leaving the Amazone

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January 14th, 1st sea day after our stop in the interior of Bresil on the Amazone River.
A few days ago, we were in Barbados, where we visited the Mount Gay Rhum museum, bottling plant and store, then, after a short taxi ride around the island (14miles by 25); we were dropped off at the Careenage downtown from which we walked home to the ship.
A few days at sea later, we stopped for the morning at Les Iles du Salut (formally known as Devil’s Island) in French Guyane; a tropical paradise where roam the eerie ghosts of 55 thousand French prisoners who were dispatched there to a hell until the middle of the last century.
The next stop, maybe a few days later- we forget, was Santarem a small hot town near the Equator where we hopped a canal tour boat for a 5 hour ride to visit a tributary of the immense Amazone River at the confluence of the Tapajos River. We had a beautiful swim on the way at a pristine bath water temperature beach.
Today, we had a typical sea day for us. We walk morning and night and had a swim in the warm sea water pool on the Spa deck this afternoon (under the equatorial sun). Terry watched some reruns of recent and old films on our room’s plasma TV and played Trivial Pursuit to try to win me a key chain. I attended lectures on our 2 next ports of call: Natal and Recife, then one on the ecology of the Amazone basin. We always meet for lunch on the back of the 11th floor Lido deck. Then this afternoon, I attended my second digital camera seminar and a sales pitch for the H.Stern jewelry group of stores whose head office is in Rio. We will be there next week-end. Bresil is renowned for it’s precious gems. TTY in a few days.

January 15th, 2nd sea day after our stop.
Today, we crossed the Equator at 2 pm, our time, which is 3 hours less than Ottawa.
We now have an official commendation as having crossed the Equator, on the sea, for the first time; for this, you must kiss the fish! And attend yet another formal diner tonight- Terry is delighted to have to dress up yet again.
We are off the South American coast, close to Belem, Bresil.
Ottawa is on the 46th latitude north, we are at zero and going eventually to 65 degree south at Anvers Island. Each degree of latitude represents 60 nautical miles which is a little bigger than a British mile and almost twice the length of a kilometer.

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Comments

[Debra Palmer]

So, how do you feel about retirement possibilities now?
Glad to hear and see via pictures that you are having an event filled time. Sounds like you may even find it difficult to come back to work. What do you think? I,for one,am green with envy as I am more than ready for an adventure. Take care. Have enough fun for both of us. Debra Palmer (Here at good old Glebe.)