Cruise 2 2019

Day 15 River Day

5th December

Today is our last day on the amazon. The pilots are leaving us, and speeding away to Macapa.

Tonight was a Touch of Orange theme in the dining room. In honour of Dutch House of Orange. We asked our waiter, Ardi, to take this photo.

Day 16 Sea Day

6th December

Today is a sea day so it is a relaxing day. This is what some people do on sea days. These two gentlmen came out on deck to play their ukuleles. Colleen stopped to listen to them.

Day 17 Icoaraci(Belem)

7th December

This is the river bank in Icoaraci. We booked ourselves on an Amazon river system by riverboat tour. It leaves from the city of Belem, about an hours coach ride away from where we anchored in Icoaraci.

While waiting on the coach for late arrivals, I took this photo of a freighter on the Para river, a tributary of the Amazon river.

Our river boat was waiting for us when we arrived. The guides are checking that the boat is ready for us.

We chose to stay downstairs in the cool.

The river here at Belem is tidal and the tide is out.

One of the first construction in Belem was the fort.

Fishing boats tide up below the church.

These are some views of the river bank from our riverboat. They are typical of what we have seen along the river.

These river plants help to stop riverbank erosion. However they grow tall and block access to the river so they are cut down. With the inevitable result of erosion.

Here we can see men building a shelter at the end of the pier. These are used for entertaining, rented by people from the city.

Underneath this building is the dock for our walk in the forest.

And the view under the building.

Here is our group in the forest. The line of people snakes from right to left.

Colleen is standing beside this tree to give you an idea of the size of it.

The things hanging from the tree are bird's nests.

This tree is called, The Queen of the forest. Our tour guide, in orange, is dwarfed by the tree.

Growing right under the Queen of the forest is this cocoa plant.

Day 19 Devil's Island

9th December

This stop is call Devil's Island. But in fact we are visiting Isle Royale, one of three islands that make up the Salvation Islands. Originally a leper colony, in 1852 they became a penal colony. The other two islands are called, Saint-Joseph and Isle Du Diable (Devil's Island).

This is a closer view of the right hand side of the island where the tender dock is.

And this is the left hand side. We walked up to the lighthouse just visible above the trees at the top of the island.

On the way up we saw this strange building. A sign on it says Oil Store.

Monkeys were quite common.

This is the childrens cemetery.

Here is the lighthouse we saw from the ship.

Cell block.

These are the solitary cells.

Another view of the solitary cells.

A view from the tender dock.

Day 21 Bridgetown, Barbados

11th December

Today we are in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. This is the Parliament Building and Independance Square.

Two photos of streets taken from our bus tour to St. Nicolas Abbey. A working manor house and plantation surrounded by cane fields and forest.

At the Abbey we boarded a steam train, Tjepper No.5, to take us on a short trip through the grounds. The train was built in 1914 for the Dutch in Indonesia. Because of the war it was not delivered till 1917. It had to go to England for refurbishment before being sent to Barbados a couple of years ago.

Arriving at the end of the line.

Here some of the passengers volunteered to help turn the engine on the turntable for the return trip.

The engin driver offered to take my photo in the cab of the engine.

This is the view from the end of the line. After visiting the manor house we returned to Bridgetown by this road.

St. Nicolas Abbey. That is our guide in front.

The dining room. With original furniture.

This is a view of their rum making facility.

On the way back we stopped at the restored Morgan Lewis windmill for photos. It was used for crushing sugar cane.

A field of sugar cane.

This is a photo of the Bussa Emancipation Statue in Bridgetown. The slave, Bussa, led a rebellion in 1816 which failed. He was killed in battle and his rebellion failed, but its influence was significant to the future of Barbados.

Day 23 Oranjestad, Aruba

13th December

No tour booked today. Just a walk round town and a ride on the Trolly Bus.

I like this horse drinking at the fountain. The notice says 'Don't sit on the horse'.

The Trollys do not start running till 10:30, so we walked to the end of the line to catch one back to the cruise terminal.

Here it is arriving at the stop.

We had to wait for the blue trolly to arrive before we could leave.

Lunch at Chez Neil and Colleen. We bought some Dutch cheese at the supermarket to have with bread for a change from the ships cheese.

We then changed abode to Chez Lido for dessert. Coffee with fruit cake bought from St. Nicolas Abbey.

In the afternoon the Celebrity Reflection sailed past us to berth in front. Just to the right of the ship is the reef. Not much room for error.

A couple of photos of the Christmas display in the Atrium.

Day 24 Willemstad, Curacao

14th December

Here we are berthed in Willemstad, Curacao, Dutch Antillies .

These are views of Willemstad taken on our walk round town.

Iguana.

This is the protestant church in the old fort. The black dot on the left of the facade is 10kg British canon ball fired in 1804.

Views inside the church.

This is the Queen Emma pontoon bridge. It swings open to allow vessels through.

Here it is partially open to allow a small craft through.

When we returned from our walk in the morning we noticed the Merry Christmas painted on the hull.

When the bridge is fully open it lies along this wall.

The bridge had to fully open to allow us to leave. Here it is almost open.

Sailing past the bridge. The funnel of the Zuiderdam can be seen on the left of the picture.

Sailing past the Old Town.

Day 25 Sea Day

15th December

Today is a Sea Day and at 16:30 they turned the lights on the Christmas display in the Atrium.