Saturday, March 4. The Salvation Islands...

Cloudy, very warm, showers..

Day 60 of 67. A week from today we fly home.

Most of you must have heard of Devil's Island, or seen the movie Papillon with Steve McQueen. 

There is a bit of a story behind the creation of this French Penal Colony and I will try and explain it for anybody reading this. Long ago, prisoners were used as oarsmen on ships, they were chained in warships, and other ships and served out their term as men below decks, rowing.

With the advent of bigger guns, the ships got bigger and they used sails. So, there was a need for somewhere to put all these bad buys seeing they did not have oars on sailing ships. The French put them in 'hulks' in ports. They were just big ugly barges that housed prisoners, they were not ships, just hulks. Eventually In 1851 it was decreed to get rid of the hulks because they were plugging up the ports. 

What to do with all these people? Let's send them to the colonies! But the real bad guys were not fit for colonization so they sent them to a group of islands off of what is now called French Guiana. Three Islands; Isle Royale, Saint-Joseph and lastly Isle du Diable, [Devil's Island in English].

The Penal Colony was opened in 1852 and it was finally closed in 1953 but they stopped sending prisoners there in 1938. Over the years 50,000 to 60,000 prisoners served time here, less than 10% survived. There were seven escapes,  but if you attempted to escape you were given two years in solitude, the next attempt, five years The conditions were brutal, but that is the way the world was in those ugly times. The English did the same thing with prisoners but they sent them to Australia.

We four went ashore around 10.00 and wandered the rough dirt and stone walking paths and several very steep stone stairs, all made by hard labour. There is now a fair amount of tourism here including some converted residences that I can only assume were for the guard and administration staff, who I believe had their families here. There were a few sailing boats in the harbour and we encountered French tourists in the cafe where we had soft drinks ashore today.

It was only two hours ashore but at the end we were all a ball of sweat and somewhat bagged. We also were very happy to get back to our Floating Air Conditioner just in time for a shower and lunch. I watched the movie Papillon, about Devil's island, in the afternoon while Fellette got her hair done and her finger nails tuned up. 

We four were here 11 years ago and there have been many, many improvements to buildings. They are really trying to build it up here and I think the space station on the mainland has made a big difference in the economy here.

Our ship arrived a bit after 7.00 AM and we hauled up anchor and left for Barbados around 6.00 PM. 

The Island group got their name 'Salvation Islands' because, prior to the Penal Colony, the settlers on the mainland went to the islands, seven miles from the coast, to escape  diseases like Malaria that were particularly bad one season so they named the Islands Salvation Islands. 

The island called Devil's Island was used to house the most famous prisoner, a french Army Colonel called Dreyfus, you may have seen the movie, 'The Dreyfus Affair' who spent 12 years here until he was proved innocent, but were only on the island called Isle Royale today. 

The French have a space rocket base on the mainland and when they send off a rocket the islands are evacuated, I have no idea how many people live here but it must be somewhere in the 50 range I would think and tourism is suspended. They get about 50,000 visitors a year to the islands and the space station.

That was the scene at the tender landing spot at the pier. Exactly at the spot the unlucky prisoners came ashore, most to never leave.

The ships doctor and nurse set up for the day for dehydration and injuries from twisted ankles I assume. The Doc. Looks a bit warm doesn't he?

At the start of our trek.

Not sure what this is the remains of.

An isolation cell, for one man.

Some monkeys were playing around today.

After a bit of heat and exertion.

A French Fanta was the drink today for most of us.

Friday, March 3. In the open seas again...

Cloudy, very warm, the ocean is in motion, periodic showers. 

The second sea day and we are enjoying it. Tomorrow, Devil's Island, or more properly The Salvation Islands, one of the three in the group is called Devil's Island. No tours there as you can walk around it in less than an hour. Located seven miles off the coast of French Guiana.   

PS.  I have always been confused with: French Guiana, Guinea, & Guyna. And Suriname, right next to French Guiana, where Devil's Island is.  Who knew?

After we leave there we have three islands in The Caribbean and then two sea days and home. So, for me at least, after we come back on board, The Adventure is over. A week tomorrow and we are home, whatever the weather may be, it is home.

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Today I took a tour of the storage and kitchen area, or at least part of the kitchen. Fellette has a bit of a cough still so she went to the talk on Egypt and the Pharaohs.

Right now we are having about the roughest seas we have had the whole trip. Rougher than Cape Horn, which was almost a lake. I have a theory that seems ridiculous but I will throw it out there: We have left the South Atlantic and the Southern Hemisphere where they are having their summer. We are now in the Northern Hemisphere and in the North Atlantic, in winter! What do you think of that for utter nonsense.

When we awoke this morning, the water was still muddy although we had been out in the Atlantic for several hours. The Amazon is said to dump about 100,000,000 cubic feet of sediment a day into the ocean, so that accounts for muddy ocean. I find that figure staggering but it has been mentioned twice here in talks.

Tonight was a Formal Night so we four got gussied up and had a pre-dinner drink in the Crow's Nest and then down for a delicious dinner, with wine compliments of the captain. 

It was a fitting end to a great day and almost the end of the cruise. There is one more Formal night, one day out of Fort Lauderdale but most of the packing will be done that day and we may not be so gussied up.

The kitchen tour today...

In the crews recreation area, at least the Muslim and Philippine members area. We all felt uneasy in there, we did not know it was the crew's recreation area when we went in.

They have a person designated to the fresh flowers on the ship. Flowers are everywhere. 

Cool room for vegetables and fruit.

Beverage storage.

Soup kettles. It thoroughly disrupts the kitchen to have us come trapping through. It all has to be sterilized after we go and we cannot be in an area where there is active food preparation going on for sanitary reasons. What if somebody sneezed in there???

Who are these lovely people? Piña Coladas, two for one.

Happy girls...

Thursday, March 2. Out to sea again...

Cloudy, windy, hot, rain, clearing.

This written just before dinner and the sun will soon be gone and we will have seen the last of the Amazon. When we pull the curtains open tomorrow morning, we will be heading NW in the Atlantic towards what is commonly called Devil's Island, although it is a group of three islands in fact.

Today was a Rest and Recuperation day for us and many others. It may be hard for you to imagine, but in this Floating Retirement Home, five days in ports in a row has it's toll on people our age: up earlier, out in the open exploring unknown territory and actually having to think on your own without Uncle HAL looking after your every need.

Somehow, the day passed and we did rest up some but there was not much happening other than the Crossing The Equator Ceremony at 10:00 AM and two talks by onboard presenters. We have already crossed the equator three times but the ship chooses the day and it was today. We did not attend as we have seen it endless times and it was very hot at the time and very crowded. 

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A short observation on people and personalities...

We had dinner with a new couple the other night and she commented on her 15 year old grandson. She indicated that he had a 'Corrective personality' I had never heard that phrase before but instantly understood what she meant.  Some people will correct you on little, seemingly minor issues like pronunciation or your wrong choice of a word.

To me that steers the conversation in a different direction. To them it is just  ingrained in their personality and has to be verbally expressed. Interesting observation.

If I understand and accept to above premise that 'That that is just the way they are built',  then it helps me to understand other types of 'personalities', for lack of the proper word.

There is a single woman on board, divorced I believe, who seems to crave attention. She will hog the guide on a tour, ask most of the questions and seems to always be the centre of attraction by her constant need to be seen. She has breakfast in her stateroom each morning and loves it, and the little bouquet of flowers that comes with it. She possibly will have some special thing at her table every night to show that she is special. Who knows, on a special diet so that she gets tomorrow's menu shown to her the day before so she can order from it. (Conjecture on my part.) So that is just the way she is built. 

There is a at least one couple on board, Dutch or German, who when getting on a bus take two window seats. They seem to think that is their right and there is no point arguing about it, not that I would, but some others certainly would.

They are also unaware or could not give a damn about others. I think that is where the word boor came from, from the Dutch word Boer. When sitting in the Showroom waiting for the show to start, most people talk in somewhat subdued voices, not him, he has a very deep, loud, guttural voice. I feel like I am in a concentration camp. Oh well, that is just the way God made them, don't get in a sweat. 

On the other hand...On board we have some people who are an inspiration to me/us, for example...

There is a gent on board who has extreme difficulty in walking and getting around, he uses a walker. We had a dinner with him, he asked if he could join us. His name is Larry. He had a massive stroke about 12 years ago that left him with all his muscles partly destroyed and unable to strengthen them. 

He has the most positive attitude towards life and insists on doing most of simple issues, like getting food to his table, on his own. We would seek him out to be with again. I found him very interesting to talk to and inspiring to be with.

Then there is a woman, about 45, who requires a wheel chair to get around but can walk a short distance. We believe she may have Cerebal Palsy, not sure. What an inspiration she is, always a smile, dresses very very smartly and always pleasant to talk to. She will joke about her issue and we go out of our way to continue to be inspired. 

Lastly there is a couple, who the woman of the pair, about 45?, is permanently bound to a wheel chair, it is impossible for here to walk. She must weigh less than 100 # and he carries her whenever we get in a tender. They are also very considerate of others and he makes sure that they do not hold up others more fit. When getting on a tender, he will physically cradle her in his arms and carry her down and up the stairs, always the last to get on or off.  We have chatted with them and they have a very positive attitude about their lot in life, they do not mix socially a lot but are pleasant to be with. 

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I wrote this because I have had some time to reflect on the cruise as it comes to an end and we have rubbed shoulders and met people infinitely more than we ever do at home. Several years ago, some of the negative types aboard would bother me greatly and I would wonder why I could not get along with them. 

It has taken me the better part of 80 years to realize that I don't have a problem, they do! I owe some of this correction in my attitude towards people and acceptance of their faults to my good friend Jim Cutler whom we have traveled with many times and he always seems to be positive under rough people circumstances and continues to be an inspiration to me in that regard. 

As a general statement, the good outnumber the bad by a ratio of about 20 to 1!

Wednesday, March 1. Our last days in the Amazon...

Cloudy, very very hot. 

The ship is anchored about a kilometre from the town of Parantis and the only reason we are here is to see a version of a local festival called a Boi-Bumba show.  

We got on the local tender boat around 10.00 and when ashore it was about 90 F and after a quick scan of the markets we spent some time trying to get in touch with Wally on a matter. I had to phone Craig to get Wally to phone me. Crazy phone system here. Jim and Gail meanwhile had a quick tour of the town on a pedal cab.

We got into the venue for the Boi-Bumba show where they supplied unlimited drinks with a name I cannot spell. Fellette and I were located at the back left in the stands and a few feet from the bar so that was convenient. It also enabled me to get out of the seat and try to get better photos. However, the camera cannot do justice to the over-the-top costumes and the bombastic atmosphere in there. And, the  music never stopped for one hour. Fellette and I were enthralled by the energy of the youthful dancers, we have never seen anything like it and, as  I said, some of the costumes were almost beyond imagination. 

Apparently this thing is part of a local competition that started as a result of two farmers who had a feud and as the years went on the feud was forgotten and it turned into part of the towns culture. Two teams compete and it is taken very, very seriously.

We then took the short walk to the ship and next thing we were on board, showered, ate
and in the Showroom to get briefed on our last four remains ports of call

We are now headed  for the great Atlantic Ocean and salt water again for the first time in about six days. Next stop, Devil's Island, but we have two days sailing before we get there. The ship will make fresh water again when we get to sea so we will send our laundry in then. We have been on short water rations since we entered the Amazon because the silt plugs up the fresh water making apparatus. 

It was interesting this morning watching the Amazon boats tender us to shore. This is obviously a requirement of the town as the ship can tender us and I am sure that Holland America would prefer to use their own tenders to control safety concerns, etc. 

The current on the river is about three or four knots so they had to approach from downriver and slowly pull alongside and catch the anchored ship and then secure their lines to it. This ship's crew will assist us into the tenders and getting ashore, the Amazon boat's responsibility will only be to man their boat. It's all about the money and local employment I assume.

Ashore and raring to go. Those were the type of boats we used today for the short ride to shore. 

Our tenders for the day, very nice and comfortable, breezy.

This is certainly Brazil. Brash and noisy...

These scouts greeted us and were practising their English on us I think. Fellette was a Lord-High-Mucky-Muck in Scouting so I took a group shot of them all.

This was part of the mechanized apparatus used during the show.

It is hard to tell where the human body starts in these costumes.

I am not sure where all the feathers come from nowadays, anything is possible.

Have you noticed how my much younger wife likes these young Native Boys? They came and picked people and the crew did a dance with them.

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I am writing this blog on our deck outside type cabin in late afternoon. The muddy waters of the Amazon are zipping by us and as I look out, about 1/2 mile away, is the start of the low trees of the forest/jungle going to and endless horizon, and left to right as well.

This view will soon be interrupted by a return to a more common outlook of civilization and reality. I also think to myself, in all reality, this will likely be the last time we see this little spot in the world. 

On that note I will sign off for the day.

Tuesday, February 28. Busy day here...

Cloudy, warm.
Today was very busy for us here today. There was really three highlights today. First there was an Indigenous village tour, next was a Rubber plantation tour and finally we had a quick tour of the famous Manaus Opera House near the end of the day.

I will skip the rubber plantation thing for the sake of the internet and brevity.

First was the village: It is the only and permanent home of about 45 natives from near Columbia of the Cipia Tribe. They settled  here, about 30 miles up the Rio Negro for some untold reason. The kids go to school via a School Boat but they live in their traditional homes and abide by their own native customs. 

We were greeted by the chief and then all the dancers, male and female, about 20 of them, came and shook hands will all 29 of us from the ship. [I must say I was not sure what to do with my hand after that episode!] 

There was then a few dances by the men alone and then the men and women, including young boys and girls. The photographic conditions inside their large grass covered longhouse were terrible. So no pictures of semi-naked women, so sorry.

The women were topless and obviously felt more comfortable about that then I did. The last dance  they performed was with audience participation and I did not want to appear to be impolite so when a young girl with perky breasts approached me, how could I refuse? So, about 40 of us did this little shuffle in and out of the longhouse before they posed for a group shot and then we were given a tour of the village.

But that was not before we had a chance to buy some of their handiwork. All the way from little blow guns, beads, feather headdresses, Jaguar fanged necklaces to anaconda skin masks. Wow, what a choice.

When our Torpedo Boat arrived home to the ship an hour early we decided to take a quick run to the Opera House. So, 10 minutes after we got back to the ship we were on the dock and took the ship's shuttle to the port gate and piled into a taxi and in 10 minutes we were at the Opera House. Within 2 minutes a guide had adopted us and we had a quick but thorough tour of this gem of a place, built in 1898 after 12 years of construction. 

The place was built to show off the money and opulence that the rubber boom had brought to Manaus. Marble from Italy, glass from Venice and so on and so on. It is in remarkable condition and they still have performances in it, regularly.

After our whirlwind tour of the place our guide offered to take us back to the ship. So, and hour and a half after getting back from a five hour Torpedo Boat tour to a village and a rubber plantation we had also visited the opera house and were back on board ready for a shower. The ship sailed at 4.00 for the return journey to the Atlantic Ocean with one stop in Parintins for six hours tomorrow.

The Village:

The village boys

We bought a souvenir from this young woman.

This young man was too good looking not to photograph.

Home! Seriously. 

All aboard!

This photo was taken at the rubber plantation.

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The Opera House:

It is as well kept inside as it is outside. 12 years to build, finished in 1898.

It is impossible to convey the real opulence of the place on a camera. The Rubber Barrons were ruthless employers, the slave trade was just recently over by then and they treated the employees like slaves. Sad story.

It is hard to believe that this existed 120 years ago, up the Amazon 800 miles. The city still has many grand old decaying buildings of that era, some as in good shape as the Opera House 

Taken at the balcony of the Opera House.

A Lego model of the place.

Another view from the balcony. The blue building was a rubber Barron's residence.