DAY 57--AT SEA

Here we are at noon today.  The Captain just made her noon PA with the following information.  It is currently 84F and the ocean temperature is the same.  Winds are out of the northeast at 20 knots causing some waves of only 4 feet.  Our ride today is good again.  At 2:30 pm we will be crossing the Equator.  We should formally enter the Amazon River at 5:00 am tomorrow and arrive at Macapa by 4:00 pm to pick up our river pilots.  She also said the GI problem has stablilized (I think that means no new reported cases).  We have to not have a case for 72 hours before returning to normal service operations.

THE AMAZON RIVER
        As we are spending seven days on the Amazon River traveling 900 miles up to Manaus then back.  I thought I should devote a whole posting to this amazing river.  It was definitely a highlight of our 2012 South America cruise.  We will be entering the river tomorrow at 5:00 am.
        If you measure a river by the amount of water it discharges, the Amazon River is the largest in the world.  In fact, it discharges more water into to ocean than the next seven largest rivers in the world combined.  The Amazon basin is the largest drainage basin in the world covering over 2.7 million square miles.  That’s 40% of South America.  Over 3000 tributary rivers flow into and feed the Amazon.  Ten of the largest 20 rivers in the world are in Amazon basin.  The Amazon is also the second longest river in the world at over 4000 miles..  The Nile is 75 miles longer.  However there is still a dispute over which is longer, Amazon or Nile.  Rivers in Peru, Ecuador, and Columbia feed the Amazon so you could almost say the Amazon spans the width of South America.  20% of the world’s fresh water flows into the ocean with 11 million cubic feet PER SECOND flowing into the Atlantic.  This is an amazing river!!!


Map showing Amazon River (blue) and its drainage basin (darker green).  The basin is roughly the size of the 48 contiguous States.  Map courtesy Wikipedia.

        The mouth of the main stem of the Amazon at the Atlantic Ocean is 50 miles wide but the Amazon estuary is 200 miles wide.  During dry season the river is between 1 to 6 miles wide but during wet season expands 30 miles or more.  Also during rainy season the river rises 30 feet and floods the forests lining the river.  Now is their rainy season.
        The main river is navigable for large ships up to Manaus, the largest city on the river.  That is where we are going and will turn around there.  More about Manaus in a few days.  There is a host of mammals, snakes, fish, and microbes living in the Amazon.  One I definitely do not want to meet up with is the anaconda, one of the world’s largest snakes.  Also present in large numbers is the infamous piranha.  No swimming in river for me.  I remember in 2012 I tried to get Rebecca to go for a “dip”.  Just jokingly!! This year we will be looking out for "boto", also known as the Amazon River dolphin.  It is the largest species of river dolphin and can grow to lengths of 8 1/2 feet.  The color of their skin changes with age;  young ones are grey, then change to pink before they change to white as they mature.  We may also see some "caiman" which look like alligators.  One of the Manaus excursions goes looking for them.
        Large tracks of the rainforest on south side of the river have conversially been cleared so soybeans and corn can be grown.  The grain is trucked to the river for loading on cargo ships.  You will see a photo of this.
        We will not be seeing any of the indigenous people of the Amazon as they have been moved into reservations for their safety further away from the river.  In past history some of these tribes were know to be head hunters and shrinkers.  There are some people living along the river called "caboclo" but they are not the native indigenous folks.  The caboclo people are a mix of Portuguese, African, and indigenous due to interbreeding over the years.  You will see photos of them in a few days.

What We Did Last Night and Today:
        Last night there were six entrees listed on the Compass Rose dinner menu.  We chose the grilled fresh salmon with a Beurre Blanc sauce.  It was out of this world!!!  Asked it to be rare and came out a perfect medium rare and very moist and tasty.  For the appetizer I had shell pasta with baby clams in a creamy champagne sauce.  Yummy too!  Are you hungry now?  I better not tell about my dessert.
        The show featuring a singer from London, Samatha Ivey, was I think the best guest entertainer we have had so far on the whole cruise.  You will see her photo from show on my link at end of this.
        OK, Rebecca and I have decided we need to stop eating so much and to eat better foods.  So we will have room service salads for lunch instead of going up to the buffet.  Buffets are just too tempting.  Rebecca already never has breads or desserts but I am going to do that now also.  Will be eating more proteins instead.
        BAD NEWS AGAIN!  The ship has gone back on "code red 2" status due to ANOTHER outbreak of the GI bug.  We have spent about half of our cruise so far with the restrictions associated with this code.  It has basically ruined our cruise!  So far we have not had the gastro-intestional bug but life aboard is not enjoyable any more.  Rebecca made a comment last night which I agree with.  We have never been ready to get off the ship at end of any previous cruise no matter how long, BUT we are ready to get off right now.
        Ok, back to being more positive.  I'm sure you are not feeling to badly for us as we are enjoying a luxury cruise ship with great food and entertainment.  We have also met and made some good friends.
        We went earlier to the fitness center and found it basically empty so got our one hour workouts in without interruption.  It is now noon and waiting for our stewards to clean our suite before ordering our salads from room service.  Today we had two chef salads and iced tea.
        At 2:45 this afternoon there was a "Country Fair" up on pool deck.  As you will see in my photos, the crew members of the different departments set up game booths for the passengers to play. I know the crew has just as much, if not more, fun than we do.  Photos below in link.
        This evening Rebecca and I have been invited to join Jamie (cruise director) and Dana (his wife who is the assistant cruise director) for dinner.  I am taking one of our good bottles of champagne and have asked the chef for French onion soup.  Hopefully, this time it will appear!  After dinner tonight's show features Mike Sterling, another performer from the UK.  He is a singer who has performed "Phantom of the Opera" over 1000 times in the West End of London.  He has also toured and did tv shows in the UK with superstars such as; Shirley Bassey, Barry Manilow, and Engelbert Humperdinck.  This show should blow us away!!

 This is what Emily is using.  The ship has given bottles of this to all passengers to use when off ship on excursions.

 This is last night's entertainer from London, Samantha Ivey.  She has a fantastic voice and sang lots of great songs.  I think she is the best guest entertainer we have seen during the whole cruise, so far anyway.

 How to avoid being sea sick:  Method 1 is using these wrist bands.  Note the "bump" on inside of them.

 You wear them like this with the bump on inside.  It uses the acupuncture theory to somehow prevent sea sickness.  Rebecca and I sometimes use these at night while sleeping just in case it gets rough later.  I woke up in middle of the last night and put mine on.

 This is what I use if I know it will be rough sailing for a day or more.  It is a prescription patch that you wear behind an ear and VERY effective.  Side effect is drowsiness so I cut the patch in half and just wear that.  Not drowsy then and have never been sea sick.  The half patch gives me 3 days protection.  Takes 2 or 3 hours after you put it on to be effective so you have to anticipate rough seas.  Normally the Captain will provide advance notice of rough seas ahead.  Only downside is the cost.  One patch in US costs $20.  In Canada they cost around $4.

 This is the third way to avoid getting seasick.  It is a medication which you can get free at the Reception Desk.

 Just as we were crossing the Equator I looked ahead and saw some rain showers approaching.

 Sure enough at 2:25 it started raining.  The Country Fair is scheduled for 2:45 up on pool deck.

                                              Looking down at Country Fair

 Each department on the ship has a game.  Housekeeping dept's game.  Pretty sure the crew has more fun than the passengers.  Everyone enjoys it!!