Rio de Janeiro

Sunday morning at about 10 AM, our ship docked in Rio; one of eight ships tied to the dock.  Carnaval (yes, that’s the correct spelling), the pre-Lenten celebration, draws hundreds of thousands of tourists to the city, including the probably twenty-five thousand cruise ship passengers.  Carnaval is celebrated in many countries; in the US it’s called Mardi Gras, but nowhere is the celebration more colorful than in Rio.

Rio de Janeiro, or River of January, refers to time of year that the area was first explored by a Portuguese expedition around 1502.  In 1555 the French occupied some of the area around Rio, until expelled by the Portuguese ten years later.  The local economy grew slowly until the end of the 17^th century when cane sugar became the most important export of Rio.  The production of sugar is still today an important economic activity.  In 1808, fleeing from the Napoleonic Wars, the King of Portugal moved the entire government to Rio where it remained until 1822 when Brazil became independent of Portugal and Rio became the capital of the Empire, later the Republic.  In 1960 a new capital city, Brasilia, was carved out of the jungle and Rio was no longer designated as the capital.  It is currently the second largest city in Brazil, serving as an industrial and financial center and a producer of many goods.

We departed on a city tour which included a visit to Sugarloaf, the conical-shaped rock which is one of the city’s internationally recognized symbols.  Unfortunately due to Carnaval, the city tour consisted of a bus ride through crowded streets and traffic directly to the base of Sugarloaf where we were to take two cable cars from street level to the top of the rock, some 900 meters high.  There we encountered a serpentine waiting line, or queue as the British say, with an hour and half wait before finally reaching the cable car for the first stage of the trip.  The wait at the mid-point wasn’t bad, so we got to the top with its spectacular views of the city in short order.  The magnificent beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema stretched on either side of Sugarloaf.  There was another wait of almost an hour to get from the top back to the midpoint; from there it was a quick ride to the bottom and our waiting bus.  We headed straight back to the ship, seeing nothing else of the city, because we were already two hours late getting back.

 

Once on the ship we took a quick shower to cool down, and then rested for about an hour before departing on another bus to the Sambódromo, the center of Carnaval, to our reserved seating area.  Sambódromo consists of about a mile of brightly lit street, flanked on both sides by immense grandstands holding at least 150,000 people.  The Carnaval celebration begins at 9 PM on Friday night with huge parades of floats (which are pushed manually), dancers and percussionists from various Samba Schools, competing for prize money.  Each parade consists of up to 5,000 participants that pass down the mile-long corridor.  It is loud and colorful, and the spectators enthusiastically encourage their favorites.  Each parade must finish in 1 hour and 20 minutes or less, or the school has points deducted from their score as a penalty.  Six Samba Schools are scheduled to perform on each of the five nights of Carnaval, with the final winners announced on Tuesday night.  With an hour and twenty minutes of competition for each school, plus a little “clean-up” time between parades, you can see that even if everything is on schedule, the celebration continues until at least 4 AM the next day.   Our favorite parade was that of the third Samba School, Unidos da Tijuca, which was elaborate and very beautiful.  This Samba School won the championship in 2010 and 2012.  We were fortunate to sit directly across from one of the judging stands; we saw the performers at their best!

Samba started in the poor sections of Rio as a way of celebrating before Lent.  The Sambódromo is located in the area where Samba began, the neighborhood of Estacio.  Some of the Samba Schools are over 60 years old.  Children begin attending these schools at an early age and practice every Friday and Saturday leading up to Carnaval.  A recent phenomenon is the rebirth of the street carnival.  The city dwellers and tourists don their costumes and off they go into the streets, reveling until the wee hours.

We tried hard, but we could only hold out for 3+ parades before catching a shuttle bus back to the ship.  We arrived at around 3:30 AM and fell into bed.  With the help of our good friend, Ambien, we were able to sleep until 2:30 PM.  It made for a much shorter day on Monday.  John & Judy were up at 6:30 AM to catch a tour to see the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado Mountain overlooking the city.  Their tour was very much like our tour to Sugarloaf, crowds and long lines.  It also took six hours instead of the scheduled four hours.

Sail-Away was at 5 PM, on our way to our final port of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Salvador, Brazil

We traveled Wednesday night, and all day Thursday before arriving in Salvador, Brazil at about 9 AM on Friday.  For some reason, we backed up for over a mile before arriving at our berth; seemed to us that it would have been quicker to sail in and turn around, but this wasn’t our day to run the ship.  As we were nearly at our berth, we saw the reflection of the ship in a large, glass-faced building near the pier.  It was an interesting sight.

Salvador is the fourth largest city in Brazil; it was founded in 1549, and was Brazil’s capital in 1763.  The early colonists established sugar and tobacco plantations that brought great wealth to the area.  The city, with its white sand beaches and tropical vegetation also is known for its numerous churches – over 165 at last count.

We were docked close to downtown, the central market and an elevator that took passengers up to the historic upper city.  We decided with John & Judy to take the elevator to the upper city and see the market on the way back to the ship.  The upper city was a bustle of activity, as they were setting up barricades and sound stages around a number of venues which were part of the Carnival celebration in Salvador, which was to begin on Friday night.  Most of the buildings, and even statues were covered by large sheets of plywood; apparently the authorities wanted to take no chances with the large crowds expected for Carnival.  The streets of the upper city are narrow and cobblestoned, and today are home to many shops and restaurants.  We saw many women in colorful costumes; we’re not sure if that was for Carnival, or if they dress that way to depict colonial days in Salvador when a cruise ship is in town.

It was very hot and steamingly humid, even though it was not yet noon, so we found a sidewalk restaurant with umbrellas for shade and stopped for a beer.   After shopping our way back to the elevator to take us to the lower level of the city, we re-boarded the elevator and made our way back to the Mercado Modelo, or central market.  This was a large, multi-story building, just crammed with stalls selling various goods to tourists and locals alike.  We were hot and tired, so we walked through the central aisle of the market to a covered, outdoor area where we had another beer.  John and Judy stayed in the market to shop, so we found a shady street to travel the several blocks back to the ship.  We both changed into our swim suits and jumped into one of the ship’s pools to cool down.  Sufficiently cooled, we sat on the deck (in the shade) until time to clean up for cocktails and dinner. 

  

We sailed about 5 PM, and will have one more day at sea before arriving in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.   The ship will stay in Rio for two days, and we are booked on a city tour on Sunday morning, and also for the Carnaval celebration in the Sambodromo on Sunday night.  The festivities are supposed to begin around 9 PM and not conclude until about 7 AM on Monday morning.  Don’t know how long we’ll last, but we will do our very best.  At least we can sleep most or all of the second day in Rio.  We’d like to see either of the world-famous beaches in Rio, Ipanema or Copacabana, but with the crowds in the city for Carnaval, the streets are supposed to be almost impassable.  We’ll let you know how successful we are.

Fortaleza, Brazil

We docked in Fortaleza on Wednesday morning at about 6 AM (not that it made a difference to us who sleep in).  Fortaleza is the capital of the state of Cerará and with a population of over two million, is the fifth largest city in Brazil.  It is located above the hump of Brazil that is the easternmost point of the country. 

It was founded by the Dutch in 1654 who built a fortress called Shoonenbroch at the present location of the city.  The city that surrounded the fort became Fortaleza.  Ultimately the fortress was seized by the Portuguese at the beginning of their colonization of the area now known as Brazil.

Brazil is the largest country in South America, and is actually larger than the 48 contiguous United States.  The country has population of almost 200 million and has a rapidly growing economy, probably the strongest in South America.  That growth is very evident in Fortaleza with lots of high-rise buildings and new construction.  There is also evidence that poverty abounds, with areas of ramshackle buildings and what appear to be homeless people sleeping in the parks and on the streets, although we were told that the unemployment rate is around 3%.

The dock where we berthed was a busy commercial port with lots of containers being loaded and unloaded.  Stacked on the dock were dozens of large wind turbine blades and hubs; they either manufacture and ship from Fortaleza, or somewhere in the area is a large wind farm being established.  Anyway, the large blades and hubs were impressive to us.

It was necessary to take shuttle buses from the ship into town, since it was a 3-4 mile hike in hot, humid weather. Of course when we got off the ship there was a long line of passengers waiting for the shuttles.  We saw many beautiful beaches on the way to the city; they were practically deserted at 10 in the morning.  We were told that the beaches come alive at about 4 PM, after the worst heat of the day is over.  Amazingly, the shuttle bus ride terminated at a five-story central market.  The market, all indoors, was filled with small shops selling all kinds of clothing, leather goods, lace, liquor, souvenirs and other stuff.  It was obviously not focused on tourists, because at least three quarters of the shoppers were local.  There were also numerous cafes and snack shops serving cold drinks and food.

Across from the market is the Fortaleza Cathedral, a fairly new, large cathedral in a neo-Gothic style with superb stained glass windows.  We took time to visit the cathedral before returning to the market.  After exploring two floors of the market and finding an ATM to get local money (Reals – worth about $.50 each), we settled into a café and shared a couple of beers with John and Judy.  After finishing the beer and doing a little more shopping, we got back on a shuttle bus to return to the ship.  As most of you know, we drive a 36-foot motorhome around the U.S. very comfortably.  The bus drivers in Fortaleza maneuver much larger 45-foot buses through heavy traffic, narrow lanes and tight turns with seemingly no effort at all.  We truly admire their skill.

 

Back at the ship we found the same lines waiting to re-board .  The lines moved quickly though, and soon we were back in the air-conditioned comfort of our floating hotel.  We had a bite to eat, and then retreated to the shade of our stateroom balcony.  There was a breeze blowing so it was a very comfortable place to sit and read until leaving Fortaleza mid-afternoon.

We have another day at sea before docking in Salvador, Brazil on Friday.

At Sea

Here we are midway through our four days at sea.  We’ve settled into a routine; Tom gets up and goes to the café for coffee while Debbie catches some extra sleep time.  Some days we go to a dining room for breakfast, some days we wait for lunch.  No one needs three meals per day on a cruise ship!  We find a place, either outside or inside, and read for a while. There’s usually at least one lecture that looks interesting to us.  Port information, life at sea, astronomy and digital photography are just some of the topics.   Sometimes there’s sun tanning time, sometimes a cool spot in the shade is appreciated.  Temperatures are in the low 80s, and we’ve had a mixture of sun and clouds with an occasional sprinkle or two;  all in all, pleasant and mellow.  We get together with our onboard friends, John & Judy and Lu & Joe, for cocktails in the evening before dinner.  We eat at 8 PM and sometimes attend a show or a movie before wandering off to bed.

Sunday night around 7:30 PM, somewhere off the coast of Suriname, we gathered together to partake in an annual ritual; watching the Super Bowl.  It was broadcast live via satellite, and was shown on the big outdoor screen and in a large show lounge.  It was not the commercial broadcast that you all watched; we had an ESPN international feed, so we missed all of the special commercials.  Instead, we saw commercials for ESPN’s upcoming coverage of events like the Masters Golf Tournament, an International Cricket competition, rugby and soccer tournaments, and the like.  We did see the pregame singing and the half-time show.  If the 49ers had played for the whole game instead of just the second half, we believe that the outcome would have been different, but congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens.

Monday was a formal night, so we got dressed up.  We don’t bring formal clothes, just a suit for Tom and a dressy-dress for Debbie.  There are three formal nights on this cruise out of nineteen total nights, so that’s really not a burden.

We crossed the equator early this morning before we stop at three Brazilian ports; Fortaleza, Salvador and Rio de Janiero.  We’ll be in Rio overnight next Sunday so that we can participate in Carnival.  We’re really looking forward to our time there.

Barbados & Trinidad

Mid-morning on Thursday we docked in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados.  Settled by the British in 1627, Barbados finally achieved independence in 1966.  The island is the easternmost in the Caribbean, straddling the line between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.  It has a population of about 285,000.  Because of its British control for over three centuries, it is said to be “more English than England sheself”.  While tea is enjoyed every afternoon and cricket is played as the national sport, African heritage brought by sugar plantation slaves creates a unique culture.  Roadside fruit stands and fried fish stalls can be found all over the island.  They have a strange law that prohibits the wearing of camouflage clothing by civilians, as it is reserved for military personnel.  We were told that we would be returned to the ship if caught wearing camouflage.

We chose to join a shore excursion to sail on a catamaran and snorkel with sea turtles.  We visited an area near a beautiful beach where we put on our snorkel gear and swam with four large turtles.  As with the sting rays of the previous day, the turtles were calm and gentle, but perhaps a bit more wary of human touch.  They were of medium size, around two to three feet across, and according to our boat crew, probably 30 to 40 years old.  After the snorkel experience, we moored next to the beach for about an hour and many passengers swam to shore.  From there, we raised the sails and spent the next hour or so sailing with a brisk breeze before returning to shore and our ship and a 6 PM departure. 

We woke up on Friday morning in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the larger of the two island nation of Trinidad and Tobago.  The islands were discovered by Columbus on his third voyage in 1498. They remained Spanish until 1797 when they were taken under British rule.  The islands became an independent nation in the 1960s.  Trinidad and Tobago are the southern-most islands in the Caribbean, located only 7 miles from Venezuela.  The islands have a population of 1.3 million people, and the country is among the wealthiest of the Caribbean nations because of a large oil and gas industry.  Port of Spain is the country’s capital and as such has a large commercial and governmental community.  Trinidad was supposedly the birthplace of steel drums and calypso.

Instead of booking a shore excursion, we walked a short distance into the heart of the city.  On every corner stood a visitor guide, dressed in a bright red shirt, to assist us tourists find our way around the city.  After walking a few blocks, we entered a large park where a temporary stage had been set up.  The signs advertised a concert at noon every day of this week.  Since it was after 11 AM, we found a table and benches to make ourselves comfortable and ‘people watched’ until the concert began.  Very few ship visitors were in the park; it was a local event, for sure.  Once the concert began, we figured out that the music was some sort of highly amplified “Caribbean rap”.  A few minutes of that and we made tracks out of the park and down the street.  We were going to stop at a local restaurant that had been pointed out by a visitor guide, but somehow missed it.  Since we found ourselves in the vicinity of the dock, we returned to the ship for lunch and a beer.

 

 The traffic in this capital city was horrendous!  Long lines of cars and trucks were waiting at traffic signals, but when the signal changed, there was nowhere to go; gridlock!  We were supposed to leave Trinidad at 5 PM, but the ship had to have some sort of port clearance document that was sent from the government building to the port.  The courier got caught in traffic and couldn’t get to the ship on time so we were unable to get away for another hour.

We now have four days at sea before reaching our first port in Brazil.  Hooray!

St. Thomas & Antigua

After two restful sea days, we arrived in the port of Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday morning.  The ship has a “shopping host” aboard whose job is to suggest places to shop on shore, and where to get the best bargains.  Since the Caribbean islands are all duty free and tax free, it is possible to get some worthwhile bargains ashore, but we suspect that the shopping host’s job is to get us to stores “recommended” by the cruise line.  The deals are good, but it seems like almost the same deal can be reached in any store in town.  In other words, the “shopping host” doesn't add much value to the experience.

We were on St. Thomas thirty years ago, on our honeymoon.  We stayed in a hotel in Charlotte Amalie for a week, and then took a week’s cruise on a 50 foot sailboat that we had chartered with good friends.  It was a great experience; one we’ll always remember.  The town has changed, though, in the years since we were last here; instead of a cruise ship or two, there are now four to six ships on any given day during the winter season.  Consequently, the shops have multiplied similarly.  There are hundreds of opportunities to buy jewelry, watches, liquor, etc. in town.

St. Thomas, along with three other islands, makes up the U.S. Virgin Islands, purchased from Denmark in 1917.  Several smaller islands make up the British Virgin Islands, which, we’re told, have a much more laid-back feel.  Before tourism took hold in the 1970’s, sugar and, to a lesser extent, coffee were the primary economic engines of the islands.  As with most Caribbean islands, pirates used the shores as their own and sailed out to plunder other vessels.  Blackbeard is said to have built a castle on a mountain top, and Sir Francis Drake utilized Megen’s Bay on the north side of St. Thomas to launch attacks on passing ships.

What does one do in a major shopping port like St. Thomas?  They shop, of course, and that’s just what we did.  With our friends, John & Judy Poremba from Santa Rosa, we went from shop to shop, looking for that special deal.  We did make some purchases, including watches for both of us.  Debbie has wanted a Movado watch for years, and we found a good deal here; almost two for one.  We made other purchases as well, but nothing significant.  We did find a local restaurant a couple of blocks off of the main street that served excellent Caribbean food.  We had conch in a lemon butter sauce that was very good.  Conch, like abalone, can be tough and chewy, but this was very tender and flavorful.  It was served with several side dishes, including fried plantains, Yum!  We wandered back to the ship in mid-afternoon since the Grand Princess was set to sail at 5 PM.

By the time we awoke the next morning we were in the port of St. Johns on the island of Antigua.  Antigua’s claim to fame is its 365 beaches, one for each day of the year.  Christopher Columbus landed in Antigua in 1493 and named the island in honor of the Church of Santa Maria de la Antigua in Seville, Spain.  The British colonized it in 1632 and established large-scale sugar cultivation.  In the 18^th Century, Admiral Horatio Nelson sailed into Antigua in 1784, and a few years later, the British established one of the most important military bases in the Caribbean at English Harbor.  The dockyard once served as the Headquarters of the British fleet in the Leeward Islands.  That headquarters has now been turned into a museum and National Park.

We decided to visit a small bay on the eastern side of the island and swim with the sting rays.  Sting Ray City can be found several places in the Caribbean; we have been to one previously in the Cayman Islands.   Once at the bay, we boarded a boat for a five minute ride to a coral reef and shallow sand bar where we got off into waist-deep water.  Moments later, here came the sting rays, drawn by the boatmen who had buckets of squid.  There were twenty-five or more sting rays, most of them about three feet across.  They were swimming slowly among the tourists, looking for a squid breakfast no doubt.  The only trick to feeding them was to hold a squid in your fist, with fingers and thumbs tucked in.  They swam over your fist and kind of sucked the squid from your hand.  Their skin surface was silky smooth and soft to the touch.  A few tourists squealed at the touch of a sting ray, but most enjoyed the encounter.  There was also a coral reef in the area and some visitors snorkeled over the reef.

 

After about an hour, we reboarded the boat and returned to the bay shore where there were fresh water showers available to rinse off the salty sea water.  They also served a rum punch that was mostly rum; they say it’s cheaper than the fruit juice they mix it with. Then we traveled back through the countryside to St. John.  We got back on the ship, changed clothes and had lunch.  We got off the ship again to explore the town.  Antigua is a beautiful island and St. John is a charming little city.  We decided we’d like to come back here.

We returned to the ship for a 5 PM sail-away.  Tomorrow we’ll be in Barbados.