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Published: January 21st 2008
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Cruising is good for your spirit, your body and your mind.
For your spirit, there are several activities onboard that promote such laughter that your cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. Our Cruise Director, Jamie has a noon game that changes daily. From Pictionary, where all of us revert back to our childhood drawing skills (or lack of drawing skills) to Jamie’s Top Ten List, where we have to guess his 10 choices with categories like 10 ways of cooking a potato or 10 countries that start with P or Q. No matter what the game, or the outcome (we play for tokens) we have fun. At the other end of the spectrum, there’s karaoke where passengers of all ages look through the song list and hopefully choose a song that enhances their singing voice. By the end of the night, everyone is dancing and singing in groups to everything from a Frank Sinatra tune “New York, New York” to the Beatles favorite “Eight Days a Week”. Oh yes, I think that was Chuck and Jamie singing that last one.
For your body, we try to keep on a regiment of walking the top deck or the treadmill in
the fitness room. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Both places have the best view of the ocean, with its hypnotic waves and the ever present seabirds like booby birds and albatross and flying fish. I know we’ve raved about the food in last years letters, but we can’t say enough about the quality of the meals served and the reasonable portion size. Everything is fresh and made from scratch. No midnight buffets here. Plus did I mention the excellent selection of complimentary wines?
For your mind, Chuck tests himself daily with his Sudoku puzzle which he discovered last year and now also does at home. He’s been able to master even the most difficult puzzles. I enjoy the speakers. This segment I especially liked the series with the South African lecturer Daniel Silke about globalization and everything you wanted to know about South Africa. We also “play at” trivia during afternoon teatime. Our team has never won this challenging game but I guess you can say we’re learning something in the process.
As we left the Bahamas, we cruised through the Caribbean passing many familiar islands like St. Lucia and St. Croix. Captain Dag (our Norwegian
captain on all our Voyager cruises) hosted a formal reception in the atrium to welcome us onboard and introduce us to the ships officers. Everyone looked elegant in their tuxedos and evening gowns and the staff in the Compass Rose dining room had closed the curtains and placed candles on the tables to add to the atmosphere. We really enjoy these formal nights because we so rarely get to dress up at home. The next morning we arrived in Barbados and boarded a catamaran called Tiami. We sailed along the coast, stopping to swim with sea turtles and to walk along the public beach in front of the exclusive Sandy Lane Resort. The wind started picking up as we left the Caribbean and Captain Dag warned us that it would slow our speed from 19- 20 knots to 15-16 knots. The result was a decision to cancel the port of Belem, Brazil and continue on to Fortaleza, Brazil. During those four days at sea, we crossed the equator and celebrated the seafaring tradition of the King Neptune ceremony.
Our first of three ports in Brazil was Fortaleza where we attended a charity event at the Theatro Jose de Alencar.
A special foundation has taken street kids from the Favelas and introduced them to modern dance. We sat in box seats in the balcony and admired the ceiling painted by an artists feet because he had no hands. The expressive performance about urban life gave us hope that these children might have a productive future. Afterwards, the children mingled with us as we enjoyed Caipirinhas (a Brazilian drink) and canapés outdoors in the plaza while a local group played Brazilian music.
From Fortaleza, we continued south around the eastern point of South America to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. This city of 2.5 million has the most inhabitants of African descent outside of Africa. The city is separated into an upper and lower section with the upper historic town being accessed by an elevator or a switchback road. We walked the narrow, cobblestone streets which opened onto town squares surrounded by pastel colored buildings. We saw churches with gold leafed interiors and watched an Afro-Brazilian music and dance show with the highlight being a dancer who balanced fire on his head while moving at a frenzied pace.
Our final stop in South America was the vibrant city of Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil. We had visited here five years ago and experienced all the famous tourist sights, so this time we decided to do something different. Our first day we had lunch with friends at the café where the song “The Girl from Ipanema” was written and then we visited the most amazing modern Cathedral of St. Sebastian. That night, 90 of us from the ship went to a popular nightclub to see a samba show. The Brazilian “Joie de Vivre” was alive and well in the high energy music and dance and the lavish costumes. Afterwards, the emcee invited the audience, by country and in their own language, to come up on stage. At least 20 countries were represented, and Chuck and I and several of our friends couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get up there and represent America. A fun evening was had by all!
The next day, we took a tour called “Lesser known Rio and its Favelas”. These poor hillside neighborhoods are home to 20% of Rios population and are considered a city within a city. Fifty years ago when Chuck lived in Rio, he remembered these separate communities that live by their own
rules. We visited Favela de Rocinha, the largest with 60,000 inhabitants and couldn’t believe that there was only one winding street through the community. The houses are built so close together, with no rhyme or reason that you could get lost in the narrow alleyways. It was an eye opening experience.
After four days across the calm south Atlantic, 2160 nautical miles, and 2 p.m. daily time change advances we arrived at the remote island of St. Helena (U.K.) No airport here, its 4000 residents get their supplies and mail by a monthly cargo ship. The islands claim to fame is Napoleons place of exile after Waterloo in 1815 and where he died in 1821. His tomb is there, although his body was moved to Paris in1840. We visited his house and even saw his famous hat and military jacket. The island that is 38 miles around has some wonderful views from its cliffs at 2500 ft. Jamestown, its main town is situated in a valley between two of these peaks. All in all, it was an interesting port, not a place many people have visited.
We had two rather rough days at sea before arriving at Walvis
Bay, Namibia in southern Africa. It was the first time for us and the Voyager in this part of the world. Namibia brings to mind Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and now bright pink flamingos in the ocean surf and sand dunes that are said to be the highest in the world towering up to 1000 ft. The ship had planned a special evening in the desert for all the guests. As we arrived in all forms of transportation available we were welcomed by dancing African women, the music of an African choir with the beat of an African drum band and the glowing light of luminaries outlining the tents. It was a magical setting in amongst the sand dunes while we enjoyed a dinner of local favorites. Considering we were in port less than 10 hours it was a welcome introduction to Africa.
It’s hard to believe that the longest segment (26 days) is now behind us but many new ports in Africa and beyond are beckoning to us.
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