Miami - Disembarkation and Final Reflections

Final Night Celebration: The World Cruise Countdown was neat because the Galaxy Orchestra played Big Band Music, people “sloppy danced” and there was of course Champaign and food. They counted down and at 0 balloons dropped and confetti was shot over the balcony, it was wild ... for Crystal. What I liked the best was the Big Band Music, I wished someone played that every night, I would have sat nightly watching and listening to the Standards and the Great American Songbook ... MY kind of music. Final Reflections: Our South American adventure was a delight filled with cosmopolitan cities juxtaposed with rugged outback. I certainly enjoyed the big cities of Buenos Aires and Rio and all the trimmings that came with them. The Argentine beef lived up to its hype and it was fun to see people dancing the tango in the street. The beaches of Rio were impressive, the city not as scary and the women sun bathers wore more clothes than I thought. At least they were wearing thongs! The Amazon was a revelation to me with its muddy water, big towns and all the interesting vegetation, birds and animals. The cruise was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy family and the sights and sounds of South America in the luxury of a Crystal Cruise.

April 30 – Key West

I forgot to mention how wonderful the Main stage show was last night. They had a full orchestra (augmented by some U. of Miami musicians) and did a Pops concert centered around Opera. It was incredible! They brought on one extra soloist and featured Karyn a girl who didn’t sing in my first segment shows but is an employee who did a couple shows the second segment in addition to singing in the Crystal Chorus I sang in. All the entertainers participated including some headliners who were violinists and dancers and it was a marvelous show. I had an opportunity to sing in it but there were too may rehearsals, I had to learn Italian and too many shows. I’m on vacation for heaven sakes!! Today I did another catamaran and snorkeling tour that was only 3 hours this time. It wasn’t as much fun because the catamaran was huge and didn’t have a place where I could sit right above the water. But it was nice to get out on the water and see all the boats and schooners. We were also able to see a lot of fish right off the side of the boat. The water was 70 degrees so there was NO chance I was getting in, particularly with the outside temperature at 70 degrees and a strong wind. People didn’t snorkel long as it was a little rough in addition to being cold. I haven’t been back to Key West in over 10 years and boy has it grown. No longer a sleepy little town but a tourist cruise port that has lots of t-shirt and souvenir shops. The nice thing is they still have a lot of quaint bars and restaurants and the touristy shops are pretty anyway. With so many white building the town looks very clean. I had been to all the sights before so I just walked around for about 4 hours and got a gelato and a snack at the famous “Sloppy Joes.” I came back to swim but the pool was closed because those crazy Americans sent their public health inspector on board, probably because we came from the Amazon, and closed the pool as of 6am this morning because the ph was too high. It will reopen once they get off at 6pm, but by then I’ll be at dinner. Oh well I did my strokes in the hot tub. I REALLY miss having the opportunity to swim every morning!!!! Tonight the movie, “Great Expectations” and a countdown to next year’s world cruise in the atrium. Tomorrow: Miami and end of cruise

March 29 – last of three days at sea

All sea days for me are pretty much the same and I love them! But not anything new to report so I thought I’d give my evaluation of the ship. Probably the most obvious thing for me is the level of personal service by ALL employees of the ship. It took a couple weeks for me to really understand that you actually can get ANYTHING you want on the ship and order ANYTHING you want for dinner, even if it’s not on the menu. Except for a couple incidences in the Lido restaurant they don’t treat a “segment” cruiser any differently than a world cruiser in everyday activities. The level of service and if you have a butler is determined of course by the cost and size of your room. I did often see butlers running around getting things like a small plate of potato chips to take to someone or a bowl of ice cream (looking pretty funny carrying a small plate of potato chips in tails and with white gloves). I played trivia on a team called the M&M’s and they went to the ice cream man and asked for a bag of M & M’s and they got it. I wish I had known sooner than 2 days ago that I could have gotten sauerkraut EVERY day for lunch…I would have lost some weight. I’d say the rooms may be a little smaller, the bathrooms a little bigger than a standard room and I loved the balcony with the direct view of the ocean…I spent a lot of time there. It’s been a blast and really two different experiences with the two segments I did on the Crystal Serenity. Nothing beats having family with me, but I also enjoyed cruising by myself as well. I made as many friends as I wanted to, but I will say that this ship is a little harder to make friends on than the normal cruise ships, or at least it is when the world cruisers are on. Could also be the age of the passengers and there aren't as many swimmers as I usually meet. I’ll have trouble saying goodbye to this cruise and vacation….but then I always do.

March 26 – Barbados

The day started the way a lot of days on this cruise start…by lightly raining. I had a tour today on a catamaran to sail and snorkel. It was a 5 ½ hour tour and it was terrific! The weather was great, it was a bit cloudy and it lightly rain twice for about 5 minutes, but most the day was sunny and hot. The catamaran had the crisscross trampoline like front that I like because it can be like an amusement ride. I didn’t get very wet and it was a blast! I decided not to snorkel as the masks never really fit. The lunch they provided was better than usual on those types of things as they grilled steaks and had chicken, shrimp, scalloped potatoes (yum), brown rice and 3 types of salad. They also had 3 or 4 desserts and an open bar. Of interest is we did pass the famous resort of Sandy Lane here Tiger Woods got married. It’s outrageously expensive and there is a 14 day minimum. . A good time was had by all! Tonight I noticed when I was walking after dinner that there was a full moon so a trip to the hot tub to enjoy the moon is a must.

March 25, Devil’s Island – or specifically Ile Royale of Devil’s Island

Devil’s Island is one of the three infamous penal colonies of the Islands of Salvation, the other being Royale Island and St Joseph Island developed in French Guiana and located 10 miles off the South American coast. Today all three islands are generally considered Devil’s Island. The penitentiary was first opened by Emperor Napoleon III’s government in 1852, and became one of the most infamous prisons in history before closing in 1946. Once the prisoner served his sentence and was free he had to pay for his own transportation back to France, and because they had no money they all were forced to stay on the island or surrounding land. Each Island served a different purpose of the penal colony: Royale (the one we actually toured) was the site of the administration center, the wardens’ accommodations and for prisoners deemed less dangerous. The more troublesome convicts of hardened thieves and murderers were kept on St. Joseph. On the almost inaccessible Devil’s Island, political prisoners were kept in isolation. A sentence to Devil’s Island or the neighboring islands was considered the equivalent of a death sentence. A great many of the more than 80,000 prisoners sent to the harsh conditions at disease-infested Devil’s Island were never seen again. The dense jungle; malaria & yellow fever; sharks and piranhas; and rough current and rocky shores served as a detriment for prisoners to escape. The prisoner who became world famous was Henri Charriere, immortalized in the movie Papillon, for supposedly being the only convict ever to have escaped from the “green hell.” In 1965, the French government transferred the responsibility for most of the islands to its newly founded Guiana Space Center. France, the Russians, and Europeans use the mainland for missile launches and the islands for tracking. We tendered in to the Royale Island and were able to roam freely throughout the uninhabited island where they had guides positioned throughout the island to explain the various ruins. It was an interesting day and I was thankful it wasn’t too hot that I couldn’t walk the 2 miles up the steep hill to see all the cells and buildings. It was also nice to see the blue ocean after the week of brown Amazon water. Tomorrow – sea day

March 23 – Cruising the Amazon

Today was typical of the days we’ve spent in the Amazon, rainy in the morning and clearing up in the afternoon. The rain most often was light and didn’t deter activities, including walking and swimming. It did help keep the temperatures bereable. Some final facts and impressions about the Amazon: The Amazon actually becomes 11 different names when it is all said and done and runs over 4,000 from Peru to the sea.(As a reference it’s only 2900 miles from San Francisco to New York.) Every year the Amazon deposits 1.3 million TONS of sediment into the Atlantic Ocean. Some trees in the Amazon basin stand 120 feet tall with the tallest soaring up to 22 feet. There are 8,000 species of insects and 1,500 fish species that live in the Amazon. It is still believed that there are small bands of “undiscovered” groups of traditional Indian people living in such isolated outposts that they have probably never had contact with anyone other than their immediate group. Today we crossed the Equator again on our way out of the Amazon. It's located where we dropped off our river pilots in Macapa and of course the necessary ceremonies took place. As for my general observations: I didn’t do any research so I came into the Amazon with the perception that it was maybe a mile wide at the widest and had only really small villages. I've mentioned in past posts the size of both the Amazon and the cities. I also thought we’d be swarming in bugs and I wouldn’t be able to spend a lot of time outside. To the contrary we’ve had very few bugs, on ship and shore, and the ones we’ve had have been mostly beetles, moths and dragonflies. I hope I get back here in the near future and I think I would actually do some of the jungle walks next time. We’ll see as I always opt for the boat tours and I’d have a hard time passing those up! Tomorrow: Devil’s Island – I watched “Papillon” last night in the theatre to get ready.

March 22 – Santarem

The village of Santarem grew up around the spot where the Amazon meets the Tapajos River (another place where the waters run side by side). Today Santarem has blossomed into an important trading center and a vibrant city with a very busy waterfront. At least twice in history groups of people from the United States tried to settle here, once was after the Civil War when a group of 110 Confederates soldiers came from the vanquished Southern states. The Confederate soldiers ran into trouble when they tried to grow the same crops as they did at home and found out that the new environment was unfriendly and incapable of supporting those crops. Before long little remained of those settlers as most died of malaria and some came back to the States. Several of the original settlers remained, planting crops like rubber and sugar cane, and provided influences into the patchwork quilt that is Santarem. It’s said that the Confederate influence can still be felt (I’m not quite sure where or how as I didn’t notice). Then in 1920 Henry Ford purchased 60 acres near Santarem and figured he’d cultivate his own rubber. Pretty soon an American-style town sprung up with the un-Brazilian name of Fordlandia. His dream turned into a nightmare in the jungle. Torrential rains, poor soil and deadly malaria forced the plant’s closing and he turned the town back over to the Brazilian government following WWII. It still exists, a decaying testament to his failed venture but it serves as a center for the Ministry of Agriculture. I took the shuttle bus into the Fisherman’s Square on the waterfront this morning as I had a water tour this afternoon and I wanted to see some of the town. The waterfront was the highlight for me as it’s very busy with fruit and vegetable markets, tour boats, passenger boats, restaurants and some shopping. The market was interesting as they brought their things to market on these huge flat wheelbarrow type carts and vendors and people were coming and going, the produce was very colorful. With Santarem being half way between Manaus and Belem (at the mouth of the Amazon and the ocean) people and cargo come and go from this busy port to the two larger cities. Taking 24 hours to travel to the two bigger cities, most travel is done on large ferry boats. These huge boats have a few cabins but most have hammocks that hang all throughout the boat and are a lot cheaper than the cabins. (Hammocks apparently were invented here). So most people, businessmen and fisherman alike, swing from their hammock as they travel. The town, itself, is tired, rundown and unimpressive. The river and jungle, however were terrific. I boarded a riverboat and spent 4 hours meandering through the rivers and tributaries and on Lake Maica. We saw more river houses and some farms and lots of wildlife. Today I saw pigs, horses, water buffalo, monkeys, sloths, iguanas, a macaw, an eagle, lots of other beautiful birds, unbelievable brightly colored butterflies, more pink dolphins and piranhas. Part of our tour was piranha fishing. I caught one about an inch and a half in length, you fish for them with just a line with a hook and what looked like a small piece of steak. The line is wound around a piece of wood, and when they nibble, you yank. It was a fun day and it was great seeing interesting wildlife on our last port of call in the Amazon. Tomorrow: Cruising the Amazon

March 21 - Boca de Valeria

Today was the first day that I really felt like I was in the Amazon. On some of the other smaller ports it could have been some of the small islands of Polynesia as easily as the Amazon. But today had all the trappings of the Amazon. Boca de Valeria sits at the “mouth” of the Valeria River and this colorful Cabocios village contains a few wooden houses and an abundance of local wildlife, including monkeys, birds and several varieties of flora. Brown-skinned locals who poke about this very tiny hamlet are descendants of the Portuguese sailors and local Indian women, with whom they “married.” Called Caboclos, their life along the river is much as you’d expect. Men fish for a daily catch, and the whole family tends to the farm animals including chickens and pigs. When the seasonal tides are high, these animals find safety atop the stilt houses that are built just above the high water mark. When the dry season comes the water recedes and the people immediately plant crops, including their staple, manioc, (the root of the cassava plant; the source of tapioca). The 75 or so inhabitants also wile away their time making handicrafts to sell to passing vessels, or cruise ships with a woman from Montana aboard, which is in keeping with a long held tradition from this trading port. Their position at the confluence of the Amazon and Valeria Rivers is very strategic at the river’s bend for freighters traveling the 2,310 miles between Iquitos, Peru and the Atlantic. Incredibly one fifth of the world’s total fresh water washes past Boca de Valeria, sweetening the saltwater more than 60 miles out to sea. I was happy that I was on the first tender and one of the first on land because we were met by what seemed like 50 kids that formed two lines that we walked through and they each touched our hands. Often one would latch on to you and show you around the “town.” I was no exception as I ended up holding hands with a cute little boy, about 6 year old. No need to show anyone the town as it’s all right in front of you. There were about 10 houses on stilts, a church, a schoolhouse and a bar…what else do you need? Fortunately I had gotten change from the front desk this morning because EVERYONE wanted a dollar. From my new best friend to the many kids dressed in local costume to the kids holding various animals of the area. Although the kids were “staged” for pictures, this truly felt like an Amazon village. The jungle grew right up to the river and a primitive dirt road and clearing was cut to form the town. It’s the first day that you noticed a BIG increase in bugs, fortunately mostly dragon flies, moths, colorful butterflies and beetles. Some mosquitoes, but not many that bothered me. The villagers were friendly and very happy, doesn’t look like it takes much to keep them happy, altho most do have satellite TV. The money they make appears to go into Coke and snack foods from what the kids were eating. I’m told river people eat 5 to 6 times a day….hmmm maybe I COULD be a river person! Apparently you could go into their houses but I didn’t know that so I didn’t. I did talk to someone at dinner that did go in. When you look in you see a BIG freezer and open rooms with no furniture. I’m told that the house my friend went through was for a family of five and they had one bedroom with a double bed, one big room with only a table, 5 chairs and TV, a kitchen with a 4 burner stove, a big refrigerator and a big rectangular inset area when they washed the dishes, but no sink. The laundry is done in the river as is their bathing and there is an outhouse behind the house. They said that the house was immaculate! I decided at the last minute to take a local canoe out into some of the back areas and picked a teenage boy and 8 yr. old brother to take me. It was amazing! The Victoria Regia giant water lilies I saw yesterday at the special park, I was cruising through today. I saw lots of birds, including a toucan, which was too high to photograph but I did get to see one up close in town. It was a very serene and beautiful and was the perfect ending to my day in Boca de Valeria. Another oddity that we saw today was the pink dolphins that played around the ship all afternoon. They are actually pink and only live in the fresh water of the Amazon. Our sail away was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, as the sun was setting on the magical little hamlet in the jungle and we could see the convergence of all the rivers and tributaries. They always play Louie Armstrong’s “It’s a Wonderful World” when we pull out and tonight it certainly made you know it is. Tomorrow: Santarem

March 20 - Manaus

Manaus was literally built on the sap of the Hevea Brasilensis rubber tree. In the late 19th century, Brazil was the world’s sole producer of rubber and the city of Manaus was the centerpiece of this fortune-producing industry even though it lay a thousand miles up the Amazon River from the Atlantic Ocean. (It actually lies on the Rio Negro, off the Amazon.) At one time Manaus was one of the richest cities in the world. The rubber barons were so rich that they sent their laundry to be washed in the cleaner water of Europe and they sent their wives and kids to Paris. Around 1910 an enterprising Brit smuggled some rubber tree seeds to Sri Lanka and Malaysia cut drastically into Manaus rubber and fortune. During their glory years they built a gorgeous Opera House to appease European acts that refused to perform in the structure they had. Around the Opera House there are still enormous and impressive houses that were once owned by Rubber Barons and now serve as government structures. Currently Manaus turns its back on the rich surrounding forest and instead relies on government subsides, its exotic past and increasing tourism. In the last 50 years the city has grown from a few hundred thousand to the current population of 2.4 million. The biggest employer is the Brazilian army. I took a tour today where I boarded a regional riverboat made our way to January Lake. En route, we passed little houses on the water and houses that were built on stilts to account for the often 40’ difference in water level. (if their houses aren’t on stilts and are near the river they build them 3 stories high so they can retreat to the upper floors when the water is high.) There are groupings of river people who appear not to have much but a good number of them do have satellite dishes, we’re told in large part because they are addicted to soap operas. They do have access to some conveniences as their kids are picked up by a yellow boat to get them to Manaus to school and they have access to an Ambulance boat as well. Once we got to January Lake we transferred to a motorized canoe and traveled upstream to the small creeks that lead into the heart of the jungle. The trees were amazing with their unusual trunks. We did see some monkeys, herons, vultures and some other small birds. The bugs weren’t bad at all, although we all dressed like we were on the African Queen! We also visited a floating market and the Victoria Regia giant water lilies. Some are 3’ across and have huge flowers. We even saw a small crocodile on one lily pad. On our return to the ship we went to the “Wedding of the Waters,” a phenomenon created as the inky, slow, warm water of the Negro River meet up with the chestnut-colored, fast, colder waters of the Solimoes River. For about 12 mi. they flow side by side without mixing creating a very interesting sight. They don’t mix for 3 reasons: their speed, their density and their weights. I actually saw it better at 6 am when I was walking on deck and we passed through it on our way to dock in Manaus. It was VERY distinct there flowing for miles side by side. After lunch I went out on my own and walked for a couple of hours to see the Opera House and a little of the city that they call “Paris of the Tropics.” Their boulevards are wide with lots of trees but there are sooo many little vendors with umbrellas that line all the streets and the downtown is quite shabby, neither of which remind me of Paris. The weather today was cloudy which helped keep down the heat, but by the time I went out in the afternoon it was very hot and humid. I would have been OK if I didn’t have to have all the clothes on to ward off the few bugs. If I ever get back I’d visit the banana market where they sell from they dugout canoes. Tomorrow: Boca de Valeria

March 19, Parintins

This small, two century old village located on eastern end of Tupinambarana Island is situated in the largest river archipelago of the middle Amazon. Rainforest, flood plain, lakes, other islands and a small ridge mountain characterize the surrounding region. Parintins is rich in Indian culture as celebrated with an annual “Bio Bumba” festival is a ritual of magic, mystery, passion and faith. The “Bio Bumba” festival is a colorful event that is similar to Rio’s Carnival that presents myths, tales and legends using characters, parade carts and giant puppets followed by the words of a master of ceremonies who describes in detail every bit of the action. This Folklore Festival is a big deal as thousands of Brazilians and foreigners make the trek to the Amazon Basin to experience it for themselves. “Bio Bumba” started some 80 years ago when Parintins’ two most important families began a friendly competition. The modern celebratory rivalry descends from a symbolic ritual that involves men in bull costumes and is originated from an old legend. The residents of Parintinis align themselves with one of the two bulls that represent the festival and display their allegiance through color, you support either Blue or Red. They dress themselves and paint their houses in the color they support. During the festival, they settle their “disputes” by deciding who can dance better and shout the loudest. During the festival people sing and dance all day long on the streets and at night they flood into the Bumbodromo, a special arena built for the event, seats 50,000 spectators and is designed in the shape of a bull’s head. For 6 hours each team performs an authentic Amazon ritual complete with chanting, dancing, hand clapping and displaying a giant representation of their bull. Each cheering section has responsibility, too – they are graded on everything from the way they decorate their sections to the level of their boisterous support of their team, to the politeness when the other team is performing. When it’s all said and done a new champion is crowned and they have the bragging rights for the year. It was raining most the day so when I went into Parintinis after lunch it was still sprinkling. It had more of a town than Alter Do Chao with streets and traffic lights. A lot of people drove mopeds or were walking. There were some cars, mostly small ones. The blue and red themes for the festival was very evident. I didn’t see a lot of houses painted those colors down by the waterfront but the small stores certainly sold a lot of clothing and costumes with either red or blue. The bank sign was half red and half blue with what looked like separate entries. Coke sponsors the festival and after the first year when the blue team was upset that Coke had a red background, they now have coke signs in red, blue and half and half. I saw some interesting trees, but no monkeys, macaws or interesting bugs. Tomorrow - Manaus

March 18 – Alter Do Chao

This small Amazon beach resort is nestled in a scenic bay of the Tappajos, and is sheltered by two hills, one of which resembles a church alter, hence the name. This is a very serene respite where the bay is fringed by white sandy beaches and almost has a Mediterranean feel to it. That is right up until you see all the local stands offering things like piranha earrings and blow guns. But the area where the beaches were did have an old time Mediterranean feel. The beaches form a long spit that almost closes off the Largo Verde lagoon from the river. The pretty white beaches were lost today because it rained all but the last hour we were there. I did go ashore by tender in spite of the rain, but I didn’t go over to the beach area. It looked like it was only accessible by water taxi (VERY old and small boats) and I’m not sure anyone could have accessed the beaches today because the water was so high. The town is very small but has a little town square with primitive stores and little thatched roofed stands where they sell local goods. There were a large number of mangoes all over the town square and the trees were heavy with them. I did see a bit of an increase in bugs today on the ship, although I haven’t seen any mosquitoes. The bugs are mostly moths, butterflies and beetles. There are none on my veranda but there are quite a few on the Promenade deck and up by the pool. In town I didn’t notice many bugs or see any unusual animals or birds, but we did hear a lot of birds. Those on the nature walk said that the ants they saw were 2-3” long, they also saw some bright colored poisonous spiders and heard a lot of birds, but didn’t see any colorful ones. On the nature hike they brought along a local specialist with a machete to deal with any poisonous snakes. Yikes! Tomorrow the town of Parintins

March 17 Cruising the Amazon

Today EVERYTHING is green…the Amazon, the drinks, the atrium, the piano bar and other parts of the ship have been transformed into a green experience. This morning at 6am we anchored off the port of Macapa, just up river from the mouth of the Amazon, to pick up 2 river pilots to stay with us for the week and officials to give us official clearance. After 3 hrs we were off to explore the scary sounding Amazon. For us humans the Amazon is the most intimidating place to explore, other than Antarctica. The reasons for that are most likely: diseases, hostile people, dense jungles that couldn’t be easily sourced and until the last century the Amazon wasn’t considered to be a place of great value. Some fun facts I found in the library about the Amazon. The Amazon River wonders through the region of Amazonia, which covers more than two and one-half million square miles, equal to approximately 2/3rds the size of the continental U.S. The total length of the Amazon is 4,080 miles, beginning in the high Andean Mountains of Peru and ending in the Atlantic Ocean. Where the river meets the sea, it measures 200 miles across. It’s one of the most isolated, most sparsely populated regions on earth yet it also has more than 4 million people. It is the world’s largest rain forest and supplies 1/4th of the world’s fresh water, ironic since they told us we have to conserve fresh water while we’re there as it’s sparse (not drinking water but washing, brushing teeth, etc.) Today was very typical of the Amazon as it was hot, humid and there were periods of rain and mist. This is one time I’d like to have spent the day on the Bridge with a high view as we cruised down the river. Even on deck in the front it’s hard to get a really great view of the many small rivers, islands and “fingers” of the river as it flowed around and through the islands. We were more closely hugging one side and we saw hour after hour of densely wooded shoreline broken by an occasional wooden hut. Most the day you could see both sides of the river with a fishing boat coming and going along the way. The good news was that I didn’t see any bugs as we were cruising so it didn’t curtail my normal outdoor activities. We’ll see about tomorrow when we anchor at our first Amazon port of Alter do Chao.

March 13 – Salvador da Bahia

Today we sailed into Todos Os Santos Bay, the world’s largest harbor slip, which is apparently 1,100 kilometers of bay. It’s so huge that local people and the marine aficionados claim that all the ships of every fleet in the world could fit side-by-side in this bay. It was impressive! This part of Brazil was colonized by Portugal in 1549 and served as a stronghold to defend against the Spanish, French and Dutch who also had designs on this area. Today the city is divided into two sections, lower town (Cidade Baixa) and the upper city (Cidade Alta) accessed by 2 funiculars, a room sized elevator in addition to roads. Life moves at a slower pace in the lower section where there are traditional family neighborhoods and traditions and still have traditional fishermen. The upper city sits on a cliff overlooking the lower town and you can find cobblestoned streets, whitewashed houses, small but nice hotels and shops offering traditional Bahiana wares. We visited Pelourinho in the upper section where there were beautiful ornate churches and colorful restored buildings. The area is so cultural significant that it is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This section is well maintained and the colors of the buildings are vibrant and beautiful, contrasted to the lower section where everything is covered with graffiti and very run down. The Bahia area is 80% Black and is the largest group of Blacks outside of Africa. The people are very friendly and happy and they have lots of parties. They are very culturally and economically mixed with wealthy people living next door to the poor. They produce sugar cane, coconuts, ethanol, the biggest Ford plant in South America, chocolate, gem stones and granite. It was a very interesting but as our tour guide said you really have to WANT to live here, to live here, as it appears to be a very depressed city with very friendly people.

March 12 – Sea Day

Crystal sea days for me are filled with swimming, walking, trivia, triple caramel ice cream, a lecture or two and singing in the choir. Who knew there was a choir on the high seas? We will sing in the central atrium and have the opportunity to sing in a big Pops Concert with the ships band and singers. Apparently will would be learning Italian and be singing in the chorus of some opera numbers. I think I’ll do the atrium numbers but not do the additional practices to do the Opera, that sounds like wayyy to much work.

March 11 – Rio

I took the shuttle into the Copacabana Palace to see the hotel and do a little shopping. The hotel was beautiful but had very little shopping so I took to the street to get an idea of shopping in the area. There wasn’t a ton of shopping within 4 blocks but I was able to get 6 postcards. I then went across the street to the beach and spent a little time walking in the sand and surf. The water was a little cool and the sand was wicked hot in the 90 degree heat. I then caught the shuttle back to the ship to eat lunch, walk and swim. We sailed at 3pm so the sail out looked a lot like the sail in which was beautiful. Pinky asked me to dinner so I ate with her, the Pastor Ed and his wife, Ruth. It was a nice meal but I look forward to eating on my own.

March 10 – Rio

Today Paul, Curt, Paula, Mike and Cath left the ship for home ☹ and my odyssey on the Amazon starts. Paula and Curt did a great job of finding a Sheraton Hotel on the beach that had incredible views. It was set under some favelas and overlooked the LeBlon and Ipanema beaches. The best news today was that I met up with my former exchange student from Brazil, Carol Silva de Assis, who lived with us for my Senior year in high school. We hadn’t seen each other for 44 years and it was terrific to see her. She lives in Rio now and she met us for lunch and then she, Curt and myself walked along the beach for a couple hours in 90 degree heat. It was fun and certainly changed my opinion of Rio beaches. What we hear is about the high crime and naked women and what I found was family oriented beaches where people were playing volleyball (sometimes with their feet), picnicking, exercising, surfing, playing in the surf and the women were wearing thongs. It was a fun interesting afternoon. There still is some crime but they have really cleaned up the area and the fact that no one really wears jewelry has helped curb the crime problem. They all went off to the airport and I went back to the ship. (talk about FAVELAS POLICE, GOLD ETC IF PAUL DOESN’T) I was able to walk and swim after dinner tonight and felt terrific in the hot, humid air.

Day 14 & 15 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Today we are in Rio the city known for its annual celebration called Carnival. This is a very modern city with all of the benefits and troubles of a large city. It has a very large poor population that lives in makeshift neighborhoods called favelas. People just find a spot and set up housekeeping and a shack of sorts and in 7 years the land is theirs. Over the years these shanty towns become more substantial as better building materials are used to construct the homes. They are tightly packed shacks that build upon each other so someone's outside wall becomes the inside wall of the neighbor who builds next door. Obviously, there are no building codes enforced so essentially they are like a stack of dominos. This becomes problematic when the rainy season dumps heavy rain on these hillsides and one of these shacks fails and like dominos many shacks below are destroyed as the destruction ripples down the hill. Fortunately, we spent our day visiting the statute of Christ the Redeemer located prominently on a hill overlooking the city and other points of interest. The lines were long to see the statute so most of our tour was spent in the van except for visiting a cathedral and eating lunch in a local restaurant. We drove past the grandstands where the carnival parade takes place. It is an interesting setting since there are opposing sets of grandstands running in parallel about 50 yards apart for a length of 800 meters. They are able to seat over 70 thousand spectators. You would definitely want a seat for this extravaganza since it begins at 10pm and lasts until 5am the next morning. The highlight of the day was the visit to Christ the Redeemer. From that vantage point you can see almost the entire city. The famous beaches of Copacabana and Iponema stand out by virtue of their bright beach sand. Sugarloaf mountain is another prominent feature that seems to erupt from the ocean. We past it this morning as we pulled into the harbor. Rio is a smaller city than São Paulo but at least in my mind Rio is more famous. The beaches used by the people are on the Atlantic Ocean because the water is much cleaner than the beaches in the lagoon situated in the center of town. On Sundays they close the street that runs next to the beach so people can jog, skate, skateboard, walk and play in the street and on the beach. The beaches look to be well maintained and are heavily used for all kinds of activities. We saw volleyball games, beach soccer, some kind of paddle ball along with the sun bathers and sand castle builders. The women are notorious for the small size of their bathing suits. The cathedral we visited was constructed in a very unconventional style. It is shaped like a cone with its top cut off. It is so large that it can accommodate 20 thousand people.

Day 13 Buzios, Brazil

This morning we dropped anchor in the harbor of Buzios, Brazil. This small town is about 100 miles north of Rio De Janerio, which will be our last stop on this cruise. So we actually past Rio last night and will turn around and head south tonight. This is the most upscale place we have visited on this cruise. It is a very pleasant town that the residents work hard to keep clean and attractive. We saw many people sweeping around their shops and saw some women sweeping the streets by hand to pick up small leaves. We walked down to see a bronze statue honoring Brigitte Bardot who put this place on the map in the 1960’s. I was expecting a bikini clad alluring statue of this movie star. What we got was a woman sitting on a suitcase wearing blue jeans. Not quite the siren I was expecting. We had a wonderful lunch in a small restaurant. Chris and I hired a water taxi to take us to a beach about ten minutes up the coast. After that we were back to the ship. Tonight we are going to eat at one of the specialty restaurants on board with an Italian theme (Prego). Chris – This was a beautiful beach town for the rich and famous from Brazil. The town was immaculate and very easy to get around. What cobblestones they had were very manageable and it was a great town to send time in. The shops were a nice mix of high end stores and t shirt shops. We had fun walking to a church with a pretty overlook of one of the beaches and had a great lunch at a restaurant on the beach. Nothing much happened at this sleepy little fishing town until Brigitte Bardot and her hunky Brazilian movie star boyfriend starting using this town as a hideaway in 1964 from the prying press in Rio. Brigitte put Buzios on the map and then of course had to move on to St. Tropez when her romance cooled with the Brazilian and the public starting coming to Buzios. All that remains of Brigitte are the thousands of photographs of her in restaurants and stores and of course the bronze statue of her on the beach.

Day 12 Ilha Grande, Brazil

Ilha Grande is our stop today. This town is very similar to Paraty only not nearly as big of a historical area. We made a short tour around town and headed back to the ship for lunch. After lunch Curt and I decided to go back and hire a water taxi to take us down the coast to a small beach named the Blue Lagoon. Once there we hiked up to a small waterfall. It was a short hike of maybe of maybe ¾ of a mile. We were lucky that it was overcast so there was no sun and we did not encounter any bugs. Nonetheless, we were sweating from every pore on our bodies. We spent a little time on the beach after the hike before our ride returned to take us back to the pier so we could take our tender back to the ship. It was nice to get out and walk and see some of the flora of the area. Chris – Now this town was much more of a beach town without the quaintness that we saw yesterday. There were lots more t shirt shops and surfing shops. We didn’t stay but an hour or two but it was fun to see where the populace from San Paolo vacation when they want to go to the beach… I can’t imagine how long it would take to get to ANY beach town given how long it took just to get OUT of San Paolo. Ilha Grande is considered a national treasure, with lots of it virtually untouched by humans. One of the last protected remnants of the Atlantic Rainforest, it is home to a rich and diverse ecosystem, including some of the largest remaining populations of endangered species in the world. The waters surrounding Ilha Grande are also protected so there is a very rich diversity of fish here. Most of Ilha Grande is undeveloped and there are no roads, let alone cars there. I7 What Paul failed to mention was Curt and his account of how the women were dressed (or not) on the beaches on their “hike”. Curt and Paul regaled us with their descriptions of the different shapes and sizes of women’s butts and that they believe that women have “butt prints” much like figure prints. Apparently thongs aren’t just for underwear…who knew???

Day 11 Paraty, Brazil

We anchored in the harbor outside the city of Paraty, Brazil, which required a 30 minute tender ride to arrive at the city. This is a lovely colonial era city that UNESCO has designated as a historical site. Landing at the pier we walked down a long uneven dock until reaching the cobblestone streets. These streets are the most uneven collection of stones ever collected, which made it difficult to walk without constantly looking where you were going to step. Well, looking at your feet all day did not provide a very good view of this pretty city. There weren’t many shops and the ones that were open did not have a lot to offer. We made a circular path around the perimeter of the city, which brought us near four separate churches in about a quarter mile square area. We were back on the boat in short order. Chris - I thought Paraty was a cute little beach town, not upscale but quaint. The buildings in the “town” were white colonial style and looked pretty against the grass and the water. Some were very “worn” but that added to the feel of the old town. As Paul mentioned, the cobblestones (or huge uneven rocks), were so worrisome about turning your ankle that you had to walk with your face down and thereby miss some of the ambiance of the town. There weren’t a lot of shops, but unlike some beach towns they were actually very unique and artistic. Curt and Paula loved one shop, had it not been so hot they may have bought something….they did get a calling card from there so something may make an appearance from there yet. Not very many “beachy” t shirt shops, but interesting jewelry and art galleries.

Day 10 São Paulo, Brazil

Today we met our driver for a driving tour of Sao Paolo, Brazil. To get there we had to pass thru Santos and make our way over a small mountain to see the city. Sao Paolo is the fourth largest city in the world. Having a driver was the only way to get around with any speed in this city. We saw the China town section and the business section along with a number of other sights such as the train station, a statute celebrating their independence, and some beautiful parks. We were able to sandwich in a nice lunch at a Brazilian restaurant, Alberto. We made a small side trip to on of the 25 Starbucks in the country so Mike could see how one of the stores was operating. Leaving Starbucks we headed directly back toward the ship. This was slightly ahead of schedule and we would learn that was a good decision. On the way back we were stopped in traffic for over an hour in the same place. This apparently is a common occurrence as there are many trucks ferrying ore to the ships in the harbor. Since we were on our own private tour this could have been a problem if the ship decided to leave before we returned. We got back with plenty of time to spare but some of the ships tours did not so the captain delayed departure until they arrived which was about an hour and twenty minutes late. This scenario seems to be a way of life in the Sao Paolo and Santos area. Chris – San Paolo was exhausting because of the traffic and the pace of the city. There are only two roads in and out of San Paolo and the 45 min drive tool 2 hours to get there and almost 4 hours to get back to the ship. The city itself was divided between the old section and the newer section. Each has its own beauty and was interesting to tour via van. Our lunch at a Brazilian restaurant was fabulous and very interesting. It was a buffet and it was always a surprise what you were eating, but all of it delicious!

Day 9. Santos, Brazil

We arrived in Santos about 3:00pm and were free to go ashore if we wanted but nobody I know of got off. I think this is because it does not have much to offer for the cruise traveler. Our ship is surrounded by containers on the dock which were being loaded and unloaded from other cargo ships along the pier. We stayed on board and relaxed and enjoyed the ship. We saw the movie “Seal Team Six” about the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.

Day 8 Rio Grande

So after missing the port of Punta Del Este yesterday we had plenty time to make our way to our next destination of Rio Grande, which would be our first stop in Brazil. Well we were unable to get our dock space at this port since another cruise ship could not leave due to the rough weather. So, another day at sea. Once again the troops were rallied and a schedule was quickly created and classes and lectures were held. From this point of view there is not much to report. We have had some good entertainment, even though some of our scheduled acts were unable to get on board due to our skipping these last two ports. We took off again on our way to Santos, Brazil, the port city of Sao Paulo. Where we are scheduled to arrive a half day early.

Day 7

We left Montevideo last evening and headed for the resort city of Punta Del Este. When we arrived this morning only to learn that the seas were too rough for us to utilize their port since it is not protected from the ocean. So we had a day at sea. The cruise director quickly revamped the schedule and many of the on-board instructors and lecturers volunteered to participate. So we were able to have an interesting day nonetheless. I have been taking a class about making movies on the Ipad. In addition, we have had a wonderful lecturer by the name of Dr. Jay Wolf who speaks about why North America has thrived and prospered much more than South America even though the colonization of both continents began at the same time. The operators of the ship are smart since by leaving and heading toward our next port of call they could open the casino which is closed when we are in port.

Day 4 Montevideo, Uruguay

Today we stopped in Montevideo, Uruguay. We took a tour of the city and visited some of the parks that seem to be the places where they have chosen to erect monuments to various things that have affected this small country. Our experience was very nice and seemed safe, regardless of what some on board had told us. We had a very nice lunch in a restaurant where we all had beef that was cooked over a barbeque, which is the local custom. They don’t use charcoal but rather just use wood. It was very good. Their major export is beef. Enough said. We did see a monument to the indigenous people who were totally eradicated by the people who colonized this country. There are a lot of Spanish influences as you would expect but also some Italian influence as well. They say they are a poor country but seem to have a good sized economy and a rather large middle class based on the number of waterfront apartment buildings and houses we saw, which are not cheap. In contrast to Argentina that has no beaches this country is blessed with great beaches that extend endlessly along its shoreline. Once again while it was a nice place to visit it is not on our “must do again” list.

Day 2 & 3 February 26 & 27

Buenos Aires is an interesting city with a very modern business district that shows off some striking contemporary architecture. There is another side to the city as well since we were warned on numerous occasions to beware of pickpockets. We were able to meet up with Mike and Cathy who had to take a side trip to Uruguay because they did not get their Brazilian visas, which are required to board the ship. We went to a Tango show yesterday night, which was one of those cultural experiences of our introduction to Argentinian life. It was a good experience, but one of those things once done does not need repeating. The next morning we boarded our ship. The Colon Theater was our goal and we made it. It was built in 1908 and, at least from my perspective, is an impressive and wonderfully ornate structure. The materials used to build the building were all brought over from Europe. We went on a tour of the opera house after buying our tickets and grabbing a quick bite of lunch. To get there we walked most of the way and crossed one of the streets that stuck out in my mind due to its odd name and the fact that it is a major thoroughfare. Its name is “9th of July Avenue”. We are told that this refers to the date that Argentina won its freedom from Spain. Apparently, July is a popular month for a country to get its freedom. The group consensus seems to be that we are glad we stopped here and enjoyed the city but would not make it the point of a return trip. Chris – We left our hotel yesterday in Buenos Aires and transferred to the Crystal Serenity Cruise ship to begin our cruise. We actually don’t leave Buenos Aires until 6pm today but the adventure on board started yesterday. We spent the afternoon unpacking and getting acclimated to the ship that has a guest capacity of 1,070 passengers. As you can imagine we have not slipped in under the radar traveling with Mike and Cathy in part because of his Segway. The staff is amazing in that there is a less than 1 to 1 ration to passengers and I met one crew member at dinner and when I saw him 5 hours later he called me by name. I’m in big trouble in that their bakery is incredible with all day free mini cupcakes and cookies to die for…Gret maybe it is a good thing you didn’t come with the cookies so good. The food is great and the company extraordinary…having a blast with Curt and Paula and Mike & Cath. Gotta go walk before I eat again.

Day 1. Buenos Aires, Argentina

We flew in to the Buenos Aires airport from Miami which was almost a 9 hour flight that sent us south east and moved us back two time zones. Curt and Paula were on the same plane and will be traveling with Mike and Cathy and us for the next two weeks. We landed at 9:35pm and spent the next hour or so going thru immigration and customs. The four of us found a driver at the airport who would provide us with our first adventure. He represented he had a mini-van. What he had was actually a micro-van. We loaded our luggage, to the extent we could into the van and had the balance on our laps. As we left the curb at the airport the back right tire started to scrape against the wheel well. The faster we went the louder the noise became. We stopped after the first half mile to check the tire along side the highway to check it out. Seeing nothing we could do we proceeded for about another two miles before the driver pulled over again. This time he re distributed luggage to try to take the load off of the right rear tire. This amounted to moving heavy luggage to the left and taking some of the smaller bags and piling them on our laps. Unfortunately, this did not solve the problem and the rubbing continued unabated as our driver proceeded to weave in and out of traffic at 80 mph for the next 25 minutes. Apparently, he did not want to be detected by the police so he drove with the headlights off while on the highway. I kept waiting to have the tire explode from the friction but fortunately it never did. Arriving at our hotel about 11:30. We were up this morning for a city tour of Buenos Aires. Curt, Paula, Chris and I met our guide and driver and set off to see the sights. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city as long as you know where to go. We saw some of the high end residential areas; a cemetery composed of mausoleums (including the one holding the remains of Eva Peron) the presidential offices, a 150 year old cafe (Cafe Tortoni) and local restaurant area that caters to the interest in the Tango. We were then dropped off near our hotel where we had a marvelous lunch and then walked back to our hotel. Our lunch allowed us to sample some of the world famous Argentinian beef that lived up to its deserved reputation. Tonight we are going to a Tango show and dinner. Tango has made a resurgence and is very popular. We will see if it is popular with us. Chris - I love Buenos Aires! It has a very European feel to it, the architecture reminds me a lot of Paris with the rod iron balconies in many places. Buenos Aires has one third of the population in all of Argentina with 15.2 million people. The van drive today was like a walk in the park compared to yesterday. Apparently highway lines and traffic light colors are only a suggestion here, really not as big a problem at 25 or 35mph compared to 80 mph yesterday. In the city during the day you can barely go 25 with all the traffic. Apparently a really big problem here. the highway also had 16 lanes of traffic, pretty sure I don't want to drive here!! The Recoleta cemetery Paul mentioned was incredible! It was the size of 4 city blocks and held 6,400 mausoleums!! It was set like a miniature city with various streets. You'd look down the "street" and there would be mausoleums on both sides of the street ... Very impressive. The mausoleums are like an architectural free for all which included Greek temples and pyramids. Eva Peron's is concealed in a concrete vault 27 feet underground but there in 1976 because her remains had been stolen so many times by various military governments after her husband's fall from grace in 1955. I hope we're eventually able to post some pictures so you at least get an idea of this extraordinary cemetery. The old cafe Paul mentioned called the Cafe Tortoni, was very much like you'd find in Paris. It was gorgeous with a beautiful wood bar and interior with an intricate glass design ceiling. The hot chocolate was great too! They, don't have a lot of violent crime here in the city with few residents owning guns. They are very hard to come by and in areas of town where there are a lot of shanties they actually had two policemen standing on the border streets keeping people from coming into the areas. With seeing lots of different areas of the city one that was kind of an odd duck and stuck out from the others was a neighborhood called La Boca. It sits at the mouth of the Riachuelo River and is home to colorful houses made from cast off ship building materials like planks, sheet metal and corrugated iron painted in bright colors. It almost gives you the feel of a carnival. It is a somewhat depressed area but is very interesting. In the same neighborhood is the futbol stadium, 'La Bombonera' home to the world famous Boca Juniors. Then off to one of the best lunches I've ever eaten. Ever since I was 15 and heard Carl rave about Argentine beef I've wanted to come to Argentina and try the beef....it didn't disappoint! The restaurant, Las Lilas, sat right on the river with boats dotting the sides. The food they brought out before we even ordered was enough to feed all of us for lunch! Amazing and I would go back tomorrow if anyone else is game. We finally met up with Mike and Cath tonight and we all went to dinner and to an dramatic Tango show. Tomorrow we board the ship but don't leave until Wed.