Cruise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Prinsendam's Grand So. America & Antarctica Voyage

[cccole]

Hi!! I am also unhappy about the appearance of your disembarkation forms because this means that something I look forward to every day (your reports) will be coming to an end. Have you put any flower boxes under your bed for those extra long souvenirs? I think it was the giraffes on your 2009 cruise that presented the packing problem. Thank you for the daily reports, they are GREAT! Cherie

[WCB]

Report # 58 March 7, 2010 Sunday Day at Sea

 

This morning started out being a relaxing day, meaning......there wasn't too much going on. It was very, very hot outside, so we considered it best to avoid the aft pool deck until later this afternoon.

 

The most excitement in the AM was watching the hundreds of flying fish escaping the hull of the ship as we cut through their schools. They are pretty small here, as compared to the larger ones we usually see around the islands in the Caribbean Sea.

 

Four talks took place in the Queens Lounge. The first was given by Jawad Barghothi about trash and treasures of Amazonia. The next was things to do and see in Belem by Frank B. In the afternon, Dennis Wille spoke about a journey on medicinal plants. And finally, Captain Albert gave a talk on the history of cruising. This was his time to "shine", so to speak. His knowledge of anything to do with sailing in all aspects of shipping is extensive, and he is proud to share what he knows with all. That is why he creates such a nice daily blog for all to enjoy.

 

We spent the late afternoon at the back pool, from 3 to 6pm. There were few people back there, even though a cooler breeze was present and appreciated. The friendly bartender came to our rescue with 2 glasses of ice water. The crew guys are very attentive at this pool area. Towels are always provided, as well as any drinks or cocktails you choose to purchase. Actually, due to the cooler weather on this trip, and the lack of the use of this aft pool in the begining of the trip, we have spent little time here. We miss it too.

 

The big event on this formal evening was the Oscar Night festivities held in the Queens Lounge at 10:30pm. They have named the evening event "Stars in your Eyes" for the paparazzi and glitterazzi associated with the Oscars. Now we expected to see the dining room decorated with festive banners and glitzy lanterns or even balloons. But there was NOTHING!! Only the head waiters were dressed in costumes from Superman, Batman, and Star Trek. Go figure??

 

Anyway, we peeked into the balloon-decorated showlounge and saw tables full of elegant treats and hors d'oeuvres, with some of the staff members dressed in actor's costumes. The waiters were selling special Oscar drinks, of course. Since we had just eaten dinner, there was no way we were interested in attending this party. Bet the Oscars will be shown on our TV. Not that it matters that much to us, because it takes us months or years to catch up on movies!!

 

Yes, the show was on our TV, and we had 2 presents........Grand Voyage luggage tags that match the keyholders and journals we were gifted in January.

 

Tomorrow's port is Belem, Brazil. We are looking forward to seeing it, since it will be a new port for us.

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[snookymom]

Mary Ann & Bill thanks for sharing your journey with us again. I thoroughly enjoyed your voyage last year & am glad to find you again. :D

[WCB]

Report # 59 March 8, 2010 Monday Belem, Brazil

 

During the evening hours, the Prinsendam entered the southern channel of the mouth of the mighty Amazon River. Our destination is the port of Belem, which is situated 90 miles up the Amazon River, to the Para River, a tributary that dumps into the big river. There was no mistaking that we had entered a river, because of the color of the water. It was like sailing in cafe mocha! We could see no land, since the opening of this channel is wide. Actually, the total distance from shore to shore of the mouth of the Amazon River, excluding islands in between, is 250 miles! Wow, that is one heck of a lot of water that enters the Atlantic Ocean.....technically, 46,000 gallons per second. Unbelievable!

 

We arrived around 9am at the ship's anchor point of the river, about 22 miles from the city of Belem. This was as close as we could get, due to the shallow depth of the river. What was really nice, was the fact that three local ferryboats were used to take up to 200 passengers at a time to the shoreline village of Icoraci. From there, several complimentary shuttle buses drove the independant guests to the city, about a 50 minute ride to downtown. The only problem was that they were running intermittantly, and may not be punctual. So we were glad we had chosen to take an HAL tour here today. It should have been a 3 1/2 hour tour. We had a meager breakfast of a banana, thinking we would be back for lunch. That was not the case as you will read later on.

 

Our group left the ship around 10:15am to board the waiting ferry. Prior to boarding, the entire surface of the boat had to be sanitized by the crew, suggesting that the "virus bug" may still be with us. Better safe than sorry, we say. The ride to shore was pleasant, as this ferry was a double-decker with many red plastic chairs. We remembered that all of the river boats were like this one, just smaller wooden vessels brightly painted.

 

Once off-loaded, 36 of us boarded bus number 3.....a really nice air-conditioned coach, which surprised us. Actually, Belem is a fairly modern city with almost two million residents. It is also the capital of the state of Para. Our guide mentioned the most impressive fact about the country of Brazil........it places third in the world for beer consumption!! Probably because it is so darn hot and humid in this part of the world! She also told us that the temperatures never rise above 35% Celsius (100F) or drop below 25%C (80F). The only difference between seasons is the rain......it is wet or wetter! Yes, we remembered to bring our umbrellas even though the sun was out strong. On our first visit to Manaus in 1994, we got caught in a thunderstorm that drowned us in 5 mintes!!

 

On the hour drive to Belem, our guide tossed out some more info. There are more indigenous Indians living in the Amazon region, since no African slaves were used to harvest sugarcane......it does not grow well here. So therefore, little African culture exists here. Portuguese immigrants did mixed with the locals, producing Indians with very striking green eyes.

 

The Japanese came to this area many years ago to develop the growing of black and white pepper. It was quite a successful venture, because today Brazil is the 3rd largest exporter of the pepper products. A large community of Japanese people still live here.

 

Mosquitos only come out between 7 to 11pm, because the heat keeps them hiding during the daytime. Hmmm, they are smart! Despite that, we still used a 99% deet spray prior to leaving the ship. The front desk people will also give us wipes in packettes, which is nice. We are taking an anti-malarial prescription pill daily now until we are 7 days out of the region. According to Dr. Pal, the entire crew of the ship is also taking medication for malaria. Better safe than sorry once again. Thom, our cruise director, mentioned that if the Captain indicates that the medication is definitely needed for all passengers, he would announce it. It would be available through the ship's pharmacy, probably at a hefty price.

 

The heavy humidity is extremely good for the skin. Most people living here do not need the expensive moisturizers. Just suntan lotion, or maybe not. Drinking water is more important that anything else. You literally "melt" here!

 

Tap water is not safe for us to drink. But "safe ice" that is made from bottled mineral water is frozen in round cylinders with a hole through the middle. Frankly, we still would not want it in our drinks. Only sodas, beer, or water in bottles for us.

 

The majority of citizens use buses, motorcycles, or bikes to get around. Gas is not cheap here. The big employers are Coca Cola, lumber and saw mills. Mining is big too, such as precious stones (including diamonds), minerals, and iron ore. The average salary in US dollars is $250. a month. There are many poor people with salaries lower than that. They pay no taxes. Government apartments have been erected on the outskirts of the city to house these less than fortunate people. There are lot of police, and there are even more pickpockets, unfortunately. And lastly, 85% of the population is Catholic.

 

OK, on with the tour. Closer to the city limits, we passed a huge soccer stadium that holds 50 thousand people. Brazil will be hosting the 2014 World Soccer Cup and they are extremely proud of it.

 

We arrived to the center of the city by 11:30am. The rubber boom in the early 1900's produced many "barons" that were "filthy rich", according to our guide. Most of the beautiful buildings and mansions that exist here were built by these barons. The streets were lined with the biggest mango trees were have ever seen. Our guide said they are really messy when the fruit drops. Kids sell the dropped mangoes for 10 cents each from the street litter.

 

Our first stop was at the Basilica of Our Lady of Nazareth, built in 1909. It is a much smaller version of St.Paul's Basilica in Rome. Of course, it was financed by the rubber barons. Carrara marble from Italy, gold, and cedar comprise the ornate interior of the church. The stained glass windows were impressive. Our guide told us about a special ceremony called Cirio that is held here once a year. It is a procession that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

 

From here, we went to the Emilio Goeldi Zoo and Botanical Park that covers 5 hectares of Amazonian jungle and animal life. It happened to be closed to the public today, but it was opened for our three buses of HAL guests. How great was that? We saw more here than we have ever seen in the Amazon wilds. Reflection ponds had many waterbirds, surrounded with woods that had agoutis ( large guinea pigs), sloths, and insects. Ginger, halyconias, and native trees such as the kapok were thick in the jungle. We saw cages of the colorful parrots, macaws, owls, and toucans. The best caged animal was the jaguar. We have never viewed one up close. We found that he was just as curious about us as he stared out of his bars. What a magnificent creature! other cages had monkeys, crocodiles, alligators, turtles, iguanas, and tortoises. One pond was filled with 5 foot in diameter lily pads. Our guide had tried to keep us together, but failed miserably! Lucky we had a backup fellow who stayed with our camera-minded guests! The time alloted for this park was about 45 minutes, but we stayed for double that, probably contributing to extending our tour time. We did appreciate the extra time though. The coach left here around 1:45pm.

 

Our final stop was at the nearby Ver-O-Peso Market, a huge outdoor complex that extended over four city blocks. It is one of the largest markets in the Amazon, and has existed for 360 years! By the time we got there, a black thundercloud decided to drop rain for about 20 minutes. Man, when it rains, it pours here! Most locals just take cover and wait it out, since rain happens every day.

 

We started at the food court part of the market. It was filled with people eating fried fish with a concoction of a blue type of berry-based drink that is mixed with manioc tapioca. That thickened dish is eaten with fish everyday, like a staple. Noodles and many other strange food items were being consumed by the happy and hungry locals.

 

We went next to the arts and crafts stalls above the food courts. There were the usual treasures there such as carvings, gourd bowls, wooden products, plastic jewelry from China, straw figurines, windchimes, and things with colored feathers. We already have most of it, so passed on the opportunity. Well almost, I bought a wooden bracelet for a few dollars. Next to this set of tents, were the livestock, mainly birds. Now that area was dirty and stinky for sure! Most of our group had to wait here for some of the guests that were still buying stuff. Our guide made the mistake of not setting a time to meet. Guess we lost more time here.

 

We wove our way through the veggie and fruit tents, as well as the nuts and spice offerings. The fish and meat market had been closed for hours by the time we got there. But maybe that was a good thing. Think of bad smells and flies....nope don't need that!

We also missed the manioc flour demonstration. The other two buses saw it before it was shut down. As we wandered out from the market, we saw the beginning of the sighting of vultures. They were everywhere near the boats and the riverbanks. Our guide said that when the tide goes out, the birds have a feast.

 

From here we walked to the old city streets, past the river boats, and to the tree-lined Praca Frei Caetano Brandao. This was a garden square with many historic buildings surrounding it. The Cathedral of Se, the Fort do Castelo, and a hotel lined the square. The fortress was built by the Portuguese in the 17th century complete with cannons and ramparts. It is now a restaurant with a view of the brown waters of the Para River. The best part of this stop was being able to buy ice cold cans of Coke from a street vendor. By now, it was getting late in the afternoon (3:30pm), and we were starving as well as thirsty. Good thing we had brought some corn nuts and were given two small bottles of water by our guide. We had already polished off our large bottle of water we brought from the ship hours ago. Remember, this was supposed to be a three and a half hour tour.

 

It was a long ride in lots of traffic going back to the tenderpier. We did pass some nice historical buildings and got a look at the native people, who had come out later in the slightly cooler afternoon. By the time we got back to the ship on one of the last ferry boats, it was 4:45pm!! Our tour had extended to almost 7 hours!! We would say we got our money's worth today! What a great tour, and a very interesting city we thought.

 

We did split a cold tuna sandwich just to tide us over until our 8pm dinner. many did not come to our table tonight, due to exhaustion. Poor Keith...he is down with a bad cold and decided to stay on the ship with his kind wife, Margaret. We were glad she was able to join us for dinner, and so was she!

 

Tomorrow will be another lazy day, we hope, as we enter the northern mouth of the mighty Amazon River.

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[IRL_Joanie]

WCB,

 

Just reading Captain Albert's Log now and your log here mentioning the sanitizing of the tenders:

"Our group left the ship around 10:15am to board the waiting ferry. Prior to boarding, the entire surface of the boat had to be sanitized by the crew, suggesting that the "virus bug" may still be with us. Better safe than sorry, we say. The ride to shore was pleasant, as this ferry was a double-decker with many red plastic chairs. We remembered that all of the river boats were like this one, just smaller wooden vessels brightly painted."

 

Captain Albert says: "...Before they started their service, they were cleaned and sanitized by our housekeeping department."

 

So it looks like your Captain is trying to make sure you all stay healthy;)

 

I am really enjoying your daily posts! Thank you for taking us along with you!!

 

Joanie

[ScottishMaid]

Dear Mary Ann and Bill,

We have booked the same tour of Belem for the Veendam next month. Your description is extremely useful. It sounds like a place to take a ship shorex. I am printing out all your reports to take along on our trip. Captain Albert's daily reports are helpful too.

[WCB]

Report # 60 March 9, 2010 Tuesday Cruising the Amazon River

 

We slept in a bit later this morning, probably due to the fact that this intensive heat tends to zap your energy. We do remember that excessive perspiration dehydrates you rapidly, so it is very important to drink lots of fluids. Adding foods that have potassium is a big help also. Maybe that is why we crave orange juice and bananas. We do hope to see some of those smaller bananas that grow in this region. They are so tangy and moist.

 

After breakfast, we took a short walk around the promenade deck. One side of the ship was fairly breezy, while the opposite side sizzled! It was no wonder that few people were walking past 10am! One of us used the excuse of catching up on reports to quit the walk. So off I went to the room, while Bill continued with his exercise.

 

On many days, our room stewards have not gotten to tend to our cabin until after noontime. We happen to be located near the end of their 30 or so rooms they are responsible for. On port days, we do not mind if they come late, since we are usually off the ship anyway. We suggested that it would be nice if they started at our end on sea days. We have noticed many of our neighbors have put out their "make up" room card in their doors, but they are still there by noon, cabins uncleaned. Today, the fellows had all of our rooms done first! Glad to know they actually listened to us.

 

The Prinsendam made its way into the mouth of the river sometime late this morning, we think. Since the riverbanks are so far apart, you have no way of knowing if you have entered. The color of the water is the same, even in the Amazon River Delta, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the river. It is muddy brown with all of the soil runoff from the jungle. Except for several densely wooded islands, that was all we saw today, until we reached the settlement of Macapa. It was here that the Captain brought on two Amazonian river pilots. They are the experts on knowing where the hidden sand bars exist in the riverbed. These change from year to year. The total length of this river is 3900 miles. There are 15,000 known tributaries, some over 1000 miles long. Most of the river is 150 feet deep, although at the mouth, it can be as much as 300 feet deep.

 

To describe the size of the Brazilian Amazon, it can be compared to the whole of western Europe. Even bigger. It is the largest rainforest in the world, but only houses about 16 million people. That compares to the population of metropolitan New York.

 

A little interesting fact that our guide told us yesterday concerned water buffalo. They are not native to this part of the world, but were brought over by the immigrants centuries ago. Confined to islands near the river's mouth, these cattle were raised for their meat to supply the sailors passing on their way south. In time, when the river flooded, these water buffalo were able to swim ashore, and survived in the wild. Eventually, the native Indians domesticated them, using them for work animals, food, and for milk production. Even though their meat is lean, their milk is rich in fat.

 

Acrivities today included four talks in the showlounge, a much cooler place to be today. The guest chef, Meg Galus, presented another show on baking. We have heard many good reports on her cooking. It appeals to the men as much as the ladies. The Emeralds Collection was unveiled in the Signature Shops. There was a grand art expo and silent auction held in the Explorers lounge. And Indonesian tea was held in the dining room.

 

We were lazy and attended none of these! It was pleasant just to sit on our veranda, taking in a little sun, and we mean a little! Watching the shoreline, the stunning sunset, and a few riverboats cruising by us was enough excitement for the day.

 

We were all present at dinner tonight. Everyone agreed that this weather is stressful. Actually, we are situated right on the Equator, crossing it several times as the river zig-zags. We are now headed towards the final stop on the river at the city of Manaus in a couple of days. From there, we will head back down the river to the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Tomorrow's port is Santarem. This will be our third vist here, so we are going piranha fishing for a change!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Texas Tillie]

Bill and Mary Ann,

 

I've enjoyed your travel journal so very much. I'm especially interested in knowing if the Amazon is "up" any from when I was there the first week in December - just before the rainy season started. At that time the river was at it's lowest level in something like 90 years. Our excursions were not very good (some were down right awful) because of that. Hope you have better luck!

 

Patty

[Aussie Gal]

Mary Ann and Bill,

 

I hope you enjoy your Piranha fishing as much as we did when we were in Santarem. One word of warning though. The fish are cooked and you can eat them on the boat. We both ate ours and I was fine but for weeks and months later my DH suffered strange pains in his stomach and bowel. He finally went to the Doctor, had some tests and it was discovered he had a parasite was living in his bowel. One course of Flagyl fixed him but we immediately realized that the fish were the culprits as he hadn't eaten anything else ashore.

 

Jennie

[WCB]

Report # 61 March 10, 2010 Wednesday Santarem, Brazil

 

Due to the strong currents of the mighty river, our arrival time to Santarem was delayed by almost two hours. All of the tours were now going to meet at 12:30pm in the showlounge to be "stickered". The Captain suggested that everyone should have a chance to eat lunch before leaving the ship today. There sure must have been a lot of complaining with the last port of Belem, where the tours ran overtime. That's one thing that you don't do, is mess with people's meals! Makes for some really grumpy guests. We found it funny that the Captain's announcement came right after the dining room closed for breakfast at 9:30am. We went up to the Lido and found it was a zoo up there. The Lido was never meant to handle a large crowd such as today's, so tables were hard to find. Oh well, we'll live. We grabbed orange juice and a few sweet rolls, which was fine.

 

Since we have been here twice in the past, we booked a tour that would take us up the river sight-seeing and piranha fishing. Never done that before! We left the ship by 1pm, and boarded a regional boat for a four hour cruisetour. There were about 30 of us, which was comfortable as we sat in our white plastic chairs. At least we did not have to board one of the non air conditioned buses.

 

The wooden vessel puttered its way along the north waterfront of Santarem. Our guide, who happened to be a school teacher, spoke very good English. He taught teenagers during the day, college kids at night, and still had time to do some tours. Actually, he was at the end of his school vacation time, with classes beginning next Monday.

 

The city of Santarem is the third largest on the Amazon River, housing over 240,000 natives. They produce lumber, rubber, and minerals. Agriculture, coffee, and cattle raising also contribute to the economy. Tourism has become a huge business here, since around 40 cruise ships visit this port every year. The Cargill factory has a huge impact here as well. They process and export soya beans, putting a lot of locals to work in the growing fields and the factory.

 

The main attraction here is the confluence of the Amazon and Tapajos Rivers. Where the waters of each river come together, they do not mix, but run side by side. It is a strange sight. We actually sailed right through the two different colors of water.....one milky brown, the other green tea brown. They continue for miles before they finally blend into one.

 

Santarem is located 2 1/2 degrees south of the Equator. That equals hot and humid! The strong breeze we got while riding on this boat was great. We saw few bugs, and no mosquitos.

 

As we headed towards the floodplain, our guide said he saw some river dolphins. Strange that no one else saw them. Two species of fresh water dolphins live in these waters, but we have never seen them.

 

The further away from town we got, the landscape was a world away from all civilization. The inhabitants of this part of the river live in fairly primitive houses on stilts. Some had a few farm animals like cows, chickens, and skinny horses. A couple of men were standing in the river, stretching fish nets right in front of their huts, waving at us while showing us their catch.

 

Eventually, we ended up in Maica Lake, a natural tributary of the Amazon. Actually is was not a lake, but floodlands. We spotted many tropical birds, but the most impressive and graceful were the snow white egrets and large herons. Other species we photographed were iguanas, caracara hawks, nasty black vultures, comorants, swallows, terns, and one colorful toucan.

 

It was piranha fishing time! The boat pulled alongside a weedy bank and stopped. Then our guide handed each of us a drop line with a baited hook, which we flung in the water. We got several nibbles, but never caught one. The boat driver was fishing from the back of the boat. He caught two small fish, then landed a larger black piranha. The only difference was that he had a much smaller hook on his line. Two ladies were the only ones that had luck catching the flesh-eating fish.

 

The fun part was that the largest fish earned the fisher person a prize. A petite lady from Hawaii had caught the biggest one. She claimed her prize, and found it was a dried and mounted piranha! Surprised? No. Being a good sport, she posed with her grand prize, and actually "kissed the fish" like passengers do at the King Neptune Ceremony! At least this piranha was not a fresh and smelly one.

 

While we made our way back to Santarem, one of the deck hands deep-fried all of the piranhas. We passed on the tasting, mainly because we did not want to tempt fate and risk stomach problems. Those that ate the delicate fish with a sprinkling of manioc flour, said it tasted great. We doubt that this entree will be on the menu for dinner tonight!

 

We were back at the pier by 5pm, then walked around the dozen or so souvenier stands near the gate. Most of the t-shirts left for sale were all small sizes. More than likely, the passengers that were on the Royal Princess ship bought most of their supply yesterday. We are positive that a Santarem t-shirt is in the stack of shirts at home already. We definitely already have the mounted piranha, the resin masks and machetes, the blow gun darts, and the fish earrings. What else would we need????

 

Being that we had a skimpy breakfast, and no lunch, we were HUNGRY!! And THIRSTY. So we ordered room service tuna sandwiches and plenty of ice water and ice tea. It took an hour to come however. Guess the kitchen was busy with early dinner.

 

The ship left the port around 7pm, just after the sun had set. It was a pretty sailaway, watching the city lights disappear in the distance. We thought maybe no one would be at dinner tonight, but we were only missing one....Mary Ellen. Even though the heat had gotten to all of us, we still managed to drag ourselves to dinner. Besides, they were serving a BBQ New York steak with crispy onion rings and large fries. Couldn't pass that one by!

 

Tomorrow, our port of call is a small place called Boca da Valeria. It will be very interesting to see how this remote village has changed since we were here 16 years ago.

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[oxypete]

Great reports - thanks for posting - we lived in clayton from 1976 to 1999 - great place to raise kids - we are considering taking this cruise next year

 

Pete and Barb

[snookymom]

You are such agifted writer you make us feel like we're there.:cool:

[WCB]

Report # 62 March 11, 2010 Thursday Boca da Valeria

 

The Prinsendam arrived to the tiny village of Boca da Valeria around 7am today. Shortly after dropping anchor, the tenderboats began transporting guests ashore before 8am. This was one of the few ports where no tours were available. No kidding...there was barely a village here, let alone places to tour!! We were going to be here until 2pm, so we were in no big hurry to be the first ones there.

 

We enjoyed another delicious and healthy breakfast in the dining room. The service has been excellent in the morning with no waiting for coffee or anything else. While eating, we wondered how much will have changed in Boca da Valeria. It has been 16 years since our first visit to this remote village. We were in for a few surprises.

 

The first surprise was on the ship..... concerning the insect repellant packettes that were available at the front desk. They ran out of them, but we were told they were still available in the doctor's office for $1.25 each. Why charge now, when they have been complimentary? There is just no consistency on this trip!

 

Remember we were supposed to get priority disembarkation by being 4 star Mariners? Well today was the perfect time to test that. However, by 9:30am, the cruise director announced that no tickets were necessary, since the rush to get there was about over. Darn! Maybe we will get the chance to try this at another port. OK, it is a small perk, but so far, the only things we have gotten for being 4 star members is half off of our Cokes (room service only), free wine tastings, and the free laundry. The next big perk is getting the Pinnacle Grill dinners for $10 each. We have not gone there yet, but plan to do so in the next 2 weeks.

 

Need we say it was hot and very humid today? That is a given, we think, from here on, until we are out of the river. That won't be until next Tuesday. Anyway, exiting the tenderboat was easier. Instead of a single wide plank with water sloshing over it from the boat to the shore, we had a decent railed walkway with a carpet runner down the middle. Once we were off the walkway and into the village, a few young kids (mostly girls) took ahold of my hands. Unbeknownst to me, a 3 year old girl was going through my bag, when I briefly set it down. That never would have happened 16 years ago. The kids then were more afraid of strangers. At that point, we were approached by shy boys and girls holding their pet sloths, tiny monkeys, large and ugly insects, lizards, and parrots. A photo with them still cost one dollar. In fact, that was all you would hear all morning was "one dollar"?

 

Some passengers had brought their room chocolates to hand to the young kids, even though Frank B. discouraged it during his talk yesterday. These kids do not have access to dental care, so with all the cruise ship passengers stopping here and giving them sweets, they end up with cavities. Eventually, they lose their teeth. Most of all the adults had few teeth.

 

Other changes we noticed were the dugout canoes all had motors, where before they only had oars. There were more buildings, such as the church, meeting place, and a nice place for people to buy drinks and t-shirts. No building ever had paint on it last time, just au naturale. There were many more natives here today. We figured that they had come here from nearby villages in their canoes. Many people were holding signs offering a canoe ride for $5 or $10 per person. Many guests did take advantage of these rides up the creek, but we decided that one wrong move, and the canoe would tip over. Our cameras would not survive that, so we passed on the idea.

 

The price of a photo with the pet animals still cost one dollar, so inflation has not hit here! Another thing we do not remember being here were the young kids and teenage girls dressed in feathered headresses and costumes. They were an attraction for pictures ($1), but we felt torn about the using of children for profit. Did these kids really like being dressed in the outlandish feathers in this heat? Somehow, we doubt it.

 

During our entire walk, we had been "adopted" by a lady and her four kids, or at least we think they were all hers. The mother tried to point out things for us to photo, or treasures to buy from her friends. She probably spoke Portuguese, because we could recognize some key words. The rest of her explanations or descriptions were done by sign language! After we toured all of the vendor area, we walked past several houses on stilts. They had make-shift raised veggie gardens, chickens, and dogs. We saw few native men, just children and women. Perhaps the men were fishing or sleeping in their hammocks out of the increasing heat of the day.

 

We did manage to buy a few souveniers, which were all made by these natives. The price was right for the fish scale painted jewelry, beaded necklaces made from wood and seeds, wooden carvings, paintings, oddly decorated cloth purses, and earrings made from coconuts. They were also selling fabric dolls, t-shirts, and tiny shell dolls.

 

Before we left to go back to the comfort of the ship, we handed our lady guide a few dollars and a small bag of ship bathroom amenities like the shampoo, lotions, and bars of soap. She was most appreciative. We did give the kids a dollar each for their help in collecting seeds that we admired. I went back to the ship with my pocket bulging! I know we will probably have to dump the fresh seeds, but it made the 3 year old little guy happy giving them to me.

 

As soon as we got back to the ship at noontime, we headed for the dining room for a light lunch. We were dying of thirst, even though we had brought bottles of water with us to shore. Three ice teas and several glasses of water later finally cooled us off!

 

The ship left by 2pm, but had some trouble loading the tenderboats. We watched from our veranda as the river flotsam kept running into the boats. There are logs and dead trees that are huge floating down the river. It sure must take a lot of rain to wash that kind of vegetation down the main river.

 

The rest of our afternoon was spent downloading pictures to the computer. We also watched a movie, while also keeping an eye on the shoreline for native birds. Before the sun went down around 6pm, many parrots, toucans, and hawks flew around the ship. It sure has been nice to have this veranda to hear the sounds of the jungle as well as see it. Did we mention that the ship has been a bug magnet since we started into the river? Small and huge moths and bugs that fly stick to the ship's white walls on the promenade deck. The lights probably draw them in at night. They are so interesting that many passengers have been taking pictures of them every evening after dinner. We just hope the dreaded mosquitos stay away!

 

By the way, the clocks went back one hour last night. The best benefit about this, is that we got an extra hour of sleep, which we all needed!

 

Well, tomorrow's port for the next two days is the major city of Manaus. We are looking forward to two days of touring with our travel group.

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[Sonup2Sondwn]

Bill & Mary Ann,

 

You guys rock! I love all your lovely descriptions of the events of your expedition. I also appreciate you taking the time to educate others about the right way to go exploring other cultures, you are true HAL cruise ambassadors that everyone can be proud of.

 

I would have never thought I would enjoy the cruise you are on, I would have put a Mediterranean, Tahitti, or Orient trip before a circumvention of South America! Now, I can't wait for my kids to grow-up so DH & I can sail around South America ;) I think HAL should give you guys OBC for every person who books this trip for the next two years and mentions Bill & Mary Ann's Fantastic Voyage as inspiration when booking. How many people have said they are going to book this vacation after reading your thread??? A LOT!

 

Happy Trails,

 

Jen

[WCB]

Report # 63 March 12, 2010 Friday Manaus, Brazil Day 1

 

Have you ever heard that all well-planned details can go astray sometimes? Well, that is just what happened today for the well-planned docking at the city of Manaus, Brazil. The Prinsendam was scheduled to dock by 10am, with all tours leaving shortly thereafter. There was the proverbial "monkey wrench" thrown into the equation....namely red tape and politics.

 

Captain Albert came on the PA system around 9:30am to announce an inconvenient delay in docking here. It was apparent that the Royal Princess was also in the same predicament, as she was also stopped and waiting.

 

So we waited and waited. Nothing happened. Eventually, the Captain came on with another announcement, telling us that the Navy had declared the floating pier unsafe for us to dock. This decision had been made last night in a court of law. The city officials fought the decision, but the Navy won.

 

At 11am, Captain Albert came on the speakers again, saying that they were waiting for a decisoin to be made by the officials in Rio de Janeiro. And again at 12:10pm, the Captain said we may get approval soon. He urged everyone to use this time to eat lunch, and relax until further notice. It wasn't until 12:30pm that the Captain said we were going to start tenderboat transfers to the pier. He had expected to be docked by 4pm, but that never happened.

 

In the meatime, Frank B., our port lecturer, began entertaining us over the PA system with descriptions of what we could see of the city from the ship. He pointed out key buildings, included the famous Opera House. The city of Manaus is big with 1.7 million people, built on the Rio Negro. It is one of the rivers that form the Amazon River. The other large brown water river that joins the Amazon here is the Solimoes River.

 

What caused this city to rise in the middle of the rain forest was rubber. In the late 19th century, It was discovered that rubber trees did well here. So much so, that many "rubber barons" or millionaires made their fortunes due to rubber. Many jobs were created to plant the trees, harvest the latex the trees produced, then turn it into rubber products. Manaus provided 90% of the world's rubber at that time. The city grew in leaps and bounds, swelling with all of the immigrants coming here to make their fortunes too. Manaus became the " Paris of the Tropics".

 

However, by the 1920's, the industry came to a halt with the discovery of synthetics. Today, the city is full of factories that export goods to all over the world.

 

We had booked a tour with our travel agency for a 7 1/2 hour day. It did include lunch, but who knows when that lunch would be? So we went off to the dining room, and ordered chicken wraps for the first time on this cruise. They were really great. Of course, the ship got cleared to drop tenders to take us to shore, so we ended our lunch fairly quickly.

 

Henk and Lucia got our group of 26 passengers together in the Ocean Bar. We got "stickered", then were handed priority tender tickets to go ashore. By the time the tender dropped us off, and we got on our bus, it was close to 2pm. It was apparent in the first five minutes, that we had a guide who was useless. Instead of giving us some information about the city and where we were headed, all he did was talk on the phone. He promised to talk more on the city tour tomorrow, which only a few of us were doing.

Bad answer!

 

Anyway, we were on our way to board a speed boat, about a 40 minute ride from the pier. Once at the small pier, we thought we would be boarding the wooden ferry boat. Nope, we were going on the much smaller and older speed boat that barely seated all of us. We were now on the Taruma River, heading towards the Amazon Eco Park, about a 20 minute ride.

 

All of us off loaded at the park, and climbed up the white sandy banks to the restaurant of the complex. A buffet lunch was waiting for us, but we were concerned about how long had this lunch been waiting for us? Perhaps three hours ago? Glad we had eaten lunch on the ship, we just enjoyed plates of fresh fruit and ice cold sodas. Usually wine or beer is included with these special tours, but not today. if we wanted them, we paid for them. There were no takers as far as we could see.

 

Since our tour was already four hours late in starting, we had no choice but to cut lunch short. That was fine with us, and most everyone else. As we got ready to leave, we saw the group of HAL guests arriving to this hotel in the jungle. Thay had booked the expensive overnight at this lodge. This one day and one night tour ran about $600. It appeared to be a nice complex, built in 1995, but not for that much money!

 

It had been decided by the guide that we would have to omit the jungle walk. We were not happy about that, even though we doubt we would have seen many animals in the heat of the day. So the plan was to transfer to four small covered canoes that took us to Monkey Jungle, a rehabilitation center for primates. These monkeys have been confiscated from illegal sales and exports. Most of these primates were young when captured, so were unable to be re-introduced to the wild. There is a twice a day feeding program for the monkeys, and we just happened to be there at 4pm, the second feeding of the day.

 

As we walked up the steep trail from the canoes, we could see several monkeys of all sizes in the canopy of the trees. Once the handler brought out some fruit, the monkeys came down to be fed. The first was a mother and her baby. We were warned to keep our distance from them, since the much larger males can get aggressive. The handler then brought out two tubs of fruit, and led us to their feeding platforms. One monkey was totally different from the rest. We would have loved to know what type they all were, but our guide was useless, remember? He just stood there and said nothing. The handlers were nice, but spoke only Portuguese.

 

After 20 minutes, we left via the canoes for the 10 minute ride back to the Eco Park. There we boarded another speedboat that took us for a LONG, LONG ride. Even though it would be getting dark soon, our guide was determined to finish the tour by taking us to the "meeting of the waters". In this case, it was the two rivers, Rio Negro (black waters) and the Solimoes (muddy brown waters). The best thing about this boat ride was the breeze! We were all hot and tired by now, but we were going to see those waters! We actually passed the Prinsendam, which was still at anchor. However, the Royal Princess had docked. We wondered why.

 

Well, long story short, when they stopped at the point of the different waters, we could see nothing. It was almost comical. We knew what to look for, since we all had just been in Santarem, where the meeting of the waters also happens there. We all convinced Henk that we would prefer to be taken back to the pier instead of back to the original dock. That did work, and we were back to the tenderpier by 7pm.

 

Eight of us had gone on this tour from our table, but only six of us showed for dinner. Since we had eaten little food at lunch, we really enjoyed our entrees of leg of lamb, with a pasta dish on the side to share. After dessert and coffee, we all agreed we were too tired to see the local show that was performing at 10pm in the showlounge. We can always catch this performance on TV!!

 

By 9pm, Captain Albert had gotten clearance to dock. We were alongside shortly, and would be ready for tomorrow with no tenderboats. We have a short tour again with our travel agency. We better not have the same guide as today!!

 

Mary Ann & Bill

[cccole]

On another thread it was mentioned that the Princess ship was off loading some passengers and loading a number of new passengers. This could be why they were able to dock before you were. Cherie

[WCB]

Report # 64 March 13, 2010 Saturday Manaus, Brazil Day 2

 

We were well-rested and ready to go on another adventure this fine, hot morning. It sure would have been nice if it had rained last night. At least the rain would cool off the air a bit. So far, we have been lucky during the day having no rainshowers. Sixteen years ago, we encountered a downpour, the likes of which we had never seen before. It was so heavy that we could not see across the street. We still have three days to go on this river, so maybe we will get lucky and get to experience that deluge!

 

Right before 9am, we joined our travel agency group in the Ocean Bar. Today there were enough of us to fill two buses. Both Henk and Lucia went to chaperone, even though Lucia has been feeling under the weather with a cold. This cold has been spreading like wildfire. Henk had promised us, and all of the other guests from yesterday's tour, that he would put us on a bus with a different guide. Thank goodness, he kept his promise, and we had a great guide today. We really did not have a bad tour yesterday, just badly timed. We think that the guide was not an official guide at all. Since there were three ships in port, perhaps the guide pool had been used up, and we got a stand-in.

 

Speaking of ships, two ships were docked behind us this morning. The Royal Princess had parked behind us, leaving their space for the P&O Artemis to dock. We still cannot figure out why the navy felt this floating pier was not capable of handling three ships. This floating pier has the capacity to rise as much as 40 feet as the river reaches flood stage. The watermark was high already, and the rainy season has not started yet. Our guide said their worst months for high water are June and July. Perhaps that is why Manuas is built on higher ground with many rolling hills.

 

There is a curious fact about this huge city in the jungle......there are no roads that connect it to any other city in the Amazon. The only way in and out of here is by boat or airplane. There are major car dealerships here in Manaus, but the only driving is done within the city itself. Most of the cars are small and run on an alcohol-based fuel. If traveling by the riverboats, people bring their own hammocks to sleep in at night suspended from the open-air deck.

 

As we left the dock, the bus wove its way through narrow streets filled with small shops. These shops carried stuff for houses and clothing. Our guide mentioned that people from the jungle come here to buy supplies. Most of them have trouble with money, because they cannot read or write. So the stores hire young school kids to help the natives trade money for their stuff. This area was really congested today, because it was a Saturday. The traffic crawled inch by inch!

 

The driver found his way to a road that took us past a prison, over a metal bridge, to an urban renewal project. It was a city project that tore down river hovels and replaced the grounds with parks. They have done a great job, but sure need to do a lot more. perhaps the tourist's dollars spent here must help.

 

We passed a beautiful old colonial mansion that once was owned by a German rubber baron in the early 1900's. It has been restord and has become a cultural center. The prison walls were decorated with colonial house paintings, disguising the fact that the prison is still in use. The guide left us off of the bus to take pictures. By the time everyone got off, we had to board again! Not everyone has an easy time getting on and off of these buses. The steps are steep and difficult for those with canes. For that reason, many chose to stay on the bus and wait for us.

 

Next, we drove past the charcoal sellers, who were coated with the stuff as they handled the bags. They must have like it, because they posed bare-chested and smeared with black soot for us to take photos. An equally messy area on the outside was the Municipal Market. We stopped here for a stroll through the veggie, fruit, and fish market. Remarkably, the fish market did not smell fishy, with the one exception of the buckets of shrimp. We also did not see one fly or insect around the uncovered food. As we made our way through the extremely busy market, we walked past the small food markets. One in particular was a spice shop. Buckets of spices were available for sale. The strongest aroma was coming from the curry powder, reminding us of India.

 

We all gathered to walk to the waiting bus where we were driven to the Palacette Provincial, the old police headquarters built in 1895. This well preserved building has been restored, with air conditioning added for comfort. The upstairs contained a museum of police and soldier memorabilia dating back the the 1800's. It was very interesting to see the uniforms, swords, rifles, and guns used in those days. Our guide said that the police chief in those days was like a god, because he had a lot of power. He did the bidding for the wealthy rubber barons, who really ruled the city at that time.

 

We hated leaving the comfort of the cool building, but our next stop was the highlight of the tour. We were going to see the famous Teatro Amazonas, or the Opera House. The construction of this lavish building was begun in 1896, taking over 15 years to complete. Our guide let us out on the black and white wavy tiled square. It was the same design we saw on the sidewalks of Copacabana Beach in Rio. A monument in the center of the square had four continents engraved on the base, although we are not sure of the meaning behind it.

 

Here are some interesting facts about this Opera House.

 

1. The marble doorways were made from carrera marble imported from Italy.

2. The wrought-iron bannisters were brought from England.

3. The crystal chandeliers came from France.

4. Ceiling and wall frescos were created from French tiles.

5. The dome on the top of the building was made with 36,000 vitrified tiles imported from Europe.

6. All the building materials came on the rubber transport ships, which would have sailed back from Europe empty.

7. There was no flash photography allowed inside the building. We had no problem with that.

 

We had a bit of a wait while our guide purchased entry tickets. However, Bill, Gerry, and Gary ended around a staircase to enter the rotundra of the house. Naughty-naughty!! I was too chicken, so followed our group in. It really did not matter in the end anyway.

 

From there, we climbed the wooden staircase to the first level of viewing boxes. There we were able to take in a practice session by an orchestra of string instruments. The conductor was very animated as he directed his musicians. At least they had the perfect place to practice, since the interior of the Opera House was air-conditioned, thanks to a major renovation done in 1990.

 

There was a set of viewing boxes set aside for the rubber barons, or the "kings" of Manaus right in the center of the lower balcony. After we took our photos, we joined our group touring the rest of the building. There was a small rooms of artifacts, and a beautiful balcony overlooking the square outside. However, to enter the balcony, we had to slip on silly-looking slippers! Then we glided, carefully, across the parquet wooden floor of a reception hall to the marbled balcony. The view was as nice as the breeze. We were very happy to have had the chance to see the interior today, since we could not 16 years ago. It was closed for cleaning.

 

Our group gathered outside to board the bus once again. We thought we were going to see the cathedral, then head back to the ship. But Henk told us that he had asked both guides to take us all to the Tropical Hotel, located about 12 miles from downtown. This hotel is the only major resort in the Amazon, considered to be the best. It sits on the Negro River with a white sand beach to enjoy (no piranhas here).

 

But our real purpose for coming here was to see the small onsite zoo, which was also part of the hotel property. There were nicely maintained cages of different types of monkeys, tropical birds, capybaras, a very nervous jaguar, and some tapirs. We covered the grounds in about 20 minutes, taking lots of pictures, of course.

 

We made our way through the hotel lobby, where two major jewelry stores, H. Stern and Amsterdam Sauer offered their treasures. It was too bad that we only had time to use their facilities, because there was no time for shopping. Most of the fellows seemed quite happy with that!

 

Our tour had run overtime by an hour once we got back to the pier. We had missed lunch in the dining room, but really did appreciate seeing all that we did in 4 1/2 hours. We never left the ship after that. It was much nicer eating lunch in our room, and relaxing on our very warm verandah.

 

While we sat on our wicker verandah chairs, we spotted some people under the pier acoss from the ship. They must have been homeless, because they were bathing, washing clothes, and sleeping under the pier.

 

The ship left around 6pm. At that time, the Captain came on the PA system to tell the real story behind our delay in docking yesterday. He blamed it all on the harbormaster, not the navy. The harbormaster tried to assert his authority by declaring the pier unsafe. But what did he have to gain by denying our entrance for so many hours? We think the ultimate bottom line was they wanted more money from both ships! Extortion is big in this part of the world!

 

Another interesting thing the Captain told us, was that due to the higher flow of the Solimoes River, the meeting of the waters was impossible to see. Now get this........we sat on our verandah until 7pm, watching the horizon light up with lightening strikes. With the ship's light shining on the water below, we distinctly saw the coffee and cream water of the Solimoes River flowing side by side with the green tea colored Negro River! And you know what? They were not mixing, but flowing separately down the Amazon River for many miles.That led us to think that the shore excursion people got major complaints with their tours also, because they did not see the meeting of the waters on the first day in Manaus. You simply cannot fool all of the people all of the time, right?

 

Anyway, we had a pleasant dinner with six of our tablemates. We are all troopers to show up most evenings, despite the exhaustion from the heat!

 

Tomorrow, we are headed to Parintins, a new port for us!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[WCB]

Report # 65 March 14, 2010 Sunday Parintins, Brazil

 

We were up and ready to join the group for our last HAL tour at 7:45am this morning. However, it was obvious that we would be going nowhere. The Prinsendam was still sailing at a fast clip, and there was no sign of civilization on the forested shoreline. What's up with that?? We figured we may be able to find out some info in the Queens Lounge. That was when we found a pink envelope in our mail hook that had not been there last night at 10pm. The pink envelope indicated that it came from the shore excursion staff. It was a letter stating that due to our delayed arrival to Parintins, our 8am tour had to be moved to 12:30pm. A box lunch would be provided for our tour, which was Parintins Highlights, by the way.

 

Right about the same time, Captain Albert came on the PA system and explained that the delay was due to the new river pilots arriving late at 2:30am. But didn't we hear somewhere that these pilots were scheduled to board the ship at 2am? We don't know what else happened to delay our arrival time for 2 hours. So the bottom line, was that the Prinsendam was arriving to Parintins at 10am.

 

Good.....we really do like the dining room breakfast, so that was where we headed. The shore excursion letter had said that we would have the opportunity to turn in our tickets if we chose not to go on the 2 1/2 hour tour. From listening to Frank B's talk on the city, we came to the decision that we could do the town on our own. So we turned our tickets back, following the direction of a helpful staff member to just put them in the dropbox. The shore ex office was closed, so we hoped they checked their box early. Just to make sure, we informed a shore ex member that we had turned in our tickets, so she took us off her list. We do know there was a long list of passengers waitlisted for this tour, so we made two people very happy this morning. And the best part is that we will get more shipboard credit for $138.

 

By 10am, the tenderboats were quickly off-loaded and were ready to take the 300 or so guests who had signed up for the Boi Bumba Show. We went a bit later to collect the priority tender tickets to go to shore. Hurray! The perk worked for being 4 star members, but only after Sparky, the activity staff member, checked our roomkeys to verify we were indeed 4 star members. He apologized, but explained that some passengers were watching who he gave these tickets out to, and complained that 2 and 3 star people were getting into the priority line! Can you believe that? Golly, you can't sneeze around here without someone noticing!!!

 

Now is a good time to explain the much advertised "Boi Bumba Show". This event is what put the sleepy town of Parintins on the map! Basically, the Boi Bumba is a popular dramatic dance that originated from local folklore. Simply put, it recalls the death and resurrection of a prized ox. During this festival, there are two oxens or bulls. One is blue, and one is red. The city's 30,000 residents increases to 300,000 people...way more than the city can accommodate. Therefore, many riverboats crowd the shores to house the visitors. Remember, all they need is to bring their own hammock, and they have a readymade hotel on the riverboat. A large commercial ferry stays for the entire 10 days of the festival, housing even more people.

 

Now, the HAL tour for $99. per person, was held at the new air-conditioned Parintins Convention Hall, just an 85 foot walk from the tenderpier. The duration of this "mini Boi Bumba" show was 1 hour and 15 minutes. The show promised 100 colorfully-clad dancers and musicians who would perform a magical folkloric dance. The noise from the drums and whistles are supposedly loud enough to wake the dead. Our buudy, Keith, saw this show a few years ago, compliments of a Seabourn trip at the time. He did admit that the show was exciting and moving, if you could take the noise for that long!

 

This show has been advertised for everyday of last week. Wish we had one dollar for every time we heard the name Boi Bumba! We would be very, very rich people! Most guests we know would not pay that much for for such a short show, including us. The push for selling tickets must have been successful, since 300 people had signed up. Hmmm, that figured out to be a grand total of $29,700! Wow, that is one expensive show! Hope we hear good reports about it later on today.

 

The tenderboat ride took about 20 minutes or so. Getting off of the boat was tricky, since we used a local ferryboat to offload. Then we went ashore from the ferryboat. It worked well. The only information we could gather about this settlement was that Parintins is located 350 miles from Manaus. The river current is so swift and powerful, that it takes 15 hours to get here from Manaus. But going back to the capital from here, takes 27 hours. Guess that is true for larger ships too.

 

We discovered that the town was fairly small, so we started to walk up the main street. Because it was a Sunday, only a few souvenier stores were open today. Again, it was very hot and humid, so when we saw friends Gerry and Gary being driven in a tricycle by a local rider, we decided that was a good way to see the town. We got on the next bike when the fellow that offered the tour for $10 US dollars. He pedaled us up and around the streets to see the Catholic Church, the main square, and most importantly, the huge Bumbodromo, a stadium divided into two colors....red and blue. This stadium seats 35,000 people! Our driver actually brought us right into the center of the stadium and paused long enough fr us to take pictures. By the way, he spoke no English, but we got by with the few key words we have learned in Portuguese. He seemed pleased that we gave it a try!

 

He continued on, taking us down practically people-empty streets. Since today was Sunday, most all of the businesses were closed up tight. Few adults were out and about. We just saw many teenage kids on motorbikes zooming up and down the streets. The shops and cafes were brightly painted in orange, green, red, and blue paint. Many vultures were either flying overhead or making their way down the narrow streets looking for food.

 

The most activity heard was singing coming from a Baptist Church. The locals were having a fine time in there. We saw very few ship people walking up this way, mainly because it was just too darned hot outside. Our ride ended at the new cathedral with an impressive clocktower looming over the old city. Our tired driver quickly started drumming up more business from the many passengers that had exited the Boi Bumba Show. Sure hope we run into someone we know to find out if they enjoyed the show.

 

We spent the rest of the time walking back to the main square, where we ran into friends drinking ice cold beer in the local bars and cafes near the tenderpier. We found a few souveniers that we could not live without....namely one very big and ugly mounted piranha! A new pair of sandals found their way into my bag, as well as a matching set of beaded earrings and a necklace.

 

We caught the next boat back, and had enough time to eat lunch in the dining room. They had adjusted their lunch hour from 1 to 2pm. Perfect! We ordered our entrees with a gallon of ice water and ice tea!! Yeah, we are kidding, but that was how hot it was out there today. The danger of dehydration is always around the corner if you're not careful!

 

Around 3:40pm, the Captain came on the PA system with yet another explanation of why this port got delayed. He said that a tanker carrying the two river pilots we needed onboard was running late, due to extensive boat traffic on the river at 2am last night. Sometimes we think the Captain gives TMI, or too much information. When we get different accounts of an incident, we are really confused. Sort of reminds us of the movie "Groundhog Day", where the day keeps repeating itself in different ways!!

 

There was a sailaway party happening at the aft pool deck at 4pm, the new time for leaving Parintins. Today there was music from the Boi Bumba Show with some of the bar staff fellows dancing for us amused passengers. They were selling special drinks, but there was no food today. We really did not need more food at this point, but we think it does help sell the cocktails.

 

We left the town of Parintins around 4:15pm, as we lingered for an hour watching the town disappear. Then we retreated to the comfort of our room, where we watched the sunset while enjoying cocktails until dinnertime.

 

All of us showed up tonight for a change. We had the entrees of prime rib of veal, although the portion of veal was meager. We were glad we had supplemented our meals with an order of tortellini with sundried tomatoes and pesto sauce. Desserts of chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate cake ended our fine meal.

 

There was a notice to turn our clocks ahead, along with presents of two luggage straps. Wonder what present comes next???? We also delighted in watching the lightening show on the horizon from the darkness of our verandah. It was mesmerizing!

 

Finally, a day with no port tomorrow as we sail out of te Amazon River.

 

Bil & Mary Ann

[wander]

I will be interested in what others say about Boi Bumba on your cruise. I saw it several years ago but in an outdoor setting, with some shade. LOVED IT!!! Yes, $99 is a lot and it was a hot experience, but it is the closest to "Carnival" that I will ever see. What gorgeous costumes and spectacular "animals". It was an experience of constant change, each being more spectacular the the previous one. PLUS we had great fingerfoods constantly being served (brought to us) and several free drink options ranging from fruit juice to a very powerful alcohol local drink - really needed to limit those!!!! These too were constantly being offered by roving waiters. I have many spectacular photographs from Boi Bumba. I personally consider a once in a lifetime experience well worth the $99. However, I really am not sure if it would have the same "feel" when held in an air conditioned facility.

[Texas Tillie]

I nearly dropped my teeth when I read that HAL charged $99 for the Boi Bumba Folkloric Presentation in Parintins. Was there in December, 2009 with Crystal and their charge was $53 for the exact same show!:eek: I think we can now all conclude that HAL really pads their excursion prices.:rolleyes:

[jotabecu]

I nearly dropped my teeth when I read that HAL charged $99 for the Boi Bumba Folkloric Presentation in Parintins. Was there in December, 2009 with Crystal and their charge was $53 for the exact same show!:eek: I think we can now all conclude that HAL really pads their excursion prices.:rolleyes:

 

 

Princess quotes at $89

[Aussie Gal]

We also saw the Boi Bumba show back in 2006 when on the Veendam and at that time it was held in the large open air stadium. It also cost us $99 each but we thought it was well worth it. The show is so colourful and the costumes are amazing. The noise is part of it and it was a great afternoon's entertainment. We took so many photos and just loved everything about it. We also received lots of free drinks - Caipirinha - which we loved though very potent.

 

I think on that cruise about 900 of the passengers went to the show. We had bus load after bus load so you can imagine how much money HAL pocketed from that excursion!

 

Jennie

[wander]

When we were there some passengers (Prinsendam) decided to go on their own, saving money. However, it turns out HAL had to purchase the whole place for the show to be held at all, so no other tickets were available for passengers or travel agencies. Were these folks ever disappointed as they did want to see the show. By requiring HAL to purchase the whole place, it guaranteed the host Boi Bumba club a certain amount of income for their efforts.

[luvcruisn']

I paid the $99.00 this past December and saw the Boi Bumba show in Parintins in the air-conditioned convention centre, which also had modern bathrooms. We received one small cup of a very potent alcholic drink - wouldn't have wanted another - but no food. The show was very nice, lots of costumes and music. Hard to say if it was worth $99.00 - it was probably worth less, but you couldn't go if you didn't pay the $99.00. A few people asked at the door if there were any tickets for less, but no tickets were sold there. The auditorium was full, so many of us passengers had paid the $99.00.

[mariannpal@aol.com]

Since getting home from our 14 day cruise (Buenos Aires to antarctica), I have been following your adventure. I am vicariously traveling with you. Our trip was just too short. Enjoy!! Please respond.

Thank you.

 

Mariann