Amazon Cruise 3

Sunday, November 18  --  At sea (on the river)

Or at least not formally in any port. We did stop at Macapa, Brazil for a few hours for the ship to "clear," but nobody was allowed to go ashore. That pretty much means "take care of all the red tape for entering the country with a passel of gringos on board." Of course it's Sunday, so all the necessary officials were either at home or at church.

At about 6:20 a.m. we crossed the equator. The Captain blew a tiny blast on the horn as the nose of the ship crossed. Margaret says she thinks that it woke her up, and I slept through it entirely, but both of us have crossed the equator multiple times before. Let's see...I think I've crossed 'em all: Equator, Int'l Dateline, both Tropics, Arctic Circle, and Antarctic Circle, and...oh...Greenwich Meridian. Not much left on the ol' bucket list.

Once we finally got going about 10:30 a.m., heading up river is both slow and smooth sailing. Most of what we can see is the banks of the river with plenty of jungle vegetation and an occasional boat moored at the side. Sometimes we're closer to the north bank, and sometimes it's the south bank that's closer. And sometimes the river is so wide you can't see the other shore. Knowing the channels is why we have a series of pilots on board the whole way. The Amazon pilots have to be retrained every year as the river changes.

Margaret and I, along with maybe half the other passengers, spent several hours today watching 2 more lectures and the Filipino Crew Show. The most interesting and entertaining lecture  was the one on "Teddy Roosevelt and the River of Doubt." I had heard of this expedition by Teddy and his son, but there was a lot more detail in this lecture. I may have to look up the book on it when I get home.

Our table mates, Stew and Sandy have abandoned main sitting and us for what is called "Anytime Dining." This evening we were joined by a couple from Alberta, Linda and Dave. They're also on "Anytime Dining" but were later than their usual, so ate with us. It was a fun dinner. Dave ordered the thing we were all curious about and said it was very good - Seafood Pot Pie. None of us had heard of it before.

Monday, November 19  --  Alter do Chao, Brazil

This one is a tender port. The good news is that, here in the river, getting on and off the tenders will be a lot easier as there isn't the wave action to bounce things up and down when you're trying to get back on the gangway. The better news is that I never lost anything in Alter do Chao that I need to go look for.

After a walk around the outside deck, I staked claim to our favorite spot in the Explorers Lounge on Promenade Deck. It has the most comfortable chairs on board. It has good light for crocheting and knitting, is close to food, drink, elevators, and restrooms, and is an excellent people watching spot.

Margaret had a tour in the morning while I lazed around on board. She came back very happy because this tour went to open air fish and local craft markets as well as a place that sounds like a demonstration farm for growing and processing manioc.

It appears that Alter do Chao is built around one of the few hill-type formations in the area. One of the lecturers yesterday said that recent archeological finds show that this area has been inhabited by humans for several thousand years. An easily defensible landform is a good thing to have handy.

This area is at the juncture of the Rio Tapajos with the Amazon. Rio Tapajos is one of 11 major tributaries of the Amazon. There are  over 3,000 smaller ones feeding those 11. This juncture is a huge area with lots of channels and islands. In some if not many places, the opposite shore is only a thin white line on the horizon. The white line can be an actual sand beach, or it can be the lower part of tree trunks etc. that are flooded during the rainy season. We are here during the dry season, so we can see things that are under water in the wet season.

Here's a bit of trivia for you. The water in the Amazon River does not flow. It is pushed. From Manaus to the Atlantic, the river drops only about 2 inches in over 800 miles. The darned thing is virtually flat! It is the pressure of more water from rainfall upstream that moves the water down the river. And that's a lot of water. Think of a railroad boxcar full of water. Now think of 1,200 boxcars of water. That's how much water the Amazon puts into the Atlantic EVERY SECOND!

We set sail again at 4:00 p.m. and arrived at our next port, Santarem, at 5:30 p.m. right across this wide spot in the rivers. Although we could've, we didn't get off during the evening while docked in the who-knows-which outlying suburb of a Brazilian city.