Journey's End

November 25

Miami

It's been a great trip, but happy to be back home. Will deliver my collection of baby caps that I knit for the premies--one of which was done by our cabin stewardess with yarn I provided. 

In the U.S.--sort of......

November 21

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Yipes, bought a souvenir ornament and paid 11.5% sales tax. Maybe that's how they plan to solve their financial woes!!

Walked through Old San Juan with its lovely 16th and 17th century Spanish Colonial buildings. We also walked the El Morro national trail, part of the U.S. National Park system. 

Island Boy

November 20

Virgin Gorda, BVI

Out on a catamaran today to do some snorkeling and cruising the British Virgin Islands. Rick looks just like he belongs. 

Marvelous Martinique

November 19

Fort-de-France

Martinique is part of the Lesser Antilles, and is considered an overseas region of France--a French Department. 

We watched their Chef's Festival at the public market, dancing in the street, and iguanas at the beach. There is a lovely library designed by Eiffel. 

Barbados and Baobabs

November 18

Bridgetown, Barbados

Barbados celebrates 50 years of independence this month. All the buildings are festooned in blue and yellow and many people are wearing special celebration shirts. 

There is a baobab tree here that may be a thousand years old. Its trunk is 81 feet around. 

On the eastern side of the island there is great surfing and mushroom rocks. 

The Devil Made Me Do It

November 16

Devils Island, French Guiana

Visited the former French penal colony on Devils Island. The prison really exists on three small islands. They were made famous by the movie Papillion, which we watched the night before our arrival--you know, Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. It really made the place come alive. We walked among the ruins of the cells, church, hospital, etc. There is a new hotel on the main island. 

The European Space Launch center is on the coast of Fr. Guiana, so they have to evacuate Devils Island when they do a launch because of the trajectory of the rocket. There is actually a launch scheduled for Nov 17th, to put GPS satellites in space. 

Boi Bumba

INovember 13

Parintins, Brazil

The Boi Bumba is the second largest festival in Brazil after Rio's Carnival. The event has become a competition between two Boi (meaning "ox") teams. The Caprichoso team is represented by blue and the Garantido represented by red. Half the city literally sports red and the other half blue. Every citizen is fiercely loyal to either the red or blue team. Even the Coca Cola signs are blue on the blue side of town. There are dazzling parades with elaborate floats. 

Geocaching Manaus

November 12

Manaus, Brazil

Spent the day with fellow geocachers (Rui and Miyuki) who gave us a tour of Manaus while finding caches and took us to an authentic Brazilian restaurant. 

Meeting of the Waters

November 11

Manaus, Brazil is 900 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean.  This is where the mighty Amazon is formed by the merging of the Rio Negro with the Rio Solimoes.  The differing speed, density, and temperature of the waters prevents the immediate blending of the water so there is a distinct delineation between the two. Because the level of the river varies considerably during the year, the gas stations for the boats are actually floating off shore. 

Life on the River

November 10

Visited the village of Caboclos (population 75) at Boca da Valeria (mouth of the Valeria river that feeds into the Amazon).  The houses are all on stilts and there is a church and school. The residents all come out to sell their wares and have photos taken of their children holding jungle critters--birds, sloths, monkeys, and baby caimans, in return for a dollar, of course. 

Amazon Calling

November 9

Santarem

What!?!? The Donald is going to be our president? We awoke to the news. Still hard to fathom. 

Fortunately we are distracted by our journey up the Amazon. Today we arrived in Santarem. We were a little late because of the strong current flowing against us. And the waters are very muddy--tons of silt is deposited at the mouth every day. The Amazon is nearly 4400 miles long!

We walked some around the city center. What a lot of shoe and clothing shops, bikinis galore. But also very warm and humid. 

Crossing the Equator

November 7

Tradition has it that when a person crosses the equator for the first time, they must come in front of King Neptune and kiss the fish to transition from being a polliwog to a shellback. All the cruise lines provide this ceremony, and today was the appropriate day for us. We already had been initiated on a prior trip. 

Steel Drums

November 5

Port of Spain, Trinidad 

Did you know that steel drums were invented in Trinidad. We were greeted by that sound as we left the ship to explore the city. 

Trinidad and Tobago are a dual island republic just off the coast of Venezuela. They became independent of the U.K. in 1962 and became a republic in 1976. 

Zipping through the Jungle

November 4

Our first zip line experience, and we did it in the treetop canopy of St Lucia. Twelve separate lines in all and speeds up to 30 miles an hour. 

St Bart's

November 3

Our weather is already getting warm and steamy as we head toward the Amazon. Stopped today in St Bart's, St Barthélemy to be correct, a dependent state of France. The capitol, Gustavia, is loaded with high end shops, but it also has beautiful beaches. 

Life at Sea

So nice to be pampered--people to serve me meals, make my bed, and entertain me. There are only 402 passengers on our ship that holds 680. And passengers are outnumbered by 403 crew members. Don't know if Zika virus might have had an impact. 

Beautiful sunsets. 

 

At Sea

November 1

Fair skies and calm sea in the Atlantic Ocean. Eating, sleeping, reading, knitting,  ...........

On our way to St Bart's.