Brazil is a huge country in South America with a population of over 205 million people (2018) that speak mostly Portuguese. Brazil is a country of white-sand beaches, lush rainforests, and vibrant rhythm-filled music. The capital is Brasilia, but the cities we will visit will be Rio De Janerio, Recife, and Belem.
Today's stop was in the river town of Icoaraci for the city of Belem. To reach this city, we needed to take a local water taxi for a tender ride to shore, which would take 20 minutes. The tickets for this transfer were being handed out in the Ocean Bar, the Wajang Theater, and also in the Neptune Lounge for those who were in those suites. There was only one problem. The local authorities had not shown up on time, and the clearance was not given until after 8:30am or later. No surprise to a lot of us who know that Brazil has always danced to the tune of its own drummer.
There were four HAL tours today, so these folks would be first to get off. In order to speed things up, three local water taxis or longboats were dispatched to help with this transfer to shore. There appeared to be problems with the boats tying up to the ship's platform due to the flow of the river. Two of our tenders were dropped into the river to help. The art and culture and the best of Belem were 5.5 to 6 hours for $110. The Amazon River System advanced riverboat ride was 5.5 hours for $100. Easy Belem was 4.5 hours for $85.
Something was different in the Pinnacle Grill this morning at breakfast time. All of the wait staff and manager were wearing hair nets, which was quite amusing, considering we have not seen this practice in restaurants at home since the" Lucille Ball" days. Lelik, the manager, told us that it is a requirement of Brazil's version of CDC and when in port, they will have to wear the nets in all of the ship's dining venues. Whether or not the Brazilians will come onboard to check this, is doubtful. But they cannot take a chance.
After breakfast, we found our room steward and asked if he could fix the showerhead, which totally broke this morning. It just so happened that the plumber was next door fixing something, and he handed Khan another head. Bill ended putting it together and it appeared to work. If not, then another work order would be issued to fix it.
We waited until 10am to leave our room and make our way to the Wajang Theater. We did not have a chance to go over the procedures for the groups debarking in these tender ports, but we knew Kumar would have a plan for the President's Club Members. And he did. We went down to deck A forward where we met with Jonah, who was directing the folks in the line. She brought us to the front and we boarded the waiting water taxi, mixing us with one of the tour groups. As we stated, the ride was about 20 minutes. A welcoming group of local dancers were putting on a show at the terminal. The safety notice that had been printed in the Daily newsletter came to mind when we saw so many policemen and women in both towns. There must be a lot of crime here, as we spotted barred windows and gated doorways all the way to Belem.
Complimentary shuttle buses were waiting for the guests which took us to Docas Station in Belem, about a 35-minute ride with little to no traffic. On the way, we happened to see what is called a solar halo, a ring around the sun that resembled a rainbow. We have seen it before, and we think it was here in the Amazon area. Very interesting story tied to this phenomenon. Once at the Docas Station, we walked past the historic port warehouses turned into a riverfront complex. Just like we remembered, they housed very nice modern restaurants, bars, souvenir stands, and clean restrooms. The entire complex lines the Guajara Bay of the Rio Acara. Continuing our walk, we decided we would come back here for beers and a possible lunch.
This was not our first visit here. Back in the 1990's, we took a Princess cruise to this part of the world and stopped in all of the largest cities and villages on the mighty river. Back then, we did tours, and this is one city we never forgot. It had to be the Amazon vultures that stood out the most. This city was full of them. Located another ¼ mile hike from the docks, was the Ver-O-Peso Market, an open-air produce and fish market with all types of fruits, herbs, river fish, and acai, a miracle juice from a berry. Natural remedies for anything you can think about were being sold as well.
Even though it was before noontime, this semi-outdoor eatery was jammed full of locals enjoying the very affordable cuisine at every counter. Kind of like a fast-food restaurant at home. Some of the items being sold here were deep-fried cod and shredded chicken balls. Triangular pastries called estiha were filled with meat & spices and spinach. Similar to empanadas we have had in the dining room. Heaping servings of black beans with a variety of meats seasoned with garlic and spices were being consumed. Tapioca made from the manioc flour was a treat with chicken, cheese, and fruit preserves. A thicker version of acai juice was in bowls and served with everything. Many of the prices for these specialties were under $1 USD. No wonder it was so crowded.
There were scores of souvenirs to be bought such as t-shirts, caps, spices, cookware, and handbags. Locals were buying most of it, as we did not see too many tourists like us walking the complex. Perhaps when the tours ended, the Volendam folks will make their way to the Docas Station if there was enough time.
At the far end of the Ver-O-Peso Market is their fish market. By this time of day, the fresh catch had been sold for the day, although we did see some of the larger river fish of tambaqui and another one that used to top out over 100 pounds or more. The name escapes us right now, but we do remember having it for a lunch here years ago. Going back outside we made our way to a small harbor on this river where older fishing boats were tied up. It was low tide, and the banks of the river were loaded with great white egrets and the black Amazon vultures. Almost too many to count. The birds seemed to be waiting for fish scraps and bones that are discarded from the fish market we suppose. As disgusting the scene seemed to be to us, we realized it was a good thing these birds are here to clean up the worst of the discarded fish or there would be a lot more disease here. Flocks of black vultures circled high overhead, while the more elegant great egrets perched on the many fishing boats and worked the shallow waters of the riverbanks.
We made our way to a central clocktower, then hiked to a park next to Fort do Prespio, a riverside fort surrounded by small museums, 600 year old heritage Portuguese buildings and a cathedral. There were some broken-down benches in the small park, but the ones in the shade were occupied by locals. Food trucks were selling snacks, sodas, and plenty of bottles of water. There was a slight breeze, but the humidity was almost over-whelming at times. Yes, we did have some water with us, which did not last very long. The church had been opened when we arrived, but the doors were shut before we had a chance to peek inside.
So we made our way back to the market but followed the street all the way back to the Estacao Das Docas, the modern warehouses. There were a couple of dancers performing in the street, which had been closed to traffic. It appeared they were being filmed by a local TV station. We recognized many Amazonian items we have bought over the years such as t-shirts, shot glasses, and hammocks. We resisted buying anything today.
The warehouse restaurants were in full swing when we passed through the air-conditioned buildings. The menus at each venue were posted, but not all of them took every type of credit card. Asking one of the waiters, we found one place, Soprano, that had recognizable food and beer. But did they take Am Ex? Neither if the waiters spoke English, so it took some time and sign language before we decided this place would work for us. They seated us outside and brought us two mugs of draft beers. Great, we were on the right track. We were delighted to see pizza on the menu, but the waiters said they did not have any. They did serve French fries, and we ordered one plate to share. Very good and hot too. When they came back with two more mugs of beer, one of the fellows said they could bring us a pizza, so we ordered a Margherita pizza the split. Wow, it turned out to be one of the best we have eaten and much larger than we expected.
By now, we were getting a little concerned about the time we had left to catch the shuttle bus. As luck had it, our waiter brought the bill and our credit card worked immediately. Sometimes their systems are too slow and they have to run the card repeatedly. There were two slices of pizza left, and our waiter boxed them up to go. The shuttle was still there around the corner from the warehouses, and we were happy to board it. Well, you never know what a day will bring, and today was one of those days.
The bus left around 2:45pm after picking up more guests on the corner. There was plenty of time to reach the pier, or at least we thought as much. Then out of the blue, it began to rain like cats and dogs. Lucky for us, it stopped as fast as it came. After riding for about 15 minutes, the driver pulled the bus over, proceeded to get out, and left us all there with the air-conditioning running. There was no announcement that the bus had broken down and the driver was trying to get another shuttle to come to the rescue. We sat there for about 40 minutes, while one of the guests tried to figure out what was happening. She spoke limited Portuguese and let us all know that two more buses were coming to take us to the pier.
By the time the rescue bus came, 23 of us were put on that bus. The rest of the stranded guests took the next shuttle shortly after we left. By now, the time was after 4pm, and we sure hoped there was a water taxi to bring us back to the ship. The last tender was scheduled for 4:30pm. We all waited for the water taxi to arrive, then boarded with strong winds and much more of a river current. The ride back to the ship was a rocking and rolling experience, but at least we were going to make it on time.
While attempting to tie up the water taxi, two ropes broke without warning. The tender platform was getting flooded by the river waves, soaking everyone's shoes. The crew was having a difficult time making this transfer safe for everyone. The passengers were not the most patient folks by this time. Maybe because it was so close to dinnertime, way too many guests got up and stood waiting to get off. A few of them did get off, but that's when the first rope snapped. Needless to say, we were grateful to be back on the ship.
There was a note from the technical department stating everything had been fixed in our room. And we had a follow-up call from Kumar to confirm that. He had personally escorted the tech team to see how the exhaust fan worked, telling us that 12 surrounding cabins were involved for the fix. It still needs some adjustment, but at least it was working. Then an hour later, we had a knock on our door with room service handing us two plates of fresh fruit and a letter from Glenn, the hotel manager. It was well-written with sincere apologies for our dilemma of the past week or more of things breaking. Really nice touch.
Last but not least, our laundry was delivered, but was missing half of our things. We had someone else's underwear. Good grief! Reporting this to our room stewards, they took the clothing away and took the copy of our laundry slip. That meant someone else had our underwear….double good grief! They did locate the missing items by the next morning, thank goodness.
At least dinner was uneventful. Starters were everyday shrimp cocktails and two different salads. Mains were breaded veal even larger than Weiner schnitzel. We could only eat half of it, but it was really good. Dessert for one of us was a plate of sliced pineapple. We were way too tired to check out the Grand Fair at the Pool Poolside with fun & games or the show with comedian Paul Adams.
Good thing there are two sea days ahead of us.
Bill & Mary Ann
