Ola from Brazil

We arrived in Manaus, Brazil around midnight on Sunday.  Our flights were smooth and on-time, thankfully.  Our hotel in Manaus was full of Seabourn passengers arriving from different places all over the world to join the cruise.  Many of the passengers are cruising from Manaus to Buenos Aires to experience the Amazon and ports along the northern coast of South America.  Other passengers, like ourselves, are continuing on to Antarctica, Patagonia and around the coast of Chile.  As always, the passengers are well traveled and so interesting to talk to. 

We were thrilled to be back on a Seabourn ship again and to re-unite with a few passengers and crew members that we met when we did our world cruise last year.  As we boarded the ship on Monday, we were greeted by our Cruise Director, Jan Stearman, who we sailed with last year.  Later in the evening we saw Elise, the lead singer in the house band, and Dimitri, the musical director, and we were delighted to re-unite with them.  They entertained us all over the globe on our last cruise.  It's great to be around these talented entertainers again.

Settling in to the good life!

On Tuesday, we took a river tour out of Manaus to see where the Rio Negro River and the Solimoes River converge and continue as the mighty Amazon River.  The confluence of the dark water of the Rio Negro flowing down from the north meeting the muddy water of the Solimoes flowing from Peru is a is a very distinct natural phenomenon.  Because of the difference in the temperature, speed of the current and density of these two rivers, they run side by side for many miles. The difference in the temperature between the two sides can be felt by placing one hand in the dark water and the other hand in the muddy water.

Approaching the confluence

Rio Negro River on left and Solimoes River on right

Another amazing phenomenon of the Amazon is the change in the level of the river between the dry season (June to November) and the wet season (December to May).  Because so many rivers and tributaries feed into the Amazon, the level fluctuates an average of 30 feet, thus the houses and buildings are up on stilts and all the docks are floating docks along the riverside.  On our tour, we hiked into the jungle for about a mile along a trail.  That same trail is a canoe trail during the rainy season.  It is hard believe that the river level fluctuates that much.

Giant lily pads in jungle lake

Hiking trail in dry season/canoe trail in rainy season



Pier on stilts and floating dock during dry season

Of course, the weather is very hot here.  Fortunately, we were acclimatized somewhat because it has been so hot back home in Florida.  Lucky for us the bugs are not too bad here during the dry season so we have not had to contend with that issue so far.

From Manaus, we will continue east towards the mouth of the Amazon (about 1,000 miles) stopping at Santarem, a small port city, then on to Fortaleza.

We are enjoying our Brazilian cultural immersion, including the national drink of Brazil -- caipirinhas.