Well, it looks as if we are finally on the move. All being well we will leave this weekend setting off towards Tobago. AS we are about 15 miles upriver, we will go down river with the tide and spend a day or so in the creeks near the entrance which everyone says are lovely. We can get finally prepared (and hopefully I can stow everything away properly for once!) and leave when we want rather than having to go when the tide dictates! My apologies to anyone reading my last post Tobago is to the northEAST of Trinidad not northwest!! Lets hope Chris's navigation skills are better than my geography!! On the first map you can just see Trinidad as a green blob off Venezuela On many days outside the marina office, Daniel originally from (British) Guiana, has been seated carving and selling calabash and we have chatted to him quite a bit and have bought several from him. Last weekend he told us that he decided that he wanted to give us a present and showed a sketch he had made of Moontide. Yesterday he came round gave us the special calabash he had carved and mounted on a stand for us - how kind and generous!! As a final episode in SLM I’ve posted some pictures of the town.
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Firstly HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone – sorry it’s a bit late but at least it’s still in January – better than some years!!!! We had a great New Year’s Eve – the usual BBQ outside the marina office from about 6.00 until 9.30 with most of the usual suspects. After, Claudia and Mike, a German couple from Kassiopeia came over and we watched “Dinner for One” a sketch in English by a German producer that apparently is compulsory viewing in Germany on New Year’s Eve!! t was great fun and as always there was loads to talk about - where we've been and where we're going, routes, landfalls etc. They kindly opened their bottle of champagne (the real stuff!) before returning to their boat to see the New Year in. There was no official display but the fireworks were AMAZING as we could see all the displays from one end of the town to the other AND across the river to Suriname. Luckily, Suriname is on the same time as French Guyana as the main displays went on for well over half an hour with some continuing more sporadically for longer and if Suriname had been an hour later goodness knows how long I would have had to stay up!!! Remy & Madelyn (the couple we went to Suriname with) returned from their trip back home to Switzerland and brought us all back some genuine Swiss Gruyere cheese – mmmmm lovely– it was great to see them again as we had not been quite sure when they left if we would still be here when they got back. Everyone is now getting ready to go, with two boats already left. Claudia and Mike had been thinking of going on Sunday but at the last minute the weather showed a system that would have made their trip a bit uncomfortable so they stayed - they are in no hurry. We had popped over to their boat on Saturday afternoon as they were asking Chris’s advice about their engine and Claudia gave us a pot of her chilli sauce that we did not pick up when we left. They jumped into their dinghy when they realised to bring it over (we’d already put ours up on deck). Suddenly, their outboard decided it had done too many trips that day and just stopped as they were nearly here. The tide was really running by then and even paddling really hard they swept passed us. Luckily they were able to grab hold of Baloo (Nicky & David’s boat just up river of us) and David kindly gave them a tow back to Kassiopeia. Adventures Adventures!! arborough We are off shortly too - we were thinking of Trinidad as we could haul out there, clean Moontide’s bottom, anti-foul and check the roller reefing on the headsail that sticks sometimes. But there was a bit of pirate activity from Venezuela on the west coast around Christmas, so we may well stick well over to the east and head for Tobago instead. Although we are told that it is in fact quite safe going there provided you stay to the coast and then when leaving don't head straight from Trinidad to Grenada (not our route anyway!!) Map 1 We are on the border between French Guyana and Suriname Map 2 Tobago is the little apparently un-named(!) island to the northeast of Trinidad. As ever, of course, we may decide at the last minute to miss out Trinidad AND Tobago and go straight to Bequia (in the Grenadines) or St Vincent or even St Lucia. None of them are that far - probably between 500 and 800 miles or so. It MAY only take about a week or so but if we are only able to use the stay sail it will take a little longer. And that’s assuming good winds etc of course anyway. Wherever we end up it will be the start of our Caribbean cruising!! Marker is on St Lucia Enough for now before we go I’ll post (hopefully) some pictures of the town as a farewell to St Laurent du Maroni.
Well, what a lovely time we’ve had!! We decided to stay here for Christmas (and now New Year too) as Nicky & David (Baloo) are here as well as 2 French boats and a new German boat. We have been hearing tales of the “Christmas Storms” around Trinidad and we would not necessarily have met up with any English-speaking yotties there. Also, David, the marina owner, bought a BBQ recently and has been arranging parties to use it for yotties and some local friends. Saturday before Christmas, it was christened with a bit of a party as Remy & Madeline left to go home for Christmas so we had our Secret Santa/Lucky Dip that night. It was good fun, with lights and music etc but stupidly I didn’t take any pictures - DOH. But here’s one of the lights on Moontide!!! Another one was arranged for Christmas Eve BBQ and again was great fun and this time I DID take a few pictures but for some reason not many of the folk there!!! We had decided with Nicky and David to have a joint Christmas dinner with maybe some cards etc and although their boat is bigger and really better for entertaining, we find it a bit tricky to get on and off (especially after a few drinks!!) so it’s easier for them to come to Moontide. Christmas Day started off with a beautiful sunny morning and as David had decided to open the bar we had planned to go across to wish everyone HAPPY CHRISTMAS but just as we were about to leave, it blew up a bit so in fact we did not go. We would have got fairly wet and did not want to have loads of wet clothes hanging around in the afternoon in case it rained and we had to move inside – there’s not that much room anyway and with damp clothes hanging around…………….. Nicky and David came across around 2.00pm and we started up our Cobb BBQ a bit later. Chris had prepared some potatoes for roasting and a load of veg and once the Cobb was going well, on went some meat and we had a BBQ/Roast dinner!! Nicky had made a bread & butter pudding for afters which was delicious – a real taste of home! Mmmmmmmm As always we found loads to chat about we did not in fact play any games! Nicky and David left around 8.00 and we watched a couple of films before settling down ourselves! Again no photos I’m afraid! Boxing Day again was pretty bumpy out so we stayed in reading etc until the pm when N & D popped over with their hard drive and we swapped a load of films and books!
Since then it’s back to normal for a few days but with another BBQ on New Year’s Eve. We will probably go over for a while but we’re not sure that we will stay until midnight though!! I had meant to post an entry before Christmas but ran out of charge at the crucial time so I do hope you all had a great time and I’ll take this opportunity to wish everyone a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR I am really sorry that it's been over 3 weeks since I last post and that I have not therefore wished everyone MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I'l try to post something today but in case not HAPPY NEW EAR!!!
Last Monday we had a bit of an upset – LITERALLY!!! The outboard motor on the dinghy had been giving us a bit of trouble on the day we left for Suriname so Chris decided to clean the carburettor and he spent the morning doing that. We knew that David (Baloo) was in hospital again and that Nicky (his wife) had not been able to stay nearby in Kourou this time, so later on in the afternoon, we thought we would pop over to Baloo to see if she would like some company. We jumped into the dinghy and off we went. Normally I sit on the tube one side while Chris is on the other driving the dinghy which gives us a good balance. For some reason, though, this time when I got in the dinghy, I sat down astride the seat and did not change onto the tube so my weight was more central than usual and our balance was not quite right. Passing Baloo, we turned to head into the current and then go alongside but we took it a bit fast and a bit too sharply for our new dinghy (it’s a lightweight design which seemed like a good idea at the time – so much easier to lift and pack away and well up to carrying our weight) and with a slight gust of wind the dinghy flipped over and we were in the water!! I started to float up and realised the chain we lock the dinghy up with was resting on my leg so I flipped that off and in so doing off went my flip-flops!! I thought I was going to come up under the dinghy which did not seem like a good idea so started to try to swim to one side then Chris grabbed my hand and pulled me up – under the dinghy!! It was in fact completely the right place to be as there was a large air pocket and I was able to catch my breath. Chris said that he had popped up a few seconds earlier and was rather worried about me so was very pleased to see my hand! We spent a minute or so under the dinghy as there was plenty of air and we could hang on to the seat and then we ducked under the tubes and could hang on the carrying ropes of the dinghy. The water is not cold so there was no problem with that and as Chris said we could drift along for a while and would eventually have drifted ashore. Thanks to a number of swimming sessions with my dear friend Val Jones who (nagged - strike through!! strike through!! LOL) gently encouraged me to tread water for over 20 minutes before we sailed off, I was fairly comfortable holding on and treading water!!!
However, luckily just at that time, Nicky had gone out onto her deck and seen the dinghy drifting along so jumped in hers to recover what she thought was an empty dinghy. She was quite surprised when our heads popped up!! She came alongside and offered to get us into her dinghy but we knew that would not be possible with our bulk etc! She tried to tow the upside down dinghy and us but her outboard was not powerful enough so she went off to get help. Within a couple of minutes she was back with a pirogue that managed to tow us to a rocky out-crop where we could right the dinghy (making it much easier to tow) and get on board the pirogue. He then took us back to Moontide and left - with a healthy tip of thanks. (Luckily I’d not lost my bag as it’s a duffel-type bag I wear on my back so I still had my purse!) By now we could see the emergency services where on the shore by the marina office and Nicky went over to them to say all was well. We brought the dinghy up on deck and took off the motor for inspection and a further clean out of the carburettor the next day! (Chris cleaned it on Tuesday {for the second time in 2 days!!!} and we were back using it on Wednesday).The emergency service boat came up to check all was well and to get our names for their records. It was quite impressive as they had wet suits on and all the gear for diving – luckily not needed! I gave them the details although my writing was worse than usual as I was by then feeling rather shaky.
We stripped off and had a cup of tea followed by a whiskey!!! All in all the whole thing had only taken about 20 minutes. It was my first unintentional swim and I suppose if you’re going to go in it might as well be impressive! We found out the next day that it was all on the CCTV security film of the marina – stardom at last! We went ashore on Tuesday to do some shopping and arriving back at the bar we sat and had a beer with a Swiss couple, Madelyn & Remy who told us that on Thursday they were going to the capital of Suriname (Paramaribo) for a couple of days. They asked if we would like to accompany them as they enjoyed being with us. (We are the only other couple here!!) I looked at Chris and Chris gave me “permission” to agree to this. (LOL) So it was a sudden decision but as Remy & Madelyn are good company and speak pretty good English, we thought it would be a great opportunity to see a bit more of the country around. As normal here in this marina Davide arranged everything – transport, hotel and diner out – all we had to do was part with some money! On Thursday at 9.00am Davide took us to the Suriname Embassy to get a visitor’s visa (22 euros each) which could only be paid by credit card. Whilst we were there, a young chap who had the cash but no credit card. He was very appreciative when we said that we would pay for his visa on our credit card and take his 22 euros cash. The visa lasts for 90 days but is a one-time entry only visa. Davide then took all of us to the official exit port we had our passports stamped out etc and crossed the river to Albina in Suriname, about ¼ mile or so in a pirogue. After getting our passports stamped in and completing the paperwork, we were met by Deepak, the taxi driver that Davide always uses when travelling in Suriname. It’s about 2 ½ hour drive to Paramaribo but we decided to take a detour to the marina at Domburg. Remy had paid a deposit for one of the mooring buoys there as he & Madelyn were going to leave their boat there when they flew home to Switzerland for Christmas. However, they had decided that they would rather leave the boat in the marina here in SLM as they were settled and it was more convenient. The marina has a small restaurant and whilst we were having a meal, our friends Herbert & Monika turned up and it was great to see them again. They are keeping their boat in another marina in Domburg for a while before flying home for Christmas and then moving on to the Caribbean. (Sorry no pics - my camera batteries are getting REALLY useless!) Back in the taxi and on to the hotel in the centre of Paramaribo – lovely hotel with good air conditioning and SHOWERS with hot water!!! Later on we took a walk along the riverside where there were many stalls and we sampled some chicken kebabs, bumped into R & M and decided to have a couple of beers before heading back to our room. The next day we went for a wander round the town. As with all the other countries we have seen here nothing is THAT old and the houses and buildings are all very colonial in design. One of the main attractions is the wooden cathedral which was just round the corner from the hotel. I’d really wanted to look round this but I’d not been thinking and was wearing quite short shorts and a strappy top so we decided to return on Saturday. Round the corner we found a small restaurant “Jossje Roti” that had been recommended by the Lonely Planet Guide but we weren’t very hungry (we had quite a large breakfast) and as we were going out to dinner that evening we just tried a couple of the snacks that were available –umm lovely!
We ordered cocktails to start and decided that we would all pick a dish and then we would share – both for our appetisers and our main courses. This worked really well and we were able therefore to taste about 12 different dishes, all of which were delicious!! While we were waiting for our meal, we were offered a free massage - it was wonderful and I realised the next day that my left arm that had been becoming a bit stiff had really loosened up! We had asked our driver to return at 10.00 and all too soon the time arrived, we paid our bill, said goodbye to Sabine & Norman and on the way out our waiter for the evening gave the ladies a wonderful flower. So nice! But so it should be, it is known as being too expensive for the local population to go to! It was a lovely treat for us as we don’t usually go to the more expensive restaurants and on reflection it was not actually that dear. Saturday we went back to the cathedral and I am so glad we did. Obviously I had realised that the building was wood but not that everything inside was wood too. The ceiling, rafters, columns and even the font were all wood. This gave such a warm atmosphere and the various colours of the wood were incredible. I’ll let the pictures tell the tale!
We stopped for a couple of beers at an outside stall/bar where many locals of all ages meet up with their friends at any time of day or night as the bar never closes at any time during the year. From there we walked to the Roti restaurant we had visited the day before and had a roti meal. It was superb. After a long chat with the owner, Robbert, we returned to the hotel and spent a relaxing evening in our room.
Sunday morning Deepak picked us up from the hotel and drove us back to Albina where we caught a pirogue back to the port, had our passports stamped back in and were met by Davide who drove us back to the marina where we had ham & cheese roll and a beer before going back to Moontide. Our conclusion is that Suriname is a clean and friendly country and English is widely spoken. Tuesdays are good days here! Last week we went to a satellite launch at Kourou (more about that in a minute) and this week our new dinghy arrived!! We have been very fortunate since we have been without a dinghy –firstly Nine of Cups gave us lifts ashore, lent us their dinghy when they were away and on their return continued to act as our personal taxi; then we were able to borrow Davide’s (marina owner) dinghy as he had no pressing need of it now he had finished laying all his moorings. However it’s not the same and we were careful not to use it too much – we were always worried that something will go wrong and it would be our fault!! We were just about to run out of water and it was SOO much better and easier to collect it in our own dinghy! We had ordered it over the internet from a dealer in France. This took a while to finalise as they needed additional money for carriage but we did not get their email and it took a phone call from Samuel to help sort it out. `Davide and Samuel were really helpful and made sure that we did not have to pay import tax on it. This can be a problem; although as a 'part' for our “Boat in Transit” we are not liable for the tax, the customs officers do not always agree! The dinghy took about 10 days to arrive in Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana (about 260 kms, 165 miles away)and another 10 to be sent to St Laurent and for all the paperwork to be sorted before Davide could collect it from the Post Office for us! Back to the satellite launch. Guiana Space Centre (CSG) is EUROPE’s space port! As French Guiana is still part of France, everything here qualifies as being European and the space centre guarantees the independence of Europe’s access to space. The CSG is just outside Kourou – about 200kms, 125 miles from here. From here satellites can be launched within 14 day intervals and we saw Ariane 5 VA227 launch 2 satellites; ARABSAT-68 a communications satellite for North Africa and the Middle East on behalf of A Saudi Arabian operator and GSAT-15 built by the Indian Space Agency to provide communication services and to boost the GPS signal GAGAN, used mostly for air control management. Yes, you’re right I’ve been copying most of that! It was an amazing day! It was all laid on for us by the tourist office and was completely free. We were to arrive at the tourist office (100 yards from the marina office) by 12.00 mid-day. Inevitably just as we were leaving the heavens opened and we wondered if we would be able to make it ashore as the rain was so heavy. Luckily it stopped and we arrived in good time. An air-conditioned coach was waiting for us there and we started our journey. The first leg took us to a hotel about 30km away from Kourou where we met up with others going the launch form that side of Kourou. After about 1 ½ hrs we were checked in, our bags checked and us checked with a metal detector (as at airports if the alarm goes off!) and we then boarded a CSG coach no 9 (the relevance of this occurred to us later) to go to the viewing site. Once we were on the CSG land we waited again for another 9 coaches to up meet with us and we all proceeded along a very rough track for about 40 minutes to arrive at the site.
The launch was at 18.34 and suddenly it was countdown time, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1…..delay!! And then suddenly the base lit up and I realised that in fact at the distance we were we could actually see more as much closer and the glare would have blocked everything out. BANG sonic boom and the air crackled after for some seconds. It was AMAZING!!! We could see the boosters and fairing being jettisoned and the main stage separating. After that it had gone – all in a few seconds. Pictures are a bit out of order to fit in!!! There was a simulation of the satellites separating on the screen and shots of the control room with cheers and claps when all had gone well, about 45 minutes after lift-off. There were also many many speeches etc that would have probably been boring in English but when you can’t understand French……………………. We were finally allowed back onto the coaches and driven past their Soyuz installation (not that we could really see anything!) back to the hotel, transferred onto our coach and eventually arrived back in St Laurent about 10.45pm. My camera is really not capable of taking these sort of shots and the guy sitting next to us took some really brilliant ones – we asked if he could email some to us but I forgot to check our junk mail for a couple of days and think that very sadly we have lost them – ah well if we’d not been sitting there we would not even have seen them anyway! It was a long trip and parts were a bit boring but we wouldn’t have missed it for the world!
We’ve been here about 3 weeks now (just can’t believe it!!) and are having a lovely time. The marina here is being put into place by Davide and as yet it has few facilities and is not really a marina as we know it as there are no pontoons just mooring buoys. He had put 10 buoys in and has been very busy putting in a further 10 in the last week or so. He offers great assistance, with help booking in and runs to the nearest big supermarket and petrol station for diesel but there are no showers and no plans for any!! He does plan to put in a restaurant and currently you can get beers and soft drinks from the marina office (as part of a non-profit making association the bars are 1 euro for a 500ml can :-) ) – where we tend to congregate these days from around 4.30pm until 6.00pm when he closes For the last two years he has organised the Nereid’s Rally from Trinidad/Tobago to the Guianas to help promote his marina and Saint Laurent. The rally takes place at the end of September and is a great alternative way to escape the hurricane season in the Caribbean rather than staying in Trinidad - but it is about a 600 mile sail to windward so not for the faint hearted. The rally had ended in SLM on 5th October but when we arrived here there were still 4 rally boats here and just one or two others including Nicky and David on Baloo who we had met in Jacare. Unfortunately David has not been well and was at that time in hospital Kourou 200 kms away! We’re having a great time here BUT, (there’s always a but!!), unfortunately our dinghy is not enjoying it as much! We knew we had a small problem in Jacare as one of the seams round the transom (back!) was coming apart. Chris got some glue (meant to be really good stuff) and stuck this back – it seemed to be ok but not stick brilliant. On the Tuesday after we arrived, we pumped up the dinghy (we got it out on deck on Monday – one thing at a time as it’s pretty hot here!) and dinghied into the marina arranging with Davide to pick up a buoy the next morning. Once on the buoy we went over to the office to pay and arrange for internet cover etc. There we met Amanda and Rick from ‘Duplicat’ (from the rally) and were asked across for sundowners that evening and I was also asked to the ‘Ladies Lunch’ the next day. Brilliant! That evening we went out to get into the dinghy only to find one of the tubes had deflated badly so we brought her back on board to pump up and have a look. OH DEAR!! The cone at the end of the tube had come away and was letting air out at an alarming rate! That put paid to us getting over to Duplicat in the dinghy but one of the other yotties was about and let Duplicat know and very kindly Rick offered us a taxi service there and back! We had a great evening and Rick kindly agreed to pick me up when he took Amanda ashore for the lunch the next day. Off I went and was introduced to Sue (& Malcolm) from Piano; Amanda (& Mikey) from Silent Annie; both with the rally and Americans Marcie (& David) from Nine of Cups and Davide’s mother (brilliant Italian lady of 86). It was very enjoyable although I was not too keen on the food!! Chris had spent the day sticking up the dinghy but was beginning to feel it was rather a lost cause as every time he stuck one bit anther bit came away! The glue had just completely given away. We felt that it was just too risky to continue to use it and decided to order a new one to be sent over from France - finally managing to complete the transaction about a week after we first ordered it! SLM was the base of the French prison colony and has a huge prison camp just next to the marina made famous by the film of Papillon and also the political prisoner Dreyfus. Those who had been on the rally had already had a tour but Marcie and David had not, so after our Ladies Lunch, Marcie and I booked tickets for a tour the next day – with a promise from David that they would pick us up if the dinghy was out of action.
After that we felt we deserved a beer and as the marina would be closed walked into the town to Le Toucan – a well recommended restaurant. We won’t go there again – the only beer (well lager) they had was draught Heineken and ended up costing 14 euros a litre!!! The cost of living here is much higher than in Brazil but that was ridiculous! Later that evening we went over to Piano, Sue & Malcolm, for sundowners with Malcolm operating a taxi service for us. Another good evening. Saturday is market day and Sue and Malcolm took us over and Sue showed us around and where to buy Mong soup – a great bowl of soup and noodles. A super market with amazing fruit & veg. Unfortunately, when Sue called to ask Malcolm to pick us up, he told us that the outboard had packed up!! (They had had their own dinghy and outboard stolen a couple of nights before we arrived but luckily had been able to borrow a dinghy and outboard from Joe, another rally person . Rick came to the rescue and picked us up and Chris suggested that as we had no dinghy and they had no outboard we could put them together and lent S & M our motor. Over the weekend, two boats we knew well from Jacare arrived – Kevin on Opela and Christoph & Barbs on Taurus; it was great to see some more familiar faces.
Over the next few days, Silent Annie, Piano, Duplicat and Joe (can’t remember his boat name!) all left to go back north with hopes that we meet up again in the Caribbean. However, two new boats arrived with Augustine & Simone and Luis & Mali–as so often the case known to 2 or 3 of the others already here. Saturday night was Halloween and although they had planned to leave, Marcie persuaded David to stay an extra day as she felt like a Halloween party! Samuel, Davide’s assistant, agreed to open the bar for us and we put up some decorations. By now David (Baloo) had come out of hospital so there was quite a good gathering including Samuel, his girlfriend Gabriella and a couple of their friends and we all had a really great time! Sadly we said goodbye to Marcie & David the next day. Hopefully we will meet them again somewhere. Enough for now, I promise I will try to be quicker with my next post!!
For info: Jacare is in the state of Paraiba and the river Maroni is part of the border with Suriname. Well it is along the coast – just that it’s 1450 miles along the coast!! The journey took us 15 days, was a total of 1545 miles and we averaged about4.2 knot; so not bad for us!! A fairly uneventful sail – but with a few hiccups! We finally started off Just before eight am on Sunday as this gave us a full 5 hours of tide to help us down river and to our waypoint out at sea. The river bit was great but once out at sea and still in shallow water it became very rolly - as usual!!! e were sailing quite well but on Tuesday we hit a couple of problems. I could see that the staysail we were using had a slight tear in the bottom – probably from the effect of the sun so we rolled part of it away and got out the red staysail and Chris starting a bit of stitching that was necessary before we could use it. There was not enough wind to fill the main sail so we were sailing under staysail only. Typically, as we were doing this, another slight problem as the steering oar from the wind vane steering came away from its fixing – it was tied on so there was no danger of losing it (and anyway Chris had bought a new piece of wood in Jacare to make a replacement if necessary!). It was dark by now and although there was a full moon it was not bright enough for Chris to re-fix it hanging over the stern! The sea was too choppy for the electronic auto-pilot to work so we started hand steering but very quickly realised that the boat would steer herself on the course we wanted! Good old Moontide!!! Chris’ watch on Wednesday pm the steering was fixed and he could get back to his stitching. It was sewing through multiple layers of sail and tape so it was pretty hard going. Saturday night/ Sunday morning we passed back over the Equator with a quick vote of thanks to King Neptune for keeping us safe in the southern seas. Sunday morning early (before it got too hot!!) we were able to get the red head sail back up and that upped our speed a little. HOWEVER, the wind vane self-steering suddenly stopped working! We had changed course by now and the seas were calmer so luckily the electronic pilot could cope very well. Having taken it all apart during the afternoon by late on Sunday (when he had calmer down a little) Chris realised that nothing much was wrong – it just needed anew split pin so he sorted it all out and put it all back together again on Monday. That night we had our first hitch-hiker!!! During Chris’ watch he had seen what he thought was a crow (dark and making cawing sounds) trying to land on our solar panels and getting biffed occasionally by the wind generator. We thought that maybe it had got lost. We found out later it was probably a Brown Noddy. On my watch I glanced up and there was something strange sticking out from the spray-hood. EH? Then I realised it was the tail feathers of a bird. I got a drop of water and tried to offer it to him – he stretched out for it once but (we realised later) he was not thirsty. I also drop up a little luncheon meat we had open but he was not interested in that either. He flew off as I tried to get closer but came back and managed to land on our rails and stayed there until light! We had been sailing along very nicely and with the help of the current were sailing at over 6 knots. When we went over the continental shelf from deep water to shallower (very noticeable as the sea was really disturbed in a long line rather like the Meeting of the Waters in the Amazon!!) we did slow down as obviously the current was not so powerful. Well, I say we slowed down – that was until a squall hit us during my watch – the wind-vane went out of control and our speed was just increasing and increasing, we were heeling over well and I was not happy! I had called Chris when I started having trouble with the wind-vane but had just not cottoned on to what was happening. We were crossing over and back across the disturbed water and that’s my excuse for not realising!! No real problem, Chris quickly got Moontide back under control by reducing sail and all was well; although I was quite nervous the next night that I might get caught again!! Timing was now becoming an issue! We did not want to arrive in the dark as we knew that there could be many unlit fishing boats and nets around the mark and just outside the entrance to the river!! Having been going at a fair pace, on Saturday the winds lightened and we slowed right down. We expected to reach our next way point about 3 hours into my watch at about 0700 but when we were not close I called Chris at about 0730 and we altered course early and eventually put the motor on as that we could regulate our speed. At daybreak we arrived at the co-ordinates of the safe water mark we had originally been given but no mark! We could see something a little way away and headed over there to the mark and also red and green navigation buoys marking the channel. From then on it was easy to follow them in and we travelled the 25 mile from the safe water mark (15 mile from the mouth of the river) up to St Laurent du Maroni and dropped anchor at about 16.45pm just downstream from the town. Well, our time in Brazil is nearly at an end. We are fully stocked and shortly Nicolas will take us (and Monika & Herbert) to complete our booking out procedures. This gives us about 72 hours before we have to leave Brazil (having said that we know one couple who booked out in July and are still here!!!). All being well, we will leave the marina this afternoon and hopefully set off on Friday. It will be a strange day – of course we are really looking forward to moving on and seeing more new places but we have had such an amazing time here - we have seen so much and had so many incredible experiences. Interestingly, however, strange as it may seem, I think the over-riding memory I will take from Brazil is of the people. Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming right from beginning (the guy we spoke to at the station on our first trip to Joao Pessoa) to the end (Wanderson, our landlord on the last part of our trip around Brazil (and the lady selling me some hammocks and then giving me a gift just on Sunday!) and everyone in between: Cida and her daughters in the village “mercadino”, Bella who does the laundry, the local fishermen sitting outside the “Associacao de Pescadores”, Bernardo the ‘marina’ taxi driver and all the others who have helped carry my bags, till girls, bag packers and carriers in the supermarkets, etc etc etc. This could go on for ever. Of course I’ve not even mentioned the marina ‘boys’ – just brilliant!! All such lovely, lovely people and all rather sad as we have spoken to most for the last time L So what ARE our plans? Well, the current idea is to head straight to St Laurent du Maroni in French Guiana. The Maroni river marking the border with Suriname. It’s about 1430 miles (almost as far as from the Cape Verdes to Brazil!!!) and hopefully with the current usually running quite fast in our favour it should be a shorter journey. HOWEVER………………………. However long it is, we’ll be out of touch for a while and I’m not sure what we will find in SLM as we have seen slightly conflicting reports! So I’ll post this now and be in touch again in October!!! Sorry, these are the best maps I can get at the moment and we're off to book out in a minute. If I can get a signal later on, I'll try to find some better ones!!
At last, I’ve found time to write about some of things that have been happening here since we returned from Rio. It’s been mostly hello, hello again and farewell. The exception to that was a couple of weeks ago at a Saturday “Sabadino”.
About 12 of us met up (some rather bleary-eyed!) at 11.00 am to catch the second to last train to Joao Pessoa. It stops running on Saturdays at 12.30! and we wanted to be sure to get there. We arrived early just as everything was setting up and soon the music was playing, people dancing and to a background of lively chatter. All at once this was shattered as we heard what sounded like gun-shots and people at the far end of the square started to run. The stall holders were calling “calme, calme” and we thought that maybe it had just been a car or something. Unfortunately not, there were two more bursts of fire and this time everyone scattered. One couple with us had their 3 year-old daughter with them and they immediately disappeared behind a nearby building! Luckily for us this was all and the gunman did not venture any further through the square. Salvatore did see one injured woman being carried to an ambulance and we heard later that a man had been killed. It was thought to be drug barons at work. Around 6 o’clock our party split up as Margot was flying back to Chile; the other 4 went off for dinner but as we had met up with one of the guys from the bar who was coming back to the marina, I was not abandoned!!! A very strange day!!! Since then it has been a lot of farewells; Salvatore and Julie left that week, Magali returned to France, Fonch sailed off, and number of others we have known slightly also left. There is a good possibility though that we see some of them as we are mostly heading in the same direction - the Caribbean via the Guianas. As I said at the beginning, there have also been some hellos.
We also met up with them on couple of other occasions and spent some really pleasant time - talking about good sailing adventures, not their horrendous experience. Re-meeting people is great –we first met Monika and Herbert on Mon Juan, in the Cape Verde Islands, saw them here before they flew back to Germany and have spent some excellent times with them just recently – it looks as if we will be setting off at the same time but taking slightly different routes still, hopefully we will see them again- perhaps in Trinidad!! Setting off soon also is Kevin (mentioned in my early posts) who has just returned from working in Australia for about 2months – another au revoir we hope! Rather than complicate this with our plans, I’ll post this now and post again with maps and plans tomorrow or Wednesday.
Have fun - we are! Last part of our trip - finally! Been having trouble getting a signal recently but really want to get this posted as it won't be long now before we're off again!!!
The next day we were up early again as our guide for the day, Vicente, was there to pick us up at 8.00 o‘clock.
Back to our car and we drove through the Tijuca Forest. This was an area that had been completely de-forested by coffee growing in the 19century but had been re-planted when the coffee crops were unsuccessful and it as realised that it was changing the climate around Rio. Unfortunately, to my mind anyway, it had been planted with trees and plants from all over the world rather than being taken back to its more natural state as perhaps it would have been today. A very interesting winding journeywith some lovely scenery and waterfalls. We stopped at one of Vicente’s favourite places – a wonderful viewing spot with a pagoda seat for those more energetic than us who were walking through the forest!!! Back to the city and our next stop was the modern cathedral, Cathedral of St. Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro which was built between 1964 and 1979. Pretty ugly I thought from the outside but quite amazing in! It was based on the Mayan style of pyramids (4-sided) and the ‘ceiling’ was a cross with the arms of the cross stretching 64 metres (210ft) from floor to ceiling with amazing stained glass in green, blue, yellow and red – Magnificent! These provided masses of light and in fact there was no artificial light in it at all! It has an overall height of 75 metres (246 ft) and the inside area measures 8,000 square meters and sufficient 5,000 seats or it has a standing-room capacity of 20,000 people. The other fascinating feature was that due to its shape and construction no air conditioning was needed but it kept cool as the air was circled continuously as hot air rose and escaped through open areas between the bricks pulling in cooler air below. SO clever and effective.
Of the 2000+ tiles, 300-odd are hand painted by him depicting a pregnant African woman he would not comment on this except to say that it was a "Personal problem from my past" In fact Vicente had worked with him on the steps for a while and said he could be quite a difficult character – a typical artist perhaps!!. Overall, quite incredible but I would have wanted to walk up them in the rain! That was about it for the day and Vicente drove us back to the pousada along the infamous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. Another incredible day! Unfortunately, the next day we were flying out (I should really have given us another day there) and so we had a leisurely breakfast and chatted to Wanderson. Most of the other guests were in their twenties and we realised that Wanderson would take them to the ever-present Ipanema beach parties and keep an eye on them while they partied. We thought was a really great way of doing things and he was so astounded to hear that we had sailed across the Atlantic, he offered us free accommodation at his own house next time we were in Rio!! Off to the airport and fight back to Joao Pessoa, taxi from airport and arriving safely back on Moontide at about 1.00 in the morning. All was well on board and after a round trip of roughly nearly 8000 kilometres (5000 miles) as the crow flies we just collapsed!
What an amazing 23 days!!! Next Episode!! Nearly there! At around 3.00 pm on Wednesday, we arrived in Manaus at a busy port with cars, lorries and taxis everywhere! We had been warned that the tax drivers inside the port overcharge for the journey to your hotel and certainly one who approached us would not put on his meter and wanted R$50 and the one we got outside on the road only charged R$20!!! Our room at the hotel was lovely – very spacious (yes including the bathroom!) and with a balcony from which we could see over downtown Manaus. A short rest and then off to the supermarket for supplies. On the way back I thought it would be nice to walk past the Amazonas Theatre and cross the square in front of it – making the other 2 sides of a square – only problem was we could not tell which road to go down then and definitely walked a lot further than necessary Unfortunately we realised in the evening that we were suffering from upset stomachs which incapacitated both of us all day Thursday and as we were still quite bad in that evening we decided to postpone our trip for a day until Saturday. (Rather a shame as I had hoped to have a bit of a tour round Manaus on Saturday but luckily nothing was booked!) So Friday was a quiet day but I felt up to rinsing out some clothes and drying them on the balcony. Luckily the air-conditioning in the room was very good so at least we could be comfortable there. Bright and early Saturday we and 2 other guys from the hotel were met and driven through part of the city to a small pier near a hotel in lovely grounds (can’t remember the name at the mo!) where we met up with everyone taking the tour that day. There were about 15 or 16 (including 2 young children) of us and we were directed into 2 boats with a guide. Our guide had been born nearby along the banks of the Rio Negro. He was working hard to move on and his boat was a really classy looking speedboat carrying 7 and the other boat more like a motor launch but almost as fast! It was a real touristy trip; it was MEANT to be eco-friendly but..……! We started off zooming up river – banging and shaking about with the lady next to Chris not feeling too good! Not quite as fast as the flying boat tho!! The first stop was at a place where we could swim with dolphins. Well, it was not really swimming as we were on a ledge round a river hut but the dolphins were free to come and go as they liked – but they also knew very well that they would be nicely fed if they stayed around!!
After a quick shot of coffee off we went again this time to see an “Indigenous Community”. Again, set up for tourists as the actual native Amerindians live further into the rain forest and no-one can go there without a permit. We arrived and were greeted by one of the men and shown a brazil nut tree – huge! Up to 200 ft high!! And possibly 500 years old!! Although a single mature tree can produce over 250 pounds of nits a year, due to a number of reasons (including the inevitable deforestation) they are under threat. Interestingly it is the little agouti (the small overgrown guinea pig look-a-like) that can penetrate the nut's seed case and bury some of the nuts that germinate - sometime many years later. It was also quite funny as our guide had been really taken aback when he heard that we had sailed across the Atlantic in a 10 metre boat – so small to him as his motor-boat was about 8 metres (although a very different style) and he kept checking that we could sleep on it, eat on it etc!!! He just could not get over it and told the Headman and his wife who were both quite shocked and amazed as well – it was good to be able to give them something back for the show of their culture. There have never been sailing boats on the Amazon so the concept is quite difficult for them to understand even though they have spent all their lives on the water!! And could probably swim before they could walk! After a time to purchase mementos we were off again for lunch. On the pontoon to the boat there were some amazing caterpillars more of which we saw again later. We then moved on to a hut (on stilts this time) where a lady and her 3 children were looking after a sloth, baby caiman and an anaconda!!! I did hold the sloth but passed on the others! The sloth was free to move round the hut as it pleased and I am sure that he/she could have easily (but probably rather slowly) climbed away if he had wanted. We think he was quite young and had probably been ‘rescued’ in the forest. He was quite amazing as he gripped with long claws with all four legs – often at impossible angles. The claws did not dig in but just due to the strength alone they left marks for quite a while. Next on the agenda was fishing!! But not your ordinary kind of fish – these are the largest freshwater scaled fish – the pirarucu. This was not really very nice at all – a number of the fish were kept in a small compound – deep but small. Everyone was invited to take a rod – really just a largish stick – with a string attached to it. On this was tied a small (dead) fish as bait – no hook though I’m pleased to say!! You could then fish until your bait was taken - apparently there was a huge pull on the stick as the fish grabbed and hang on but it was not something I wanted to try. Chris did and ALMOST got his out of the water! The fish looked rather like dog-fish but had beautifully coloured red edged fins. It was then off to see the Meeting of the Waters where the Rio Negro and Rio Solimeos meet. The two rivers meet to form the Rio Amazonas and due to differences in flow, acidity and temperature, they do not mix for a number of miles and clearly show the dark waters of one and the lighter waters of the other (can’t remember which way round although logically it would be the darker waters of the Rio Negro!). This is meant to be very impressive but having seen a similar occurrence at Alter do Chao which although not so long was in fact far more marked and obvious, it was a little underwhelming – at least on the day we were there! A fast ride back to the pier where we had boarded and that was the end of our Rio Amazonas trip – what a day!!!! The next morning we packed our bags again and booked out of the hotel. As our flight was not until later in the afternoon there was time for a short wander round – looking at the Amazonas Theatre again and nearby squares before taking a taxi to the airport – what a wonderful stay in the Amazon rain forest! Next stop Rio de Janeiro! I'm sorry it's taken so long to post the next episode - I really can't believe that we have now been back on Moontide for about 10 days!! She seems to have stood our absence well with no horrible surprises for us!! Although we are back and our trip finished, I still thought it best to continue to post in sections so that things don’t get too lost!! I’m afraid that the photos just don’t do it justice and I kept trying to get “the perfect shot” so I’ve got so many it’s difficult to choose the ones to put up here! (I almost wish we were back to the old Box Brownie!! Would make life so much simpler!) I got it down to 100 for the Gallery but for the few I put on the blog itself it is SO difficult - I hope I've made the right decisions and that they give you a glimpse - there will be more and I think I will actually start a new gallery for this trip - but that may not be today!! What can we say about this part of our trip? It was incredible – but for in parts there is not a huge amount to say as we were just travelling along the river. But what a river!! By the end we were 1000 miles (yes MILES!), 1600 km inland but the river was still so wide it felt as if we were at sea!!! The boats are not cruise ships simply a means of transport for both cargo and people. On the middle deck there was space for people to hang hammocks and I have never seen anything like it!! There must have been about 300 hundred hammocks strung up! And there were more below! It was really very colourful but a little noisy with the chatter and children running around so we were very pleased to have arranged a cabin!
Our boat would not slow down and it looked incredibly dangerous and I did actually see one lad fall in – the driver didn’t get up to speed soon enough and the other guy made a desperate attempt to grab the last tyre and missed! He was fine and in fact a really fast motorboat (old & new again!) immediately powered its way across the river to him so obviously someone, probably Mum (we saw more women paddling the boats), had been keeping an eye out!! Leaving was no better but sometimes the kids seemed to be sent off on their own – in fact in one canoe I saw just 2 girls probably as young as 9 & 7 who set off on their own! Of course, as our guide in Manaus said - the children here learn to swim before they can walk. Once on board they would go round selling their wares – tapioca, acai and sometimes fruit. Often the young ones would also hang around in the hope that the passengers would give them something – a roll, banana etc. The first boats we saw were with us quite a long time and I think that they could take a shortcut home through the different creaks as we almost did 3 sides of a square round (!) the island. During this part of the journey we were always close to one side or the other which gave a good chance to look at the rainforest. We saw loads of different birds but any wild life was well hidden further away from the banks. We got off the boat at Santarem which was about half way and were met (eventually – apparently a time difference problem but maybe it was just too early!!)) by our guide for the days we were there. Ohad and driver took us about 30km to our hotel in the smaller, tourist town of Alter do Chao on Largo Verde. This is a wonderful resort with a sandbar with bars, restaurants and shops hiring wet bikes etc that reaches half way across the lake – in the dry season! We were there after the rainy season and the waters were receding and some of the bar and the bars and restaurants were out of the water but many others were not!! Our hotel was set in lovely grounds with its own little beach and a swimming pool! Following that we stopped for lunch in the town and traveled round the lake and found our own little beach. Along the way we saw man y parties picnicking near the waters edge - the only way of getting there by boat! Again, no wildlife other than a sad dead sloth just hanging from his branch. The driver said he had not been there two days earlier. Alter do Chao is actually on Rio Tapajos and it was amazing where the two rivers met – the difference in colour was incredible and a straight line along going on as far as we could see. It was spectacular. Near Manaus we were to see the same thing where Rio Negro meets Rio Solimoes and they actually become the Amazon; this "Meeting of the Waters " is quite well known (and goes on for miles!) but on the days we were there the meeting near Santarem was far better!! Apparently it's due the differences in the waters of the rivers - speed, temperature and acidity etc! Back to the hotel for dinner (we were the only people we saw eating in the evening – perhaps an indication that it was a little expensive and not that brilliant) and the next day we were off back to the boat! Ohad (with the driver) came round at 7.30 am to take us to the port and it was lucky for us that he did!! We were meant to be boarding the Liberty Star at around 9.00am for a 12.00 departure but when we arrived at the port Liberty Star was no-where to be seen even though she had been due in at about 4.00am!! No-one really knew what had happened and one of the port guys was all for us going on the boat that was there – Ana Beatrice IV. After numerous phones calls and an hours wait we decided to take his advice and bought another ticket for AB IV. We were told that the Liberty Star would be in about 5.00 and there would be a quick turn round but I’m afraid we did not have a lot of faith in that!! When the tour company were told we were taking the other ship they did say they would “look into getting us a refund” but I’ve not heard anything yet! The room on the Liberty Star was in fact a little bigger with a small double bed with a bunk bed above but no fridge! The boat overall was a little bigger and an extra deck for hammocks – there were hooks placed for the ropes and these were so close together that I do not see how anyone could have managed to sleep. All the hooks were numbered and on the top deck (with the bar) the numbers went up to 1327!!!! Luckily there was no-where near that number on board!!!! Finally we arrived in Manaus – a huge bustling city and found our way to the hotel – with a proper bathroom one this time!! To be continued………………….. This was written in Belem and I had hoped to post it before we left but as usual time ran away with me. Although we are now well on our way into the rest of the trip I'll post this as of we have just left! Hopefully it will be clearer that way! Well, we are just about coming to the end of our first leg of our trip. It has been amazing so far and this evening (29th July) we board the river boat for the journey from Belem to Santarem. It was a bit of a shaky start tho! We had just got our bags up on deck and Chris was handing them down to me on the pontoon amid best wishes from some fellow yotties (who we may only see again somewhere on our travels) when the heavens opened and within seconds we were soaked!!!! We got our bags under cover, decided to call a taxi and after a quick change (I could wring my dress out!) made it to Joao Pessoa with no further incident. From then on all went well and we had a great bus ride to Fortaleza on a “leito” coach – a sleeper coach with really good reclining seats, extra width and extra legroom – Excellent, well worth the extra cost. The bus arrived in at around 7.00am and although we could not get into our rooms, after a coffee and quick bite we took a taxi to our hotel. They happily took our bags into safe keeping, told us the room would be ready about 1.30 and so we went off for a wander along the sea front. After a while we found a very nice bar open and had a beer (I know it was TIME early but we had been awake for hours!!!!). A quick trip to the supermarket and we were back to the hotel by about 2.00. I had booked a double "suite" for 2 and hotel had up-rated us for some reason to one for 4 people so we had far more room but (there's always a but) it was split over 2 floors! The stairs were made of metal and were really steep with the step on the top floor coming a good half way up our shins!! The bathroom was on the top floor – well I say bathroom but it was MINISCULE – the shower was fine but to reach the hand basin you had to stretch across the toilet and using the toilet, well………! Chris took some pics on his phone so I’ll post one when we get back (I’ve not got the micro-sim adaptor with us) Over all though the place was really nice - clean and with very pleasant staff. We spent a good 2/3 days in Fortaleza; wandering along the front and going into the centre on the bus (helped by 2 brilliant young girls). The indoor central market was HUGE – set over 5 floors and I had the time of my live wandering round. I left Chris people-watching after the first floor! Having enjoyed our stay in Fortaleza we took our flight to Belem on GOL airlines with nice roomy seats. It was nearly mid-night when we touched down so it was great that the driver from the hotel, Le Massilia, was there to meet us and of course our room was certainly ready. Another 2 storey room! Though this time the bed was upstairs on a mezzanine floor and the bathroom (a reasonable size) was down!!! We had that room for 2 nights and then moved (I had had to change our booking) and are now in an ordinary double room with no peculiarities - opposite the wooden hammock! Belem, in the region of Para, is very hot and steamy!! And it normally rains – as in RAINS – every afternoon. There is masses to see and we have certainly not seen it all but have not done too bad! We took a taxi down to the docks where the old 19th century cargo warehouses that had lined the (then rather seedy) riverside port area have been transformed into quite a complex – with loads of food stores and stalls etc known as the Estacao das Docas. There was an old stationary traction engine (I THINK I've got that right!) there that had obviously been used to haul cargo and had lots of it's parts made in England. Chris was very happy to look at that so couldn't complain when I was looking in the market!! Just further on is the Ver-o-Peso market (Check the weight). Originally, it was here that the exact weight was measured to collect taxes for the Portuguese crown and as a market for all produce but the meat and fish now have their own markets and it is now one section of an immense bazaar which also includes hundreds of barracas (tents) as well as an area containing bars and restaurants and numerous traditional craft stalls and stalls selling ‘medicines’ of all kinds! Carrying along the riverside is the early 17th century Forte do Preseipio. From this fortress overlooking the Rio Guamá, the Portuguese jealously guarded the entrance to the Amazon while launching conquests deeper and deeper into the rain forest. The enormous cannons perched on the ramparts are proof of their defensive zeal. Sorry couldn't get an angle to get a decent pic! There are some magnificent buildings in this area including the twin-towered Catedral da Sé, which was designed by Italian architect Antônio José Landi, who had numerous commissions in Belém. Unfortunately it was not open on Mondays when we were there but apparently the interior is an “unremarkable mishmash of baroque and neoclassical styles with a lot of glossy marble imported from Italy” so I don’t feel we missed out there!
It does provide an introduction to the rain forest itself, simply strolling amid towering mahogany and rubber trees, past lagoons strewn with giant water lilies. You can familiarize yourself with some creatures you may never see in the actual jungle. Some were rather sorry-looking especially the monkeys and a rather rare jaguar lying along a branch but the toucans, macaws, turtles, caiman were fine and it was lovely to see agoutis, scarlet ibis (watch out Rob!!) and iguanas roaming freely. The iguanas were quite funny as they were up in the trees but kept falling out. We had heard twigs cracking and the odd thud but it wasn’t until one landed about 5ft (1.5m) away from me that we realised what had been making the noise!! On our last day in Belem we checked out of the hotel at 12.00 but as we were not boarding Amazon Star until 6.00, we left our bags in the hotel and went off to Mangal das Garcas which I think means something to do with herons!! It should do cos there were loads of them there wandering freely with scarlet ibis and flamingos. The old Belem lighthouse is there providing an amazing view over the river & port, an d there is a museum of navigation and a butterfly house and aviary. We spent a great couple of hours there before getting a taxi back to the hotel, collecting our bags and going down to the port. More about that later!! Well that's it for now! Hopefully next episode when we're in Rio after Sunday. I'll try to get some more pics up in the gallery now so do have a look to see!
We decided some time ago that as we are in Brazil (and this is most likely the only time we will be here) we really should take a trip up the Amazon and after speaking to a few others who had done the trip realised that the best way is to fly into or out of Manaus where we could start or finish this trip. Looking into this I realised that it was not easy and much more expensive to get a non-stop flight to/from Joao Pessoa but there were a lot of quite reasonable flights that went via Rio de Janeiro – rather a long way round with lots of time in the air!! My mind started ticking and I thought well, why not spend a few days in Rio as well and see Sugar Loaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer etc. One couple, who had taken the river trip, suggested that going up river is better as the current forces the boat to go slower & closer to shore so (hopefully)we can see more. Our initial hope had been to be on the river for Chris’s birthday but as the trip got longer we realised that this could make the timing for extending our visas (quite another story but OK now!) a bit tight and decide that it would be better to wait until we had our visas sorted out. So instead I just booked the trip on his birthday!!! Well, our plans are just about complete now – just as well really as we leave on Tuesday (21st)!!
The first leg is by bus to Fortaleza, town about 700 km further north along the coast. A 9 hour bus journey overnight and we have booked sleeper seats so they should be quite comfortable. We stay there for two days just looking around and then fly to Belem near the mouth of the Amazon River. I made a mistake and booked this flight 2/3 days earlier than I had intended and we actually stay there for 5 nights!! But everyone we have spoken to says it’s a great place to be and that the pousada I booked is good too so we are looking forward to having a holiday there. We work so hard otherwise, lol! From Belem we take an Amazon Line boat and spend 3 days on board to Santarem where we spend 2 nights at a nearby resort with a river trip included. (More water!) Back on another boat for the trip up to Manaus – a city in the jungle!!! 4 nights there with a trip to see the area. You JUST see Manaus on the left bottom corner of the map - the best I could do, I'm afraid.
Chris heard the week before last that his youngest son, Jay, had finally given up his fight against cancer and had passed away at home with his family – mother, step-father and brothers. He had gone downhill suddenly but kept his good humour to the end.
Chris feels very fortunate that he had spent some really good time with him when we were back in the UK in April and had been able to say his goodbye. Don't forget to check out the gallery! All these pics and more in bigger format. A busy day was Monday (29th)!!! We had noticed that there was a lot of activity on the fisherman’s pontoon over the weekend –new barrels rolled down and tied under for additional support, fresh paint, the big gazebos were put up over their open patio beside the building and finally bunting going up. Bunting had also gone up down the street in the village and I had asked Cida in the village store about it on Saturday and I could understand that a big procession for Sao Pedro was happening on Monday. Bella, who does the laundry amongst other things, told me on Monday morning that the procession started at 3.00 pm and would come along past the marina to Cabedelo. This seemed to be a very long way for a procession but…........ Around about 2.30 one of the tripper boats tied up to the pontoon and it started to make sense – obviously the procession was by water to Cabedelo! I wandered along to the village to see what was what – there were a great many people and some stalls along the road and lots of hubbub with some music coming from the church. The building and patio next to the fisherman’s association were being decorated with palm tree leaves plaited together to make arches – it looked lovely. I asked at one of the stalls and the girl (well young woman I suppose) confirmed that the procession was going down the pontoon. At that moment it started to rain so I dashed by to the boat for an umbrella – just as well as by 2.50 the heavens had opened and it was tipping it down! I took shelter under the gazebo which slowly got more & more crowded. Lots of people were going down the pontoon & onto the tripper boat. Sure enough around 3.00PM I could see a procession coming down the road. A float with a model boat filled with flowers was being held aloft and in the boat a statue. This was obviously Sao Pedro and I remembered then that Saint Peter was the patron saint of fishermen. The float was taken down the pontoon and I returned to Moontide in the hope of getting some shelter. No luck though as the wind was blowing the rain into the cockpit - even with the cover up! I could see from there that the float was actually put on the top deck of a smaller boat alongside the tripper boat. There were a number of other boats gilling around in the water (going backwards & forwards waiting) and eventually they all left obviously to motor down to Cabedelo. It would have been lovely but for the rain and I felt so sorry that all the preparation could not be enjoyed to its fullest. We saw later on the TV that the boat had had difficulties near Cabedelo but couldn’t tell what but we realised that it had obviously not been too serious.
It was a great evening and the food was amazing. There were tables full of all sorts of dishes, loads of different salads, vegetables, lasagne-type dishes, sushi, cheese, fruit – you name it, it was there!! You help yourself from these dishes and go back to your table. On the table is a little device that you can move to say yes or no. If yes, the waiters come round with meat on large skewers (rather like in a kebab shop) and carve of a slice or two. If no, they leave you until you change it back to yes. You have a much as you liked and they just kept coming round and round!! Some of the meat was absolutely delicious but some was rather fatty with LOADS of garlic. We had a really good feast and couldn’t manage any of the delicious looking sweets! Back in the taxi to Jacare where this time the taxis went through the village and dropped us of almost at the end just a hundred metres from the fisherman’s association. By now the party had started and there was music plating and people dancing. Theresa suggested we had a ‘last caipirinha’ for the night and about 2/3 hours later we left!!!! Bertie & Theresa were dancing together and I was jigging a little. Dominico who runs the bar at the moment was there dancing with everyone and suddenly we were all dancing with great encouragement from the local people. It was smashing – one of the local dignitaries got up into the music lorry and gave a speech. Kevin told us the next day that he could hear it all out at anchor and that apparently, the guy had said how good it was that the yotties who had joined in and thanked us!!! Hmmm, maybe the caipifinhas and beers we bought helped!!! The music finally ended about 3.00 am but by then I was back in my bed fast asleep. As I said a busy Monday! The next day was very quiet – maybe the whole village was a bit hung over. On Wednesday, on our way to the shower, Vincent & Sue approached us as they had decided to leave the next day and needed to get some Brazilian Reals to pay their bill. Luckily they had some English money so we were able to help exchange some for them. We then caught Bertie & Theresa coming back from stocking up and we all agreed to meet back in the bar a bit later as they were off too. Another great evening ensued with them, Kevin (from the BBQs) and Mark (dad of a Mexican family -Mark, Daniela & 2 children) and crew member (Carol, a young Brazilian) who had just arrived. So hello to new friends and sadly cheerio to old. But who knows where???
On Tuesday, Lucia came round to invite us for a farewell drink as, sadly they were off the next day. Mark and family, Carol and another ‘new’ couple were there. We took over some nibbles bought from the local baker and again had a thoroughly good time. It was a shame that we had not got to know them earlier as we all got on well; they are on their way to Trinidad (via French Guyana) where they have quite a bit of work to do, so we may catch up with them there – I hope so! So there we are – right up to date.
I’ll post again next week as then we will be off on our Amazon and Rio trip which will be about 3 weeks in all – by land and air not sea! |
Keren & ChrisFollow us again as we start the second part of our trip Archives
January 2016
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