Amazon Explorer Cruise
20-11-2019 to 20-12-2019
Day 7 Sea Day
27th November
Tonight was Gala Night with a Black and White theme. The tables were laid out in Black and White. Some of the meals were black and white. We had steamed cod (white) with black rice.
This is our wine waiter, Earnest, pouring Colleen her wine. All the waiters were dressed like this.
Day 8 Macapa
28th November
Morning
This was our first sight of the Amazon river outside our room this morning. We had stopped to take on two pilots and to be given clearance to proceede up the Amazon. This was a service call and no one was allowed ashore.
These are a few photos of the shore that we could see while we waited for the formalities on board to be completed. The passengers were not involved in the formalities which took from 4am to nearly 11am.
Afternoon
I took this photo from the sky deck. It is the highest point that passengers can reach. You can see how wide the river is.
Dotted along the river bank are these houses. Some look derelict and others, like these two, look occupied. If you can zoom in on the building on poles there appears to be someone taking a photo of us as we pass.
Day 9 Mud Bank
29th November
This is dawn after we ran aground on a mud bank at about 04:20 in the morning. We happened to be awake and felt the ship heel over a bit. Shortly afterwards the first stage alarm sounded. This is just to alert the emergency crews to go to their stations. Shortly after that the officer of the watch then made his announcement to let us know what was happening. After a while the captain gave us an up date. We are not required to do anything at the first stage alarm.
Because of all the excitment we rose early to see what was going on. This is one of the tenders being use to take soundings to establish the depth of the water round us so that a plan could be made to free us.
While walking round the deck we saw these bugs on the deck. Colleen's hand gives you an idea of the size of some of them.
The intake vents on the ship have been covered with blue filter material. You can see from this picture why it is neccessary.
After about seven and a half hours the captain freed us by adjusting the trim of the ship to take the weight off the mud bank and increase the boyancy of the ship by emptying the midship swimming pool.The river bank changed from vegetation on the shore line to cliffs
What a surprise Santarem was when it appeared on the river, I did not expect anything this size. In the first two photos you can see the different colour of the waters from the two rivers as they meet. The Amazon, the muddy colour, and the Rio Tapajos, the clearer water.
Day 10 River Day(Santarem)
30th November
While we were waiting to leave Santarem Colleen took a photo of me in my office!
These pictures were taken as we crossed from the Rio Tapajos, on the left, into the Amazon on the right. We came out of the Rio Tapajos and turned left to go up the Amazon. In the second picture you can see one of the fishermen standing in his boat waving to us.
Day 11 Manaus
1st December
Today we arrived in Manaus. This is as far as we go up the river. We decided to go and see the Teatro Amazonas. It was very hot and here is Colleen viewing the Opera House while we rested before going inside.
This is the front of the Opera House.
Inside the foyer was as far as we were able to go. We arrived five minutes too late to join the last English speaking guided tour, so we had to content ourselves with admiring the foyer while cooling off. We are here tomorrow but the Opera House is closed.
This is a view from the Opera House looking down the street we came up.
On our way back to the ship we saw this carriage in a yard and I took this photo through the gate.
Another street view. A bar in Manaus on our way back to the ship.
Interactive panorma of Manaus.Day 12 Manaus
2nd December
Good News!. When we met our Tours By Locals guide, Milton, he informed us that the Teatro Amazonas would be open for ship's tours. This photo and the next one are of the ballroom.
Inside the auditorium.
The private boxes.
The stage.
This photo was taken by Milton of us by a monument in a park with the theatre in the background.
After the theatre we were taken to a market. This part is called the Banana Market.
Then there was the offal section.
The fish section with tiger fish.
We saw them cutting up Brazil nuts.
This is a road to the river bank. In the rainy season the water comes up to the tide mark and they shut the gate at the end.
And here is the other end of it. You can see the cars on the river bank
Day 13 Parintins
3rd December
Today we are using local ferries to tender guests ashore. They hold 150 people. Tenders hold about 70 when tendering. It was supposed to be quicker, but there are more people to load and unload and it seemed to take longer to dock and undock.
This is the upper deck of the ferry.
Colleen chose the lower deck.
This is the other tender/ferry returning to the ship with passengers who have already been ashore.
When the locals use these ferries they may be on them for up to two weeks. Five days travelling and a couple of days shopping then the return trip. They stay on for the whole time. And this is how they sleep, in hammocks slung across the deck from these hooks on either side. (My crystal ball tells me I will have a picture of the hammocks tomorrow!)
This is a view of the mess area. Through the stable door is a gas cooker and sink. I think the chairs are for our benefit as they are not on the local ferries.
On our way to the dock we had to sail round this log.
You can see that there is a steep climb from the dock to the street. And the tide line shows how high the river rises in the rainy season. The Scouts are on hand to help passengers up the hill for $1. Colleen chose the smallest girl as helper.
At last we reach the town. We hired one of these tricycles to take us of a tour of Parintins.
Here is Colleen with our man.
This was our view of the road as we set off. A sea of motocycles.
We passed a school and these girls were waving to us.
I then had to take another one of the girls in the other door way.
There seems to be a bit of topiary going on here, we saw these square cut trees and then later some dome shaped ones.
The river reaches this area in the rainy season.
We do not know what was wrong with this trike, but it took two people to push it up the hill.
From the road this is what the ramp to the dock looks like.
We were not the only cruise ship on the river. I wonder if they managed to avoid grounding!
Day 14 Alter Do Chao
4th December
Alter Do Chao is a holiday beach about 40mins from Santarem. As our visit to Santarem was cut short, due to running aground, we decided to take the Best of Santarem tour from here.
Here I am on the tour bus. If it looks like a regular bus, that is because it is. In front of me is the seat and table for the ticket collector. Out of shot is the buscard reader which would occasionally beep during the whole tour.
Above are photos taken out of the bus window. The last one is of a Brazilian government initiative for the homeless. They pay rent for 10 years, then the home is theirs. But if they want to move they can not sell it. It is reallocated by the government.
Our first stop in Santarem is at the market.
Colleen is holding Brazil nuts.
More colourful fish.
We were quite excited to see this fish, Tambaqui, as we had it for dinner the night before. It is a tasty fish with a warning from the chef that there would be small bones.
In this square there were many stalls selling hammocks.
As my crystal ball predicted, a photo of the hammocks being used on this ferry that has just arrived.
More Amazon wild life. Vulture like birds.
Our final stop on the tour was the Manioc Flour House. An open air facility which demonstrates the collection of latex and the making of manioc.
Our guide, Ohad, explained how latex was collected and prepared for transport.
This is some of the fruit on display. I took this as I wanted a photo of the cashew fruit.
How to open a Brazil nut.
And this is what you find inside.