Circumnavigation South America Mariner Jan 6

[purpleally]

A clear chocolate martini has shot of vodka and a shot of clear creme de cacao. And of course, chocolate around the rim. This would be for a clear chocolate martini.

 

One could also substitute dark creme de cacao for a darker martini.

 

And Elvis makes the best!!!

[s2000drvr]

Day 45 Santos, Brazil Feb 20, 2012

 

Had a quick breakfast in La Veranda as we had an early tour. Today's tour was Highlights of Santos. We were docked on the pier, so no tender today. The area around the pier seems typical of this area, with lots of containers, and the buildings were run down. Although the terminal looked to be very new, and large.

 

We got onto our coach and headed to the Coffee Museum. Because of the large tour groups ahead of us, we had to wait a bit to enter. On the right was a cafe where you could purchase a cup of coffee and some cake after the tour.

 

The museum was quite interesting and showed where the coffee traders did their trading. The hall was beautiful with a ceiling of stained glass, the walls were decoratively painted.

 

One display showed the different methods of using drip makers that were imported from Italy. I have seen these in various antique stores, but did not know they were from the 20's and 30's.

 

From the museum we traveled to the soccer museum. Another long line. There were a lot of people here because it was a holiday. We saw the soccer field, trophies, uniforms. I could have sat this one out.

 

We drove along the beaches where the beach is 5K long. The people were all having a grand time enjoying their day at the beach as it was very crowded. Our tour just drove by until we got to the aquarium. Another long line, but our tour guide decided this time, that he would get all the tickets while we sat on the coach. The aquarium was not worth seeing. In Boston we have a fantastic aquarium. This one was so crowded and the air in there did not seem to move and it was quite dark. Rich and I did not like it.

 

Overall, the tour guide gave us a lot of interesting facts about Santos. But the tour itself needed lots of help. We did notice another tour guide who stayed with his group explaining things. Ours left us and we had to figure out where to go, what to see by ourselves. Thank goodness not all tours are like this one.

 

Our tour ran late by an hour due to the heavy volume of people. Not a problem for us, but it seemed to be a major problem for others who needed to put the old feedbag on.

 

Dinner was in Prime 7 with Dorothy and George. Was terrific, as usual.

 

Tomorrow we will be in Ilha Grande, Brazil.

[s2000drvr]

Day 46 Ilha Grande, Brazil

 

What a place this is! This is a very large island full of greenery, purple flowered trees and lots of beaches.

 

When we were out on the deck doing our walk, the sites were amazing. There are large hills/mountains surrounding the ship, some very small islands just here and there and lots of boats, ferries. It is hot and humid here! Our walk was a bit slippery on the deck. Do not know what they did to the deck, but in a few places one felt like ice skating.

 

Had a leisurely breakfast in CR as this is a tender port and there were no shore excursions. This was a discover Ilha Grande on your own. We took the 10:30 tender out and had the option of sitting on the top or below. This time we chose the below, but will not do that again. The top is so refreshing.

 

The tender ride took about 15 minutes or so. Once we got there, it was just such a cute place to visit. Lots of overpriced stores selling Tshirts, knick knacks, beach stuff, etc. There are quite a few shops along narrow roads. There are no vehicles here so you have to hoof it. But what a place. There are about 200 beaches here, small intimate ones to larger ones. Some rocks are in the water so that you can swim out to them and sunbathe, but would be rather hard on the old bones.

 

There is plenty of water action in that ferries and boats are coming and going. Not sure where they are going, but there were plenty of people aboard.

 

We caught up with Michael and trekked up and down the side streets, checking out the restaurants for future reference. The streets or paths are either cobblestone or dirt. There is no hurrying here. The people are moving slowly and seem to be enjoying the pace. We walked down to Black Sand Beach and the sand was black. Michael decided he would enjoy a short swim and he said it was very nice.

 

It is quite warm here, okay it is hot here and humid. After Michael's swim, we found an outdoor cafe and the guys had beer and I had a coke. I would have had to buy a bottle of wine as they do not sell glasses of it. A couple a few tables over, noticed that I wanted a glass of wine, and kindly gave me some of theirs. Very nice gesture!

 

After much thought into having lunch here, we decided to pass and wound our way back to the tender to have lunch on the ship. We sat upstairs on the tender and it was great.

 

Lunch was at the Pool Grill and it was Mexican today. We followed this with some ice cream.

 

Heard Terry Breen speak on Carnival. It was interesting to hear how hard the people work on their costumes, dance and singing.

 

Tonight we have a special party for the Circumnavigators on Deck 7 forward. Cannot wait to see what this will be.

 

As I wrote this before we had gone to the party, I will now continue. The party was a big bbq with Franck cooking. The 3 piece band was playing, the sky was blue, the appetizers were being served along with drinks. All of a sudden, a big CRASH. The ice sculpture crashed down onto the cheese, bread table. Luckily, no one was there at the time, no injuries occurred. It did make for a large cleanup on the deck though. But that was very quickly taken care of. The heat must have caused the sculpture to lean forward just enough to tumble.

 

We enjoyed our dinner in CR. The lamb was fantastic and Rich had the tuna.

 

Tomorrow we will be at Parati, Brazil.

[s2000drvr]

Here are some links to recent ports:

 

http://photobucket.com/SantosBrazil

 

http://photobucket.com/PuertoBeloBrazilDay43

 

http://photobucket.com/IlhaGrandeBrazil

[Travelcat2]

The bbq sounds yummy! The only time we've seen Franck cooking is when he made crepes during tea time. I suspect he has culinary skills that we only get glimpses of now and then.

[s2000drvr]

Day 47 Parati, Brazil

 

Hotter than a hoot now! This is a tender port and it looks very similar to yesterday's port with mountains and a lot of greenery.

 

We had breakfast in CR and then headed up to the pool area to bake for a while. We had canceled our schooner ride as we just did not get ready in time.

 

We took the 11a tender ride to shore and sat up on top. Big mistake. The sun was beating down on us and there was little to no wind up there. The ride to shore took 40 minutes. Once we arrived there is a very long pier and the boards on the pier have very wide gaps so you have to be extremely careful when walking or your toes will get stuck between the boards if you are wearing sandals.

 

At the end of the pier there are several venders selling hats and there are many boats waiting to take people on tours.

 

The walkway is sand with rocks and cobblestones making the walk again cumbersome. We went into one shop nearby and had to walk quite a bit to get into the center of town. Because we were out for a while in the sun earlier, we did not consume enough water so we headed back to the tender. Our clothes were soaked.

 

This time we sat below and picked a wonderful seat. Near the front next to the open window. Once we got moving we got sprayed on and the wind was blowing on us. It felt good.

 

Lunch was at the Pool Side followed by our chocolate martini. This is a beautiful port. Wished we could have explored more.

 

Dinner was in CR with Michael. We had a great conversation and the food was great, too.

[Hambagahle]

I am glad to have a detailed description of the chocolate martini and I think I shall try one! (Ken will most likely faint...)

[s2000drvr]

Day 48 Buzios, Brazil

 

Walked out on deck this morning and was shocked to feel how cold it was and the wind was blowing. We were scheduled for a schooner tour, but canceled after seeing the white caps and the strong wind.

 

The tenders were soon in the water and they were rocking and rolling. We decided to catch more rays as the next few days will be hectic in Rio. So we hung out on the ship and had ourselves a relaxing sea day.

 

We had lunch in CR and enjoyed the leisurely pace.

 

Soon after lunch, the Captain announced that all tender service was being suspended due to the high winds. I am not sure when this was lifted, but it was a very bumpy up and down and side to side ride back to the ship. The tenders we saw were literally a cork in the ocean.

 

I cannot believe the change in temps today. We thought it would be as hot as yesterday and was so surprised that it was not. Not sure what the temps were, but maybe it hit 80 at 10a compared to the 90's yesterday with all that humidity. Today was considerably drier.

 

Dinner was in CR and Rich had his strip sirloin and I had the beef Wellington. Both meals were fantastic.

 

Tomorrow we will be up very early to see the sail in to Rio. It is suppose to be super.

[s2000drvr]

Day 49 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 

What a sail in we had this morning at 6:30a. Terry Breen was giving a commentary and the deck 12 was packed with people. We were fortunate to see the sun rise and reflected on the higher buildings. Magnificent sight. The air was cool, but quickly warming up.

 

Had a quick breakfast in La Veranda as our tour was scheduled to leave around 8a. However, we were delayed getting into the pier and for clearance so we left almost 9a for our tour of the Highlights of Rio.

 

This is one of the few times that we have had a smaller group than normal with 23 people aboard our coach. We drove around and saw many sights including Ipanema Beach and Copacabana Beach which are miles long with white sand and nice looking waves. There were quite a few beach goers today. There are many kiosks selling different kinds of food. There are many nets set up where they people play futevolei, a lot like volleyball but they do not use their hands, only their heads, chests, and feet.

 

Rio is a bustling city with lots of traffic. We drove through different types of neighborhoods and saw the good and the not so good living areas. The 2016 Summer Olympics will be held here and many of the buildings are under going facelifts. They certainly need it and also to clean up all the graffiti.

 

Our stop today was Christ the Redeemer Statue. You can see this from the sail in and it looks so small. We had to wait in line for about 25 minutes for the cog train to take us up to Corcovado Mountain. The forest is on both sides of the track as you travel upward. There was jack fruit growing from the trees in many places. We did see a hummingbird on a large hibiscus type plant. I was looking for monkeys, but did not see any.

 

Once we reached the top of the platform, we had another queue for the elevator to take us up. When you get off the elevator and look up, there is the Redeemer and it is just amazing how large this statue is. It just takes your breath away!! The views were so magnificent, breath taking. We had 30 minutes to admire the view which was more than adequate. I think this tour ranks one of the best so far.

 

Another queue to take us back down and then we were met by the bus for our short ride back to the ship. We did not have time enough to go back downtown as we have the Samba show tonight. Lunch was by the Pool Side grill again. Their cheeseburgers are good, but the sweet potato fries are the best.

 

Dinner was in CR with Michael. We had the Samba show at 8:45p, so off we all headed, about 260 to board coaches and headed to the show. Our guide gave us a quick tour of the city as we drove to the show. Rio at night is fascinating, still lots of traffic and people.

 

Our show was held in a wooden structure type building. We were seated again at long tables and again Rich had center stage. Do not know how he manages this. It was quite crowded in the hall and we all looked for Exit signs and there were none. The only way out was the way we came in.

 

Because of the African decent here, the dances are native to Africa. The costumes were very baring, if you know what I mean. There was an excellent presentation of Brazilian martial arts that was unbelievable. These guys are so in shape, great eye candy, ladies!!

 

The show lasted about 1 hour and 45 minutes and we slowly trekked out of the building onto our coaches. As we drove along, we could see that the bars were crowded and if there was no room in the bar, the people carried the booze out onto the streets or by their parked cars. This is a party city. Also noticed that the buses were still running at 12:30a and there were plenty of people around to use them.

 

We were just about ½ block from our ship and had to use a ramp to get down to the ship, when it was all barricaded. The police were out, cones were set up and there was no way we could go down the ramp to our ship. Our guide ran out of the bus to inquire why. He came back and said that the floats from Carnaval were making their way to the stadium and that was part of the route. So the bus driver had to take a 20 minute out-of-the-way back and around to get to a different entrance. Along the way we saw the many floats and they were just beautiful. On Saturday night they bring back the top floats for the winners' parade. We were so amazed that we got to see them! They were not complete but we got the idea of how they would look!

 

We got back close to 1a and were exhausted, but a happy exhausted! What a day!

[s2000drvr]

Day 50 Rio de Janiero, Brazil (overnighted)

 

Our late night last night caused me to ignore the wake up call. I must have picked up the receiver and put it down. We had the call at 7:30a and got up at 8:45. We missed our tour to Sugarloaf and the cable car. It was a bit hazy when we got it all together and the view from Sugarloaf would have been not too clear. Yesterday when we went to see Christ the Redeemer, it was nearly perfect. It was okay that we missed this tour.

 

We decided to take the ship's shuttle in to town and see the mall area. Besides the mall, there is nothing near it. We walked around but there were no little boutiques. The mall was very nice, excellent stores, but a bit on the expensive side. There were 4 floors of shopping. Just the ride in and back on the shuttle was worth while even if you did not get off.

 

We spent more time out by the pool and watching the new passengers come aboard. We were happy that we did not have to participate in the life boat drill. I was told there are about 400 new passengers and there are 196 of us doing the complete circumnavigation. So that leaves about 100 empty rooms??

 

We will see how crowded it feels tomorrow around the pool seeing that we have a sea day.

 

Sailing out of Rio was just beautiful. It has a wonderful shoreline.

 

Tonight we ate in Signatures. We were so looking forward to the cream of mushroom soup, but found out that the menu had changed. There was no lobster ravioli. Instead they offered snail ravioli. Also frog legs in a risotto was also offered. However, we did manage to find 3 courses and had no trouble cleaning our plates! Cheese was great with the port.

 

Tonight we get an extra hour of sleep. It is about time as we have been 3 hours ahead of our home time. Too bad we did not get this extra hour last night!

[RachelG]

No mushroom soup!? That is terrible. And George did not like the snail ravioli that well-- ok, but nothing special.

[TedC]

On Voyager in Dec. no mushroom soup but the tomato was superb at Signatures

[OrpingtonT]

I was told there are about 400 new passengers and there are 196 of us doing the complete circumnavigation. So that leaves about 100 empty rooms??

 

 

AT 2 guests per room, isn't that around 50 empty rooms? Or around 85% occupancy.

 

Love your thouhts on Rio, a beautiful, often dangerous place,

[Hambagahle]

So nice to visit Rio and see it all through your eyes! Was going to the Christ statue scaring from a point of view of heights? Or did you feel safe in the train? And how very lucky to see the carnival floats. From the relative comfort of your bus and not standing 10 deep on the roadside!!

[s2000drvr]

AT 2 guests per room, isn't that around 50 empty rooms? Or around 85% occupancy.

 

Love your thouhts on Rio, a beautiful, often dangerous place,

 

Yes, you are correct, dont know what I was thinking!!

[s2000drvr]

So nice to visit Rio and see it all through your eyes! Was going to the Christ statue scaring from a point of view of heights? Or did you feel safe in the train? And how very lucky to see the carnival floats. From the relative comfort of your bus and not standing 10 deep on the roadside!!

 

I am afraid of heights, but Dorothy (Blue Whale) said that I just had to do it. I felt very safe in the train and we had to stop twice going up to let the other train go by. The depth of looking down in some places was very scary, but I chose to just look up! This is one tour I am so glad that we took.

[s2000drvr]

Here is a link for photos of Rio, enjoy!!

 

http://photobucket.com/RioDeJaneiroBrazil

[cruiseej]

I was told there are about 400 new passengers and there are 196 of us doing the complete circumnavigation. So that leaves about 100 [Edit: 50] empty rooms??

 

Actually, it doesn't mean there are empty suites. There could be some additional passengers aboard who are not new in Rio but also haven't been onboard for the entire circumnavigation.

 

-- Eric

[snookymom]

Loving every minute of your review. Thanks for taking me along!

[Hambagahle]

those are great photos!! Thank you!!! I had no idea what Rio looked like aside from the shots one sees of the Copacabana beach and hotels behind. And no idea at all about the hills that ring the city. Reminds me of hong Kong a bit!! Little coves, high hills etc etc.

 

I think from your description the train you took up to the statue was a funicular? Where the train going down pulls up the train going up? Those can be steep and I am not sure I would have been as courageous as you were!!

[s2000drvr]

Day 51 Enroute to Salvador, Brazil

 

Got to love these sea days! Got out on the deck before 7a for our 4 mile hike. The wind was blowing and it was a challenge on one side of the ship, then it nearly pushes us over on the other side. But we stuck it out for the hour.

 

If it is Sunday, then it is champagne for breakfast! We treat ourselves on Sundays, so we each got our own pastry, no sharing. Had the Swedish pancakes with Lingonberries. Not like the Swedish pancakes I make at home, but they were good. I make the small round ones in the special Swedish pan.

 

We had an informal meet and greet with Cruise Critic members that have just boarded. There were five new faces.

 

Had a chance to grab our books and head outside by the pool. The water was really swishing around causing some nice waves in the pool. The temps were not as hot as I had expected, must be in the 80's. I expected it to be in the 90's. It was quite comfortable out there.

 

Lunch was in CR. Followed by the laundry. I will be happy when we make platinum and get free laundry. We were lucky though, got a washer right away.

 

We were talked into trivia by Dorothy and Jane. I am not a trivia fan, I do not collect trivia in my head. Neither Rich nor I watch movies nor read Harry Potter. I just do not like trivia. However, we tied for first place today!!!! Yippee!!! Now we are hooked!! We joined Jane, and Graham. Karen and Tom, who just boarded, also joined us. Rich got one answer, so now he is on a roll! Ha!! Thanks to the other 4, I think we have a team to be reckoned with!! I will admit, it was a hoot!

 

Tonight Jane and Graham are having us all for a special Indian dinner. They have chosen this theme as we are all taking turns with a different country for dinner. We are so looking forward to this dinner!

 

Rich and I did not get to attend the special dinner. Unfortunately, I got sick and spent the rest of the evening in our room. So disappointed.

[GeneBK]

Wow, 4 miles before breakfast!! Hard work for vacation!

 

How many times around the deck adds up to 4 miles????

 

Thanks for all the wonderful posts.

[s2000drvr]

Wow, 4 miles before breakfast!! Hard work for vacation!

 

How many times around the deck adds up to 4 miles????

 

Thanks for all the wonderful posts.

 

We walk for one hour, doing approximately a 15 minute mile. It is 10 times around for a mile, and we trek 40 times, sometimes more, depends on the wind conditions. The way we eat, we have to do something to maintain a smaller weight gain!!

[s2000drvr]

Day 52 Salvador De Bahia, Brazil

 

What a glorious morning, no exercising today!! After being sick last night, needed a break.

 

The weather is hot and humid. Our kind of weather!

 

Played trivia at 10:30a today, and guess what? We won again!! We have a pretty diverse team!!

 

We had a quick lunch as our tour was happening around 1:15p. Today's tour was the Highlights of Salvador. Salvador was the capital of Brazil before Rio. This was going to part walking tour. The coach took us to the old city and explained about the people here. There are many classes of people: poor, mid poor, and upper poor. Same as with middle class. There are 80 percent Blacks and it is represented in their food and the artifacts. There was little to no graffiti. The views were spectacular along the coast.

 

We started off in the Lower City with a scenic drive. There was a fortress at the entrance of the Bay called San Antonio. We drove around passing many tall buildings, some housing.

 

We then left the coach and proceeded on the walking tour. We toured one cathedral where the paneled ceiling was of carved and gilded wood. The next cathedral was Sao Francisco. The inside of this church was amazing with all the gold leaf everywhere. I was awe struck when I looked around. It took 28 years to complete. The detail that went into this was unbelievable. The guide told how the Blacks had separate entrances to the church, no pews, wood floors instead of marble and plain walls.

 

Next we walked to a square where there were a few shops. The guide gave us 20 minutes to shop. The shops were not all that interesting. We were quite disappointed as when we left that area we walked to Mercado Modelo where there were so many shops and that is the place noted for shopping. We then met our coach for the ride back to the ship. It felt good to sit down and be in the a/c. We were dripping wet with sweat.

 

We dined with Dorothy, George, and Michael in CR. All our dinners were calorie laded, but great.

[RachelG]

I don't count laps up top either, but I know that I walk a mile in about 15 minutes if I go at a good comfortable pace. So just walk by the clock for an hour to get in 4 miles.