Good morning friends and family,
Well, no news may be good news. We checked with the Pursers’ desk and they are not happy with my pasting Carol’s visa in her new passport. The Brazilian authorities are still attempting to locate her past entry. Let’s hope they are successful.
The weather continues to be gorgeous. I tell everyone we bring the sunshine from Texas, but others from Arizona or California say the same thing. Whoever is responsible, thank you. We were told it would be raining nearly every day. Glad they were wrong.
Since we thought this might be our last port where we could get off the ship, we changed out minds about visiting Boca Da Valeria, and we are glad we did. It is a very small settlement of huts and primitive houses built of anything the natives can lay their hands on. There seemed to be more children than adults.
As they were lowering the tenders onto the surface of the murky water, several boats came out to meet us. One contained three young adults and three small babies. They were offering necklaces for $1 each. I think they brought the kiddos along for sympathy purposes, but we were sort of shocked to see such small children in an open boat on such a large river. But, they are probably used to it, growing up with boats as the only transportation.
We tendered in, which wasn’t as bad as some places, and found ourselves surrounded by young children as I handed out all the chocolate we’ve had placed on our pillows at night. It was a madhouse. The kids all wanted our two dolls, which we managed to sneak past security again, but we were adamant – no, the dolls stay in their pack.
We walked through the “town” and saw little children dressed in feathers or holding sloths, parakeets or other animals in their hands for taking pictures at $1 each. There was one pretty fair artist with pictures of the river, tigers, etc.
This is poverty at the abject level, but the adults and kids seemed very happy. They weren’t pushy, except for the kiddos reaching for chocolate. But, having the kids dressed up in feathers so you could take pictures for $1 said a lot about child exploitation.
We came to a large hut where they were selling beer for $2 a can, so stopped and had a couple. The dolls were snockered out of their minds – we have the pictures to prove it.
We started to walk back, when someone mentioned the boat rides for $5 a person for a half hour were out of sight, so we decided to give it a try. Very enjoyable trip – up a very narrow river, (the Amazon is way below normal level), to a lake where we turned around and came back. A nice breeze on the return trip to the village made it enjoyable.
On the way up a narrow tributary, we hit a log and the boat moved precariously to one side. Then the end of the log came floating up and looked like an alligator. I jerked back and then laughed when I saw what it was. Frightening moment on the Amazon!
I bought Carol a necklace for $1, (big spender), made with probably five pound test fishing line. It is something to remember the place. We got lots of pictures which we will share upon our return.
Now, after a tender ride to the ship, we sit here, soaked with sweat, or glowing in Carol’s case, in our nice air conditioned room, glad to have gone, but grateful to be here.
Still nothing from the Pursers’ office. Wish us luck. More later. Hamburgers and fries for lunch.
Forgot to mention we now have TV once again, but only get CNN, which I hate because they have the same stories, over and over and over and over again. Where is FOX when you need them?
German dinner tonight, which supposedly featured pork tenderloin – not what I consider tenderloin, hardly edible. Entertainment was a wonderful show, Music, Music, Music, featuring the entire cast of dancers and singers. Trivia at l0 and then to bed.
Tomorrow is Manaus. Still no word on Carol’s visa, so we continue to believe, “No news is good news”.
We hope to be able to buy a fifth or a pint of whiskey in Manaus, which brings me to another secret of cruising. You CAN bring wine, whiskey, scotch, brandy and soft drinks aboard a ship. Lots of people, (mostly from the ship), will tell you otherwise, but we’ve always brought our own booze. With a mixed drink costing $5.95 to $7.95 per drink, plus gratuity, it adds up in a hurry.
If you are worried about this, just buy your booze in a plastic bottle with a plastic cap – then slip it in your coat pocket and walk right through the metal detector. We usually just lay the bottle inside our backpack or fanny pack or whatever bag we carry and send it through the detector. No one says a word.
As I told you before, we brought Coke on board at two different ports and friends brought back huge sacks of wine, bottled water and soda. Again, bottled water is expensive on the ship – buy it in town.
Another tip – if you do drink on board, chose a single waiter and give him all your business every time you imbibe, and tip him an extra dollar. That way, when you attend the Captain’s welcome party, Captain Circle Party and the farewell party with free drinks, find your waiter and tell him what you want. He’ll bring you twice as many free drinks as anyone else, because you are taking care of him and he’ll return the favor.
But, enough for tonight. It’s late and we’re tired, even though we took the afternoon off and took a nice nap. See you tomorrow. Buy those novels of mine – they make GREAT Christmas presents.
Via con Dias,
Karl & Carol
