MANAUS, BRAZIL (Day 2)

Today day 2 in Manaus. We went on foot today to explore the city. There was was a short bus ride to the port terminal building, as we were not allowed to walk through the port area. It was very busy on the street with vendors and a lot of pedestrians. Our goal was to get to the opera house.(Belle Epoque Theatro Amazonas) This opera house was opened in 1897 and was was a reminder of the wealth generated during the rubber boom at the the end of the 19th century. We were told that it was closed Monday’s. When we got there we were told that they were open for tours today. We had to wait 3/4 hour, but it was well worth it. Beautiful old building. The orchestra was rehearsing when we did the tour. We got to watch from above out of one of the many private boxes. I had a peak in the Governor’s box. After the hour tour we had some lunch across the street. After lunch we slowly walked our way back to the port area. On our way back we stopped in a variety of shops. We got on board around 3. At 4:15 we had a mandatory safety drill on the ship. At 5pm we had a sail away get together on the back deck. This is usually acompanied by the ships cocktail of the day. This was the furthest point we travelled on the Amazon River. We now started our journey back down the river towards the Atlantic Ocean. About an hour after we left, we crossed the meeting of the waters again.

Manaus is a very busy city with a lot of history. There are over 2 million residents living here. There is a lot of industry in the city. It is also a supply center for all of the Amazon. I talked to some locals, they were saying that the city took in nearly 400,000 migrants from Venezuela. It changed the demographic of the city. It resulted in more unemployed and poverty for the local population. The migrants were taking lots of the jobs and worked often for less than half the wages. Looking back,  we had a very good visit here.

Cheers

” South America ” Cheers ” “Manaus “

MANAUS, BRAZIL (Day 1)

Around 10 am this morning we arrived in Manaus. Approximate 6 miles before we got to Manaus we passed the meeting of the waters. This is where the dirty waters of the Amazon River meets the clean water of the Rio Negro. These waters don’t mix, and a dividing line is visible in the river. We had a tour booked for the afternoon. After we boarded our tour boat we went up the Rio Negro for an hour boat ride to a native village. The waters of the Rio Negro are a little acidic, what makes it unattractive for mosquitoes. The water is slightly dark of color. We passed by numerous sandy beaches where families had gathered for a Sunday picnic and a beach day. Lots of kids swimming in the river. Apparently the piranhas don’t bother the swimmers, so long there is no blood In the water.  We went on shore at the native village and were treated to a native dance. We were offered some Cayman which was cooking on the barbecue. It tastes like chicken. Meanwhile the outside temperature was very hot. We boarded the boat on our way to a rubber museum in the jungle. This museum and accessory buildings were used for a movie set called “The Jungle ” . We were informed here  about the economic rubber boom at the late 1800’s. After we spent an hour roaming around here, we boarded the boat for our ride back to town. On the way back the tour boat captain sold us some ice cold beers from a cooler. That for sure hit the spot with the passengers. We arrived back at the ship around 6:30. We were tired and hungry after spending the afternoon in the sun. We stayed anchored in Manaus for the night. After We watched a Brazilian show at the ships theatre, we called’r the night.

Rio Negro is up to 21km wide and up to 110 meters deep.

Cheers

“South America ” “Cruising ” “Manaus”

BOCA DA VALERIA, BRAZIL

Hi all. Below is an overview of the day by Carol, as I decided to stay on board for the day. Happy Readings!

What an interesting day in Boca. I went ashore with Mark and Pam. Cor decided to stay abroad the ship.
The town is a small village carved out of the jungle with about 100 people of indigenous and Portuguese decent.
The beautiful children were there to greet us, some dressed in their native outfits and showed us their exotic animals. The kids had a lot of sloths to show us. I gave them an American dollar if I stopped to take a photo.

We decided to hire a fellow to take us up the river to see more of the community. It was so interesting. We saw these large lily pads. Most people from the cruise ship hired a small boat to take them along the waterways. 5 American dollars for a 45 minute ride. Well worth it. We stopped to have a cool drink at this funny blue place on stilts before hopping back on the tender boat to take me back to the ship.

Cheers

“South America ” “Cruising ” “Boca Da Valeria “

SANTAREM, BRAZIL

Today we are visiting the city of Santarem. Santarem is a city of approximately 300 Thousand residents. We were supposed to have a berth on the dock, but it was taken up by a large fertilizer barge, which was being unloaded. This meant that we had to use the tender boats. We went on shore around 9:00. We had booked a piranha fishing tour for the day. We boarded our tour boat with approximately 20 other passengers. First we went up to the meeting of the waters of the Amazon River and the Tapajos River. These waters don’t mix and there is a dividing line between the dirty Amazon water and the clean Tapajos water. At this location we also witnessed a bunch of dolphins in the water. After this dolphin display we cruised to an area named Maica lake. This lake is basically a large area which floods during the wet season. First we were looking for some wildlife. We seen an hurt of water buffalos and also spotted a sloth hanging from a tree branch. After having cruised through the small channels for a while, we were given a fishing line with bait on it. I never managed to get a fish on board. A lot of nibbling on my line, but no good bite. Our crew managed to catch a total of 2 piranhas and 2 small catfish. The teeth of the piranhas were razor sharp. The local people fish for Piranha to eat. After this fishing adventure we returned back to the harbor. On the way back we seen a couple of pink dolphins. When we got back to shore we decided to go back to the ship, because it was smeltering hot. We got back to the ship around 2 for a 4 pm departure. The remaining afternoon we spent around the pool.

Santarem is one of the oldest city’s in the Brazilian Amazon, founded in 1661. The big boom today here is soybeans. A variety of ships were being loaded and unloaded. Ferry boats were coming and going. I seen several shipyards on shore. There were lots of supply stores and businesses. It is definitely a economic and commercial center for the area. Their is an attractive water front promenade . Their is water as far as the eye can see. All in all a very attractive city with a very low crime rate compared to previous cities we visited.

Cheers

“South America ” “Cruising ” “Santarem”

AMAZON RIVER CRUISING

AMAZON RIVER CRUISING

BELEM, BRAZIL

This morning at daybreak we were sailing into Belem. We anchored in front of one of the Subburbs of Belem, named Icoaraci. We anchored at this location because of the changing water level in the river. The river we were in is named Guama River. Where we were anchored the river was about 6 miles wide. We were anchored about 1 mile of shore. Around 8:30 local time small tender boats started transporting passengers to shore if they decided to do so. It took about 20 minutes to get from the ship to the pier in Icoaraci. The area around the pier was dotted with small fishing boats in an variety of colors. From this pier, there were free shuttle busses available to take us to Belem if you wanted to go there. We boarded the shuttle bus for the 45 minutes ride to Belem. Our stop was at several converted port warehouses. These warehouses were converted to an variety of very nice restaurants and a few stores. Not to forget the ice cream place with over 100 flavours. Next to this warehouse is the Mercado Ver-O-Peso, Brazil’s largest outdoor market. Here you could buy pretty well everything you can think of. Attached to the market is also a large outside food court eating area. (We skipped this place for health reasons) This was the craziest market I ever seen, just packed with local people buying their everyday needs. There was one lady chopping brazil nuts with this huge machete, and yes, I counted and she still had all her fingers. After this display we retrieved to the warehouse restaurant for some lunch. During lunch the sky let loose and dropped about 2″ of rain in 1/2 an hour. We didn’t feel comfortable to venture of on our own into the narrow side street’s for safety reasons. Around 2 pm we boarded the bus back to the tender boats. As there was only 1 docking area for the tender boats, other boats tied onto our tender boat and started unloading passengers through our boat towards the dock. After they were all unloaded, we could continue loading our boat up and head back to the ship. All in all, it made for a interesting day today. The ship set sail around 6 pm. When we were having dinner it felt like we were scraping over a silt bank and almost came to a complete stop. Luckily we made it through it and sailed on. Apparently there was in some places only 2 meters of water below the ship.

There is a large French influence in Belem dating back to the 19th century. The discovery of rubber in the 19th century resulted in an economic boom for the area. It was during this time that a lot of colonial buildings were constructed. Even today Belem is very much an economic and commercial center for the this region. There are approximately 2 million residents living in the Belem area. In Belem there seems to be a sharp contrast between the the rich and poor. I noticed quite a few people sleeping on the street. Also noticeable was the large amount of garbage everywhere. After seeing it rain today, we know where this garbage is eventually is going to end up. Yes, in the river and out to the ocean. I hope this is not something we are going to see going up the Amazon River. There seems to be a need for educating people how to dispose of their garbage properly. On the other side they are busy with their no 1 priority in life, what is providing for their families, what is not always easy.

Regarding the weather, there are 2 types of weather here. Days with rain and days with rain all day.

Cheers for today

“South America ” “Belem ” “Cruising “

SEADAY

Good Morning (Bom Dia). Today we are steaming up to the city of Belem, what gets us close to the Amazon region. Before we get to the Amazon, I like to share a few facts about the Amazon River.

THE AMAZING AMAZON: * The Amazon River is the second longest river in the world (4000 miles ).* It is made up of over 1100 tributaries, 17 of which are longer than 1000 miles. * Amazon water flows 125 miles in to the Atlantic Ocean.* 106 million cubic feet of suspended sediments are swept into the ocean each day.* The Amazon River accounts for 20% of the fresh water what flows into the world’s oceans.* The Amazon River basin has an area of about 2.7 million square miles.* It represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforest.* It is the largest and most species rich tract of rainforest in the world.

HOW WIDE IS THE AMAZON RIVER: * Between 1 and 6 miles wide during the dry season.* During the wet season it can reach 30 miles wide or more. * The estuary at the Atlantic Ocean is 150 miles wide.

THE FLOW RATE OF THE AMAZON: Two hours of flow meets the annual needs of New York City.

Tchau

”South America” “Amazon River ” “Cruising “

FORTALEZA, BRAZIL

Todays stop brings us to Fortaleza in north eastern Brazil. Fortaleza is a city of almost 3 million residents. It looks like most live in apartment or condo type high rises overlooking the atlantic ocean. The coast is lined with sandy beaches and a smattering of sea side cafes. There are around 25km of beaches inside the city. For today we booked a tour called the best of Fortaleza, basically a 4hr tour with stops at a local artisan mall with 500 small stores, the local cathedral, local beach and the theatre / opera house. In between the stops we had a good look at different parts of the city from the bus window. We were not to impressed with the city, not very clean and road construction everywhere. After visiting several colonial cities the past week, we are getting tired of the same shopping malls and old churches and buildings. We figured we should have gone to the beach instead today and suck on a cold beveridge while over looking the ocean. When we got out the tour bus at our stops, we were warned to be extra carefull for pickpocketers and muggers. As we were used to by now, we we left our jewelry and watches at the ship. Another isue adding to the safety was, that the local police force was currently on strike. Instead of local police, there was a lot of military police around and in a couple of areas we seen army trucks with soldiers in full gear stationed at street corners. For today we had an early departure 1:30. This early departure was, to make it to the next port by early Tuesday morning. For the remaining part of the afternoon, we hang around the pool and played a game of trivia.

Cheers

“South America” “Fortaleza” “Beaches”

SEADAY

Another seaday today. Time to catch up on the blogs and the gym. This afternoon I went to a interesting lecture on Brazil’s agriculture. Brazil is the world 3th largest food producer in the world. Another highlight was, that we went to another indonesian rijst tafel lunch which was put on in the pinnacle grill restaurant on the ship. After this big lunch, we pretty well had to skip dinner. For the night, we sat on the back deck under the stars with a glass of wine.

Cheers

“South America” “Seaday” “Cruising”