Running South by East to the Mouth of the Amazon

Prepared Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at sea en route to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil:  Posted January 18, 2012

At Sea in Atlantic Ocean, January 13, 14 and 15, 2012:  Very Busy -- Resting!

With three consecutive sea days, the image of restful cruising and laying about in warm sun south of the Tropic of Cancer comes to mind.  Maybe so in the 1930s and the days of the great ocean liners.  Today, cruise ship staffs work on the theory that a resting body is an unhappy body, so the "plan of the day" is always filled with ACTIVITIES.  There are two old sayings that come to mind -- "Busy hands are happy hands" and/or "No rest for the wicked!"

The M/V Silver Whisper

Our Current Abode

Aside from eating, for J & E bridge lessons and play are main on board activities.  In no small degree, our improved bridge play is because of the lessons of the Sprungs, the bridge instructors.  This may prove that skilled teachers can make a silk purse from whatever.  Over the three day period, J & E have risen to the highest level of play in recent memory.  It may not last, but currently we are not the anchor pair at the bottom of the score list!

On the last sea day before making port at Belem, another sacred at sea ritual was celebrated -- the crossing of the Equator.  For those of you who are strick interpreters of latitude, the celebration was a bit early, as the Silver Whisper had not crossed over into the Southern Hemisphere.  However, King Neptune and his jolly band of Shellbacks may have had a full calendar, what with all the cruise ships headed for Summer in the Southern Hemisphere.  After King Neptune and his henchmen appeared on the pool deck, all of the pollywogs (non-Equator crossers) were invited to attend their induction into the ancient Order of Shellbacks.  In the past, with the exception of cruise ships and aircraft, induction into the Order incurred a certain amount of (can we say) "hazing."  But, in the world of cruising, where every passenger comes with a lawyer attached, all of the high-jinx are limited to the ship's company and some willing volunteer passenger pollywogs.  The most rigorous form of horse play ends up being thrown into the swimming pool or smeared with some food stuffs.

At this point, J is tempted to reminisce about his induction into the Order on board the USS Yorktown in 1969, but that heart-wrenching tale of inhumane treatment at the hands of the Yorktown's shellbacks will not be told.  Suffice it to say that all the Yorktown former pollywogs were eating standing up for several days after the crossing!  It was indeed a memorable ceremony.

In the end, all the Silver Whisper passengers received a certificate of crossing to add to their growing collection of cruise memorabilia.

Eloise is a Certified Member of

the Loyal Order of Shellbacks

Anchored  Para River, Off Belem, Brazil, January 16, 2012 -- Can We Go Back To The Ship Now?

The Silver Whisper anchored in the Para River, part of the Amazon River delta, at 7:30am local time.  The weather was wet and humid -- surprise, surprise.  This is the Amazon basin after all.  Belem could be seen across the river in the mist and fog.

After a number of delays, relating to a local tender (it was claimed that our on-board tenders were "unsafe" in the river's current), we embarked on a local tender that was the sister ship of the African Queen.  It leaked rain from the upper deck, while the plastic canvas side curtains, intended to keep the rain off the passengers, collected the rain and, with each gust of wind or movement of the hull, sprayed it on the passengers!  Welcome to the wet tropics!  We embarked and clung to our plastic VIP chairs, rented especially for the tourist passengers, and made the 30 minute river crossing to the Doca do Para where we disembarked.

Approaching Belem on the African Queen

It was onto the dreaded tour bus for a short trip to the "Teatro da Paz" opera house built in 1878 at the height of the rubber boom.  The opera house was remodeled in the early 1900s and completely restored in 2002.  The building and its interior are excellent examples of a 19th Century opera house.

Teatro da Paz -- Exterior View

Teatro da Paz -- Interior View

After the opera house, we were herded back onto the bus for a trip through the narrow, congested streets of Belem's old quarter (Cidade Velha) to the oddly-named Jewellery Hub, which is the restored Sao Jose Liberto (originally a Fransiscan Monastery), which became a notorious prison and is now a minerology/gems museum.  It is a first rate restoration.  The museum, which was opened especially for us as it is normally closed on Monday, had an excellent and well-explained collection of local (Brazilian) gems and minerals as well as a small number of anthropological artifacts.  Luckily, the jewelry stores (which turned restoration into tourist trap) were closed!

After our gems and prison lecture, it was back on the bus and on to the Forte do Presepio.  It is the original site of settlement in Belem and has been the major fort protecting Belem's seaward approaches since the 1600s.  The fort is now a park, and the orginal building contains the Museum of Encontro.  This museum traces human occupancy of the Upper Amazon and displays many archeological findings from the local area.

Forte do Presepio - Original Gate

Forte do Presepio - Fortifications

After the fort, the last stop was the former Governor's Palace, which is now a city/state museum.  The Palace, which was originally constructed in 1879, was intended at that time to be a residence for the Portuguese royal family.  This never came about, and the structure remained the Governor's Palace until the 1990s, when it was restored and converted to a museum.  This is a very large structure with very little in it.  There are some interesting historical displays discussing local history and culture.  But, most of the rooms are largely empty with a few pieces of eclectic 19th and early 20th Century furnishings.  We were not overly impressed!

Exterior of the Governor's Palace in Two Frames

No Photos Allowed Inside

The Clock Tower in the Rain

Taken Through Tinted Bus Window!

Back on the bus, back to the pier, and stop.  The African Queen, our local tender, was nowhere to be seen, so as we say in Hawaii -- "TRY WAIT."  However, the wait was not without entertainment.  The Brazilian jewellers descended en masse on us with little promotional items and a pitch about visiting their establishments when we arrive in Rio.  Fat chance, with gold at US$1,500+ per ounce.  By the time the assault of the jewellry higglers was over, the afternoon rain squalls began with rain and wind.  The squalls made for an exciting transfer back to the Silver Whisper with rain and spray coming in through the canvas curtains.  There was even a piranha or two flopping about on deck.  (Not true, but J had to get in a piranha since we were on the Amazon!).

Transfer from the tender to the ship was the most exciting event of the day.  Due to wave action on the river, it was difficult to keep the tender alongside the Silver Whisper.  Waves and spray were splashing into the narrow space between the African Queen and the disembarkation hatch in the ship's side.  This made for a wet and slippery transfer, that required more sea legs than many of the passengers were willing to exhibit.  However, two hardies on the tender and two on the ship solved the problem by picking up the reluctant and bodily lifting them across to the ship, where passengers were handed off to two more hardy sailors.  At worst, only a few egos were bruised and clothes were dampened!

Once back on board, there was a rush for the restaurant so that a late lunch (2:10pm) could be eaten.   The passengers' motto seems to be -- Never miss a meal.