Manaus and Paratins, Brazil

Friday, March 2, 2012 – Manaus, Brazil
Had an early call to host for the ship so Gene went off to see the flora and fauna – two museums and a walk. J and I went to the terminal and walked around the small shop area. One of our friends had her necklace yanked from her neck and was naturally upset. Her husband did not feel well so she decided to walk on her own, for the first time. Terrible situation and I felt so badly for her, and for him, once he finds out. I went to the post office near the dock, PAC office, and then to pick up the many photos from last night. Of course it rained while I was out and I had forgotten the umbrella – but it stopped in a rather short time and it was still as humid and suffocating as ever!

Worked for awhile – back to the terminal where there is supposedly free WIFI, when it works. It worked!! But I forgot the phone! Very nice sail-away and we passed the Meeting of the Waters, where the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes (Amazonas) rivers meet -- coffee color mingles with the coffee with milk waters so there is a very definite line of distinction marking each river. Beautiful clear skies.

Manaus had become a significant supply port and capital of Amazonas State by 1850. Rubber brought vast profits in the last decades of the 19th century. In 1839, Charles Goodyear patented rubber vulcanization, the automobile was invented and the industrial revolution began so rubber was a vital commodity. Rubber trees grew only in the Amazon, so Manaus boomed. Manaus was nicknamed Paris of the Tropics. Celebrities from Europe and North America entertained a handful of wealthy families at the Opera House. Fortunes might have continued to expand except that Henry Wickham smuggled 70,000 rubber tree seeds to England in 1876. The Brazilian merchants branded him “Executioner of Amazonas” but he was knighted in England. Manaus slipped into decay and economic obscurity as the stolen seeds created a productive yield in the British Asian colonies (Malaysia especially) for decades. By the 1920s, synthetics drove the final nail into the natural rubber coffin.

We passed the deepest part of the Amazon River – 360 feet. The shallowest is 36 feet. Although the Europeans may have sighted the Amazon delta region in 1500, exploration of the river did not begin under decades later. In 1541 and 1542 Spanish Explorer Francisco de Orellana and a crew of 50 men navigated the entire length of the river over a period of eight months, encountering the Omagua and other peoples. The Spaniards were lured by rumors of gold and cinnamon (almost as valuable as gold!) and moved eastward from the Andes. In the early 17th century, the Portuguese slowly settled the Amazon Basin moving westward from the eastern region of Brazil. Both the Spanish and Portuguese enslaved or coerced indigenous groups to search for gold or perform other labor. The found the Amazon peoples harder to subdue than Andean highland groups and were met with fierce resistance. Many Amazon peoples were protected by nearly impenetrable jungle and if attached, they could move their villages further into the jungle but what they could not escape were the diseased brought by the Europeans.

There are 3000 fish species, more than 100 species of New World monkeys and 5000 species of trees. Many important medicines have been developed from plants found only in the Amazon. Only a fraction fo the plant species have been catalogued.
John Lenahan, magician and comedian, was the entertainer.

“How rare and wonderful is that flash of a moment when we realize we have a discovered a friend.” - Anonymous

Saturday, March 3, 2012 –Parintins, Brazil

Early tender at 8AM and we arrived in the midst of many riverboats docking and unloading. Great town for walking so we made our way through the already hot and steamy streets to the cathedral and the cemetery behind it. The tombstones were all raised and some housed several family members and some were individual. Some of the grass was cut and kept up and some was overgrown but had lovely summer flowers blowing in the wind. Behind that, we found the arena where they seat 35,000 for 3 day June festival where the Boi-Bumba Festival takes place -- blue bull vs. red bull fight/dance. There is a mixture of theatre, drums, dancing, music and circus all combined to entertain audiences. They enact the kidnapping, death and resurrection of an ox, which is a metaphor for their agricultural cycles. Over the years, the festival has developed into a competition with the Boi teams – one red and one blue – comprising several THOUSAND members. The competing teams are judged on their music, dancing performance and costumes. We then walked to see some wide horses, resting quietly under the trees with no ropes or ownership evident. Stopped to get prices for a haircut but had no time; rode the covered carriage with the man behind us on the bike pedaling us around town and just enjoyed the day. It is a nice town for touring on foot and the people were very friendly.

Brazilian BBQ on back deck of 7 – HUGE BUGS joined us on the poles (we are in the Amazon!) but did not interrupt the “experience”! Lovely late dinner with friends and Brett Cave, piano player, from the UK, was a true entertainer with singing and piano playing. I also did session of Qi Gong, a relaxation technique, with the Lifestylist onboard. This is a new feature of Holland America – they cover tai-chi, meditation, yoga, classes for memory, eating healthy

“Remember that happiness is a way of travel…not a destination.” - Anonymous

Sunday, March 4, 2012 – Cruising Amazon River and crossing the equator

King Neptune Ceremony! Several crew of the Prinsendam were subjected to the judgment of the Sea King and his mermaid Queen. We cheered for the vile pollywogs (who have not crossed the equator before) as they had to kiss the dead fish (yes, a real one) and then were lathered in jello, sauce, lettuce, whipped cream…all kinds of gross foods. Some were allowed to clean off in the pool and some were subjected to sitting in the hot sun and baking! Yech. But in the end, they are now shellbacks and all are guaranteed a safe passage and smooth waters.

Tom Pepper, comedian, was the entertainer and the Filipino Crew Show was at 11PM (after their working hours). It was a fabulous show and they work so hard after-hours to make it come together.