Author: Diane

Today we arrived at the largest city in Amazonia- Manaus- which has over 2 million people! It is actually on the Rio Negro but very close to where it meets the Amazon River. It is also where we turn around and head back to the Atlantic Ocean after our overnight in port.

One fun thing in Manaus was the art on the tall buildings. The feature photo above shows examples.

Manaus is almost in the middle of the Amazon basin. It has manufacturing factories for many foreign companies and supplies come from all over the world. Manaus’ factories also process the natural gas from a pipeline that comes from further inland.

Jennifer went on the pink dolphin excursion. I went on the excursion to January Ecological Park hoping to see giant lily pads and the “Meeting of the Waters”. Jennifer got to touch a pink dolphin but the giant lily pads were not around. I did enjoy the boat ride and glimpse of communities along the river. It was cloudy so the meeting of the water where Rio Negro and the Amazon river meet wasn’t as spectacular as it can be in full sun. The river waters don’t merge for awhile because the temperature and acidity are different. The Rio Negro is blackish and the Amazon River is muddy brown.

Many houses along the river edges are built on logs so that the houses float as the river rises and falls. Eventually the logs rot and the house is moved to another set of logs.

Tonight we stayed up late enough (9:30pm!) to listen to a local folkloric group. We have missed all the other evening shows because we go to our room after dinner, sit on our beds and the next thing we know we are sleeping.

My excursion today was to a Boi Bumba Folk Show. There were so many dancers with incredible costumes. It was amazing. This show was just a taste of what happens in June at the actual Boi Bumba festival. Folks come from around the Amazon, Brazil and the world to see it. Tickets sell out within an hour. I wish I could go to the real festival.

And I got an unexpected treat and saw pink dolphins near the pier. They were fun to watch but very difficult to photograph.

Today we stopped at Alter Do Chao(town on the Amazon River). It has beautiful beaches and folks come from Santerim(a large city/town nearby along the Amazon) on weekends to enjoy the beaches. Only a few of the towns along the Amazon river have beaches, mostly the river edges are forest, brush and grass.

Jennifer and I took the tender to the pier and walked on the promenade along the beach. We had lunch at a beach side restaurant and ordered a dish off the Portuguese menu without being able to read what it was. Jen ended up with a tasty & tender beef dish and I ended up with fried local fish. We did recognize Caipirinha (Brazilian drink) on the menu and each had one. A very fun and relaxing day off the ship. I ended up being one of the last 12 to board the ship because I took extra time to put my toes in the Amazon river! They called Jennifer to check if I was on board or not.

Today we entered the Amazon River- super exciting. It will take us 4 days to reach Manaus. Manaus is the furthest west we go on the Amazon River but it’s still days away from the start of the Amazon.

Every day while on the Amazon, water conservation has been requested because the ship cannot make more water while on the Amazon river. Normally they take the ocean water and filter/reverse osmosis it to get the water we use on board. The gold mining upstream has made the river too toxic with Mercury to be able to filter the water and use it.

The laundry and Jacuzzi are closed and they are reducing the number of times they replace our bed sheets and have requested we use towels sparingly. The announcement ends with “The amazon is beautiful yet delicate.”

We are here at the start of the wet/rainy season when the Amazon river starts to rise. It will rise 15-17 meters by the time the rainy season is over. And it will be about 60 kilometers wider! There is a drought which is just ending. In November a cruise ship had to cancel because there wasn’t enough water for them to get thru and many of the cargo ships couldn’t get thru either.

Those living on the edge of the river build two story houses on stilts and live in the second story when/if the river rises to flood the first story.

Below are random pictures of the Amazon.

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate. That’s the mantra.

Today we went to a wine tasting event where they probably had 40 or more bottles of wine/champagne available to taste. I didn’t taste quite that many, but I did try all the champagne and dessert wine choices. After an hour or so, they took all the wine away and folks left.

Shortly after wine tasting, we went to Afternoon Tea and enjoyed the little sandwiches and desserts and drank lots of tea.

Not sure if champagne, dessert wine and tea count as hydrating.

Note- forward is the front of the ship and aft is the back of the ship.

In a sample day, here’s how I’m getting my steps in. Walk up from deck 7 forward to deck 9 forward for fitness class, forgot my watch and phone so back down to deck 7 and then back up to 9. After fitness class walk down to deck 7 forward to change clothes, walk up to deck 9 forward opps- dining is at the back of the ship so off I go to the back of the ship for breakfast. Then down to deck 4 aft to check at the destination counter for a cruise calendar but it’s not there so back up to deck 5 aft at the Future Cruises desk to get the calendar. Then up to deck 7 forward to pick up stuff to do. Then up to deck 9 forward- oh oh forgot, the library is the back of the ship on deck 10 so walk to the back of the ship and up to deck 10. It’s time for a presentation so off I go- down to deck 5 forward. Then it’s almost time for lunch so back to deck 9 forward- oh oh forgot the dining room is at the back of the ship so walk back…and so it goes for the day…up and down, back and forth. I suspect my step count will go down drastically once I remember where everything is.

Today was laundry & errands day. And we had a touch of rain and 8 foot swells. The ship put out the ‘white bags’ in case someone gets seasick.

We have been asked to conserve water once we are on the Amazon river(should arrive sometime tomorrow). and many folks are doing laundry today. It’s super nice- the ship has a laundry room on-board and it has washers, dryers and an ironing board. They even have laundry detergent that isn’t smelly(perfumed). Today the laundry room wasn’t so nice when I went in as folks were ‘fighting’ for the washers & dryers and it was crowded. Nonetheless, I finished my laundry after winning my ‘fight’ for a dryer!

I wasn’t as successful in checking my bank balance. I tried to change settings at home to get the code via email but I have to get a text message and, as expected, there is no cell service out here in the Atlantic Ocean- even tho we are ‘close’ to land therefore no code arrived via text.

Today featured lots of Rum Punch drinks and I’ve only had rum a few times before. My excursion included a drive up to Gun Hill signal station for an view of the Caribbean side of the island and their farming belt, then a visit to Tropical Garden(which included a Rum punch drink) and finished off with a visit to Sunbury plantation house(which included rum cocktail mixing & tasting followed by a rum punch drink). I suppose I *could* of had the fruit punch.

After the excursion, I took a short walk to the craft hall. It’s confusing in a different country to try to cross the roads with no crossing lights and traffic coming from odd directions & angles but I managed without injury thanks to the kind drivers that stopped before they hit me.

On the way out of the port, the taxi drivers had to direct me to the exit. It’s easy to get to the taxi station but a bit harder to figure out how to exit by walking. And it was easy to get back but the sidewalk dropped you off into the middle of the taxi parking lot! I guess they really don’t want you to walk.

I kept looking for the Antillean Crested Hummingbird which is only found in the Caribbean but never saw it; I did hear lots of birds but didn’t really see many. Jennifer got to see and photograph the hummingbird- it’s a life bird for her. If you look closely, you can see the tiny crest on it’s head.

Barbados is a coral island and not a volcanic island like many other Caribbean islands and it was interesting to see all the plants growing out of the coral. And it is the furthest east of the Caribbean Islands and consequently much(almost all) of the trade between Europe/Africa and the North/South America used to come thru Barbados.

Barbados is the first country where the McDonald’s restaurant chain failed. Our guide said it was because Barbados is a chicken not beef eating country and McDonald’s didn’t have enough chicken offerings. KFC and Chefette (their local fast-food chain) are doing well.

One interesting observation- both the Dominica and the Barbados tour guides mentioned they supply water for the cruise ships.

Today was my first official excursion and my first UNESCO Heritage Site of the trip. Very nice to see only two cruise ships in port. Dominica only has room for two and is planning to build a new cruise terminal so more ships can be accommodated.

On my excursion, we visited the Emerald Pools(short hike to the pools), Trafalgar Falls(short hike to see the falls), and took a drive thru the Botanical Garden. Our bus broke a spring in the suspension and we had to drive very slowly down the hill to our replacement bus which is why I think we didn’t get a chance to walk at the gardens. The Emerald Pools and Trafalgar Falls were in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Dominica is considered the green island of the Caribbean and was lushly green and beautiful. It’s a volcanic island with mountains over 4000 feet. The mountains capture the moist air and Dominica get 300+ inches of rain a year. We had no rain today and it’s another warm day 83 degrees fahrenheit. I had my wonderful water-bottle (thank you IT group) filled with water and ice and enjoyed a cold drink any time I felt too warm.

Hurricane Maria (in 2017) did lots of damage to the island and we saw many building needing repair and many that had new roofs courtesy of the Red Cross. Our guide said the Red Cross was a very helpful agency and encouraged donations.

Dominica has an interesting health system: Kids 0-18 years and adults over 60 are free. Adults between 18 and 60 pay. Gas was currently about $5/gallon and a year at a secondary school is about $1000.

They are very proud of their flag and each of the colors has meaning: Green is for the nature/forest, Black is for the people, Red is blood, Yellow is the sun, White is the water, the bird is the national bird of Dominica and the shape is a cross. The 10 stars represent the 10 parishes.

Our first port and, after three days, I”m happy to have some time off the ship. When we arrived at port, we were one of eight ships. So lots of tourists in town. The locals are friendly and happy to have us visitors. It feels safe too.

We had the third largest cruise ship of the world, Wonder of the Sea, (6,988 passengers- our ship has 670!) just across the pier from us. The really amazing thing is that I saw a green turtle right next to the dock as we pulled up. It was so weird to see the turtle next to that huge cruise ship.

My original excursion to go snorkeling was cancelled so I wandered around port. It’s 84 degrees fahrenheit and the sun is strong so I didn’t stay out long. Just long enough to walk to & from town, visit the shops, visit a local museum and to put my feet on the amazingly fine, white sand and in the cool-ish sea.

There was no shade on the walk and as much as possible I walked in the shade of the buildings around town and enjoyed any stray sea breeze that past by. It was a 15 minute walk from dock to town.

As soon as I returned, Jennifer suggested a root beer float. It sounded great but they don’t have any root beer on board so I settled for a strawberry shake. It took about an hour to cool down to normal temperature. We’ve seen a number of ambulances go to the cruise ships and I found myself wondering if heat stroke was the cause.

Half the island is Dutch and half is French. I was really hoping to have a Dutch meal but couldn’t find any- not sure if I even got to the Dutch part of the island!

The French side freed the slaves before the Dutch side so the slaves just crossed the ‘line’ to become free. Slaves were treated ok as most owners were more interested in drinking rum than farming. Slaves ‘ran’ the farms so everyone could eat. The main crop is Sugar Cane which was grown for sugar(white & brown) and rum.

The island can be listed at Sint Maarten(Dutch), Saint Martin (French), St. Maarten, St. Martin….

Another day of ocean passing by and exploring the ship & it’s activities. The picture is of the view from my breakfast table.

I love my apple watch retirement gift- thank you IT group- it tells me I’m actually meeting my movement goals. Don’t ask how high/low the goals are.