January 18

Jan 18

Today was a seaday.  There are so many activities, it is hard to choose what to do.  The lectures are about the next ports, health, local animals, and geology, and are fascinating. They are also recorded so we can watch later on our room TV if they conflict with another activity.  

Food is a big part of cruising.  It is tempting to overindulge, but we soon learn to appreciate the quality, rather than the quantity, so we will fit through the doors towards a six-month cruise.  Today, being a Sunday and a seaday, a huge buffet brunch was provided from 9.30-1pm.  It is a good time to try a small portion of things we don’t normally eat.  Often, unfamiliar items are discovered to be very tasty.  We were too busy trying things to stop and get photos of them, next time!!

The evening show featured the music of what they called The Music Triangle, covering New Orleans, north to Memphis and Nashville, and including jazz, country, soul, bluegrass, and rock.  This is exactly what we witnessed on our recent Mississippi cruise.  The stage production was very impressive and enjoyable.

Jan 19

A second sea day.  Each day, we get a newsletter outlining the activities and information about our current location.  It is called the Currents.

We had dinner at Toscana, the Specialty Italian restaurant.  We shared a table with a nice couple.

Jan 20

Salvador, Brazil, South America, not to be confused with El Salvador, a country in Central America.  This is a big city of 2.5 million, with a temperature of 86 degrees and humid.  

We took a tour and started at the Barra Lighthouse and fortress at the mouth of the Bay of all Saints, the second largest bay after Hudson Bay in Canada. 

They were busy setting up for their big, full immersive Carnival on February 12.  We traveled through downtown, with its many skyscrapers, but, once again, there does not seem to be any pride of ownership. Once out of downtown, the homes are poorly built and maintained.

Stadium built for the World Cup [soccer]

We visited the historical center and toured the Cathedral.

and had free time to shop for souvenirs.  We saw where Michal Jackson filmed a movie "They Don't Care About Us".

Then on to a nice hotel for lunch with about 200 other ship passengers on a similar tour.  Many types of meat were served at the table, straight from the skewer, accompanied by an extensive buffet and drinks.

Back at the ship, we spent a little time cooking off and showering, then on to Trivia and dinner at Polo specialty steakhouse restaurant, to meet new dinner guests.  I have to interject that I was enchanted by the bone of the 35oz piece of beef that our friends were sharing and had to have it (circled in a photo) to chew on….I would have finished it had I not been in a specialty restaurant!!

 

 

The evening was wrapped up by a full concert by our cruise director, Carson Turner, a past Broadway singer.  Great show.

Jan 21

Another seaday.  We are aware that after today, we have nine port days in a row, so it is important for us to catch up on correspondence and other matters.

Jan 22

Búzios is set on an ocean peninsula east of Rio de Janeiro. It was originally a sleepy, unknown fishing village until Bridget Baddow moved in (in 1964) to be anonymous.  Once the world found her secret, it suddenly became larger than life on the map and was swamped with visitors.  It is now known as an upscale vacation destination with numerous beaches, a great climate, and a wide variety of fine restaurants.  We had a quiet morning, a light lunch, and took the tender for our afternoon tour.  

 

We took a small bus along narrow cobblestone roads, under an overcast sky and a light but steady drizzle.  We were told that Búzios has the driest climate in the state, with only 60 rainy days per year.  We picked one of those rainy days, but it did not dampen our visit.

The city has a population of only 42,000, living in expensive, well-kept homes and infrastructure.  Clearly, the nicest stop so far this cruise.  It has only one way in and out, so it is an extremely safe community. 

We visited many beautiful beaches,

and traveled the hilltops to see the magnificent views, as if we had to go further than the beaches!!

  

We got to see a group of Capybara, which is the largest living rodent, native to South America, sort of like a very oversized guinea pig, bigger than large farmyard pigs, and very slow-moving.

At the end of our short two-hour tour, we had plenty of time to stroll through the small shops next to the harbor before taking the tender back to the ship, damp but thrilled with the tour.

We had dinner with two couples from our previous Around the World cruise, then a great show featuring songs and dance from around the world by the ship's singers and dancers, with music by the 11-piece onboard musicians.

Jan 23

Rio de Janeiro, with a city population of 6.8 million and more than 22 million in the outer areas.  Normally, there is a buzz of excitement when approaching a big, famous city like this, but it was lacking here. Probably because many passengers are getting off tomorrow, as the first segment ends.

Our day started, much like yesterday, overcast, a steady drizzle, humid, and in the low 70s F. We took the tour that hit many of the well-known spots, but because of the rain, it was impossible to take photos through the bus window.  We traveled by Cosme Velho District, Copacabana Beach,

before arriving two hours later at The Big attraction, Christ the Redeemer statue, high above the city.

Christ the Redeemer is an Art Deco statue of Jesus 98 ft high 92 ft wide at the arms, plus the base, located at the peak of the 2,300 ft Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca National Park overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro.  The monument opened on October 12, 1931.

We arrived at the base and took a funicular-type cogwheel train to a ledge near the top.  From there, we took an elevator rather than the 220 steps up to a second plateau, then up two escalators to the viewing platform at the base of the statue.   

   

We were well in the clouds, but did manage to see the whole statue above us in the mist.  Sadly, we could not see any of the city's spectacular views below.

There is a small prayer room at the base of the statue; here are some pictures.

  

We sheltered in a patio, huddled under a table umbrella, and sipped coffee and hot chocolate before making the descent in the train with the rest of our group. 

[Google Photo]

From there the bus took the direct route back to the ship and changed into dry clothes and a spot of lunch.  Our first view of Rio was a massive, solemn city, sulking in the rain, with way too much traffic.  We hope to see Rio with the sun shining, so we can see it at its best.

We relaxed for the afternoon, ready for our evening plans, “Colors of Brazil, The Roxy Dinner Show”.  This is an event just for the Around the World guests and is always a treat.  Seven buses took us on the 30-minute ride back to Copacabana beach, where the upscale dinner show was held.  By now, the city had woken up, and the nightlife had come alive.  We were served dinner, which included Filet Mignon, accompanied by a pleasant singing group,

followed by a two-hour show highlighting singing, dancing, and videos of each of the Brazilian States.  The show was spectacular and gave us a glimpse of Rio during the sunshine, smiling at the world.

    

We arrived home [at the ship] just about midnight.

Jan 24

Our second day in Rio was the end of the segment for many of the passengers.  We kept out of the way as they disembarked full of wonderful memories.

Our tour involved a small group riding in two 4x4 jeeps and heading across the city and up into the hills. 

 

It is a rainforest, known as Little Africa, still within the city, and again misty from the clouds.  Tijuca National Park.

Thankfully, the rain had stopped, except for a few odd drops to cool us down.  Our first stop was a waterfall, the most spectacular waterfall I have ever seen.  Taunay Waterfall.  The water is coming from what must be the tremendous rain that falls in a rain forest, and there is a picture of me, Merry, drinking the lovely water, which tasted good, not full of minerals as was stated by our guide.  It is the only place in the forest now safe to drink from, though it used to supply the entire city.

There were other stops of interest along the way, one, the only remaining church in the forest, which is open to the public only on the fourth Sunday of the month, and it costs many dollars to have a wedding there!!!!!

We were led across the top of the path through many rocky places that I hoped would NOT be the way back, and they were not!!! Another, a small museum that told about many of the species we were seeing, and a beautiful, quite alive example of a spider, far enough over my head not to be a worry!  It included a scale map of the places we had been and were going to, to make it all quite clear that this part of Brazil is a glorious place!!!

We were shown a tree that Brazil is named after, the Bail Brash, or Brazilwood Tree.  The wood inside is so red that it is perfect for making violins and fine furniture, but it was cut to almost extinction, so the tree is now preserved.

 

We saw yet another tree that is the largest (known) tree in the forest, though they have not seen our giant redwood trees!!

 

 

  

 

We traveled down the mountain and headed back towards the ship,

 

hitting several beaches on the way, which were packed with locals and tourists on a nice sunny Saturday.

In the evening, we had dinner in the formal Grand Dining Room with a nice couple who just gotten on the ship today.  We attended the late-night concert “Brazil Roots” by local entertainers that highlights the great Brazilian Carnival.

Check back next Sunday for the next chapter.