Home Sweet Home

Two days at sea before we docked at Miami were well appreciated.  We were able to relax in the shade as it was still very warm, but much less humid.  We finished our bridge games for the cruise and had lots of last minute meals with our friends.

We arrived right on time at Miami and took a cab to the airport. It was hot in Miami, but we still had to dress for Nova Scotia! Our flight to Newark was scheduled for 1:15, so we had lots of spare time to spend at the airport. When we arrived at the airport at 9:30 we checked in and went through security, thinking we would have a long wait.  We decided to check out which gate we were to leave from and as we approached the gate, the attendant said "You must be the Marshalls. Just wait a minute and I will arrange for your luggage to be put on this flight which is about to leave." We were immediately put on the flight and upgraded. Got to love United Airlines! The flight was half full.

It was raining hard when we arrived at Halifax at 10:30. Andrea picked us up and handed us our winter coats. We spent the night in Halifax and drove home the next day.  Wouldn't you know it .... we had snow coming home on Wednesday; in fact, we were driving 50 km/hr on the 101 between Dartmouth and Kentville.

Everything was fine at home and we are looking forward to spending Christmas in Bridgewater with the family.  Thanks to everyone for following our blog.  It was the trip of a lifetime and when we are asked if we would do it again with said definitely "no".  Not because we did not love it, but there are just too many other places we want to go.  We do not repeat our vacations.

Stay tuned .... on January 31st we leave for a month in Costa Rica and I will do another blog.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.  May God bless you and your loved ones.

Barbados, Antigua and Puerto Rico

Bridgetown, Barbados

Barbados retains a very British atmosphere. Afternoon tea is a ritual and cricket is the national sport. Barbadians are a warm, friendly and hospitable people who are genuinely proud of their country and culture. Beaches along  the island’s south and west coasts are picture-perfect and open to cruise passengers. On the rugged east coast, the Atlantic Ocean attracts world-class surfers. The northeast is dominated by rolling hills and valleys; the interior of the island is covered by acres of sugarcane and dotted with small villages.

Entrance to Sugar Cane Plantation

Atlantic Ocean Beach

View From Atlantis Hotel

Eric’s shore excursion was 4 x 4 beach Safari which took him to the Atlantic side of the island.  Judi’s shore excursion was a Barbados photo adventure with famous Barbadian photographer Ronnie Carrington.  They were both excellent shore excursions, with magnificent scenery and a taste of the famous Barbados rum punch. The weather was spectacular and it felt so good to be rid of the hot, humid temperatures.

St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda

It is so nice to wake up each morning to a new port. St. John’s is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda. It is one of the most developed and cosmopolitan municipalities in the Lesser Antilles. We both took the same shore excursion, 4 x 4 Luxury Beach Safari and got a spectacular ride around the more isolated spots on the island. This is a beautiful clean island and we could see why it is such a popular tourist destination. The beach portion of the tour took us to a lovely beach destination where we were able to swim for an hour. The nice part about going off-road was that we were able to drive to some high hills for wonderful views of the towns along the water.

View of Harbour from Hilltop

Our Beach Stop

Abandoned Sugar Mill

We drove back to the ship at 5 pm and got caught up in the Santa Claus parade. While we were stopped, we were able to enjoy the local culture.

Friday Rush Hour

San Juan, Puerto Rico

We had been to San Juan before, so we chose not to wander the streets …. which is so much fun. Instead we chose a trip to the rainforest. El Yunque National Forest. It was a 45 minute drive from the port and just as we turned the first corner I saw a Tim Hortens and Scotiabank.  Actually we saw Scotiabank at pretty well each port town, even in Brazil. The island is very busy and thankfully it was Saturday so the roads were only moderately crazy. The National Forest, run by the US, was excellent.

At the National Forest we visited the visitor’s center, stopped at a waterfall, did a 30 minute guided walk through the rainforest and went up an observation tower.  This was a very good experience and of course I have lots of good photos.

El Yunque National Forest Welcome Center

Waterfall at National Forest

Love the Rainforest

We left San Juan at 9 pm and about 1 pm I awoke when I heard the side thrusters on the ship. This was not supposed to happen at sea! Then I realized the ship had stopped.  Well, we were back at San Juan as a lady had had a bad heart attack and they had to get her to port. An ambulance was waiting for her and they took her, her husband and all their luggage off the ship. By now we had lost 8 hours and the captain is trying his best to get us to Miami on time. Many of us have flights out on Tuesday and people are getting a bit nervous. We’re not concerned as this would be when our trip interruption insurance would kick in. Eric has been doing the math and figures we are okay. Never a dull moment while at sea.

The seas are calm and right now we are passing close to Haiti and then Cuba.  All for now …..

Parintins, Brazil

Parintins is located on Tupinambarana Island in the Amazon River, halfway between Santaren and Manaus, Brazil. Accessible only by air and boat, the city of 115,000 is a 25-hour river boat trip from Manaus.  But Parintins is no isolated third-world community. In 2006, the Intel World Ahead Program brought in computers and connected two schools, a hospital, a community center and Amazon University to the WiMax broadband wireless Internet service.

Because there are not enough hotels in Parintins, out-of-town visitors either rent bedrooms from locals or sleep in hammocks in the Amazon river boats, which brought them from Manaus.  Most people don’t sleep at all, preferring to sing, dance and party around-the-clock.

Riverboat Hotels

The only shore excursion offered was the Boi Bumba Folk Show, which was presented in the large, air-conditioned convention center. Boi Bumba means “bull dance” and is a comic re-enactment of a legend based on a resurrected bull.  We were all tendered ashore and seated in the theatre.  The production was absolutely spectacular, with lots of drums, guitars and singing.  The music was non-stop for over an hour, accompanied by a wide array of beautiful costumed dancers. All the feathers on their costums were authentic and not dyed. It was one of the best performances we have ever seen and we have lots of great photos.

Photos from the performance

This was our last stop on the Amazon River and each stop was unique and well put together.

Devil’s Island, French Guiana

We didn’t know what to expect on Devil’s Island.  It is the smallest and northernmost island of the three Iles du Salut located about 6 nautical miles off the coast of French Guiana, South America. It has an area of 34.6 acres and it was the smallest of the nortorious French penal colony in French Guiana until 1952.

Once again we were tendered ashore and we spent the morning hiking around the island. It was incredible hot and humid, worse than the Amazon River, but we had a very enjoyable day.

Part of the ruins

Beautiful hiking path around the island

Not very much to say about this island, as most if the buildings are in ruins. There is a hostel and a hotel still operating on the island. We were able to see monkeys, peacocks and lots of other wildlife.  Off in the distance, on the mainland we were able to see the rocket launch site. If there was to be a rocket launch, the island would be evacuated.

The resident peacock

The prison cell ruins

The hotel

Another day at sea to rest up for 3 more days of shore excursions!

Manaus, Brazil

Manaus is the capital of the state of Amazonas and is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimoes rivers.  It is the largest metropolitan area in Northern Brazil and the twelfth in all of Brazil, with 2,006,870 inhabitants, making it the 8^th most populous city in Brazil. It represents 50% of the population of the Amazon.

Manaus was at the centre of the Amazon region’s rubber boom during the 19^th century and was labelled “one of the most gaudiest cities in the world”. The decadence of the city extended to the grand opera house which cost $10,000,000 to construct. After the collapse of the rubber industry in Brazil, the opera house went through years of neglect, but has been fully restored and is fully operational.

We had an overnight stay in Manaus which gave many of the crew members a chance to go ashore. The city is very large and quite spread out. A beautiful new bridge has been constructed over the river and has been dubbed the “bridge to nowhere”. There is one highway out of Manaus and it extends north to Venezuela.

We did a tour of the city and really enjoyed it. Our driver made certain to take us all over the city to show us the different levels of housing and types of shopping. Near the harbour was the market where the people on the riverboats buy and sell their wares. Downtown are many elite shops, hotels and restaurants.  We toured the opera house, which is a magnificent building. They were preparing for a huge Christmas concert which was going to be broadcast outside, so the seats on the main floor were covered to make a stage. We have many beautiful photos of the opera house.

 The Opera House

Next we toured an Indian museum, operated by nuns. It was interesting to experience the culture of three different tribes.  Afterwards we toured the zoo, operated by the Army and saw lots of wonderful animals and birds.  It was a long tour and it was very warm, but we enjoyed it.

In the evening, Eric went “caiman spotting”. He found it interesting, but not well organized.  The next day was the tour to see the “meeting of the rivers” where the black and white rivers meet and flow side by side.  Both the meeting of the rivers and the caiman spotting at listed in “1,000 things to do before you die”.

Caiman Spotting

Meeting of the Waters

It was interesting to watch the activity on the dock while we were docked. Outside our balcony there was a commotion below us. It turned out to be a small fishing boat which 2 crew members had rented. They had caught 2, 35 kg fish and had them in the small boat. We watched as they tried to lift the fish out of the boat, on to the ship. It was tough, but they made it.

The slum area of Manaus on the waterfront

Our ship at night

The bridge to nowhere

Manaus was our last port before returning down the Amazon river and we travelled a total of three time zones.  As we left Manaus, we realized that our cruise was half over.

Christmas tree at the stern of the ship at sunset

Boca Da Valeria, Brazil

The Boca da Valeria Port in Brazil means “mouth of the Valeria River”; it is where only 100 people live. It is a tiny Indian fishing and trading village where the people sustain a livelihood through tourists’ purchases of their products.  The Amazon Basin Rio da Valeria converge to form this village. Boats are its means of transportation.  The children are dressed up for the tourists to have photos taken of  them and receive payment. They also act as escorts to the visitors.  The village allows visitors to witness the lifestyle and hardship that the residents experience daily.  The river dwellers’ houses are made of wood and built on stilts. There is a church and a school in this remote village.

The Church

The School

When the ship dropped anchor, the canoes and small river boats , full of people suddenly appeared. They had fresh produce and trinkets for sale.  They pulled up along side the ship and spent the whole day there.  Since we were being tendered ashore, there were several canoes that would come along side the tender boats as they were being loaded. The children had jewellery for sale and two boys held sloths inside the window for photos to be taken.

Children with pet sloths

We were advised to bring small things from the ship as payment. We had shampoo, soap, lotion, small jars of honey and jam and the most popular item …. the leftover balloons from my birthday.  All these items were gone in no time!  We had bottles of water which they loved. 

We were adopted by 4 children; one on each hand and away we went to the village. Our 4 little boys were so cute and one of mine spent the whole time repeating my name over and over. He would say it and giggle.  It was so interesting to see their homes, all on stilts because of the rainy season in July. Their gardens in most cases were raised, either on the rooftop or on raised wooden platforms, all covered with mesh.

 Eric with his little children

The village has a power generator and the batteries are replaced on a regular basis by passing riverboats. The houses have lights and deep freezers. Also each home has a satellite dish … they love to watch soccer.  It is interesting to note that since they are located right on the equator, the satellite dishes point directly up.

 Houses with satellite dishes

The families line both sides of the pathway from the dock to the village and they have their children dressed in native costumes and the children also have their pets on hand.  We were able to see caimans, monkeys, turtles, rats and sloths. There were lots of fish in pails of water and many more birds and animals.  All from the local rainforest.

Home with raised garden

3 of our 4 little boys

It was a wonderful day and we took many photos, too many for this blog.

We have enjoyed experiencing life along the Amazon river.  Sometimes the river is quite narrow and next it is several miles wide.  This is the dry season, but in the wet season, the river floods in some places to 30 miles wide.  Riverboats are the only means of transportation and the trip from Malaus to Belim takes 9 days. People bring their hammocks and hang them on the open decks. They sleep all day and party all night.  They arrive hours before the boat is supposed to leave in order to get a good place to hang their hammock.  These people are very social and happy.

Amazon Riverboats

Goods and cars are also put on the riverboats; but most goods are shipped by tankers and barges. Our ship had to change pilots periodically since the pilots have a very specific area they cover. The people in the little villages are very poor, but Brazil is a very wealthy country. The Amazon river consists of many island and it wanders all over the place. We travelled from the mouth of the river to Manaus and went through 3 time zones. It is all rainforest, but we did see “slash and burn” many times.

All for today.  My next blog will be about our 2 days in Manaus … a city of 2,000,000 people in the middle of nowhere!

Sea Days + Santarem, Brazil

Three Days at Sea

How wonderful to have three days at sea. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed every minute of it. Of course, this meant we had lots of time to play bridge. Each afternoon at 2 pm we met at the card room and had a duplicate game.  Our bridge directors Patti Lee and Marti Miller are top class.

Once we entered the Amazon River, life became very interesting. First, King Neptune showed up to initiate the Pollywogs who had never crossed the Equator.

Ice Caring of Eagle by the Pool

At the Equator, the rainbow goes around the sun!

The weather was outstanding, with high temps and moderate humidity.

The mouth of the Amazon is incredibly wide and the landscape very flat.  We began 2 days of a journey that was so interesting. Because there are no roads, the only transportation is by boat. Our ship seemed to attract so many small boats and dug out canoes that would come out to greet us.  The Amazon River is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by water flow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers. Its width varies between 1.6 and 10 km at low stage, but expands during the wet season to 48 km or more.

Natives coming out to greet our boat as we travelled along the river

Life on ship, while at sea, is fun and interesting. At noon, they had themed lunches by the pool. It is rather sad to see the people who spend all their time in the sun.  They come in all shapes and sizes   really don’t care how much sun they absorb. I guess the free alcohol probably has a bit of influence!  They had an ice carving demonstration by the young man who does all the carvings on the ship … from the ice carvings, to vegetables, fruits and fancy breaks.  Quite a talent.

December 4  … Santarem, Brazil

This probably has to be my most memorably birthday.  We docked early in the morning and set off for our various shore excursions.  Eric did a jungle trek, which did not interest me in the least. I did a tour of Santarem and it had to be the best shore excursion I have ever done. It was so nice that my friend Pat, who we have done three cruises with, came along.

Santarem is a city in the state of Para in Brazil and is an important regional market center in Lower Amazonia located midway between the larger cities of Belem and Manaus. The economy is based on agriculture, cattle and mining. Its population is about the same size of Halifax (200,000) and it the beginning point of the Pan American highway which extends south for many thousands of km. Only 150 of the highway is paved and the rest is a combination dirt roads and unpassable roads. A huge road rally is held yearly on this stretch of highway.

We did a tour of the city, which involved much more than expected. The busses were not air conditioned as air conditioning really is not a luxury in the city. The people have adapted to the hot, humid temperatures.  It was very hot and sunny there, but were okay.  I love the heat!

Our tour took us through the main road along the coastal market in the city and we stopped to tour a catholic church and small museum. We were fortunate to be able to see the meeting of the two rivers, the black and white rivers which flow side by side. The Amazon’s milky colored water carried sediment from the Andes in the East, while the Tapajos’s water is somewhat warmer and has a deep-blue tone. This phenomenon is called “The meeting of the waters” by the locals.

The meeting of the waters

Next we drove through the city and out into the countryside to visit a farm. This farm area represented the life of the farmers in this area; including fruit, agriculture and all the food production for living.  We met the owner of the property who was 73 years old and had 11 children.

Owner of rubber tree .... 73 years old with 11 children

It was a wonderful birthday and we ended it with supper at Prime 7 with our good friends, Pat and Gordon Gray from Richmond Hill, Ontario.

Next ….. Boca Da Valeria, Brazil!

St. Bart’s, St. Lucia, Tobago

Gustavia, St. Bart’s

Finally, our first stop and it felt wonderful to put our feet on solid ground, especially when the skies were sunny and the temperature was in the mid 80’s. This island has only one town, Gustavia, and this is where we docked.  Actually we were out in the harbour and tendered into town. It is a very small and shallow harbour, but did contain many beautiful yachts and boats.  We were warned not to shop on this island because items are highly priced, but we did walk past all the high-end shops.  They speak French and very little English.

Our shore excursion was scheduled for the afternoon, so we walked through the town and swam at a lovely shell beach near town. All the beaches are public and free of charge. Animals are forbidden and nudism is prohibited.  Apparently the locals don’t abide by the rules!  I nearly lost Eric a few times when he almost walked into a tree and a large rock.

Our shore excursion was called “trekking in St. Bart’s” and we, along with another couple were picked up by the tour guide and driven to the opposite side of the island to begin our trek to “Anse de Colombier”, a beautiful secluded beach on the north eastern end of the island.  We were about half way along the lovely trail when I tripped on a small rock and fell. I scraped the side of my leg and seriously wounded by pride! I could not continue the hike, but did find a nice shady spot to sit and wait for the rest of them. I am okay now, but my leg has a nasty scab. I have never fallen while hiking and was not impressed.

Our trekking pathway

The injury ... very swollen

Airport runway ... over the ocean

St. Bart’s was a pretty island, but really doesn’t have much tourist appeal. We did start to see some nice shore birds though.

                                                                                      Castries, St. Lucia

Magnificent St. Lucia – with towering mountains, dense rain forest, fertile green valleys and acres of banana plantations – lies in the middle of the Windward islands. Downtown Castries was within walking district of the pier and the produce market and adjacent crafts and vendors’ markets were the main attractions. There were 4 ships in the harbour; Carnival, Regent, Danish and another European ship.

Castries Harbour

This was the day that Judi did the 4 x 4 Beach Safari Adventure and Eric went zip-lining.

The beach adventure was wonderful. We were seated in the back of an open 4 x 4 (14 of us) and driven across the island. Of course, the roads were narrow and wound all over the place. We then went off road to the beach. This road made the road to our wood lot look like a 4-lane expressway. The beach was beautiful and it was so nice to sit in the shade and relax. They served spiced rum, but I knew to stay clear of it.

4 x 4 Beach Safari Beach

The zipline was interesting to say the least.  All 14 of the group piled into a bus for the hour long drive to the rainforest site.  Along the way I noted that the islanders have not thrown away any corrugated metal since the product was invented .  It would not be possible to imagine any other uses for the material.

The rainforest was as dense as can be imagined in a climate that would overgrow any open area in a very few months. We were outfitted with a helmit , gloves , a safety lanyard, a secondary shoulder harness and a main seat (mountain climbing) harness. The instructor showed the method for sitting in the harness and controlling the experience. The zipline was constructed  in 12 segments with walkways between the sections. The shortest line was a couple of hundred feet long and the others varied from 500 to 1000 feet each. The walkways were trails with stairs  ,the trek between line 11 and line 12 was several hundred feet in length with 104 stairs  in  various places as well as inclined ramps.  Some of the lines ended 30 to 50 feet up in a tree and you transferred from one zip line to the next by the local youth that were employed to ensure our safety. One tree in particular had a zipline attached near the base . Another 30 feet above it . The low ziplines went through narrow trenches cut between the trees, others were through circular openings trimmed through the passage and some were above all. The highest was 150 feet above the valley. Not recommended for the faint of heart.

Scarborough, Tobago

Another beautiful, hot day!  We docked at 8:30, but only had 6 hours in port. We were the only cruise ship. We were looking forward to this island because Alan and Lydia had spent quite a lot of time there. Our shore excursion was to the rainforest and this was a major undertaking for such a short stop.

We were loaded into two busses and started out on the 90 minute drive to the rainforest. It was a wonderful drive along the coastline and then 1,600 feet up into the rainforest. We drove through the area where Alan and Lydia had volunteered, some of the names I remember are Goodwill, Pembroke and Argyle.

Once we arrived at the hiking trail, those who had worn sandels were outfitted in rubber boots or running shoes. They passed out walking sticks and I was very thankful that I had brought mine along. Eric was busy running around taking bird pictures … this was the first time we had seen colourful birds.

We hiked in the trail for about 45 minutes and it was quite rugged and wet, making it a challenge at times. But it was so beautiful to stand there, look up and down and marvel at all the types of vegetation. The beauty was overwhelming!  We wished we could have hung out there a lot longer.

Trekking through the rainforest

 Our trip back once again hugged the coastline and we were very impressed with the beaches. We got back to the ship 10 minutes before it set sail, so we did not get a chance to shop. This island was far nicer than the other two stops and we wished we could have stayed longer.

Relaxing after a hard day!

Today we are still heading south and we must be very close to the equator, as sunrise and sunset are at exactly the same time.

We are enjoying life on board and have met more lovely people. Today’s temperature was 91 and the water temperature was 86.

All for now ….. love to everyone.