Amazon Adventure Day 13 – A day at Sea

After leaving Grenada we head south across the Caribbean Sea to Devils Island. It is really hard to comprehend how large the ocean is when here we are just crossing one little corner of it and it takes over 24 hours to do so. A sea day means lots of time to just take it easy. Do what ever pleases you most.

I got up and hit the gym doing 90 minutes on the elliptical. It was good to get a good sweat going and I left the gym totally soaked. I need to do a little running as it is now less than 3 months to the next marathon and here I am not training. Besides which Chris is just going to kick my butt when I get home. However my eating plan does appear to be paying benefits as it would appear that I have moved my belt out a full notch.

After a hearty breakfast on the stern of an omelette and more bacon than you can imagine I pulled on my swim suit and headed for the deck chairs. I have found a couple of good books and a day spent sunning myself and reading is just what I need.

At supper tonight our usual dinner companions were not there. Instead this couple from Nova Scotia joined us. They were quite good company and told stories of life in the Maritimes. We compared cruises which we have taken and exchanged travel stories. Then totally out of the blue they jump on the fact that there are a lot of handicapped scooters on this trip. They just hated them they jam the passageways and he was run down by one in the library. So I am not alone in despising the scooter trash.

Tomorrow is Devils Island. (more French stuff)


Terry

More Pictures

1. Every evening the room steward makes a towel aninmal on you bed. I think it is a rabbit.
2. Ice carving on deck
3. Hanging out of a bus window pretending to be a dog.
4. Something in the jungle
5. Orchid in the jungle

Cheers:

Terry

Well I can't post my notes so here are a few more pictures. If you are honest you probably are happy about it anyway.

1. Looking up at the jungle canopy. Probably a Brazil nut tree which can reach 85 meters
2. Jim pcking out a machete for jungle exploration
3. Santa Claus in a small town (it starts with the letter P) Partini or something
4. Another shot of the Boi Bumba show. The cow plays a central role how ever as my Portugese is not that great I cannot actully tell you what the story is
5. More Bio Bumba picture
   
   I will get the notes up as soon as I can

Terry

Ok Still cannot post my notes so here are a few more pictures;

1. Boi Bumba Show this is a dance show which was put on in honor of the ship visit to this small town. It was a fantastic dispaly of feathers and dance. It is similar to the big Rio festival.
2. Street shot from Manaus. This was the big town at the head waters of the AMazon
3. Jungle scene -- Raining -- Like this is the rain forest in case you missed that part
4. Drinking water from a jungle vine

More later:

Terry

Ok The internet cafe where I am at will not let me copy my carefully written and edited postings which were made on my laptop. SO you don't get to read all the wit which was so carefully prepared. So Here are some pictures.

1. This is a scene from this jungle treck we did out on Manaus. The trek was great we saw how the native indians live in the jungle.
2. This is giant moth which landed on the boat one night. Iti s about 4" across. Everynight the boat which is this huge illuminated object attrachs thousands of bugs
3. Indian village where we stopped one day
4. Typical scene along the Amazon of native boats where the people live on the river.
5. Pharina fishing where we went on this tour to catch the deadly little guys.
   
   
   More later

Terry

Amazon Adventure Day 12 - Grenada

Wow what a beautiful place this is. The boat is tied up to a pier right down town St. George in Grenada. The coral pink of the houses set in the green of the hill side. Magnificent blue sea and brilliant blue sky with little white puffy clouds. Of course it is 85F and 100% humidity so your clothes are stuck to you. Even my Tommy Bahamas silk shirt is stuck down. Never the less I don’t think I would trade for 0F and the freezing weather of Calgary.

Grenada is the spice island of the Caribbean and here they are all selling little boxes of spices. Three dollars each. If you bargain real hard they will come down and you can talk them into “3 for $9.00 Mon” Fort St George is right off the center of downtown and was constructed in 1660 by the French but they surrendered to the British. DUH! It is the best preserved fort in the Caribbean and of considerable historical note. The prime minister of Grenada was assassinated at the fort and the place fell in to the hands of the commies before Ronald Regan intervened and the US Marine corp. ousted them and restored democracy to this lovely little piece of paradise.

We walked around downtown and it seems like the commies are gone for good as it is a beehive of activity. The cars are all new and right hand drive. The shops filled with goods and the people look happy and industrious. The security is the highest I have seen any where in the Caribbean. X=ray on the dock and efficient looking personnel.

Tomorrow is the last sea day for a while and then it is Devils Island. (more French stuff) and then Brazil and the jungle. WOW!

Sorry for the lack of pictures but they just discovered the internet and everything here is on island time. So high speed means something else.

Terry

Amazon Adventure Day 11 - A sea day

There is really nothing like a sea day. I was up early and hit the gym. Spent 2.5 hours on the elliptical this morning. It was great just pounding it out. The machine looks out over the ocean and you can watch the waves. During that time I talked to half a dozen people who can in to use the gym and stayed 0-5 minutes. I watched a rain storm blow across the ocean and pound down for about 20 minutes and then we were through it.

There are a huge number of handicapped scooters on the ship. “Sea Side Scooter Rentals” out of Ft Lauderdale really cleaned up. So at lunch time I am saying how amusing it was when one to the scooter gets high centered on one of the raised thresholds, on the ship most thresholds are raised to keep water out, but have little ramps for wheel chairs. Everyone at the table pooh-poohs my story saying that I am exaggerating. Fine don’t believe me! Then we head out from lunch and there in the door way to the lunch buffet is a senior in their scooter high centered. All four wheels in the air and just screaming! I laughed so hard I couldn’t believe it. Just part of the wonders of cruise travel.


Well tomorrow we are in Grenada. I hear that it was a hot bed of commies at one time.

Terry

Amazon Adventure Day 10 - A Day In Aruba

What a quaint place Aruba is. Everything is painted in vibrant colours, set off with white trim. Right on the main strip is a giant Little Switzerland Jewllery store and mall which is painted bright pink with white ginger bread lattice work on it. This sets off the marina where there are lots of for charter boats. It looks like it is around half the Fort Lauderdale pricing.

The place is a real beehive of activity with all the locals out hustling taxi and trying to sell “Island Tours Mon”. I guess that you have to be out there and after it is you make your money when the cruise ships arrive.

We have been to Aruba a couple of times and it is always really pretty the snokeling is great and the beaches wonderful. However today we just wandered down the main street and took in the local flavour. Along the sea wall there were huge iguanas sunning themselves. They are amazingly fast though. They just sit there and watch you walk right up to them and then when you get close they just vanish.

Well tomorrow is a sea day so I get to relax.

Terry

Amazon Adventure Day 9 – The Third Sea Day

I am not sure that the plan of getting up to work up an appetite is working out quite as well as I had planned. We have been on the ship for 5 days and I stepped on the scale this morning expecting to see a large gain and was shocked to see that there was only a marginal gain if any. However the food is really excellent, whether it is breakfast lunch or dinner, you just know that it is going to be a great meal. The chocolate cake here has proven to be an excellent chose. At lunch to day there was this kind of rolled chocolate cake. It was like a jelly roll except that instead of jelly it was this creamy chocolate between the layers.

Being a sea day is generally relaxing and today was no exception. I have taken the time to write some on my blog, go to a few lectures on some of the ports we are going to stop at and just have a nice easy day. There is nothing more relaxing that sitting in a deck chair and reading a good book. I am a good way into a Robert Ludlum, and as usual with his books you never know who is going to be the bad guy.

Tonight’s entertainment is a classical pianist. I am sure that he is very talented however tonight the movie is “Year One” with Jack Black so it should be hilarious. Popcorn and a movie are probably more my style than classic piano.

Tomorrow we are in Aruba.

I didn't take any pictures today. Sorry

Terry