Up the Amazon it is hot, often about 40 degrees. Insects swarm in clouds, eyes on the river bank glow in the light of torches and large animals crash about in the forest.
At night everyone wears hats in case something drops on them.
This is now the world for Sir Peter Blake, former round-the-world yachtsman, America's Cup winner, Antarctic voyager and Team New Zealand head.
Sir Peter and the crew of the schooner Seamaster are exploring the River Tapajos near Santarem, about midway between Belem on the Atlantic Coast of Brazil and the inland river port of Manaus in the heart of the rainforest.
The Seamaster, built for polar voyaging but outfitted to cope with the Amazon's intense heat, is on a five-month mission to raise awareness of threats to the world's wildlife.
This time last year, the Seamaster was preparing for a three-month expedition to Antarctica that ended in March.
The shallow-drafted Seamaster left Belem at the mouth of the Amazon River last week after celebrations to mark Sir Peter's 53rd birthday.
"It's hot, we had rain this afternoon and the river is flowing really fast," Sir Peter said before heading up river. "The people are really friendly but it is so different to anything we are used to.
"It is extraordinary. The crew are in awe of what they see. If you want a fillet of fish 2m long by nearly a metre wide, come to Belem."
Everybody on board had to put up with the heat because there was no air conditioning.
"Our deck is covered in hammocks. We went to the market and bought 15 hammocks. We closed up the market for the winter."
Rain had been accompanied by spectacular lightning.
"Not just simple sheet lightning playing among the clouds, but frantic, explosive tropical lightning ... It forked, split into many fingers somewhat like the plan of this great river we are on," said Sir Peter, a special envoy to the United Nations Environment Programme.
After more than a week's voyaging up river, the Seamaster crew have seen the Amazon's famed freshwater pink dolphins and soon they hope to encounter the Amazonian manatee, a kind of sea cow, the giant otter, anacondas and electric eels.
One night after dark, crew members went exploring for crocodile-like caimans in a narrow river channel overhung by undergrowth and trees.
"Our torches shone on pairs of eyes glowing from the river banks, but we didn't get close enough before the owners disappeared," said Sir Peter.
"As we drifted back down the channel keeping as quiet as possible we could hear the sounds of larger animals crashing around in the undergrowth."
The crew are constantly aware of the dangers of the river and the jungle. A former United States serviceman based in Venezuela is among the crew and briefs them on Amazon "nasties".
Sir Peter said the crewman had told them: "Just because you haven't seen them doesn't mean to say they haven't seen you."
"We just missed a two-metre-long anaconda last night," Sir Peter said. "It just slid into the water from where we were walking. We always wear hats at night, just in case something drops on you."
He said that, like the Seamaster's three-month voyage to the Antarctic last summer, the Amazon and Orinoco River journeys were meant to show how important the region was to the world's environment.
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Blakexpeditions
Dangers lurk in Blake's new patch
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