Deep in the Amazon Jungle (kind of)

Tuesday – 10 March 2009 – Belem, Brazil

This cruise's last port call in Brazil is Belem, 90 miles within the Amazon Delta. Tides are 4.5 meters, and seasonal floods are a factor as well. Fortunately no one notices being underwater since the humidity and temperature year round is 86F and 86% respectively. Nevertheless the town which I visited after a half day jungle trip has a wonderful old feel—at least near the port. A huge market operates daily and for most of the daylight hours. One can buy bowling trophies, pans, strange looking fruit, lunch from hundreds of stands, smelly fish (especially later in the day), and attempt to understand more than obligato and nada. These are my entire vocabulary in "Brazilian*, not Portuguese", the guide on this morning's excursion said. Of course, "thank you" and "you're welcome" are two of the 4 magic words I learned from my mom. So 500 ball isn't bad. The guide, by the way, said when asked how refuse was dealt with in the isolated villages we passed in the jungle, "There is refuse collection three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, in the evening." The big piles of cans behind each small house which sat on stilts in the swamp may have caused some cognitive dissonance in me if I was the least bit cynical.

The morning boat ride was to such an isolated fishing village. We visited the school and then went on an hour long walk in the thick, muddy, spider and snack infested Amazon jungle, watched a man—said to be 67 years old but looked only 167 years old—climb really high up a tree, and I got my picture taken with Chiquita Banana's grand daughter. All in all a very nice day.

We sail at 8 pm this evening deeper into the Amazon delta system to circumnavigate Marajó Island, the largest river island in the world, a distinction I never really thought of before. We enter Breves Narrow tomorrow early morning and will navigate this narrow passage in Silver Cloud until after lunch, only to enter the Atlantic at the Macapa Pilot Station at supper time and then cross north of the equator line shortly after so that nobody's soup is spilled as ride over it. I plan to take lots more pictures from the ship in the Breves Narrows if I can find a place to put down the gin and tonic.

We proceed NNW along the top of South America on Thursday to arrive at 9 am at Devil's Island on Friday. Each of us will be issued a "get out of jail free" card and a visa for French Guiana.

*The language here in Belem must be difficult or there are cultural things I don't understand as the lovely tourist map of the town translates the heading for the city's hotels, "Meios de Hospedagem" as "Half of Lodging". This might mean only 4 hour lodging or very small rooms. Perhaps my friend Marc who is from Brazil can advise. [MB Note: After posting this entry, Marc did indeed help with the language. Meios is Portuguese for "Means" as Means of Lodging does make sense. Unfortunately, the translater of the brochure slipped a word in their Portuguese-English dictionary and looked up Meio. Thanks, Marc.]

Supplemental

The Uber-Time Zone Discussion

I composed today's journal entry, edited, and uploaded the photos while having morning bullion in the Panorama (called alternatively "Paranormal" or just "Paranoid" by some of the staff, mostly bartenders and, uh, me). As Internet is charged 35 cents an hour—with advance payment, no less—I was more than a little distracted by a conversation that I was forced into with another guest. First of all, the interruption was by a delightful elderly (86 yr old) gentleman fellow passenger whom I had the pleasure of having a couple of meals with at the hotel in Rio before boarding the ship. He and his wife are from South Carolina. He is a retired two star general and no dummy by any means, and I want to admit right off that the misunderstanding may have been all mine.

Here's the exchange. The General starts off. My responses are indented below.

Mike, how far are we from South Carolina?

We're about 4,000 miles I suspect.

No, I mean after today.

Well, we should be only a little closer as we will be sailing mostly west and we only go about 17 knots.

But aren't we changing our clocks overnight tonight?

No, we don't do that until Devil's Island, next week.

Oh, I thought we change the clock ahead tonight.

I understand, you mean that in South Carolina they will go to summer time.

Actually, the weather is already getting quite mild. We don't have much winter there. We live in the Southern part of the state. I suppose up north it's still a bit chilly.What is the time zone we are in now?

We're three hours from GMT.

Yes, but how far are we from South Carolina?

Oh, you mean the time. We're now 2 hours from the US East Coast, but tomorrow we will be only one hour ahead of them.

So we don't have to change the clock tonight?

No, the ship's time won't change.

But we keep our watches on our home's time.

                Then you better change those tonight, but the ship's time won't  change until next week.

I have another question if you have a minute.

                Sure.

What is the name of the time zone we are in now. It can't be Atlantic Time since that's only one hour from South Carolina.

                I think it's Brazilian Time. They went off summer time a couple of weeks ago.

I thought it's always hot here.

Dunes (and more beaches)

Saturday - 7 March 2009 - Natal, Brazil

 

Natal is 5 degrees south of the equator. Unlike this latitude in Peru, the Brazil current makes it hotter, not cold and clammy as does the Antarctic Humboldt current. The extreme eastern location makes the time zone wrong (but the same as most of Brazil) so that it's light and hot at 5 am. The early morning arrival under the 1 year old bridge gave the opportunity to deduce that low tide really is, uh, low. Or perhaps the boat owners here have very poor judgment in their mooring decisions.

 

The ship sponsored free hourly shuttle gave a nice opportunity to see the famous Natal sand dunes, the quite lovely beach (which boasts no sharks and year-round 84 degree F water temperature). Natal has 360 sunny days a year and no major storms. The only apparent shelter is phone enclosures.

 

Will sail out at 5 pm this afternoon and spend the next two days sailing NW to Belam which is 90 miles into the Amazon delta. I have booked a 3 1/2 hour boat ride and short hike. DEET will be served from spigots.

 

Will lose one hour of the two hour time difference to the US East Coast tonight as you folks go off Standard Time. We will catch up on the ship to EDT when we leave Brazil after Belam and change to Devil's Island Time which is the same Boston. Go figure.

 

Besides the persistent skin infection and now the usual sore throat, all is well.

Closest to Africa

Friday - 06 March 2009 - Recife, Brazil

 

Recife is composed of a number of interconnected islands. It's very hot and humid, and although it is Friday the downtown is abandoned. It is the first celebration of a new holiday which commemorates the local revolution against Portugal. The town square is full of officials getting ready for a parade and speeches including a large contingent of Masons who are wearing their bibs. (Look up sketches of George Washington who wore such a bib at his inaugural. Go figure.)

 

I enjoyed the very leisurely walking and bus tour mostly because of the amusing guide, who like many guides on such trips never stopped talking but knew a lot without taking himself too seriously. I did get a nice photograph with a small local band and tried to keep the small umbrella they insisted I hold. There were also lots of remnants of Carnival all around town. Carnival is really, really big here. My friend Ellen in New Jersey participated twice at Carnival her in Recife in her women's drum band. So it was particularly fun to be here during the season.

 

Recife has a huge beach that goes for 20 miles it seems, lots of public art, and unique wood carvings. It also has the first synagogue in America, now a museum but not on the tour.

 

Had a late lunch with yet another retired doctor (from England) and a US diplomat and Stanford graduate wife who are lecturers on the ship. We discussed Tim Wirth and Hillary Clinton, both friends of them.

 

Another day here on the ship. Tomorrow Natal up the coast.

 

 

Salvador, Brazil

Wednesday – 4 March 2009 – Salvador, Brazil

Avoid using the Lacerda elevator, the tour brochure said. Having never thought of it, I found no such compulsion.  I was most impressed after a sea day sailing (well, actually motoring) up the coast of Brazil from Rio to see the emerald city of oz appearing in the distance. Salvador's modern city is a apparition of high rize condos or apartments, many of them with large balconies which are actually private swimming pools, one per apartment. As Fitzgerald said, The very very rich are not like you or I.

Oddly enough, Salvador is a remarkable and very friendly town. The former capital of Brazil, it dates back to 1501 and boasts a population that is 80% African, African music, African food, and yet a decidedly European feeling .  A street vendor with a home made mobile stand in the shape of a locomotive, an grizzled old guy looking out a window complete with a lively street scene. The remands of the largest and best , said the tour guide on my interminable walking tour in 35 degree (that's C for much too hot), uh, heat. There are dozens of very beautiful but decaying churches and lots of people moving very slowly.

I really liked Salvador.

Making lots of friends, well at least dinner companions. There's a number of folks from the Northeast, actually NYC area, and lots of discussions and my kind of humor. I'm about to have lunch today with Judy Abbot, the Cruise Director, a good friend of Ray Solaire (see the journal of the last cruise). I suspect his name will come up.

The evening of the sea day I had dinner with the Captain, a recently widowed philosophy professor, my friends Heinz and Ellen, and a 94 year old woman who has over 1000 days on Silversea and has had 9 husbands and numerous boyfriends, including one who was "her favorite" but passed away a year ago. He said he called him her "boyfriend" because he was 3 months younger. The table also included the 94 year old's daughter who is a family practice doctor. What a varied dinner it was, but the captain talked mostly to me, about ship handling and weather issues. This morning I had coffee with the IT/Communications Officer, a 60 yr old guy who had been a radioman on ships for 25 years before that position was eliminated. We talked about Morse code and wireless internet antenna placement. I think I scared him.

At breakfast, the head waiter suggested I get an omelet made by the very bored chef at the egg station as no one was up at 7:30 when the buffet opened. He told me, "The omelet will be the very best thing that will happen to you on this cruise." I told him that I was kind of hoping for more than that, but the ham, onion, and mushroom omelet was indeed very good. Perhaps it was the best egg I will have on the trip if not the "best thing."

Finished the day after dinner on the deck up high on the stern sipping lemoncello and pointing out the Southern Cross, Canopus, and the Magellanic Clouds to all who cared to look. Went to sleep looking forward to an aspirn.

 

Symmetric Thrust and All is Well

Sunday - 1 March 2009 – Boarding in Rio

A lengthy walk up and down the Ipanema beachfront passed the early morning (it was only 90 or so in the early morning coolness, but it was a wet heat!) as the highway is closed to auto traffic on Sundays. The most beautiful young people in the world were already loading up Ipanema Beach as the old folks—don't ask about old men in speedos—were walking with me on the road. The $24 taxi ride from Ipanema to the cruise pair was $116 cheaper than the gracious accommodation offered by Silversea Cruises. But as the cruise line representative at the hotel said, "You will be conveniently billed on your shipboard account." I suppose I might have been more interested in the offer if they were to charge someone else's shipboard account. The taxi ride was better as it gave me the opportunity to experience a ride from a driver who had a deep hatred of red traffic signals, actually a loathing bordering on rage. Needless to say, the ride went quickly.

Boarding early at 10:30 am allowed me to settle in before the traditional lineup of cabin stewardesses, always a treat. 

 

Monday – 2 March 2009 – Rio Botanic Garden, Tijuca National Park Jeep Ride – Sailing

The Botanic Gardens are huge, old, a wildlife sanctuary (notice the miniature monkey in the tree), and empty on a Monday morning. A couple of mile walk in the 114% humidity was followed by a lengthy 4-wheel drive in an open back jeep for us 6 hardy adventurers taking the tour. The others on the half empty ship (about 130 guests out of a capacity of 300 or so) were not taking any tours I was told. The jeep ride went into the 8,200 hectare National Park. (8,200 hectares is a lot of acres, more than 8,200 to be sure. The conversion if 2.24 or is to 4.1 light years per hectare, if you carry the "8".) We took a short hike, lots of pictures, and kept from throwing up. A nice tour, all in all, for a lot of money as it was priced in hectares.

The sail away out the Rio harbor past Sugarloaf and Cocovado (BGJ) got me to observe the range of guests onboard who were in their sail away garb apparently. I documented that both screws were providing equal thrust—no asymmetric azipods for Silversea (they don't have azipods on Silver Cloud)—and had a lovely dinner with a medical professor and hospital administrator wife. Went to sleep early with theSouthern Cross out my window as the ship headed NE towards the easternmost point of South America and Wednesday's arrival in Salvador, the old Brazilian capital and home of many pickpockets, according to the defensive ship's brochure.

Note on Silversea versus Regent and Silver Cloud: Cloud is fantastic, intimately small, service is caring and courteous, staff all knows me, dairy free pastries and chocolate desserts already coming regularly, and bartenders—mostly women promoted from bar waitresses on earlier cruises, including the Chief Bartender as Silversea is a leader in elevating non-traditional staff groups—know how to make drinks. The Silversea product is head and shoulders better than Regent now. A couple who were on my recent Mariner cruise accosted me with the comment, "What were we thinking."

So far, so good….

Rio, Rio, Rio by the Sea, Oh

Saturday - 28 February 2009 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Insight #1: Nowadays it is absolutely essential to arrive at the airport or plan connection times of at least 3 hours on international trips. Insight #2: Following rule #1 can cause really long waits in various Red Carpet Clubs. Insight #3: Don't expect much to eat in Red Carpet Clubs. A few carrot sticks do not go very far.

United flights from Denver (in snow showers) and from Washington Dullas (in heavy rain) left on time, the former arrived 20 minutes early and the latter 20 minutes late due to air traffic control although there were no other planes landing or taking off. Weather in Rio is clear, temperature at 11 am is the boiling point of iron (but nice). Speaking of nice, my name was called by the gate agent as boarding started on the 10:19 pm ten hour flight from IAD. Seat 26A was replaced with seat 9A, a new United lie-flat "pod" in Business Class. A beef fillet wrapped in bacon replaced my vegan lactose free meal which had been replaced by the same capricious United Airline gnomes by a dairy laden low-fat meal. Two (or was it three) glasses of a Chilean merlot made the less than capacious but greatly improved C-cabin seat/bed very comfortable as well as even more needed. The blue bird of travel happiness poops or smiles on/at you, sometimes as the same time. Even luggage arrived within minutes of my arriving at baggage claim as well as notorious Brazilian Immigrations' vindictive treatment of Americans had also changed to a big smile and a hardy obligata from the not ugly Immigration agenta. A lengthy wait for the one other paid for cruise line transfer from the airport to the hotel (due to their luggage being misplaced between Boise, San Francisco, Washington, and Rio) was tempered by a lengthy chat with the 30-something cruise line representative who regaled me with stories of her working in the States at a kosher catering place in LA while getting a degree at UCLA. I had met the Boise couple at the gate in Washington (pre-upgrade, but they were upgraded as well). They for reasons unknown told me about the "Jewish Festival" each Fall in Boise where bagels and pastrami is brought it. I introduced the Boise folks to the UCLS woman when they showed up. I figured they all had something in common.

The Caesar Park Hotel is at the center of Ipanema Beach. It's Saturday and the world looks a lot nicer, especially on and at the beach. The hotel is immodestly dowdy. No one speaks English, the CRT TV set has cable with 80 channels all in Portuguese except for a subtitled old Iron Chef and the subtitled Jonny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. No CNN, BBC, or even (arrgh) Fox seemed to be available. Oh well. I approached the Silversea courtesy desk at the hotel to arrange for a early but cheap taxi transfer to the ship for tomorrow (to replace a $140 proposal from Silversea Cruises). I asked a British couple who were standing by if they were engaging the agent or if I might proceed with finalizing my arrangement. They graciously stepped aside, saying they were just looking at possible tours. The agent proceeded to ask me all the same questions as from a earlier discussion, at which point the English gentleman started to holler at me in a loud and very indignant voice that I had barged into his transaction. I said I thought they had given me leave to finish my transaction which only made the guy more upset. I apologized again. They repaired to the hotel bar where they spent the afternoon while I took a walk on the beach, a number of pictures from various locations, and returned to the hotel to seeing my friends from Albion still repairing in the bar over a number of Brazilian chardonnays.

Another couple accosted me shortly after. They were having lunch in the 23rd floor restaurant with a dynamite view (as well as blown up prices), and I was taking a few snaps from the windows. The woman, a complete stranger, said, "Didn't you lecture on cruise ships?" I asked why she thought I did. She said, someone had told her about how good my lectures were. I asked how she recognized me from a description from a third party. At least she didn't say outright that I looked Jewish.

I've just discovered that the spell checker on this new notebook computer's Outlook Express is in French, the Windows picture resizer is not installed, and the Gmail off-line setup doesn't support off-line attachments. Work arounds to all will give me something to do on the cruise, as if I have spare time. Will head to the Silver Cloud tomorrow after the included breakfast at the hotel.

Sunday - 1 March 2009 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

CNN International (European version) and the BBC appeared in the channel line-up after a lovely dinner in the hotel of "Brazilian Meet Stew". I met and ate the meat, I suppose. The meat as well as the meet was great. My friend Marc's Portuguese translation of my non-lactose diatary needs worked like a charm with the restaurant's hostess. So did her English. By the way, after a good sleep of 8 1/2 hours, the hotel seems a lot nicer. I greeted the English couple this morning by asking if everything was OK. They said, "You bet." Off to the ship shortly...