal:

“And when there’s a sandy shoal – it’s always time for a stroll!”… And a dip for anyone who wanted one…

By the way, when the water’s low this sand spit looks completely different:

The Rio Negro, with its piranhas and pirarucu fish – officially swum in!

I mentioned before that the piranhas here are small and don’t attack humans or large animals. And there are around a hundred different species of piranha in all – from tiny “minnows”, to three-to-four-kilogram whoppers (gladly, none of those here).

Strolling along the river sand like this is just wonderful! The views – gorgeous! Especially with storm clouds looming in the background:

Deserving of a smiley:

A glorious finish to another action-packed day!

You can tell the river’s pretty high – the bushes and trees are standing “waist-deep” in the water:

And that’s it – time to be heading back to the hotel for the night…

A great day, and a nice evening too!

The best hi-res photos from our LatAm-2026 trip are here.