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Friday, April 10, 2020
New Blog Address
We've finally made the switch! Since we no longer are able to post photos here, we've created a new, more dynamic blog. (This blog will remain live, but without any new posts.)
Thursday, December 5, 2019
12/5–Unexpected Manaus tour
So, today we were scheduled to take the city tour with Rafa. However, our plans have unexpectedly changed. Ed has been dealing with what the Ship’s doctor has diagnosed as a torn intercostal muscle (the muscle that runs between the ribs) since a bad coughing attack on November 27. It’s been painful, but he’s been a trooper, dealing with the pain as best as he can with ice compresses (that we make in zip lock bags from the ice bucket in the room – or simply holding a cold can of coke or beer to his side) and hot tub visits (horrors!), but as the days progress, the pain is still there and he has begun to bruise extensively. The doctor is confident this is all a side effect of the muscle tear, but because the bruising is severe, today is the day to get a 2nd opinion on-shore while we are in a large city with good medical care.
Thus – our unexpected medical tour of Manaus!
The ship organizes everything for us seamlessly. We arrive at the gangway at 10 and we have a driver/translator who will take us to the hospital and accompany us throughout the day. The sweet nurse meets us at the gangway, hands us our referral papers and we are off to see the surgeon. Makell, our translator, is a doll. He works for the port authority and is very well spoken, and used to shepherding folks like us through the Brazilian medical systems, not to mention well- versed in the city’s culture and history as well. He gives us a little semi-tour, pointing out some of the more well-known buildings – like the Opera house which at one time was surrounded by streets paved in rubber so as not to disturb patrons with the noise from horses hoofs and carriage wheels as they rode past the building. (Manaus was a pretty over the top town back in the day – its residents, all European immigrants – spent tons of money on glitzy architecture, clothing, and just about anything else that could be used to show off their wealth.)
At any rate, Makell keeps up the conversation, talking about Manaus and his home town (not here), until we reach the hospital, which turns out to be a Maternity hospital. Well, what can we say? This particular hospital is one of the best in the city, and has an agreement with the port authority to see ship passengers quickly, which is of utmost importance to us since we are sailing at 4pm today. And see us quickly they do! We have no sooner signed paperwork and paid our 150 Brazilian Real ($39.95 USD) fee, then we are in with the doctor explaining the situation and showing off Ed’s bruised torso. He orders bloodwork (only $43 USD), getting the results in under 1 hour, which results in a prescription for Amoxicillin and Prednisone, and a clean bill of health to continue sailing back to Miami.
Phew! Huge relief! So, next stop is the pharmacy where we get the pills (all pre-packaged in boxes and bubble packs), a tube of Ben-Guey (correct Portuguese spelling!) and off we go back to the ship with plenty of time before all aboard. We couldn’t have asked for better care from our ship’s doctor and nurses to Makell to the Brazilian surgeon. If something like this had to happen, we are glad it happened here, because it was truly an excellent experience.
And that, as they say, is that! We spend the rest of the day hanging about, relaxing, and feeding Ed antibiotics and Aleve!
Thus – our unexpected medical tour of Manaus!
The ship organizes everything for us seamlessly. We arrive at the gangway at 10 and we have a driver/translator who will take us to the hospital and accompany us throughout the day. The sweet nurse meets us at the gangway, hands us our referral papers and we are off to see the surgeon. Makell, our translator, is a doll. He works for the port authority and is very well spoken, and used to shepherding folks like us through the Brazilian medical systems, not to mention well- versed in the city’s culture and history as well. He gives us a little semi-tour, pointing out some of the more well-known buildings – like the Opera house which at one time was surrounded by streets paved in rubber so as not to disturb patrons with the noise from horses hoofs and carriage wheels as they rode past the building. (Manaus was a pretty over the top town back in the day – its residents, all European immigrants – spent tons of money on glitzy architecture, clothing, and just about anything else that could be used to show off their wealth.)
At any rate, Makell keeps up the conversation, talking about Manaus and his home town (not here), until we reach the hospital, which turns out to be a Maternity hospital. Well, what can we say? This particular hospital is one of the best in the city, and has an agreement with the port authority to see ship passengers quickly, which is of utmost importance to us since we are sailing at 4pm today. And see us quickly they do! We have no sooner signed paperwork and paid our 150 Brazilian Real ($39.95 USD) fee, then we are in with the doctor explaining the situation and showing off Ed’s bruised torso. He orders bloodwork (only $43 USD), getting the results in under 1 hour, which results in a prescription for Amoxicillin and Prednisone, and a clean bill of health to continue sailing back to Miami.
Phew! Huge relief! So, next stop is the pharmacy where we get the pills (all pre-packaged in boxes and bubble packs), a tube of Ben-Guey (correct Portuguese spelling!) and off we go back to the ship with plenty of time before all aboard. We couldn’t have asked for better care from our ship’s doctor and nurses to Makell to the Brazilian surgeon. If something like this had to happen, we are glad it happened here, because it was truly an excellent experience.
And that, as they say, is that! We spend the rest of the day hanging about, relaxing, and feeding Ed antibiotics and Aleve!
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
12/4–Manaus
Today we are docked in Manaus, but true to form, there is always some sort of little twist! Today’s challenge is that we cannot walk in the port, but will need to take a shuttle to the port entrance. This would normally be fine, but we have 33 people on our trip today, and coordination, as we have found, can be challenging. The good news is that everyone does meet in the lounge before disembarkation, so at least we are all together. As it turns out – BONUS – Rafa has managed to dock our river boat right across the pier from where we are docked – so no shuttle bus! Excellent! We tell everyone in the lounge we will be meeting Rafa outside, just go left off the gangway – he has on a bright shirt. Smooth as silk, right?
Wrong! By the time everyone straggles off of the ship, we end up missing a handful of people who clearly didn’t listen when we told them not to get on the shuttle. And, well, yes, they got on the shuttle. Which means we have to now go find them at the port entrance. Sigh. Herding cats. After some brief consultations with the river boat captain and the local guide, we end up boating over to the main entrance where Rafa and Ed go in search of our missing tour members. They arrive, unhappily, but nonetheless here on the boat with us finally and we are off to explore the Amazon for another day.
Our little boat seats us all pretty well, it’s the typical semi-rickety little quick river ferry that is used to cross over to close in towns (not the big overnight ferries as we had in Santarem). They are everywhere in these waters, whipping around and across the river. It’s fine, if not a bit noisy and the sound system occasionally doesn’t work, so I end up shouting information back to the other folks on the rear deck. With the breeze, it is quite delightful out on the water and we spend our time alternately listening to David, the local guide, and staring out the window at the river coastline. After about an hour of boating, we reach our first destination – the pink dolphins! We are swimming (in a manner of speaking) with the pink dolphins that are indigenous to these parts. The location is this little floating dock out in the middle of the river, where those of us partaking in the swimming don our life vests and hop in the water on a platform submerged about 3 feet.
The water is great, and the dolphins are amazing – but you have to be really careful because the platform isn’t that wide and all of us manage to fall off it into the deep water at least once! I float over to the corner where it’s a little safer (or at least easier not to fall off) and watch as the dolphins swim around and jump up after being fed by the “trainer” guy. They are aggressive little things too – they know they are getting fish and they will bump you out of the way to get their treat! They almost knocked me over as I was getting out of the water!
Only 10 of us are allowed in at a time, so when we switch off, I get to stand on the platform taking pictures while Ed gets in – which is great because you can really see the dolphins so much better from up on the main platform. You don’t have to worry about the water or being knocked over or you know, drowning, which makes viewing much more fun.
Rafa is in the water along with Ed and a couple others from our group – and the dolphins seem to really like him, but maybe not in the right way! They tend to circle him and are apparently bumping him in places he’d prefer not to be bumped. Makes for a pretty hysterical time – particularly for those of us who are safely out of the water. Once we’ve all had our turn, we dry off as best we can then head back to the boat – but not before stopping at the little snack counter for a nice cold Antarctica Beer! Nice refreshment to fortify us until our next stop at the Tucano Indian tribe.
Another 1/2 an hour or so on the boat, and we are dropped off at the meeting grounds of the Tucano tribe where members are here to dance for us. The tribe is dressed in their traditional costumes of feathers and loin cloths for the men (tightie whities for the little boys) and handwoven skirts for the women. Chests bare, feather headdress for the men, feathers in the hair for the women, they dance around their large palapa communal hall playing handmade bamboo flutes and stomping out tunes with anklets adorned with seed pods. There is even a mom holding her baby and dancing along with the rest of the tribe – very sweet (I ask for a picture of her at the end). Of course we aren’t allowed to just sit idly by, the tribe comes and grabs all of us to dance along with them which makes for a fun little interaction.
After the dance we are left to explore their makeshift outdoor kitchen where they have smoked ants, grubs and other delicacies for us to try. We both try the smoked ants, which are actually pretty palatable – like smoky little popcorn kernels. I avoid the grubs, simply from a consistency standpoint, but the folks who try them say they aren’t bad. Have at it!
Then its back on the boat to cross through the meeting of the waters – this time the Amazon and the Rio Negro where you can actually feel the temperature difference between the two rivers. It’s super hard to get a good picture of the confluence, but suffice it to say, it’s an amazing sight – the tan, muddy waters of the Amazon right up against the dark black Rio Negro. Pretty impressive. What isn’t hard to get a picture of are the fires burning out in the jungles. You can see them particularly well from here, driving home the damage that is being done to this special ecosystem of the earth. It’s a shame.
From here, we are ending our tour at a floating restaurant, Rainha da Selva (which means Jungle Queen), for a buffet of local delicacies, including river fish, fruit, fried plantains, etc. The setting is awesome, on a deck overlooking the Solimoes River on one side, the jungle on the other. After lunch we go for a walk up a wooden boardwalk that leads us through the jungle, past the monkeys who are coming to visit (ostensibly to see if we have any food for them), and out into the rainforest preserve for a beautiful view of the flooded forest and the water lilies. A picturesque setting, so peaceful and green, and not a mosquito in sight (which is a huge bonus as we’ve all been petrified of swarming bugs carrying deadly rainforest diseases).
Back to the boat, we relax for the 40 minute ride back to the pier, crossing through the meeting of the waters again and enjoying the scenery – if not the heat, which is back with a vengeance, even allowing for the river breeze.
We are let off right at the pier again, with a very quick walk onto the ship and the A/C. Docked overnight, we could choose to go out again this evening to explore a little of Manaus proper, but we are quite happy to stay aboard, in the nice cool air and enjoy shipboard cuisine. Plus, while we are not the easily frightened tourist type, everyone here has made a point of telling us to be very careful out in the streets of Manaus – don’t wear any jewelry, keep your purses close, backpacks on the front, etc. Even David, the local guide, told me to take off my thin gold necklace if I was going out on tour with them tomorrow. So, really, why? We’re happy to spend an evening on the ship doing what we are becoming much better at….doing nothing!
Wrong! By the time everyone straggles off of the ship, we end up missing a handful of people who clearly didn’t listen when we told them not to get on the shuttle. And, well, yes, they got on the shuttle. Which means we have to now go find them at the port entrance. Sigh. Herding cats. After some brief consultations with the river boat captain and the local guide, we end up boating over to the main entrance where Rafa and Ed go in search of our missing tour members. They arrive, unhappily, but nonetheless here on the boat with us finally and we are off to explore the Amazon for another day.
Our little boat seats us all pretty well, it’s the typical semi-rickety little quick river ferry that is used to cross over to close in towns (not the big overnight ferries as we had in Santarem). They are everywhere in these waters, whipping around and across the river. It’s fine, if not a bit noisy and the sound system occasionally doesn’t work, so I end up shouting information back to the other folks on the rear deck. With the breeze, it is quite delightful out on the water and we spend our time alternately listening to David, the local guide, and staring out the window at the river coastline. After about an hour of boating, we reach our first destination – the pink dolphins! We are swimming (in a manner of speaking) with the pink dolphins that are indigenous to these parts. The location is this little floating dock out in the middle of the river, where those of us partaking in the swimming don our life vests and hop in the water on a platform submerged about 3 feet.
The water is great, and the dolphins are amazing – but you have to be really careful because the platform isn’t that wide and all of us manage to fall off it into the deep water at least once! I float over to the corner where it’s a little safer (or at least easier not to fall off) and watch as the dolphins swim around and jump up after being fed by the “trainer” guy. They are aggressive little things too – they know they are getting fish and they will bump you out of the way to get their treat! They almost knocked me over as I was getting out of the water!
Only 10 of us are allowed in at a time, so when we switch off, I get to stand on the platform taking pictures while Ed gets in – which is great because you can really see the dolphins so much better from up on the main platform. You don’t have to worry about the water or being knocked over or you know, drowning, which makes viewing much more fun.
Rafa is in the water along with Ed and a couple others from our group – and the dolphins seem to really like him, but maybe not in the right way! They tend to circle him and are apparently bumping him in places he’d prefer not to be bumped. Makes for a pretty hysterical time – particularly for those of us who are safely out of the water. Once we’ve all had our turn, we dry off as best we can then head back to the boat – but not before stopping at the little snack counter for a nice cold Antarctica Beer! Nice refreshment to fortify us until our next stop at the Tucano Indian tribe.
Another 1/2 an hour or so on the boat, and we are dropped off at the meeting grounds of the Tucano tribe where members are here to dance for us. The tribe is dressed in their traditional costumes of feathers and loin cloths for the men (tightie whities for the little boys) and handwoven skirts for the women. Chests bare, feather headdress for the men, feathers in the hair for the women, they dance around their large palapa communal hall playing handmade bamboo flutes and stomping out tunes with anklets adorned with seed pods. There is even a mom holding her baby and dancing along with the rest of the tribe – very sweet (I ask for a picture of her at the end). Of course we aren’t allowed to just sit idly by, the tribe comes and grabs all of us to dance along with them which makes for a fun little interaction.
After the dance we are left to explore their makeshift outdoor kitchen where they have smoked ants, grubs and other delicacies for us to try. We both try the smoked ants, which are actually pretty palatable – like smoky little popcorn kernels. I avoid the grubs, simply from a consistency standpoint, but the folks who try them say they aren’t bad. Have at it!
Then its back on the boat to cross through the meeting of the waters – this time the Amazon and the Rio Negro where you can actually feel the temperature difference between the two rivers. It’s super hard to get a good picture of the confluence, but suffice it to say, it’s an amazing sight – the tan, muddy waters of the Amazon right up against the dark black Rio Negro. Pretty impressive. What isn’t hard to get a picture of are the fires burning out in the jungles. You can see them particularly well from here, driving home the damage that is being done to this special ecosystem of the earth. It’s a shame.
From here, we are ending our tour at a floating restaurant, Rainha da Selva (which means Jungle Queen), for a buffet of local delicacies, including river fish, fruit, fried plantains, etc. The setting is awesome, on a deck overlooking the Solimoes River on one side, the jungle on the other. After lunch we go for a walk up a wooden boardwalk that leads us through the jungle, past the monkeys who are coming to visit (ostensibly to see if we have any food for them), and out into the rainforest preserve for a beautiful view of the flooded forest and the water lilies. A picturesque setting, so peaceful and green, and not a mosquito in sight (which is a huge bonus as we’ve all been petrified of swarming bugs carrying deadly rainforest diseases).
Back to the boat, we relax for the 40 minute ride back to the pier, crossing through the meeting of the waters again and enjoying the scenery – if not the heat, which is back with a vengeance, even allowing for the river breeze.
We are let off right at the pier again, with a very quick walk onto the ship and the A/C. Docked overnight, we could choose to go out again this evening to explore a little of Manaus proper, but we are quite happy to stay aboard, in the nice cool air and enjoy shipboard cuisine. Plus, while we are not the easily frightened tourist type, everyone here has made a point of telling us to be very careful out in the streets of Manaus – don’t wear any jewelry, keep your purses close, backpacks on the front, etc. Even David, the local guide, told me to take off my thin gold necklace if I was going out on tour with them tomorrow. So, really, why? We’re happy to spend an evening on the ship doing what we are becoming much better at….doing nothing!
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
12/3–Boca De Valeria
Today we are visiting the little village at “the mouth” (Boca) of the Valeria river, which is the closest we will come to “true” Amazonian river village life. The village reportedly only has about 100 residents, living in stilt houses with one church and a small school. While traditional, it is still a little bit of a touristy stop, because any cruise ship that sails the Amazon stops here, so apparently people from all over come to greet the passengers – particularly the children. Because Sandy, the guest lecturer has already prepared us for the spectacle, we strategize our visit and decide we don’t want to be on the first or 2nd tender, because we can already see from our balcony the tons of people who are onshore waiting for the tenders. They appear as little black dots, almost like trees, but they are increasing in numbers, so we’re pretty confident they aren’t trees!
No hurry! We relax, have a light breakfast, then finally head down to the tender, thinking we’ll be safe from most of the swarms. Au contraire Pierre! When we arrive and the tender dock there are hundreds of children all lined up to greet us – I only wish I could have had my camera out to video them! They are lined up like some sort of gauntlet we must walk through to reach the path to the village – with hands stretched out to pat us on the shoulder, or shake our hands. Its really heartwarming in an odd sort of way – even though we know they want dollars! At any rate, we reach the end of the child alley, and two little ones take my hand to escort us to the village. They are cute and silent (because they speak no English whatsoever), and somehow we pick up a third, older boy who tries to translate or at least speak a little bit of English.
It’s quite sweet. We walk along the sandy path to arrive at the front of the village where we take our pictures with the aforementioned sloth, and then with some other odd red furry fox looking creature, who decides he likes me and pokes me on the side of my face with his nose. Yikes! (We found out later that he was actually a South American coati, a member of the raccoon family.) At least the boys were in the coati picture, albeit one of them was none too happy about it!
We wandered past the church and the little school to the end of the “front” part of the village. We know there are more houses down the path, but we’re ready to let the boys go on their way, so we give them their guide “tips” and tell them to go get more people! Even though it’s early, it’s hot, so we figured it was a fine time for a beverage – and there just happens to be a bar at the end here, playing some fun Brazilian music with a “cold beer” sign. That’s for us! Up the stairs we go, to plop down on the deck with our very cold beers, watching the comings and goings of the kids, the passengers and the sloths that are turning up in everyone’s arms. Very fun.
As we hang out and relax, the only customers here so far, a German passenger walks up, gets his beer then turns to us and asks, “Are you from the ship?” Um, what could we say? That is just like all the Cruise Director jokes about passengers asking if the staff sleeps ashore! We managed to stifle our laughter and politely tell him yes, we are, and he proceeds to ask us if we’re nervous being here, he says he thinks “it’s a little bit scary.” We’re not really sure to what he was referring? The kids? But no, we aren’t scared, we’re actually really enjoying this day and we thought for sure we wouldn’t.
Finishing our beverages, we decide to go explore the path past the “front” part of the village to get a glimpse of “real” village life. Turns out, it really is a real village and there are tons of stilt houses lining this path that winds it way along the edge of the Valeria river. Once out of the cruise ship melee, it’s peaceful back here, walking amongst the houses with their fish hanging to dry, wood fired stoves cooking breakfast, men hanging about chatting on porches and all the cool hanging gardens that people have fixed up, some planted in old canoes and then hung about 4 feet off the ground. They do have power out here – at least the power lines are stretched through the village – and there are a couple of satellite dishes here and there – but there doesn’t seem to be much more in terms of basic amenities. Definitely no running water that we can see. So, wow, really, its a true little Amazonian village!
Once back in the front part of the village, we see that tons of people have finally come ashore. Our new friends Nancy and Margie are here, Nancy with a Macaw on her arm. We find another sloth (there are a shitload of sloths here) just hanging out on a chair watching a dog with her nursing puppies, looking like he wanted to join in on the fun. We are about to head back to the ship, when we see all the staff heading into the village to give out the items they have collected from the crew. Every visit, they bring donations – clothes, school supplies, things the crew themselves have donated, and also food the ship donates to the village. We figure we’ll stay to watch this – so we grab our stilt house beer table and watch the festivities.
It’s lovely to watch – all the kids do a good job of lining up, but still, they are so excited to get anything, and they come away with a pair of shoes or a shirt of shorts showing all their friends what they got. So sweet. We grab another beer while we watch – then buy a bunch more to take back to the ship – at a dollar, they are the best bargain so far! Then its back to the tender, and to the ship, and to another stunning sunset as we sail to our furthest port – 1,000 miles up the Amazon to Manaus.
No hurry! We relax, have a light breakfast, then finally head down to the tender, thinking we’ll be safe from most of the swarms. Au contraire Pierre! When we arrive and the tender dock there are hundreds of children all lined up to greet us – I only wish I could have had my camera out to video them! They are lined up like some sort of gauntlet we must walk through to reach the path to the village – with hands stretched out to pat us on the shoulder, or shake our hands. Its really heartwarming in an odd sort of way – even though we know they want dollars! At any rate, we reach the end of the child alley, and two little ones take my hand to escort us to the village. They are cute and silent (because they speak no English whatsoever), and somehow we pick up a third, older boy who tries to translate or at least speak a little bit of English.
It’s quite sweet. We walk along the sandy path to arrive at the front of the village where we take our pictures with the aforementioned sloth, and then with some other odd red furry fox looking creature, who decides he likes me and pokes me on the side of my face with his nose. Yikes! (We found out later that he was actually a South American coati, a member of the raccoon family.) At least the boys were in the coati picture, albeit one of them was none too happy about it!
We wandered past the church and the little school to the end of the “front” part of the village. We know there are more houses down the path, but we’re ready to let the boys go on their way, so we give them their guide “tips” and tell them to go get more people! Even though it’s early, it’s hot, so we figured it was a fine time for a beverage – and there just happens to be a bar at the end here, playing some fun Brazilian music with a “cold beer” sign. That’s for us! Up the stairs we go, to plop down on the deck with our very cold beers, watching the comings and goings of the kids, the passengers and the sloths that are turning up in everyone’s arms. Very fun.
As we hang out and relax, the only customers here so far, a German passenger walks up, gets his beer then turns to us and asks, “Are you from the ship?” Um, what could we say? That is just like all the Cruise Director jokes about passengers asking if the staff sleeps ashore! We managed to stifle our laughter and politely tell him yes, we are, and he proceeds to ask us if we’re nervous being here, he says he thinks “it’s a little bit scary.” We’re not really sure to what he was referring? The kids? But no, we aren’t scared, we’re actually really enjoying this day and we thought for sure we wouldn’t.
Finishing our beverages, we decide to go explore the path past the “front” part of the village to get a glimpse of “real” village life. Turns out, it really is a real village and there are tons of stilt houses lining this path that winds it way along the edge of the Valeria river. Once out of the cruise ship melee, it’s peaceful back here, walking amongst the houses with their fish hanging to dry, wood fired stoves cooking breakfast, men hanging about chatting on porches and all the cool hanging gardens that people have fixed up, some planted in old canoes and then hung about 4 feet off the ground. They do have power out here – at least the power lines are stretched through the village – and there are a couple of satellite dishes here and there – but there doesn’t seem to be much more in terms of basic amenities. Definitely no running water that we can see. So, wow, really, its a true little Amazonian village!
Once back in the front part of the village, we see that tons of people have finally come ashore. Our new friends Nancy and Margie are here, Nancy with a Macaw on her arm. We find another sloth (there are a shitload of sloths here) just hanging out on a chair watching a dog with her nursing puppies, looking like he wanted to join in on the fun. We are about to head back to the ship, when we see all the staff heading into the village to give out the items they have collected from the crew. Every visit, they bring donations – clothes, school supplies, things the crew themselves have donated, and also food the ship donates to the village. We figure we’ll stay to watch this – so we grab our stilt house beer table and watch the festivities.
It’s lovely to watch – all the kids do a good job of lining up, but still, they are so excited to get anything, and they come away with a pair of shoes or a shirt of shorts showing all their friends what they got. So sweet. We grab another beer while we watch – then buy a bunch more to take back to the ship – at a dollar, they are the best bargain so far! Then its back to the tender, and to the ship, and to another stunning sunset as we sail to our furthest port – 1,000 miles up the Amazon to Manaus.
Monday, December 2, 2019
12/2–Santarem
First Amazon port! Yay! We are finally here and get to meet Rafa in person after all this time and communications! We’re all excited, except for the fact that suddenly we are told that we will be tendering instead of docking. Oh jeez! And we have 44 people on this tour – not exactly the easiest thing to do – getting tender tickets for all of us. Plus, bless Rafa’s heart, he had reserved and paid for vans to take us to the boats for our river/nature cruise, and the van operator told him they sold the vans to another operator – without giving him back his money! So, we have to take taxis (4 in a car) for an extra $10 US each to get to the boats. What a nightmare – for Rafa, and of course an inconvenience for us – but hey – it’s Brazil –what can we expect? The ship keeps preaching – this is a 3rd world country, the buses are not air conditioned, the guides don’t speak good English, please don’t expect much….so…hey, what can you do? And we are paying far less than the ship tour prices for our tours, so you roll with the punches!
We manage to organize everyone, and get most of us off on the 2nd tender. Rafa meets us at the port entrance and after hugs and kisses, we hop in a taxi with Mary Lynn and Doug, and head to the pier. The cabbie if wonderful. He gives us a city tour, all in Portuguese, which we can sort of translate and figure out – so we see the cathedral, the church, the main square, the fish market, the “product” market, it’s great, and he’s so sweet, dropping us off across from the pier, saying aqui, aqui. Ok, we’re here. But, there is no one else here? What gives? Fortunately we are in contact with Rafa, confirm we are in the right place, and finally people start showing up and we find the other guides (who had been there since 9am – because we all thought we’d be docking and be there early – but not to be – and had gone off somewhere for coffee or refreshments or whatever) and get organized. We have become the unofficial organizers of the group, so we count everyone off – and send off 22 folks on one boat – while waiting for Rafa and a few others who were “lost” at a museum where the cabbie erroneously dropped them.
Finally, we are on the boat and out on the river, sailing along past the city proper and into the meeting of the waters (the “wedding of the waters”) – where the Tapajos meet the muddy Amazon River. Originally,we were scheduled to have 3 or 4 smaller speed boats for the tour, but Rafa has managed to wrangle us 2 larger boats – like the ferry boats that ply the river between Santarem, Belem and Manaus. These are 2 levels – designed for freight on the first level and passengers on the second. The upper level comes complete with hooks over head for hammocks – which is how you sleep on the 2 and 3 day trips up and down the river. All open air, very communal, and for us, a great way to experience our first tour of the Amazon (sans hammocks – we have chairs instead).
The meeting of the waters is really wild, there is literally a line where the muddy waters of the Amazon meet the clean water of the Tapajos, and standing at the railing, with Jean (one of our local tour guides) we can watch how the two rivers mix and see the borders of each so clearly. Soon, we leave the Tapajos and sail into the little lake area where, if we weren’t so late from the tender disaster, we would have been able to walk through local villages and meet some residents. But, as we have lost at least and hour plus, we can only sail a little ways into the peaceful lake areas, staying on the boats, past huts with locals fishing and washing the dishes in the river, kids playing on the river banks and little long-tail boats motoring by us that remind us very much of Thailand. All the houses (huts) are on stilts because the river rises so high in the wet season. Now, at the end of the dry season, it doesn’t seem possible the water could ever get that high. It must be an amazing sight to see once the banks flood.
Turning around, we head back out to the main Tapajos river, passing by Santarem city, now accompanied by Igor (I think that was the other guide’s name) who talks to us about the city, how much it has changed and lamenting about how the development has overtaken nature, pointing out a huge new development where they have bulldozed all the trees and packed the houses so tightly together there isn’t any space left for greenery. Guess it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, it is always the same,the sad price of progress. Particularly more sad here because of the loss of the rainforest and what it means for our planet in the long run.
About 30 minutes later we arrive at a totally secluded area of the river, where there are white sand beaches devoid of any human activity. It’s gorgeous and peaceful, and the boys (which is how I am now referring to Igor and Jean) tell us that these are some of the best beaches – although they will disappear during the wet season. After navigating around a sand bank that reaches out into the river we turn in toward the shore, heading to an area with palapa huts and some structures further back up the beach. Turns out this is our lunch spot, and the boats run right up on the beach, with the help of the restaurant guys who guide us in just like they do on the tarmac of an airport! Once aground, they pound a huge steel stake into the beach to tie up the boats, and we disembark via a gangplank that ends right at the waters edge. Too fun!
I tell Jean how cool this is, we’ve never been on a boat this size that just pulled right up onto the beach – and he is just astounded that this is a first for us! It’s the only way to get to these beaches, and obviously just a normal thing here. Lunch is a feast of all sorts of local fish dishes, served family style at a huge long table under an open air gazebo. You know me and fish, not the best of pals, but every one of these dishes was fantastic. From the fish balls to the grilled fish (my favorite) to the fish sauteed with onions and other veggies, everything was perfectly done and (if you ignore the rice!) just the right amount of food that didn’t leave us stuffed that late in the day.
After finishing our big beers (and buying more to take back to the ship), we traipse back across the sand, and reverse course on the open water, past the main town of Santarem and onto the pier where Rafa has managed to find a bus to take us back to the tender pier! Bravo! It’s a typical Amazonian bus – no air, windows open, not a seat to spare, just like Oceania has been warning us about in all their tour descriptions (!!) but it is a bus and much preferable to trying to find 10 taxis to ferry us back here.
We bid farewell to Rafa, who will now fly to Manaus to meet us there in 2 days, and hope the tender back to the Insignia where the nice cool A/C and refreshing shower are waiting for us. Santarem sends us off in style with a lovely sunset as we sail further into the Amazon looking forward to the adventures that still await us.
We manage to organize everyone, and get most of us off on the 2nd tender. Rafa meets us at the port entrance and after hugs and kisses, we hop in a taxi with Mary Lynn and Doug, and head to the pier. The cabbie if wonderful. He gives us a city tour, all in Portuguese, which we can sort of translate and figure out – so we see the cathedral, the church, the main square, the fish market, the “product” market, it’s great, and he’s so sweet, dropping us off across from the pier, saying aqui, aqui. Ok, we’re here. But, there is no one else here? What gives? Fortunately we are in contact with Rafa, confirm we are in the right place, and finally people start showing up and we find the other guides (who had been there since 9am – because we all thought we’d be docking and be there early – but not to be – and had gone off somewhere for coffee or refreshments or whatever) and get organized. We have become the unofficial organizers of the group, so we count everyone off – and send off 22 folks on one boat – while waiting for Rafa and a few others who were “lost” at a museum where the cabbie erroneously dropped them.
Finally, we are on the boat and out on the river, sailing along past the city proper and into the meeting of the waters (the “wedding of the waters”) – where the Tapajos meet the muddy Amazon River. Originally,we were scheduled to have 3 or 4 smaller speed boats for the tour, but Rafa has managed to wrangle us 2 larger boats – like the ferry boats that ply the river between Santarem, Belem and Manaus. These are 2 levels – designed for freight on the first level and passengers on the second. The upper level comes complete with hooks over head for hammocks – which is how you sleep on the 2 and 3 day trips up and down the river. All open air, very communal, and for us, a great way to experience our first tour of the Amazon (sans hammocks – we have chairs instead).
The meeting of the waters is really wild, there is literally a line where the muddy waters of the Amazon meet the clean water of the Tapajos, and standing at the railing, with Jean (one of our local tour guides) we can watch how the two rivers mix and see the borders of each so clearly. Soon, we leave the Tapajos and sail into the little lake area where, if we weren’t so late from the tender disaster, we would have been able to walk through local villages and meet some residents. But, as we have lost at least and hour plus, we can only sail a little ways into the peaceful lake areas, staying on the boats, past huts with locals fishing and washing the dishes in the river, kids playing on the river banks and little long-tail boats motoring by us that remind us very much of Thailand. All the houses (huts) are on stilts because the river rises so high in the wet season. Now, at the end of the dry season, it doesn’t seem possible the water could ever get that high. It must be an amazing sight to see once the banks flood.
Turning around, we head back out to the main Tapajos river, passing by Santarem city, now accompanied by Igor (I think that was the other guide’s name) who talks to us about the city, how much it has changed and lamenting about how the development has overtaken nature, pointing out a huge new development where they have bulldozed all the trees and packed the houses so tightly together there isn’t any space left for greenery. Guess it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, it is always the same,the sad price of progress. Particularly more sad here because of the loss of the rainforest and what it means for our planet in the long run.
About 30 minutes later we arrive at a totally secluded area of the river, where there are white sand beaches devoid of any human activity. It’s gorgeous and peaceful, and the boys (which is how I am now referring to Igor and Jean) tell us that these are some of the best beaches – although they will disappear during the wet season. After navigating around a sand bank that reaches out into the river we turn in toward the shore, heading to an area with palapa huts and some structures further back up the beach. Turns out this is our lunch spot, and the boats run right up on the beach, with the help of the restaurant guys who guide us in just like they do on the tarmac of an airport! Once aground, they pound a huge steel stake into the beach to tie up the boats, and we disembark via a gangplank that ends right at the waters edge. Too fun!
I tell Jean how cool this is, we’ve never been on a boat this size that just pulled right up onto the beach – and he is just astounded that this is a first for us! It’s the only way to get to these beaches, and obviously just a normal thing here. Lunch is a feast of all sorts of local fish dishes, served family style at a huge long table under an open air gazebo. You know me and fish, not the best of pals, but every one of these dishes was fantastic. From the fish balls to the grilled fish (my favorite) to the fish sauteed with onions and other veggies, everything was perfectly done and (if you ignore the rice!) just the right amount of food that didn’t leave us stuffed that late in the day.
After finishing our big beers (and buying more to take back to the ship), we traipse back across the sand, and reverse course on the open water, past the main town of Santarem and onto the pier where Rafa has managed to find a bus to take us back to the tender pier! Bravo! It’s a typical Amazonian bus – no air, windows open, not a seat to spare, just like Oceania has been warning us about in all their tour descriptions (!!) but it is a bus and much preferable to trying to find 10 taxis to ferry us back here.
We bid farewell to Rafa, who will now fly to Manaus to meet us there in 2 days, and hope the tender back to the Insignia where the nice cool A/C and refreshing shower are waiting for us. Santarem sends us off in style with a lovely sunset as we sail further into the Amazon looking forward to the adventures that still await us.
Friday, November 29, 2019
11/29 to 12/1–Sea/River days
Nothing exciting to report. We spend our days at lectures, watching a movie (the latest Lion King), hanging out, writing the blog, reading. It’s what sea days are all about.
We entered the Amazon River in the early morning hours of 12/1, so we didn’t get to see the actual sail in (which probably isn’t much). But when we wake up, we are definitely in the muddy waters of the Amazon with shorelines filled with trees, trees and more trees. We sail all morning long, arriving in Macapa for our “technical” stop about 2 hours late (which worries us for tomorrow in Santarem!). The technical stop is just for the Brazilian authorities to come inspect and clear the ship to sail up the Amazon, we don’t get off or anything, just sit here at anchor out in the river waiting for the process to be done.
The ship is finally cleared and we begin the journey up the Amazon a little after 2 – which is only an hour after the original schedule. However, one of the annoying things about this ship is there is little to no information about the navigation or what is happening outside our windows. The captain barely speaks. He gives his noon report like an robot: sea depth, sea temperature, lat/long, air temp, weather. Done. No navigation info, no estimated arrival times, no information about the Amazon, nothing. And Carson, the CD, while adorable, isn’t much better. His whole spiel, 3x a day mind you – including during dinner! – is about what’s going on around the ship. It’s really frustrating and annoying. We haven’t even had the equator ceremony, which should have been today since we just crossed it. And while that is understandable because of the “technical” stop, its still sort of, oh, I don’t know, haphazard? Or something.
Sigh.
The other annoying thing is the buffet. You are not allowed to serve yourself, they have line staff that serve you. Which, from a hygiene point of view is awesome. From a practicality point of view? The worst! They are totally understaffed (yeah, NCL owns them, what do you expect?) so you end up just standing in front of the food until someone can come over and serve you. Just give me the damn tongs! I could have served myself, eaten and come back for 2nds by the time I get one piece of chicken. Argh.
Oh, and you don’t get a tote bag in “normal” rooms, only concierge or higher (which is just chintzy).
Ok, rant over. We’re going to the Amazon (well, technically, we are IN the Amazon), we’re movin’ on.
Tomorrow: Santarem – at last!
We entered the Amazon River in the early morning hours of 12/1, so we didn’t get to see the actual sail in (which probably isn’t much). But when we wake up, we are definitely in the muddy waters of the Amazon with shorelines filled with trees, trees and more trees. We sail all morning long, arriving in Macapa for our “technical” stop about 2 hours late (which worries us for tomorrow in Santarem!). The technical stop is just for the Brazilian authorities to come inspect and clear the ship to sail up the Amazon, we don’t get off or anything, just sit here at anchor out in the river waiting for the process to be done.
The ship is finally cleared and we begin the journey up the Amazon a little after 2 – which is only an hour after the original schedule. However, one of the annoying things about this ship is there is little to no information about the navigation or what is happening outside our windows. The captain barely speaks. He gives his noon report like an robot: sea depth, sea temperature, lat/long, air temp, weather. Done. No navigation info, no estimated arrival times, no information about the Amazon, nothing. And Carson, the CD, while adorable, isn’t much better. His whole spiel, 3x a day mind you – including during dinner! – is about what’s going on around the ship. It’s really frustrating and annoying. We haven’t even had the equator ceremony, which should have been today since we just crossed it. And while that is understandable because of the “technical” stop, its still sort of, oh, I don’t know, haphazard? Or something.
Sigh.
The other annoying thing is the buffet. You are not allowed to serve yourself, they have line staff that serve you. Which, from a hygiene point of view is awesome. From a practicality point of view? The worst! They are totally understaffed (yeah, NCL owns them, what do you expect?) so you end up just standing in front of the food until someone can come over and serve you. Just give me the damn tongs! I could have served myself, eaten and come back for 2nds by the time I get one piece of chicken. Argh.
Oh, and you don’t get a tote bag in “normal” rooms, only concierge or higher (which is just chintzy).
Ok, rant over. We’re going to the Amazon (well, technically, we are IN the Amazon), we’re movin’ on.
Tomorrow: Santarem – at last!
Thursday, November 28, 2019
11/28–Trinidad’s Hindu Temples
The second part of our tour takes us further south in Chaguanas to the Dattatreya Temple compound and the largest Hanuman Murti outside of India. On the way, we stop for a few minutes outside another little used, but still pink and picturesque, temple for some background on the Indian and Hindu religious history.
Trinidad today is 35% Christian, 30% Hindu and about 10% Muslim. Everyone tends to respect each others’ religion, without much strife between them, going so far as to celebrate every holiday regardless of your religion. The Religious schools operate in the same fashion, admitting anyone, not simply whatever religion the institution practices. But, this wasn’t always the case. Under British rule, while the Indians were considered “free” and told they could practice their religion, they every time they built a temple, the British tore it down. Thus the Indians had to hide away to build their temples, and ended up in small segregated areas outside of the main city of Port of Spain. This is where we find ourselves now, looking out over this little temple that is snugged into the houses and buildings around it.
A 20 minute drive, though the little town gets us out into more rural surroundings, with houses, big and small that display different colored flags. Turns out that each flag color represents a different god. While not traditional in India, these flags were created during British rule, when the Indians weren’t allowed to show their religion. They got creative, created flags for each god, hung them outside their homes and the British never knew any better. A few twists and turns down little country lanes, then a sharp turn down what looks like an alley brings us to the Hanuman temple. We can see the murti (statue) from the road as we circle the complex to get to the parking area. It’s crazy big – 85 feet tall – and vibrantly painted (freshly – they just repainted it a while back) and standing incongruently out in the middle of the courtyard with fields all around it. (Turns out the village people donated their land to create the area for the Murti, so that is why it looks like it is sitting out in the middle of nowhere, with no development terribly close by.
We are the only visitors, so we have the place to ourselves as we circle the murti counter-clockwise (with our shoes on, because there is special dispensation here in Trinidad when it gets so hot that your feet will burn), looking at the cool little water way that circles the statue (it’s man-made but with fieldstones as walls, so it gives the impression of water flowing through a streambed), peering into the two shrines placed on either side of mammoth statue, and just generally reveling in the peace and the magnificence of this thing. There is also a rather large camel facing Hanuman, which is his pet camel (not traditional, by any means!) who keeps watch over Hanuman and protects him.
The temple complex adjacent to the murti has a smaller Hanuman statue that preceded this one sitting in the courtyard, and the more traditional elephants outside the entrance door, as well as some spectacular carvings and dome work in the exterior portico area. Inside, the main temple is much more traditional, with the different gods enshrined in smaller temples, the array of star-gods and traditional incense, etc. We aren’t allowed to take any photos inside, so we just walk through looking at all the different Deities and their Trinidadian representations (which are just like the Indian ones, quite frankly).
On our way back to the car, the proprietor of the little shop on the premises invites us inside to look around. We browse a bit, looking for another small Ganesh, but to no avail. Before we leave though the owner shows us a book that has the history of the murti and the yogi who founded the temple and oversaw the construction. He walked us through the entire process, showing us some great photos of how the concrete construction was implemented, the carving, painting, etc. He also gave us some background on the yogi himself, and how he ended up here in Trinidad (which totally escapes me now!). Every one here is definitely very sweet and open and talkative with us. We finally extricate ourselves from his lovely, but long, history lesson, snap a couple of quick pix of ourselves with the camel guard, then hop in the car for the Temple in the Sea.
Otherwise known as the Waterloo Hindu Temple, this temple was built back in the 1800’s by Sawdass Sadhu, in spite of the fact that no one was allowed to build a temple anywhere on British land. He asked the British if he could build it “Not” on their land, and they laughed at him and said yes – which began a 20 year odyssey where he dumped rocks into the ocean about 100 yards offshore to build a foundation, then finally built a little Hindu temple in the sea for worshipers. Creative!
It is also very picturesque, and while the original temple was not very sturdily constructed, collapsing years ago, in 1962, after the Independence of Trinidad the government made a huge effort to ensure all religions were respected equally, and put funds together to fix up the original temple (they had to build a whole new exterior structure, keeping only the original crudely constructed domed roof) , and build a new one with a causeway attached. It’s a great story of dedication and creativity, and a beautiful place for reflection and prayer. While we are exploring the little original temple, a caretaker comes over and unlocks the gates for us to take a closer look and photos. He also says we can pick some flowers to hold while we are in the temple if we want (even though there are signs every 10 feet telling you NOT to pick the flowers). Again – so sweet!
On one side of the shoreline facing the temple is the cremation grounds for Hindus of the area, and there is a cremation just being completed while we are there. Not quite as dramatic as the Kathmandu cremation temple, it’s actually more beautiful and serene and a little more private. On the other side of the shoreline is the only place where people can dump their used or broken icons and religious pottery that is no longer in use. Reminds us of the cave complex in Luangprabang, only more exposed to the elements.
It’s pushing on 2 pm, so we know its time to head back to town – the traffic can be murder here. But, before we go back to the ship, we decide we are all hungry, so Jenelle takes us to one of the best Roti places on the island – the aptly named Hi-way Roti. Aptly named because it is literally right on the highway – but not accessible by it! You have to drive down these little narrow neighborhood streets to access the very small parking lot (and we can’t even get there because of road work, so we parallel park on the side of the road. You can see how people would just stop on the highway to come here – it almost looks like there are steps leading up from the road (not that its allowed anymore – if it ever was!). Walking through the open air eating area in front of the restaurant, every local there turns and stares – we have been the only white folks everywhere today, but here, we really stand out like a sore thumb! Jenelle just carries on, ignoring everyone, and getting in line (it’s 4 deep at 2:30 in the afternoon) to help order our roti. We decide on splitting one chicken roti (since we are having dinner at Polo Grill tonight, we don’t want too much food this late in the day), and Jenelle opts for the goat, which she says we can share.
The plates come out, and boy are we glad we opted for only one roti! It’s maybe not 1/2 a chicken, but there’s a lot of meat on the plate, like maybe a couple of airplane breasts and a thigh? It’s cooked in a yummy red sauce, accompanied by mashed chick peas (which I avoid like the plague) and the best, fresh, warm roti we’ve ever had. Just awesome. We pick our way through it, not even trying Jenelle’s goat, and end up eating all the meat but leaving a good portion of roti for Jenelle to take home with her. And all for less than $7 US, including a bottle of water (no alcohol here – or anywhere that we have seen actually!).
Now it is definitely time to get back to the port. We had wanted to go to a grocery store, but even that seems out of the question at this point in time. Heading down the highway, chatting amiably, we pass through a huge rain storm which producing large swaths of standing water on the road, one of which completely engulfs our car – it’s like being underwater for a few seconds, only surrounded by other huge hunks of metal hurtling down a highway. Scary! But, to Jenelle’s credit, she handles the car beautifully, as she has done all day. It is not easy driving around here, and we’ve felt completely safe with her from the get go.
We arrive at the port with plenty of time, say goodbye to Jenelle then walk through the little market set up outside (nothing interesting) and head toward the security check in. But, on our way we pass by a little liquor store that has cases of beer, taking a chance we wander inside looking for 6 packs. Sadly there are none in the refrigerator case, so we sigh, and start to leave when the owner says, I have one 6 pack left, and goes into his office to get it. Yes! Success! He apologizes for being low, but says they are closing for the holidays so they can go vacation in Kissimmee. Hey, everybody’s gotta go somewhere I suppose!
Back onboard, we sailaway at the appointed hour (this is one all aboard you do not want to miss!), and proceed onto our normal routine. Dinner in Polo is excellent – even though they have a special T-day dinner, with Turkey of course, we’re not wasting our last night here on turkey! Ed has surf and turf and I have the awesome seared tuna – and all is right with the world.
Onto the Amazon. Yay!
Trinidad today is 35% Christian, 30% Hindu and about 10% Muslim. Everyone tends to respect each others’ religion, without much strife between them, going so far as to celebrate every holiday regardless of your religion. The Religious schools operate in the same fashion, admitting anyone, not simply whatever religion the institution practices. But, this wasn’t always the case. Under British rule, while the Indians were considered “free” and told they could practice their religion, they every time they built a temple, the British tore it down. Thus the Indians had to hide away to build their temples, and ended up in small segregated areas outside of the main city of Port of Spain. This is where we find ourselves now, looking out over this little temple that is snugged into the houses and buildings around it.
A 20 minute drive, though the little town gets us out into more rural surroundings, with houses, big and small that display different colored flags. Turns out that each flag color represents a different god. While not traditional in India, these flags were created during British rule, when the Indians weren’t allowed to show their religion. They got creative, created flags for each god, hung them outside their homes and the British never knew any better. A few twists and turns down little country lanes, then a sharp turn down what looks like an alley brings us to the Hanuman temple. We can see the murti (statue) from the road as we circle the complex to get to the parking area. It’s crazy big – 85 feet tall – and vibrantly painted (freshly – they just repainted it a while back) and standing incongruently out in the middle of the courtyard with fields all around it. (Turns out the village people donated their land to create the area for the Murti, so that is why it looks like it is sitting out in the middle of nowhere, with no development terribly close by.
We are the only visitors, so we have the place to ourselves as we circle the murti counter-clockwise (with our shoes on, because there is special dispensation here in Trinidad when it gets so hot that your feet will burn), looking at the cool little water way that circles the statue (it’s man-made but with fieldstones as walls, so it gives the impression of water flowing through a streambed), peering into the two shrines placed on either side of mammoth statue, and just generally reveling in the peace and the magnificence of this thing. There is also a rather large camel facing Hanuman, which is his pet camel (not traditional, by any means!) who keeps watch over Hanuman and protects him.
The temple complex adjacent to the murti has a smaller Hanuman statue that preceded this one sitting in the courtyard, and the more traditional elephants outside the entrance door, as well as some spectacular carvings and dome work in the exterior portico area. Inside, the main temple is much more traditional, with the different gods enshrined in smaller temples, the array of star-gods and traditional incense, etc. We aren’t allowed to take any photos inside, so we just walk through looking at all the different Deities and their Trinidadian representations (which are just like the Indian ones, quite frankly).
On our way back to the car, the proprietor of the little shop on the premises invites us inside to look around. We browse a bit, looking for another small Ganesh, but to no avail. Before we leave though the owner shows us a book that has the history of the murti and the yogi who founded the temple and oversaw the construction. He walked us through the entire process, showing us some great photos of how the concrete construction was implemented, the carving, painting, etc. He also gave us some background on the yogi himself, and how he ended up here in Trinidad (which totally escapes me now!). Every one here is definitely very sweet and open and talkative with us. We finally extricate ourselves from his lovely, but long, history lesson, snap a couple of quick pix of ourselves with the camel guard, then hop in the car for the Temple in the Sea.
Otherwise known as the Waterloo Hindu Temple, this temple was built back in the 1800’s by Sawdass Sadhu, in spite of the fact that no one was allowed to build a temple anywhere on British land. He asked the British if he could build it “Not” on their land, and they laughed at him and said yes – which began a 20 year odyssey where he dumped rocks into the ocean about 100 yards offshore to build a foundation, then finally built a little Hindu temple in the sea for worshipers. Creative!
It is also very picturesque, and while the original temple was not very sturdily constructed, collapsing years ago, in 1962, after the Independence of Trinidad the government made a huge effort to ensure all religions were respected equally, and put funds together to fix up the original temple (they had to build a whole new exterior structure, keeping only the original crudely constructed domed roof) , and build a new one with a causeway attached. It’s a great story of dedication and creativity, and a beautiful place for reflection and prayer. While we are exploring the little original temple, a caretaker comes over and unlocks the gates for us to take a closer look and photos. He also says we can pick some flowers to hold while we are in the temple if we want (even though there are signs every 10 feet telling you NOT to pick the flowers). Again – so sweet!
On one side of the shoreline facing the temple is the cremation grounds for Hindus of the area, and there is a cremation just being completed while we are there. Not quite as dramatic as the Kathmandu cremation temple, it’s actually more beautiful and serene and a little more private. On the other side of the shoreline is the only place where people can dump their used or broken icons and religious pottery that is no longer in use. Reminds us of the cave complex in Luangprabang, only more exposed to the elements.
It’s pushing on 2 pm, so we know its time to head back to town – the traffic can be murder here. But, before we go back to the ship, we decide we are all hungry, so Jenelle takes us to one of the best Roti places on the island – the aptly named Hi-way Roti. Aptly named because it is literally right on the highway – but not accessible by it! You have to drive down these little narrow neighborhood streets to access the very small parking lot (and we can’t even get there because of road work, so we parallel park on the side of the road. You can see how people would just stop on the highway to come here – it almost looks like there are steps leading up from the road (not that its allowed anymore – if it ever was!). Walking through the open air eating area in front of the restaurant, every local there turns and stares – we have been the only white folks everywhere today, but here, we really stand out like a sore thumb! Jenelle just carries on, ignoring everyone, and getting in line (it’s 4 deep at 2:30 in the afternoon) to help order our roti. We decide on splitting one chicken roti (since we are having dinner at Polo Grill tonight, we don’t want too much food this late in the day), and Jenelle opts for the goat, which she says we can share.
The plates come out, and boy are we glad we opted for only one roti! It’s maybe not 1/2 a chicken, but there’s a lot of meat on the plate, like maybe a couple of airplane breasts and a thigh? It’s cooked in a yummy red sauce, accompanied by mashed chick peas (which I avoid like the plague) and the best, fresh, warm roti we’ve ever had. Just awesome. We pick our way through it, not even trying Jenelle’s goat, and end up eating all the meat but leaving a good portion of roti for Jenelle to take home with her. And all for less than $7 US, including a bottle of water (no alcohol here – or anywhere that we have seen actually!).
Now it is definitely time to get back to the port. We had wanted to go to a grocery store, but even that seems out of the question at this point in time. Heading down the highway, chatting amiably, we pass through a huge rain storm which producing large swaths of standing water on the road, one of which completely engulfs our car – it’s like being underwater for a few seconds, only surrounded by other huge hunks of metal hurtling down a highway. Scary! But, to Jenelle’s credit, she handles the car beautifully, as she has done all day. It is not easy driving around here, and we’ve felt completely safe with her from the get go.
We arrive at the port with plenty of time, say goodbye to Jenelle then walk through the little market set up outside (nothing interesting) and head toward the security check in. But, on our way we pass by a little liquor store that has cases of beer, taking a chance we wander inside looking for 6 packs. Sadly there are none in the refrigerator case, so we sigh, and start to leave when the owner says, I have one 6 pack left, and goes into his office to get it. Yes! Success! He apologizes for being low, but says they are closing for the holidays so they can go vacation in Kissimmee. Hey, everybody’s gotta go somewhere I suppose!
Back onboard, we sailaway at the appointed hour (this is one all aboard you do not want to miss!), and proceed onto our normal routine. Dinner in Polo is excellent – even though they have a special T-day dinner, with Turkey of course, we’re not wasting our last night here on turkey! Ed has surf and turf and I have the awesome seared tuna – and all is right with the world.
Onto the Amazon. Yay!
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