Amazon River

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Thursday – Mar. 13/14, Amazon River



We have had days where Brooke has been under quarantine for gastrointestinal illness . While it is unpleasant to be confined to one’s room for extended periods of time at least we didn’t miss any shore excursions since most of the past few days have been at sea. Our only stop, since our last blog, was at Fortaleza and we didn’t plan to go ashore anyway.



At that port the ship’s hotel staff spent the entire day doing a thorough sanitization of the ships and each and every cabin. The exercise included the total change over of all the linens and towels and washing down all the walls with disinfectant.



Brooke’s quarantine, actually her second one, should have ended at midnight last night but didn’t we get the “release” call until 8:00 am this morning – a good thing as we were asleep at midnight! That was about the same time that the river pilots came aboard and I am sure local health officials did some checking up as well.



We entered the Amazon River delta at about 7:30 last evening on the tide so that we could have the greatest amount of water under the keel to pass over the outer bar. As we sailed closer to the river’s mouth the colour of the water gradually changed from blue to brown. Certainly today the river is very brown and there is a great deal of organic debris floating past the ship.



At 7:30 this morning we were already about 70 km inland when we anchored across from the pilot station where two river pilots came on board. They will stay with us on our passage up to Manaus. We very much need these two individuals on board as this is a very tricky river to navigate; it may be very broad in some sections but it also has many hidden dangers. The Captain in his noontime address noted that the river depth beneath the keel could vary from 2 m to 100 m. There is always the possibility that a sand bar can shift, or if there is a heavy rainstorm and the flow of water increases substantially the currents may prove to be challenging.



In preparation for our entry into the Amazon River the Engineering Department sent out a request for everyone with verandahs, to ensure that they kept their balcony doors closed to help: 1/to help maintain the air conditioned comfort inside the ship and 2/reduce the introduction of bugs that are attracted to the lights of the ship at night. Some of the crew, who have sailed on the Amazon before, told us to expect to find a large number of bugs on the deck in the early morning. They made some mention that the bugs were quite large, something like flying Volkswagens.



The Engineering Dept. has also requested that everyone help with the conservation of water while we are in the Amazon. We can’t distill water from the river as it has too much silt in it. We took on additional water supplies in Fortaleza and will reload water in Manaus from a water tanker.





The Captain once again announced that we still have people on board who are not reporting their GIS when they first experience the illness. The Medical Staff sent out a notice to all guest that with our visit to Santarem tomorrow it is extremely important that everyone be extremely cautious ashore with regards to local water and food supplies.

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Comments

[Erin Patterson]

lonely librarians
We will miss you at our meetings in Ottawa today and tomorrow! Seems like you have a pretty good internet connection...are you sure you don't want to skype in for the next two days?!

[Lois & Brian Clifford]

Enjoying your postings
Sorry to hear that Brooke has been sick, but glad that she has again recovered. You are providing an amazing record of your experiences, both in words and pictures. Continue to travel safely.