Random thoughts from the sea
Day 60, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023; Manaus, Brazil. After cruising about a thousand miles up the Amazon River, I was surprised by the city of Manaus. I expected a sleepy river town, dominated by an opera house seeming out of place. Instead, I found
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Day 58, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023; Parintins, Brazil It’s all about the Boi-Bombá in Parintins. Each summer thousands travel here for this folklore song and dance festival, older than Carnival and one of the largest festivals in Brazil. As we are not here in
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Day 53, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023; Fortaleza, Brazil With Brazil’s population of 200-plus million people, I shouldn’t be surprised that it contains some big cities. Today’s port of Fortaleza is another one, with three million people, give or take. Its long stretch of beach,
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Day 50, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023; Salvador de Bahia, Brazil Salvador, the fourth largest city in Brazil, welcomed me with a fun tour of the lower city that included a sacred church, beaches (of course!), art and markets selling food and handcrafts. Unfortunately, the
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Day 48, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023; Armação dos Búzios, Brazil Some describe Armação dos Búzios as a bit of St. Tropez on the Brazilian coast near Rio de Janeiro, with its cobblestone streets and beach-side restaurants and bars. To me it seems more like
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Days 46- 47, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 21-22, 2023; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil If “grand” describes Buenos Aires, then “electric” describes Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for me. I would say the city comes alive, but then, when is it not alive? Our sail-in wasn’t
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Day 45, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Monday, Nov. 20, 2023; Santos, Brazil If you set the bar for expectations fairly low, you are likely to exceed it. I would say that describes my day in Santos, Brazil. As I wrote at the end of my last post, Holland
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Day 42, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Friday, Nov. 17, 2023; Buenos Aires, Argentina Were I to describe Buenos Aires in one word, it would be “Grand.” Sure, other words apply – lively, colorful, bustling, eclectic, exciting, vibrant. But this is a city of grand boulevards, grand statues, grand
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Day 40; 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023; Montevideo, Uruguay After 10 days at sea, everyone was glad to arrive in a port – and a warm one at that. Just a few days ago we were shivering in sub 20-degree temperatures with stiff winds. This
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Day 39, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023; At Sea, Atlantic Ocean Never pick a cruise just because of a single port, and you won’t be disappointed when the unexpected happens. Ports do get canceled, usually due to weather but also political unrest. I can’t say
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