Advertisement
Published: March 5th 2023
Edit Blog Post
From Ship to Shore to Belém and Back in About Three Hours
The Tenders Served as Shuttles between MS Volendam and the Pier Belém, Brazil is the capital, and largest city, of the State of Pará in the country's north. Belém, Portuguese for Bethlehem, was initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará (Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará). Brazilians often refer to the city as Belém do Pará (Belém of Pará) to differentiate it from a number of other towns called Belém in Brazil, as well as the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank of Israel. It lies approximately 60 miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean, on the Pará River, which is part of the greater Amazon River system, and is the gateway to the Amazon River with a busy port, airport, and bus/coach station. With an estimated population of 1,499,641 people, or 2,491,052 in its metropolitan area, it is the 11th most populous city in Brazil as well as the 16th in economic relevance. Founded in 1616, Belém was the first European colony on the Amazon but did not become part of Brazil until 1775. The newer part of the city has modern buildings and skyscrapers while the colonial portion retains the charm of tree-filled squares, churches and traditional blue tiles.
None of the shore excursions excited my sense
of adventure enough to overwhelm the moths in my wallet, but, as is the case with every port we have visited, I wanted to experience the community in some way, shape or form. Icoaraci, Brazil is where the tenders deposited the passengers of MS Volendam so we could get to Belém. Icoaraci is about as close to a place that has vanished as I have encountered in some time. A Google search for Icoaraci pulls up results for Belém. A Google Maps search launches a map of Belém but does shows (what is apparently) a neighborhood labeled Icoaraci. According to Wikipedia, the Metropolitan Region of Belém is composed of seven cities, and Icoaraci is NOT one of them. Regardless, the “Port Talk Icoaraci (Belém)” presentation revealed that there would be a drive of about an hour, depending on traffic, to get to Belém. We disembarked the tender at what was apparently low tide and found numerous grounded small boats many of which looked to be of questionable sea(river)worthiness. After shooting a few photos, I made my way to shore only to find large chunks missing from broken sidewalks, dilapidated buildings and a slum-like neighborhood. I never felt threatened nor uneasy
with the people I encountered – they were just flat-ass poor! The shuttle bus was nearby and took us to Docas Station which is relatively new and about as bland as a building could be by accident. There was little inside except eateries, so Uncle Larry had a glass of Brazilian brew and then returned to the shuttle, the tender and the ship. My cursory overview of Belém is not sufficient to provide any kind of evaluation of the city for any purpose whatsoever, but I’m glad I made the trip into town if only to heighten my awareness of my good fortune and break up the tedium of a day aboard ship.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.138s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 14; qc: 30; dbt: 0.1012s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb