Manaus to Montego Bay. Leg 8 of 8. Posted from Montego Bay
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We spent three days in Manaus, the second day being the disembarkation/embarkation routine between legs.
Believe it or not the ship was moored to a floating dock. When the water level changes by as much as 30 feet you have to be creative. I think we were at the high water mark as the floating gangway to the cruise terminal was level. It must be quite an effort when the water is low and the angle quite steep.
From the cruise terminal I was able to post the blog of Leg 7. Once again the cruise terminal was just a hot noisy barn. The heat and humidity were so oppressive that any thought of walking the kilometre to the Teatro Amazonas was abandoned. Besides the forecast was rain. One passenger did walk there and as soon as the orchestra started rehearsing all visitors had to leave.
The Customs House at the port was constructed out of stone imported from Scotland. It is in Raj style. Back in the rubber boom days, cost was no impediment. Of course, the Teatro Amazonas is the epitome of that era’s extravagance. Every part of it was hauled up the Amazon over a century ago – Carrara marble from Italy, steel from England, roof tiles from Alsace and interior furnishings from France.
At 11:30 on March 23rd a storm rolled in. At first it was just a band of very black clouds. Then the city disappeared when sheets of rain fell. Those who had left the ship for the $600 overnight jungle experience probably got more than they bargained for. At lunch I spoke to one couple that had been caught in the rain and got so drenched that they had to change their clothes once back on the ship. Then at 14:00 I spotted soaking wet passengers returning from an excursion. At 14:30 another group departed in the rain. In fact, it rained all afternoon.
This was a reminder that I need to line my suitcase with my waterproof poncho to protect the contents. The way this ship operates, suitcases are lowered from the back deck onto the dock in a cargo sling. So, if it is pouring rain like today, all luggage gets soaked.
I found out that the cable stay bridge over the Rio Negro was constructed from 2009 to 2012, which explains why it is new to me.
Before boarding this ship all passengers were notified that a yellow fever shot was mandatory. The last time I was in Manaus I stayed at the Tropical Hotel. An American there told me that his fishing partner from the year before did not get a yellow fever shot and he had died from the disease. So far on this trip nobody has been required to show their yellow fever certificate. [I subsequently found out that the requirement had been dropped in 2012, but the ship had not picked up on it. One passenger theorized that the requirement was dropped after Brazil bid on the World Cup and the Olympics – the thesis being that visitors would shy away if they had to get the jab.]
This is an extract from the ship’s daily sheet. “Please leave your valuables on board; do not wear expensive jewellery and watches whilst ashore. Any money should be somewhere secure in a hand-held bag or zip-style pocket. Credit and debit cards should be used with great care. In locations where there are many people, be aware that petty theft, pick-pockets and bag-snatchers will be operating. Do not go out on your own. Avoid the favelas and areas of low-cost housing, for your own safety.” Enjoy your shore excursion!
On Match 24th we sent some passengers home and embarked others. There was a touching tearful scene on the dock as one of the ship’s entertainers said goodbye to her brand new fiancé who had to return to England. Those coming from the UK had war stories about the persistent snow. The BBC weather report showed the whole Amazon basin covered with cloud. In March there is a 70% chance of rain on any given day. At breakfast it was only spitting so I decided to take a chance and stepped off the ship at 09:30 hrs.
I walked out of the port and immediately found the busy bus terminal. The next stop was the Catedral Metropolitana de Manaus. As I arrived there the faithful were assembling for the Palm Sunday service. They were buying palm fronds as they entered. I took a couple of photos and then saw the sign forbidding photography.
My aim was to visit the Teatro Amazonas, but I went uphill a bit too far to the west and found the Red Light District. The first clue was what the Brazilians call a “Love Hotel” and the second three woman trolling the sidewalk for business.
At the Teatro Amazonas there was a rally of Volkswagen Beetle owners proudly displaying their customized chariots. Brazil was the last country to produce the iconic Beetle. The rain started to become a problem as I ducked inside the second church of Sao Sebastiao where a service was in progress. Then it was a quick look at the Monumento a Abertura dos Portos, which seemed to celebrate the Portuguese exploration of the world.
Umbrella deployed, I walked down Avenue Eduardo Ribero where a fair had been set up in the middle of the road as a pedestrian mall. It was very colourful.
Back at the cruise terminal I noticed a sign on the river embankment showing the high water marks in various years. If I was reading it correctly, in 2012 the river spilled over the top of the embankment.
By the way, I finally figured out that I was the only man with an umbrella. Macho Brazilian males do not carry umbrellas – I was immediately identifiable as a weak gringo.
The rain finally subsided mid-afternoon and then there was a spectacular sunset.
After dinner those who had been on the jungle overnighter recounted their experiences. One got very badly bitten by mosquitoes even though repellent had been used. Their huts had tin corrugated roofs so the pounding rain made quite a din. On the night river hunt the guides found only one tiny caiman, that was so small that they passed it from hand to hand. They did not catch even one piranha, perhaps clear evidence of over fishing 😉 One lady had her hair done two days before going into the jungle. After getting soaked she was in dire need of hair maintenance. One woman tried to photograph a macaw and got a nasty bite on her hand as a result. All in all, they had experiences that will not be forgotten.
This was my second visit to Manaus. Last time most of it was spent at an Eco-lodge out in the jungle with no electricity. It is nice to be able to get back to the ship for a shower.
The BBC morning news of March 25th featured the Cyprus bailout and the snow conditions in the UK where lambing sheep are stranded in snowdrifts in the hills.
At 09:30 I left the ship for an almost two hour walkabout. The city had come alive the Monday after Palm Sunday. It was hot and humid. I walked along the road closest to the waterfront going eastwards towards the Mercado. Along the waterfront were literally hundreds of Amazon triple deck steamers. Many were being loaded by sweating porters, who looked like an army of ants carrying everything from food and drink to propellor drive shafts on their shoulders. One entrepreneur had a foam cooler with iced vodka at the top of the steps. The porters took slugs of raw vodka – I saw no money change hands but I suspect some sort of tally system was in play. I went quite a bit east until the outline of the riverside favela showed itself and I beat a hasty retreat.
While the original Mercado of 1906 is undergoing extensive renovations, a makeshift warren of vendor stalls has sprung up selling everything from boat anchors to fish, meat and vegetables. The price of 30 eggs was a mere $4. The carrots were huge, but given the poor quality of the soil in the Amazon, I am scratching my head. The poor vendors were sweltering in their confined spaces. One can only wonder how long the meat and fish can stay safe for consumers. In the heat the odours could only be described as a dreadful “pong”. I got some great photos and can only wait until the next digital camera revolution when smellography might be introduced.
Along the street the busiest shop was the one selling lotto tickets. I bought a great Brazil nut fridge magnet for $3 to mark my second visit to Manaus. BTW, the basic ticket on an Amazon river boat for the upriver trip from Manaus to Iquitos, Peru ( four days) is only $200. For that you get to hang up your hammock to swing in the breeze, with about one foot space between you and your neighbour – of course you have practically no privacy. Food and drink are extra. I suspect that the toilet facilities are pretty basic.
Back on the ship, I had to wash all the sweat out of my clothes and have a shower before lunch.
If airports are the armpit of the world, then cruise terminals are a lower part of the anatomy.
In mid-afternoon, just before my eighth lifeboat drill, I reported to the cruise terminal wearing my ear defenders to check my mail. Incredibly, a couple of messages got through. But I think I am missing about 500 messages.
It was 250 nautical miles down river to Parintins and we dropped the anchors in mid stream about 09:00 on March 26th. The current was quite strong at six knots. Out on the river the temperature was bearable at 31 Celsius.
Parintins is on the south bank of the Amazon with a population of 110,000. It was founded in 1796 by farmers specializing in cocoa using slave labour. The town wakes up only once a year for the three night “Boi Bumba” folk festival which takes place in the 35,000 seat “Bumbadrome”at the end of June. I am told that the local firewater is called “Caipirinha” and is a cane sugar liquor.
I took the local river boat the ship had hired at 10:00 for the ten minute transfer to the town. We arrived at the floating dock and were met by the local Boy Scout troop. Once into town the real feel was 42 Celsius, which translates to a melting 108 Fahrenheit. The town is divided into the eastern blue half and the western red half. Even the Coke signs are blue or red depending on which side of town. This is a vestige of the “Boi Bumba” wherein the blue and red sides compete against each other. The only similar example I can think of is the Rio de Janeiro Carnival just before Lent when the 12 Samba Clubs compete. Parintins hums with dozens of motorbikes, including taxi motos – you just sit on the pillory and hold on for dear life. Some of the passengers took bike rickshaws for a trip around town.
It was very noisy in town – it seems that Brazilians just cannot stand silence. The sidewalks in town were very high, indicating that when it rains it absolutely dumps and walls of water flow down into the river. As I waited to cross to the church a women came through the intersection on her bike and she crossed herself as she passed the church. There were several electric bikes – dangerous as you don’t hear them coming up from behind.
About 12:30 I was ready to go back to the ship. The heat and humidity of the Amazon absolutely drains you. On the dock I grabbed a shot of a praying mantis one of the Scouts had found. I also got a photo of a kiskadee, a large sparrow with nice yellow markings. Ominously, the turkey vultures wheeled overhead waiting for a tourist to drop from heat prostration. There was a triple deck Amazon boat piled with sacks of onions and cabbages while another had passengers swaying in their hammocks ready to depart. Just about everything moves on the river as there are virtually no roads.
I was musing as to why there are no hydrofoils, like on the Russian rivers. Then I saw a huge log pass the dock and imagined what would happen if a hydrofoil hit it.
Shortly after I got back on a board an incredibly huge black rain cloud came in from the north and dumped on the town. This of course was just in time for the shore excursion to watch the smaller tourist version of the Boi Bumba Festival Show. It does not just rain in the Amazon – the water buckets down as though you were standing at the foot of Niagara Falls.
There was a bit of drama in the mid-afternoon when the ship starting dragging its anchors. Obviously the surging current had loosened things. So there was a Tannoy call asking the Brazilian pilots to report to the bridge. We then went through the very noisy procedure of hauling in the anchors and then resetting them. For the rest of the afternoon the main engines ran to keep us on station – that was quite a statement showing the power of the current.
Over an hour late, the 121 passengers who had signed up for the Boi Bumba show boarded the local tender. The show had been postponed due to the rain.
At 17:45 we pulled the hooks and sailed downstream to Alter do Chao some 159 nautical miles away. And once again the Amazon pulled a stunning surprise with a wall to wall sunset with a richness of red that had to be seen to be believed.
This evening in the lounge the resident pianist played for a whole hour without any sheet music. His fingers never left the keyboard with clever transitions as he moved smoothly from one tune to the next. It was beautiful calming mood music. I nominated it for the best performance of the whole trip. Entrancing.
The clatter of anchors going down at 06:30 announced our arrival at Alter do Chao at on March 27th. ADC is a little way up the Tapajos River on a little peninsula on the edge of the jungle. It is a holiday resort with a population of only 1,300.
I was on deck at 06:45 to get a GPS fix and it was raining. Way upriver I could see a rainbow, but it was too faint to photograph. The weather forecast indicated “partly cloudy”, but it was just plain wrong. Passengers signed up for the “Nature Trekking in Santa Lucia Forest” assembled in the lounge for a 08:00 tender ride to shore. That simply did not happen as common sense put all on hold while curtains of rain came down. Actually, it was all my fault. I had put on sunblock in preparation for a walk ashore. The sunblock worked all too well.
Wonders of wonders, the rain stopped. I got ashore on the 11:00 tender and spent about 90 minutes wandering the shoreline track watching men bailing out their boats. I would describe this place as a resort of the downscale variety. There were a couple of small hotels. Around the bay I could see holiday houses. Since ADC is only a few kilometres from Santarem, which we visited going upstream, I suspect that it is the city’s playground. My first photo opportunity was a bright green iguana perched high in a tree, trying very hard to be invisible.
I bumped into a young German couple from Berlin who were backpacking. I chatted with the man in German and his primary concern was where to buy groceries. It turned out that the woman spoke perfect English. I was very surprised to discover that their six year old daughter was with them.
The sandbar with typical beach huts was submerged, only the thatch roofs showing. This was obviously not the high season.
The trinkets and trash stall was playing a CD with, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”. It was probably the only one they had with songs in English. There was one of the egg-shaped telephone call box that was disguised as a big blue parrot. Obviously, it was a “Squawk Box”.
During the return trip on the tender one grey dolphin, the Tucuxi, popped up to check us out. I got no photo as they do not linger on the surface.
I had taken my plastic poncho and umbrella ashore. They weren’t needed but I when I got back I was soaked – sweat.
The BBC had a squib on the Amazon. The rain forest pumps 20,000 cubic kilometres of water vapour into the air per day. It is the watering can of Latin America providing for its millions.
The ship’s spa had a one day special on men’s haircuts. So I signed up for the ten pound special – that is actually less expensive than the price in Toronto. Actually, it was symbolic support for the poor Cypriots, many of whom also took a 40% haircut.
The anchors came up at 16:45 en route to our next port of Macapa 314 nautical miles away.
On each of the eight legs there have been two formal nights with black tie. Tonight I was wearing black tie for my eighth Welcome Dinner – in the Amazon that was just plain daft. My black tie is getting to the point where it could walk home by itself. But, I have resisted sending it to the ship’s laundry for dry cleaning as the ship’s liability if they mess up is only $120.
We have been on the Amazon for over a week and have seen only one other cruise ship. Our deck and restaurant crews have been under constant harassment by Brazilian inspectors. My waiter told me that he had worked until midnight moving stuff around to satisfy the inspectors. The fact that we have not been allowed any lectures by the Brazilians has also made this leg rather boring. There is real resentment building against the Brazos that will show up in the feedback suggesting that the ship not return.
We were “at river” on March 28th. On deck, although 32 Celsius, it was quite reasonable because it was a mix of sun and cloud and we had quite a breeze across the deck. It is practically impossible to take a photo of the Amazon – mile after mile of endless forest with only the occasional hint of any habitation.
At 10:30 a video on the Boi Bumba was shown. It was long, loud and very colourful. Two male and one female singer led hundreds of cast members in a never-ending parade of colourful costumes. The dancers were young, lithe, athletic and attractive dressed in skimpy costumes that showcased their youthful looks. The costumes ranged from whimsical to creative interpretations of Amazon Indian, Inca, Aztec and Mayan designs with feathers of every colour spraying from every angle. The sound was a gut bouncing incessant pounding Samba beat that never ended – it just drummed into your head.
The cast of hundreds changed costumes throughout the two hour show, the audience responding loudly at each phase. Multiple cameras captured every conceivable angle providing the video viewer much more variety than a stadium seat would provide. The show seemed a metaphor on Brazil – it is sexy, brash and only operates at full volume, in kaleidoscopic colour and never stops. The staging was very innovative with pyrotechnics on the stage and fireworks exploding over the open air stage.
At noon the Captain announced that we would be bypassing Macapa. The port authority had denied him a port side docking. A starboard docking was demanded and on that side our only gangway exit is from the fifth deck, which creates a very steep and dangerous angle at low tide. The Captain requested permission to use the ship’s tender from the port side when docked on the starboard side. That was denied as was permission to hire local tenders. I have a suspicion that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back and that a frustrated Captain told the Brazos where to go. So, the Brazilians lost an economic opportunity and passengers were stuck holding Brazilian Real with no further opportunity to spend them.
We anchored off Macapa at 13:30 and the six Brazilian officials onboard, who had pestered the crew with tedious inspections, were taken off in a launch.
Just for information, Macapa was founded in 1738 to guard the entrance of the Amazon. The San Jose Fort was built in 1764 as the largest one in Brazil. It was built from bricks brought out as ballast from Portugal. Macapa can only be accessed by water or by air. It has developed a lot since the discovery of manganese in the 1950s.
Instead of the planned shore excursions we had a poolside demonstration of cocktail mixing at 14:00 – it started raining at 13:59. This soggy event was followed by the movie “Flight” with Denzel Washington in the lounge. About 15:00 the movie was interrupted to announce that we were crossing the Equator – the fourth time – it gets boring.
The new plan was to clear the Amazon and get into the open sea on March 29th with arrival in Les Isles du Salut on March 30th. Thereafter, we would add an extra day in Port of Spain, Trinidad. We cruised on and there were no regrets.
The ship’s videographer displayed his results on a monitor outside the Media Centre. All his footage shot on the Amazon excursions showed pouring rain. Yes, Alice, it does rain in the rain forest.
By 21:00 we were one degree north of the equator and the ship was in the open ocean rocking and rolling trying to scrape Brazil off her plates. The daily news sheet for March 29th confirmed our departure from the Brazilian straitjacket as we had three lectures scheduled.
At breakfast on March 29th, 2 degrees north of the equator on a course of 341* NW, the mood was that we were generally glad to see the back of Brazil and the Amazon in particular. The sun had returned and the 30 Celsius temperature was much more pleasant.
This is Good Friday. I have never understood this name. Didn’t rather BAD things happen?
There was a morning lecture on bird watching – again. To my horror I found out that there are 10,000 species belonging to 200 families. But I did learn some very technical jargon. LBJ means “Little Brown Job” and “Jizz” means “What does it look like?” I have promised myself that I will not become a “Twitcher”. Notwithstanding, just to show off my new knowledge, we are entering the Neotropic zoogeographical region and I will return to the Nearctic in Toronto. Twitch, twitch!
The morning deck quoits competition was made a bit more interesting by the 26 knot wind and the pitching deck associated therewith.
After poolside lunchtime customized toasted sandwiches, having left Brazil, we had a lecture on – wait for it – Brazil.
Dinner was in the upscale restaurant. I had a delicious beef Teriyaki. I must now diet for my sins.
The billing of a visit to Devil’s Island was simply for marketing reasons as nobody has heard of Les Iles du Salut. Dreyfus put Devil’s Island on the map.
We arrived in the channel between Ile Royale and Ile Joseph at 06:45 on March 30th and anchored. I was at breakfast at 07:00 and got a tender ticket at 07:30. On the ship the temperature was 29 Celsius with northeasterly winds at 15 knots – that was a very pleasant combination.
For the first time since Nevis I watched TWO tenders manoeuvre and noted there was quite a current and swell that were giving trouble. Sure enough by 08:10 the Captain had decided the conditions were too dangerous and repositioned the ship. His intention was to hold the ship in a sheltered position without anchors and to protect the tenders with the ship’s hull while passengers embarked. I got off in Tender #1 at 09:45 with the tender going up and down two feet at the embarkation stage. But, the tender could not land us as two large catamarans from the Ile Royal’s hotel were discharging weekend passengers brought over from the mainland. So, we sat in a hot, wallowing tender for a long time – a great formula for mal de mer. Imagine that, a traffic jam on Ile Royale on Easter Weekend.
After examining the museum and taking some shots of historical photos, I rejected a $25 T-shirt. Ascending the long road to the prison plateau, a group of us found a “new” monkey – it was identified as a woolly monkey.
Returning to the hotel complex, the red macaws and the blue and yellow parrots put on a show. The peacocks and peahens failed to perform.
On the return to the dock both spider and woolly monkeys showed up begging for treats from the French children.
From the Ile Royale dock I noted that the ship was once more at anchor and that the swell had decreased. There is a very tricky relationship between wind, waves and swell. Swell seems to a phenomenon that has to do with conditions that may have been generated a long distance away – think tsunami. Waves are superimposed on top of swell and are generated more by local wind conditions. The net sum of swell and wave is how much the ship “bounces”.
I came back at 12:30 on Tender #2, the one that had been sick since Nevis a couple of months ago. The sick puppy sounded like it was firing on three and a half cylinders and was shuddering and belching smoke like a destroyer laying a smoke screen.
With the sunblock and insect repellant were slathered on, and the lack of breeze on the island, when I got back to the ship my clothes were soaked with sweat – it is the very high humidity. So, I went through the laundry and shower routine.
At 14:00 we set off for Port of Spain, Trinidad, some 682 nautical miles distant. During that trip I relearned that the Arctic Tern migrates 11,000 miles from its breeding grounds in the Arctic to the Antarctic – it gets more sunlight than any other species. Did you know that sooty shearwaters travel 25,000 miles per year, can live to age 50 and can be found around Vancouver, BC? The snowbound Brits had brought their coughs and colds to us when they joined the ship in Manaus. Lectures were punctuated by rounds of coughs and sneezes as the contagion spread.
Easter Sunday, March 31st was spent at sea. The faithful held a morning service. I had to attend a reception for returning passengers at 11:45 and then a Solos Lunch – both involved free drinks – brought new meaning to “Happy Easter”. Then, being well clear of the Amazon we got a lecture on – wait for it – the Amazon. We visited at the height of the wet season. Eight feet of rain are dumped during the total wet season. Having tasted both the dry (twice) and the wet (once), the dry is definitely preferable.
Later a retired Air Marshall of the RAF gave a lecture entitled “Narcotics – The Scourge of the Americas”. I didn’t get the connection either.
The port lecture on Trinidad indicated that Columbus found it on his third voyage. Originally Spanish, it became British due to a treaty in the early 1800s. It gained its independence in 1962, now has a population of 1.3 million and has significant oil and natural gas assets. The capital of Port of Spain (POS) had a population of 49,000 in 1991. Since then 12,000 people have left due to the high crime level. This is the only capital city I know of where the population has decreased.
Trinidad has 450 species of birds, which is the densest in the world. Within that group, there are 40 types of hummingbirds – the wing beat of which can be as high as 60 per second. The T&T coat of arms reflects the avian diversity with the Scarlet Ibis for Trinidad and the Chacalaco for Tobago. During my visit I saw the only exotic I saw was the frigate bird.
When Joe, my cabin steward turned down my bed he brought a basket from the Easter Bunny full of sinful chocolate. It was a real test of my discipline to leave it intact.
After breakfast on April Fool’s Day we started seeing the NE coast of Trinidad. It is a very mountainous island. Our first contact of interest was an oil or gas rig about ten miles offshore. As we got closer to POS we passed a huge Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) ship at anchor with four super thermos domes.
The day started with an air and water temperatures equal at 29 Celsius. We picked up the pilot and sailed through the dredged channel and docked at Port of Spain at 11:00 on April 1st. It was good to see a container port again. After the Amazon I was badly in need of a container fix.
Trinidad has a reputation as a rough place. When we had visited Tobago earlier in the cruise the locals had warned us about Trinidad.
I went ashore after lunch wearing my hobo outfit, with my P&S camera pretending to be my pot belly. I only lasted 1 hour 45 minutes. The cruise terminal was nice, but closed. In fact, most of downtown was enjoying the Easter Monday holiday.
The temperature was a sweltering 34 Celsius. First came the new Parliament Buildings, I think replacing the Red House, the traditional seat of government that is undergoing renovation. There is a nice waterfront walk and the huge T&T fast catamaran was just pulling out for the 105 km run to Tobago. Walking the quiet streets it was soon obvious that this was a dodgy area. My rule is to avoid places where there are no women and children. Well, there were almost exclusively single males lounging around, and they watched my every move.
I saw one new marketing idea. Many shops had metal protective grills covering their shop windows. Entrepreneurial rogue traders just brought suitcases of T-shirts and hung them on the grills to get good sidewalk position at a very reasonable rent. The downtown seemed to be mainly government and police buildings. But, Scotiabank, Royal Bank of Canada, KFC, and Subway were present. Curiously, the street signs are all in both English and Spanish – the Spanish left two centuries ago. After trying to create some nice images out of tired buildings, Woodford Square, complete with zonked out grubbies, was the limit of exploitation and it was back to the ship. Once again I had to do laundry and have a shower.
We had a very pleasant surprise after dinner. After 3 months and three weeks, we finally had some local talent come on board to entertain. A family of eight steel drummers, with the delightful stage name of “The Pan Family”, gave an outstanding half hour performance.
We remained overnight and April 2nd had a forecast high of 35 Celsius. I had decided that I could afford one fridge magnet to reflect my visits to both Trinidad and Tobago. I now have so many fridge magnets for my suitcase that the airplane’s compass might be affected and I may well land in Montreal instead of Toronto.
I had a slow start to my day. First I watched the bunkering barge come alongside to deliver more of my carbon footprint. I watched the bunkering crew wrestling a big boom carrying the oil hose. The boom was controlled by three deck hands using a set of blocks and tackle straight off an eighteenth century square rigger.
The T&T giant catamaran ferry made a close pass – the twin hulls are remarkably skinny and the centre hull sits a long way off the water. My guess is that the outer hulls draw quite a draft and that their depth provides a smooth ride as they slice through the waves. In front of us a Norwegian car transporter was picking up automobiles.
I was in the restaurant having a cup of tea when the Captain called a crew exercise. Suddenly the restaurant was full of waiters and stewards opening every cavity and searching under tables and chairs. They were looking for a “bomb” the Captain had planted – they looked like a bunch of kids looking for Easter eggs. After half an hour, the Captain came on the Tannoy suspending the exercise. Either the “bomb” was found or upset passengers were not worth the price.
Half the gift shops in the cruise terminal were closed this Tuesday morning. I suspect that the operators had chosen to take a VERY long Easter weekend. I was drawn to a hand-painted T-shirt that had no lettering on it and was quite dramatic. The artist missed a sale because the shop remained closed.
After lunch I left the port and walked to the Hyatt on the waterfront searching for the perfect fridge magnet. I could see little sense in going back into town to suffer from heat exhaustion and a possible mugging. On the way back, the local Craft Market won the day with a $3 purchase. Finally, I used the free WiFi at the Cruise Terminal to update six iPad Apps. As you might detect, I suspect I was suffering from Cruise Fatigue.
Most of the afternoon the crew had been working with local stevedores unloading the reefers sent to us by Sea Chefs of Hamburg, Germany. We had been running out of critical supplies, like tomato juice. That operation was complete by 18:15 in time for our 19:00 departure. But, a fellow passenger from Blind River, Ontario pointed out an oil slick and the clean up bags of cotton that were in the water along with other absorbing material.
We did not depart as planned, even though the pilot had come on board. At 20:00 the Captain came on the Tannoy to announce that there had been a spill during the bunkering operation and that a local contractor had been hired. Because the hull was covered in heavy oil we would not be allowed into any port in the Caribbean. The Captain said the boss of the local cleanup crew had told him the ship would be able to sail in an hour, at 21:00 hrs. With some cynicism in his voice, the Captain wondered out loud how many minutes there might be in a Trinidadian hour.
We sailed for La Guira, Venezuela, 335 nautical miles away, at 21:46 on April 2nd. Therefore, the answer to the Captain’s facetious question is that there are 106 minutes in a Trini hour.
I woke up on April 3rd and looked at my portable alarm clock. It was blank indicating that the battery was dead. It was 06:05 and I slipped in both spare batteries only to find that did not fix the problem. My backup solutions were my GPS and the iPad. My wrist watch has an alarm that is so weak that it would only wake up a gnat.
At breakfast it was 29 Celsius on deck, but only 3 Celsius in Toronto. Yikes, I could catch pneumonia on my return unless it warms up dramatically in the next five days. Today was a day of onboard lectures.
At noon we sailed between Venezuela and its Margherita Island. We had visited Margherita earlier on December 28th. It was an indicator that we had closed the loop and that the cruise was rapidly coming to a close. Those who had signed on for the Montego Bay to Montego Bay circuits were treated to a special lunch and presented a certificate.
In a break between lectures I got a couple of great photos of hooded boobies. This was a new species for me but they were up to the same trick of grabbing flying fish scared up by our bow. I was able to watch the head go down ninety degrees to focus the binocular vision, the tail feathers splay out and down to act as a speed brake and then the warping of the wing tips to initiate the dive. They are fabulous flyers. The shock of hitting the water is partially absorbed by air sacks in the skull and breast.
Speaking of birds, did you know that the one billion passenger pigeons went extinct in only 60 years as US immigrants pushed west. Then again, do you know the story of the New Zealand bird named the Takahe that was wrongly thought to be extinct? Without knowing the story, I had taken the stone image of this bird at Te Anau on the South Island on two separate visits. Now I know it is alive and has been re-introduced to several venues on both the North and South Islands.
In one lecture the reason for the arc of the Eastern Caribbean islands was made clear. They clearly define the eastern edge of the Cocos tectonic plate that slides under the south end of the Americas plate. Subduction translates into earthquakes and volcanoes, and the islands feature both.
Before going to bed we set the clocks back half an hour.
I note that the UK government is matching other countries in Quantitative Easing. The wrinkle is they are “electronically” printing money to stimulate the economy. So, we now have nothing but “funny money”. It would appear that when interest rates are at near zero this is about the only tool left to government. The Japanese are really pumping extra money into their economy to create inflation – a few years ago that would have been unthinkable. If all the governments print extra money it seems to me that is simply self-defeating. Money is increasingly become a difficult concept to comprehend.
We docked right on schedule at 06:00 on April 4th. We had visited La Guaira on a previous leg. The sole purpose for visiting appeared to be launching an excursion to Caracas. I had rejected this idea earlier and maintained my position. The Bolivar had been devalued by 32% several weeks before but the ship maintained its price for the shore excursions. You can draw the obvious conclusion.
At 25 Celsius it felt very cool after the Amazon. Then the humidity and the heat of the day built to 31 Celsius. In Kent in England it was 1 Celsius overnight. There have been horrendous rains in the regions surrounding Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. It would appear we were lucky to have escaped those downpours.
There is a nice cruise terminal that is absolutely empty. As before, we had been warned not to leave the port as a favela blocked the way into the city and was considered extremely dangerous. As I left the ship for a morning stroll around the terminal, a man dressed like a policeman told me not to leave the terminal as it was too dangerous. He suggested that I take a taxi. When I was coming back I saw him trying to organize a group for a taxi – turns out he was shilling for taxis.
At 10:30 it was announced that a replacement coach had been found for the one that had been in an accident earlier. The passengers on that trip had been waiting in the lounge since 07:40 hrs. It was an excursion named “Grand Tour of Caracas”. Given our planned 17:00 sailing time and the distances involved, that would have been a truncated version. The coach actually got back one hour late, something that does not endear one to the Captain.
I used the morning to do a trial packing, having to get under the deadly 50 pound limit enforced by American Airlines, and got reassuring result of 48 pounds. Mind you, I had to leave two clothing items and a lot of expendables that totalled 4.27 pounds.
Venezuela is now in full election mode. Most observers think that Vice President Maduro, the late Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked choice to succeed, will win the Presidency. But, it is clear that Venezuela has a lot of problems that would challenge any leader.
Delicious empanadas were a lunch special. Afterwards it started to rain and the pass through the coastal range to Caracas was wreathed in cloud. Those who went to Caracas really did not have a good day. By sailing time the weather was back to OK.
For the first time I tried “Trivia” with the entertainers. I had shied away in the past as it was so Brit-oriented. Our team got nine out of fifteen questions, the winners scoring full marks.
That evening we started out for Oranjestad, Aruba 217 nautical miles away, at 18:00 hrs, one hour behind schedule. The clocks went forward by 30 minutes at midnight.
I was on deck when we picked up the pilot and then tried to dock at Oranjestad at 08:00 on April 5th. The route into the dock is very narrow with a nasty reef about 200 yards off the dock. There was a very strong wind coming from the NE blowing us off the dock. A shotgun blast announced the messenger line going ashore with the bow hawser. The docking crew caught it, but three men could not haul in the main line. The smaller line was tied to a small truck but it lost the battle and almost got pulled into the sea. So, the Captain abandoned this attempt and elected to “Go Around”.
The “Grandeur of the Seas” (GOTS) was right behind us so we became number 2 in the circuit. Our second attempt made us crawl past the docked GOTS in a walk of shame. The shotgun got the bow line onto the dock but the first attempt from the stern failed. Stern shot number two was successful. Once again the small truck had to be used to haul the hawser ashore. With a tug pushing the bow against the dock, we finally got alongside. My amateur analysis is that the bow thrusters were not strong enough to overcome the wind and we lack stern side thrusters.
This is the first time I have witnessed a missed docking attempt. As a result, the ship had to wait for immigration clearance as the inspectors had logically boarded the GOTS first. This of course delayed the scheduled departures of the shore excursions.
For the record, Aruba is 30 km by 9 km, is basically flat, arid and windy, has a “bump” that is 617 feet above sea level, a population of about 100,000 and its licence plates read “One Happy Island”. It receives half a million cruise ship passengers and half a million fly in visitors per year. It boasts beautiful beaches, a casino, a hotel strip and tons of jewelry shops. It is a bit pricey. It is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Prince Willem-Alexander is about to assume the throne from Queen Beatrix.
I went ashore at 10:30 and my aim was strictly to get some exercise. I had already bought the fridge magnet for Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao in Curaçao on a previous leg of this voyage. This was my second visit to Aruba, the first when I did a cruise of the Western Caribbean several years ago. There were two other cruise ships in port, one the beautiful old style “Freewinds” and the other Royal Caribbean GOS.
I noted that we were replenishing – paper – we consumed tons of it.
The first thing I noticed was how clean Aruba was compared to the other ports we had visited. For the first time in months I felt safe. Instead of walking out of the port area into a very rundown neighbourhood, the area outside the cruise terminal is a string of upscale stores, about 75% of which sell jewelry. The street along the shoreline is neat and tidy and there are no layabouts asking for money.
The local busses have unique air conditioning. They have no glass in the window frames. There was a lot of traffic in the downtown area, but drivers were courteous and waved pedestrians across the street.
Make no mistake, Aruba is a first class tourist trap. All the normal franchise fast food stores are present. Although I did spot one small lizard, I failed to get a photo of a land iguana. At the limit of my walk, I took a photo of Fort Zoutman of 1789 with its Willem III Tower of 1866.
I spent about two hours in 35 Celsius before I wilted. In that time I heard only one conversation in Dutch. Like Bonaire and Curaçao, the locals use a dialect that is a melange of about five indigenous languages.
Aruba certainly lived up to its reputation for being WINDY. At a sustained 20 knots I found it a bit much. At times it was so strong that I found it hard to keep the camera steady.
On my way back to the ship I finally snagged a prize in the cruise terminal that had eluded me for a long time. For $25 I got a neat no-name white cotton shirt that is very lightweight (it weighed only 0.44 pounds) and breathes – something that I really needed for the tropics. Perhaps it will be perfect for my planned trip to Burma for Christmas 2013, if the conflict between Muslims and Buddhists can be contained.
We departed Aruba at 17:45 for Montego Bay, some 610 nautical miles distant. It had indeed been good “Bon Bini”.
We spent April 6th sea. There were morning and afternoon lectures separated by a BBQ on the Lido Deck. It was a beautiful sunny day at 27 Celsius and easterly wind of 25 knots and a sea depth of 4,000 metres.
In the morning I was watching a game of deck quoits. In a remarkable show of dexterity a novice managed to throw a quoit overboard. I had another go at Trivia in the late afternoon.
Did you know that the Gulf Stream is 5,000 miles long, moves at 5-6 mph, is 100 km wide, 800 metres deep and is 250 times the volume of all the rivers on earth?
At 17:45 we had our eighth and final Farewell Party in Black Tie. It was most enjoyable and was followed by a classical duo of piano and violin.
Our arrival in Montego Bay on Sunday, April 7th called up the eight iteration of Eggs Benedict, the traditional Sunday breakfast treat.
The day started at 27 and built to 36 Celsius. The easterly winds at 10 knots kept things reasonable. The weather got a bit dodgy from time to time with threats of showers.
During the day I did final photo processing into a total of ten albums, did a dual backup, completed a preliminary packing of the main suitcase and my carryon.
When I picked up my passport from reception, there was a baggage receipt on the back flap showing I had started out with 49 pounds. It looks like I am going home with only 48.5 pounds.
I went to a Solos Farewell Drinks beside the pool at 18:00.
After dinner I completed my packing. My main bag had to be out by midnight.
On April 8th I was up at 07:00 as I had to vacate my cabin by 08:00. After a very slow morning, I left the ship at 13:30 and was taken by bus to the airport at Montego Bay. I was supposed to fly to Miami at 16:00 and finally to Toronto at 20:35 hrs. At the airport I found out that the incoming flight from Miami was delayed and I would miss my connecting flight to Toronto. So, American Airlines told me they had booked me into the Miami Airport hotel for an overnight 08/09 April, with a rebooking for a flight the morning of 09 April.
On landing in Miami, I went to the baggage carousel and claimed my bag. Somebody had dropped my bag right on the retractable handle and it would not come out. So, I limped through Customs and got out into the main interminable terminal.
I reported to the hotel in Miami airport only to be told I had to go to American Airlines to get a hotel voucher. When I found the guy in the red jacket for AA concierge service he had no idea what I was talking about. I finally convinced him to ask somebody. Somebody told me I had to go back to AA Rebooking – that made no sense as I already had a boarding pass for April 9th. Notwithstanding, now realizing that Alice in Wonderland had taken over, I went to rebooking. A nice woman told me there was no room in the airport hotel and that she could book me into the Comfort Inn close to the airport.
Vouchers in hand, I stood at the curb and waited for the courtesy bus from the Comfort Inn. About an hour later I was in my room. I had a voucher for dinner and went to the restaurant, or at least what passed for a place in which food was available. Desperately in need of some comfort food, I had a burger and fries and a Dr Pepper. Back in my room I poured a strong belt of the $3 flask of Jamaica rum into the remnants of my Dr Pepper – not recommended. But, it did the trick and I slept until the “Air Raid” alarm on my iPad went off at 06:00 hrs. My neighbours probably thought the North Koreans had fired a missile.
I had breakfast in the Comfort Inn and took the 07:00 shuttle back to MIA. Even though I already had a boarding pass in hand, I had to use that infernal machine to book in. The machine insisted that I pay American Airlines $40 for my bag. I came close to losing it, but decided to be the cool Canadian. I pleaded my case on how American had really messed up my vacation and the nice lady gave me a free bag. Then I had to get through TSA.
Really, it would be a lot easier if we all showed up totally nude. They had the full body scanner going and you had to take off just about everything. I finally got through and then did a five mile route march to the AA gate.
In summary, I had woken up 06:00 and did not make it to the gate until 08:30 for my boarding call of 09:40 hrs.
BTW, English is an endangered language at MIA. It becomes more Spanish each time I visit.
Sitting at the gate I realized that some of the best training I ever got for long distance travel was in the turret of a tank. Out in the field in Germany I got used to going for days on end with very little sleep, being grubby and pestered by never-ending sequence of annoying things. The endless chatter on the tank radios also prepared me for the bafflegab that comes over airport PA systems.
I got on the airplane and relished my aisle seat. Then a woman with an infant in her arms sat in the inside seat beside me. I had always believed that the loudest call in nature is that of the male howler monkey, even overpowering the trumpeting of the bull elephant. This is all untrue. The scream emitted by a human eighteen month infant at two feet distance splits your head and causes brain damage.
The flight to Toronto was mercifully short and I was home by 15:00 hrs.
I left home on December 3rd and got back on April 10th.
Leg 1. Portsmouth to Bridgetown. 4432 nautical miles
Leg 2. Bridgetown to Montego Bay. 2183
Leg 3. Montego Bay to Manta. 3423
Leg 4. Manta to Valparaiso. 2484
Leg 5. Valparaiso to Buenos Aires. 3756
Leg 6. Buenos Aires to Recife. 2448
Leg 7. Recife to Manaus. 2342
Leg 8. Manaus to Montego Bay. 3174
Total distance Portsmouth to Montego Bay – 24,242 nautical miles or
26,666 land miles
Note: This is greater than the distance around the earth’s equator.
Notable zeroes – zero bar bill, zero laundry, zero excursions and zero weight gain.
Customs Return: Eleven Fridge Magnets $ 36, Nine items of clothing $ 253 Total: $ 289
Total ports visited 58. Lifetime unique countries visited – count now 135.
The Travels of David Ironsides 