Today's port of call was an early one…..Boca da Valeria, which is a very quaint village with about 100 "caboclos" natives with a blend of both indigenous and Portuguese back round. Access to this area is by tender boat as there are no paved roads as we recall. The locals survive by fishing, growing crops, and their craft sales to tourists like us.
But first, we were off to breakfast. We are finding that some folks are lining up well before the doors of the Pinnacle Grill are opened at 7:30am. Today there were eight of us to take the window seats. Perhaps that was due to the fact our time in this port will be short from 7am to 1pm. There were no organized shore excursions today as this village is so small, it can be walked in a short time. We did have the best seats in the restaurant as we watched the guests boarding the tender boats right below our window. An added surprise was spotting some river dolphins close to the shoreline. We could see their splashes, but they were so quick, they barely breached the surface.
Prior to our arrival today, we all received a notice asking for any donations such as school supplies, playing cards, dice, word games, children's books in English, puppets, Legos, and puzzles. Soaps, lotions, and toothpaste were also welcomed. These items had to be cleared with local customers officials and if fees applied, HAL would have to pay them. This same situation occurred while we were on the fall sailing of Tales of the South Pacific. All donations including money for the kids on Fanning Island were to be brought over to the local officials. However due to the cancellation of the port, the contributions had to go elsewhere. The guests were most disappointed since they had shopped for the basic necessities for these kids while we were in Hawaii.
Anyway, we headed for the tender boat right after breakfast for the 10 minute ride to the shore. Some things had changed since we were here back in the 1990's and 2014. We sure do not remember the covered village pier pontoon that made it easy to disembark the tender boat. Back then, we were taken further up the tributary and dropped off navigating wide boards through the muddy banks.
And we know why it had been suggested to bring single dollar bills with us. There was a double line of kids and their moms greeting us as we made our way towards the village. Most every kid had a pet like baby sloths and monkeys, lizards, alligators, and small parrots. If you took a photo, they expected one dollar. It was the same over 30 years ago, so inflation has not hit this part of the world we guess.
A few of the older young ladies, perhaps 16 or 18, were dressed in traditional costumes with hundreds of feathers and beads. Little children were encouraged by their moms to take our hands to walk to the village, all with the hopes of getting tips we assume. None of them spoke English, but we can say that all of the locals were dressed nicely in modern-day t-shirts and shorts wearing flip-flops. It was amusing to us watching some of the young boys take their dollars and run to their snack shack to buy packaged chips and crackers. They left the empty bags on the ground afterwards, hoping their moms did not see the evidence.
We walked about twice as far after passing the crowded village. The trail led to more houses on stilts, where each one had chickens, ducks, and dogs. We saw one fat cat sleeping in a nice bed. We could see pipes coming from the hillsides carrying fresh water to tanks mounted on the roofs. Some larger homes had satellite dishes. All of the houses had power. Towards the end of the narrow trail, we saw what we assume to be the local garbage dump where the charred soil was still smoking from a recent burn. The largest house had a fenced yard with two pigs. That's where we decided to turn back.
We did get a lot of pictures of the animals, the church, school, and snack shack. Tables were set up under thatched roofs where the locals were hawking their treasures. Anything made of wood had to be dropped off after we went through security on the ship to be frozen for 24 hours to kill any insects. We had to do this with wooden puppets we bought in Bali one year. Freezing was the only way to stop the burrowing insects in the puppet's wood parts.
Just about when we were passing the village, the rain began falling. Light at first, it became a cloudburst within minutes. This time we used the umbrellas one of us thought to bring. All in all, we had spent over two hours exploring there. And it is worth mentioning that it was wicked hot and humid today. And when the doors of the tender boat were closed, it made it even hotter, like a sauna.
Back on the cool ship, we enjoyed ice cold sodas and eventually ordered a room service lunch. The food has been very good and nicely presented. The service is much quicker than the 30 to 40 minutes they predict. Working on pictures occupied the rest of the afternoon.
Right before 1pm, the Captain sounded the ship's horn with one long blast. The last tender was to leave at 1pm, but it appeared they were waiting for some people. At 1:10pm, the horn sounded again, but this time longer. Watching the pontoon, we spotted two canoes pull over and drop off 4 people. Guess they were not watching the time and they were lucky they were not left behind.
At 3pm, there was a cake extravaganza held in the Lido Market. Photos were allowed at 2:45pm, but that was when our lunch was arriving, so we missed it. Maybe it will be repeated later in the cruise.
Dinner was surprisingly "dressy" this evening….the first one of the cruise so far. And it was the Culinary Dinner with special chef items. We ordered the coconut crusted shrimp salad which was very good and one crab cake. The entree we both ordered was the prime rib, and it was also cooked perfectly. The plates and the food were piping hot, making a huge difference in our opinion. Dessert was the chocolate filled craqueline, a special treat which is not served often.
Showtime was another performance of the singers and dancers. It appeared that most of the late dining guests were finished and leaving the dining room before the show began at 9:30pm. They sure were not in the Ocean Bar, which has had only a handful of guests every evening.
Tomorrow we will be in Manaus, the biggest city in this part of the Amazon. It will be a one day stop, where in the past, we always spent two days. Hopefully docked, we should be able to walk to the main sights from the pier.
Bill & Mary Ann
