“A regal, ruling river there exists,
unique, and vast, of loveliness unmatched,
lowly-born amidst cold summit mists
then haughty, snubbing oceans, when dispatched."
- Fabriciano Hernàndez, Hymn to the Amazon
As mentioned in my last entry, we were scheduled for three more stops in Brazil after Rio. However, a funny thing happened on the way to Fortaleza. I awoke at about 5:00 am with the odd sense that something was wrong. It took me a few minutes to realize that there was no electricity—the nightlight in the room was out and the air conditioning shut down. It took me a couple more minutes to realize that the ship was not moving. Our entire power system was gone, and the ship was dead in the water. It remained this way for over an hour, and we experienced a couple more partial shut-downs through the course of the morning. Turns out, a water-cooled generator had failed and, being interconnected to other systems, had taken down the ship’s entire power system.
We were within sight of land when this happened, so it was not too disturbing. But it was a little unnerving to think that it could have happened while the ship was crossing the Atlantic, days from any land, or when we were in the Gulf of Aden where all the pirate activity has been taking place.
What it did do was set us back on our schedule such that the port stop in Fortaleza had to be foregone. So, I can write only of Salvador and Belem.
Salvador
Salvador, in the state of Bahia, was founded in 1549, and is Brazil’s third largest city (and the fifth largest in Latin America). It once was the capital of Brazil.
Salvador has a lower city and an upper city, with the lower being the commercial center and the upper containing a picturesque old city. Interestingly, the best way to get between the upper and lower cities is to take a giant municipal elevator. At a cost equal to about 25 cents, it is certainly cheaper than a taxi. We docked in the lower city, but did our exploring in the upper city, so the elevator came in handy.
The old city is laid out with narrow cobblestone streets, and churches everywhere. There are said to be 365 churches in the city, one for every day of the year. Many of the churches are quite ornate in design, and quite old, but there also are many newer ones. The cobblestone streets are lined with restaurants and shops, most of the latter selling crafts and art. Some of the streets are quite steep, and I can’t see many cars being able to withstand the cobblestone climb. Which may explain why we saw very few cars in this part of the city.
On the way back to the ship, I decided to try the popular local drink—coconut water. For the equivalent of about 40 cents, a vendor will sell you a green coconut, lop off the top with a machete, and give you a straw. Not a drink I would seek out, but not vile either. It was thirst-quenching, which was what I needed on that hot and humid day walking around the city.
Belem
Our last stop in Brazil was Belem, the gateway to the Amazon. The Amazon is the world’s largest body of freshwater and, measured by water volume, the largest river in the world by far (measured by length, the Nile is slightly larger). Because of the way the tides behave, we had to drop anchor a good distance out of Belem, in an estuary of the Amazon, which meant that we had to take a 45-minute bus ride to get to Belem and board our river boat for our mini Amazon adventure.
It was worth the ride. We got a glimpse of Amazonian life as we sailed up the river and through some of its channels. Houses on stilts line the river, and small boats and canoes are to this area what cars and bicycles are to other locations—the main form of transportation. We visited an island where the people make their living by gathering the fruits, barks and other materials on their land, take them in the morning to Belem to sell, then return in late morning to a relaxing rest of the day. We met a 70-year-old man who climbs thin, tall trees to gather fruit. We also encountered lots of children, many of whom followed us around. Unlike other places we’ve visited, they were not begging but were just curious about the strangers in their midst. School had just ended for summer vacation (remember, the seasons are opposite in the Southern Hemisphere from the Northern Hemisphere), so the children were on their school break. They were very sweet.
We bought some brazil nuts fresh from the tree. What I had never known is that the nuts that we know as brazil nuts actually are a much larger nut that, when broken open, contains as many as 18 of the nuts we see in stores. The fresh nuts have almost a coconut taste to them. We also tried jackfruit which, while slippery, is quite tasty. We also saw cocoa growing in its natural environment, and learned of the many different varieties that exist just on that little island.
We are now back on the ship, and just crossed the equator and so are back in the Northern Hemisphere. One week from today, I’ll be off the ship and headed home. Our remaining stops are on some Caribbean islands. While I’ve only been to one of them (Puerto Rico) in the past, I somehow feel as though the exploration portion of the trip is over. Now is just some fun in the sun.
unique, and vast, of loveliness unmatched,
lowly-born amidst cold summit mists
then haughty, snubbing oceans, when dispatched."
- Fabriciano Hernàndez, Hymn to the Amazon
As mentioned in my last entry, we were scheduled for three more stops in Brazil after Rio. However, a funny thing happened on the way to Fortaleza. I awoke at about 5:00 am with the odd sense that something was wrong. It took me a few minutes to realize that there was no electricity—the nightlight in the room was out and the air conditioning shut down. It took me a couple more minutes to realize that the ship was not moving. Our entire power system was gone, and the ship was dead in the water. It remained this way for over an hour, and we experienced a couple more partial shut-downs through the course of the morning. Turns out, a water-cooled generator had failed and, being interconnected to other systems, had taken down the ship’s entire power system.
We were within sight of land when this happened, so it was not too disturbing. But it was a little unnerving to think that it could have happened while the ship was crossing the Atlantic, days from any land, or when we were in the Gulf of Aden where all the pirate activity has been taking place.
What it did do was set us back on our schedule such that the port stop in Fortaleza had to be foregone. So, I can write only of Salvador and Belem.
Salvador
Salvador, in the state of Bahia, was founded in 1549, and is Brazil’s third largest city (and the fifth largest in Latin America). It once was the capital of Brazil.
Salvador has a lower city and an upper city, with the lower being the commercial center and the upper containing a picturesque old city. Interestingly, the best way to get between the upper and lower cities is to take a giant municipal elevator. At a cost equal to about 25 cents, it is certainly cheaper than a taxi. We docked in the lower city, but did our exploring in the upper city, so the elevator came in handy.
The old city is laid out with narrow cobblestone streets, and churches everywhere. There are said to be 365 churches in the city, one for every day of the year. Many of the churches are quite ornate in design, and quite old, but there also are many newer ones. The cobblestone streets are lined with restaurants and shops, most of the latter selling crafts and art. Some of the streets are quite steep, and I can’t see many cars being able to withstand the cobblestone climb. Which may explain why we saw very few cars in this part of the city.
On the way back to the ship, I decided to try the popular local drink—coconut water. For the equivalent of about 40 cents, a vendor will sell you a green coconut, lop off the top with a machete, and give you a straw. Not a drink I would seek out, but not vile either. It was thirst-quenching, which was what I needed on that hot and humid day walking around the city.
Belem
Our last stop in Brazil was Belem, the gateway to the Amazon. The Amazon is the world’s largest body of freshwater and, measured by water volume, the largest river in the world by far (measured by length, the Nile is slightly larger). Because of the way the tides behave, we had to drop anchor a good distance out of Belem, in an estuary of the Amazon, which meant that we had to take a 45-minute bus ride to get to Belem and board our river boat for our mini Amazon adventure.
It was worth the ride. We got a glimpse of Amazonian life as we sailed up the river and through some of its channels. Houses on stilts line the river, and small boats and canoes are to this area what cars and bicycles are to other locations—the main form of transportation. We visited an island where the people make their living by gathering the fruits, barks and other materials on their land, take them in the morning to Belem to sell, then return in late morning to a relaxing rest of the day. We met a 70-year-old man who climbs thin, tall trees to gather fruit. We also encountered lots of children, many of whom followed us around. Unlike other places we’ve visited, they were not begging but were just curious about the strangers in their midst. School had just ended for summer vacation (remember, the seasons are opposite in the Southern Hemisphere from the Northern Hemisphere), so the children were on their school break. They were very sweet.
We bought some brazil nuts fresh from the tree. What I had never known is that the nuts that we know as brazil nuts actually are a much larger nut that, when broken open, contains as many as 18 of the nuts we see in stores. The fresh nuts have almost a coconut taste to them. We also tried jackfruit which, while slippery, is quite tasty. We also saw cocoa growing in its natural environment, and learned of the many different varieties that exist just on that little island.
We are now back on the ship, and just crossed the equator and so are back in the Northern Hemisphere. One week from today, I’ll be off the ship and headed home. Our remaining stops are on some Caribbean islands. While I’ve only been to one of them (Puerto Rico) in the past, I somehow feel as though the exploration portion of the trip is over. Now is just some fun in the sun.
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