Day 32 4th February in the Amazon River, Brazil
Just after midnight we reached the mouth of the Amazon river and crossed the Amazon bar at high tide with 14 feet to spare. Not much margin for error with this 69,000 ton ship, 14 decks and with 3,000 humans on board. The rich blue sea was replaced in the hours leading up to the crossing by brown fresh water filled with nutrients washed down from the mountains in Peru.
The impact of the Amazon on sleeping passengers was the end of the vibrations, the strong rock and roll movement of the ship we had suffered these past few sea days and the start of more gentle motions. We awoke at 7.30 am and made our way to the buffet restaurant walking across the open deck 12 (temperature 28 degrees) and experiencing the increased humidity now that we were cruising up the Amazon river. Just now there was little to see except brown water for miles and some distant green land visible as we were passing by.
After breakfast in the air conditioned restaurant we stepped back outside and managed a game of tennis while cruising the Amazon ! Miriam recorded her first bite during the game and now displays a swollen lump on her throat just below her chin. Time to DET up!
The bridge class was interrupted by the captain who said we would be crossing the equator soon and we did at 11.10 am. In truth there was a monument on the shore which I didn't see and a town that I did. Not much to see in any event but that didn't stop droves of passengers thronging to the sides of the ship and snapping away with the camera's.
The bridge class was another good lesson for me and because I bid incorrectly, as responder, we played for the wrong contract and though we won the 9 tricks needed the points score was not enough at 3 clubs to be declared a full game win. Tony wanted us to set a contract at 3 NT which, if successful would have delivered more points and a full game win.
We followed up a notice in the Horizon newsletter of a clothes sale and arriving on deck 6 spotted a veritable feeding frenzy ensuing as mainly women shoppers were milling about four rails of sales clothes. I lost Miriam at one stage and climbed the swirling staircase a few steps to get a downward view of the bedlam. Hangers were strewn on the floor and women rubbed shoulders squeezing past one another with articles of clothing falling to the ground. Miriam returned empty handed not convinced that bargains were there for the buying.
At choir practise Annalisa and Kingsley handed out the lyrics for a song I bought in 1968 and have the 45 at home, "America" by Simon and Garfunkel. It's actually one of their lesser known songs but I loved it from the moment I heard it. They didn't cover it today as we were focused on the intricate harmonies she is crafting in the "Can't help falling in love with you" number.
Miriam ultimately didn't make the choir session and used the time to exploit a laudrey moment when she found three of the washing machines empty! Knowing a gifted horse when she saw one she raced back to our cabin and set off a second wash. Between rinses and transferring to the driers she sunbathed by the pool as the Brazilian immigration and customs teams cleared the ship for onward travel 800 miled upstream to Manous. We have also now boarded the pilots who will guide us there. We started to move on about 4 pm and the captain came on to say that we are clearing the bottom by 6 feet and are moving through the shallow water at 4 miles per hour. Our propellars are so close to the bottom we are churning up mud and plants from the river floor.
With the choir practice over I changed for the gym and pushing lunch back I ran 5 k in the Amazon river completing it in 26 mins 31 seconds. I did try to use the GPS on the watch but it failed to locate my signal. I felt good and changed for the pool where I swam with Miriam after my mid-afternoon lunch of sandwiches, water and coffee.
Given the high humidity (in the ninties) expected in the Amazon we bought 6 two litre bottles of water from the ship for £10 and expect to really need them for the Manous river excursion on day 2 of the visit to the town. We have examined our clothes with a critical eye and found that neither have brough long sleeved casual tops that might be mosquito resistant. We have a river excursion on Day 2 so will be out and about on the river for four or five hours on Tuesday.
Just after midnight we reached the mouth of the Amazon river and crossed the Amazon bar at high tide with 14 feet to spare. Not much margin for error with this 69,000 ton ship, 14 decks and with 3,000 humans on board. The rich blue sea was replaced in the hours leading up to the crossing by brown fresh water filled with nutrients washed down from the mountains in Peru.
The impact of the Amazon on sleeping passengers was the end of the vibrations, the strong rock and roll movement of the ship we had suffered these past few sea days and the start of more gentle motions. We awoke at 7.30 am and made our way to the buffet restaurant walking across the open deck 12 (temperature 28 degrees) and experiencing the increased humidity now that we were cruising up the Amazon river. Just now there was little to see except brown water for miles and some distant green land visible as we were passing by.
After breakfast in the air conditioned restaurant we stepped back outside and managed a game of tennis while cruising the Amazon ! Miriam recorded her first bite during the game and now displays a swollen lump on her throat just below her chin. Time to DET up!
The bridge class was interrupted by the captain who said we would be crossing the equator soon and we did at 11.10 am. In truth there was a monument on the shore which I didn't see and a town that I did. Not much to see in any event but that didn't stop droves of passengers thronging to the sides of the ship and snapping away with the camera's.
The bridge class was another good lesson for me and because I bid incorrectly, as responder, we played for the wrong contract and though we won the 9 tricks needed the points score was not enough at 3 clubs to be declared a full game win. Tony wanted us to set a contract at 3 NT which, if successful would have delivered more points and a full game win.
We followed up a notice in the Horizon newsletter of a clothes sale and arriving on deck 6 spotted a veritable feeding frenzy ensuing as mainly women shoppers were milling about four rails of sales clothes. I lost Miriam at one stage and climbed the swirling staircase a few steps to get a downward view of the bedlam. Hangers were strewn on the floor and women rubbed shoulders squeezing past one another with articles of clothing falling to the ground. Miriam returned empty handed not convinced that bargains were there for the buying.
At choir practise Annalisa and Kingsley handed out the lyrics for a song I bought in 1968 and have the 45 at home, "America" by Simon and Garfunkel. It's actually one of their lesser known songs but I loved it from the moment I heard it. They didn't cover it today as we were focused on the intricate harmonies she is crafting in the "Can't help falling in love with you" number.
Miriam ultimately didn't make the choir session and used the time to exploit a laudrey moment when she found three of the washing machines empty! Knowing a gifted horse when she saw one she raced back to our cabin and set off a second wash. Between rinses and transferring to the driers she sunbathed by the pool as the Brazilian immigration and customs teams cleared the ship for onward travel 800 miled upstream to Manous. We have also now boarded the pilots who will guide us there. We started to move on about 4 pm and the captain came on to say that we are clearing the bottom by 6 feet and are moving through the shallow water at 4 miles per hour. Our propellars are so close to the bottom we are churning up mud and plants from the river floor.
With the choir practice over I changed for the gym and pushing lunch back I ran 5 k in the Amazon river completing it in 26 mins 31 seconds. I did try to use the GPS on the watch but it failed to locate my signal. I felt good and changed for the pool where I swam with Miriam after my mid-afternoon lunch of sandwiches, water and coffee.
Given the high humidity (in the ninties) expected in the Amazon we bought 6 two litre bottles of water from the ship for £10 and expect to really need them for the Manous river excursion on day 2 of the visit to the town. We have examined our clothes with a critical eye and found that neither have brough long sleeved casual tops that might be mosquito resistant. We have a river excursion on Day 2 so will be out and about on the river for four or five hours on Tuesday.
