Timmer's 2023 Grand South America Cruise

 When I checked on the hot water situation in our stateroom yesterday, there was hot water around 7:15pm, but by 10pm it was once again gone and still only barely lukewarm at 7am.  However, around 9:15am a plumber came by and the water was once again hot, and I mean very hot.  Also it appeared that the air conditioning fan was now blowing cold air and the room temperature was dropping from 24ºC to 22 which was a welcome relief.   The interdenominational bible study was a sharing time today and we had some interesting testimonies.  Richard Watkins gave another of his excellent presentations on Parintins: Festival and Folklore at an unusual time of 9:30am. His presentation was essentially about the Boi Bumba  Festival held there.  As a result of the presentation, we decided to book the HAL excursion to the presentation which we also saw back in 2019.  There's really not much else in the little town but the presentation and we extensively walked the ...

 We were about a half an hour late in docking in Fortaleza today because of a delayed pilot pickup and the need to move a ship from our berth and a pretty significant swell.  I watched our arrival from the railing on deck 3 as the ship came into the harbor past the breakwater and pivoted counter clockwise to be able to snuggle up to the berth on the ship's starboard or right side.  The tide levels were a bit strange which required a reset of the gangway from the A deck to Deck 1.  A deck was below the pier level which is a difficult location to set up the gangway. To give some perspective, Fortaleza is a city of some 4 million people in the city and surrounding suburbs.  The area is is an area where there are two seasons, rainy and dry.  There is little crop growing areas except there seems to be a penchant for cashews.  Fortaleza means "strength". Our group assembled in the Ocean Bar and when we were cleared we all headed off the ship, across the pier...

 It continued to be a quiet sea overnight.  The water system was tuned off over night for maintenance, and the water was back on this morning.  However, our stateroom did not have hot water so no showers were taken.  After our customary interdenominational Bible study, we enjoyed a coffee chat with Jeremy and Benjamin Sack, the resident artist who is teaching drawing classes.  His pencil drawings are brilliant and his classes are very full.  I found him a bit evasive in some of his answers to Jeremy's direct questions like how did you get started on a cruise ship or what was your education & training? Bosco did an excellent presentation on A Brazilian Link Between Medieval Europe and the New World.  And Richard Watkins followed up with his first talk on the Amazon (The Amazon River & Forest).  It was brilliant. Climate regions of Brazil A happy sloth Brazil Nuts Three types of forest environment In his noon announcement the Captain made no...

After another short night, we found ourselves at sea on the way to Fortaleza which is two sea days away from Salvador.  It's located northeast of Recife and just before the Amazon. While it's a Sunday, we missed the interdenominational service as it conflicted with Jeremy's coffee chat with the singers and dancers and their production head.  With such a long cruise, there are 10 shows they need to learn and perform on this voyage.  Plus they are learning 5 additional shows that will be performed on the Grand Australia cruise which departs two weeks after we reach Fort Lauderdale on December 19.  Essentially they all have a very long contract with two Grand Voyages and a two week break at Christmas to be home before boarding the Volendam in San Diego. Christmas decorations are starting to now show up around the ship.  Below is the first Christmas tree I've spotted. Bosco gave a nice presentation on the National Rhythm of Brazil.  Richard Watson followed up w...

We arrived on time just before 8am in Salvador which was a former capitol city of Brazil.  It is Brazil's city with the highest number of people of African descent from the slaves that were brought over here by the Portuguese. We were alerted to be on high awareness of pickpockets and the like and to avoid the African Emphasis parade being held in the city starting at 2pm.  With a 9am excursion, I had my group meet in the Ocean Bar at 8:45 and most were there at 8:30 and they pressured me to be able to leave early which I did and it was a mistake.  4-5 others arrived at 8:45 and were put in a panic as I wasn't there.  I was properly chastised and I'll not leave early again. We met our guid, Fabio, with DoBrazilRight.com and I alerted him to what we had been told about the parade.  He indicated that the parade route would not impact us.  We'd later see that wasn't totally correct. Because of the heat, the excursion was split into two parts: the morning part ...

 Today on this needed sea day it was a time to rest up after a very busy two days in Rio and then our long walk in Búzios.  After our morning interdenominational Bible study and breakfast, we checked into our muster station for the 3rd and last time on this voyage.  This check in met the international safety requirements.  I was able also to take some pictures of the Black Boobie birds as they searched for flying fish that were disturbed by our bow wake.  At 11am Bosco from Oi Brasil gave a World Stage presentation on Salvador which he described as the most African of all Braliian cities.  We have an excursion there tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing if I can spot some of the things he was talking about.   Just before lunch some folks on my excursions asked me what pills I was taking to have the energy level I seem to be showing.  I assured them that I'm not on any such medications, but I do admit that I can be a bit energetic and adventur...