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I had previously cruised the Orient Line's Marco Polo in Europe and decided it might be more than worthwhile to visit South America and the Amazon on this pleasant vessel again. I chose back to back cruises, the first of which started in Buenos Aires while the second was from Manaus to the Barbados. This 27-day cruise promised to be better than usual since we would be visiting Rio at the tail end of their carnival week. I decided to spend a few days in Miami then fly direct to Argentina five days early to enjoy the summer in the southern hemisphere. Buenos Aires has always been a most hospitable city and I expected no less this trip. Buenos Aires has seemed to become a more enjoyable city everytime I visit it. Perhaps its change from the most expensive city in South America to its current state of one of the continent's cheapest cities has something to do with it ... at least for the visitor with American dollars where the exchange rate is approximately three to one versus the former unrealistic government pegged rate at one peso to one dollar. Now one wants to spend money as the value in return is so high. While in the city, I not only attempted to visit outlying areas such as Tigre and its delta site which is reputed to be the world's second largest delta, but I attended the polished tango shows at places like the intimate Taconeando and made an effort to visit the nighttime neighborhood milonga (dancehalls) to see how the portenos manage the tango. It was most enjoyable. Feb 21. Buenos Aires departure 1800. The lights of the large city were discernable for a long time; however, one has to attend to the dining business on the first night and I chose the late seating which I found out later was a poor choice. I had excellent tablemates, four of which were from the United Kingdom; however, I did mange to switch to the early seating on the second voyage and suddenly all the activities I wanted to participate in became much easier and I could still get a good night's sleep. So much for late seating. Feb 22. Montevideo 0800-1800. The older looking city of Montevideo has its charm but on a Sunday only the overall sights of the city were available. Since I had been here many times in the past, I am much focused and toured by taxi. Feb 23. At sea. Getting reacquainted with the ship was easy enough. It really is a small ship and there are very few surprises. It is comfortable and seemed to have an exceptionally pleasant group of passengers ... many of whom are repeaters on the Marco Polo. Feb 24. At sea. I tend to try all the activities onboard so I never find much time on my hands. It does make it a bit busy but I like it that way. The ship, for the most part, has enough going all the time except in the evenings when, for instance, one wants to dance only to find out that neither of the two bands is available. But that is a minor consideration. Feb 25. Rio de Janeiro arrival at 0900. Early in the morning, at about 0600, I want topside only to see the Queen Mary 2 loitering in the estuary. I had understood that she was to depart the night before so it was a welcome surprise to see her in daylight as she departed the marvelous port of Rio de Janeiro. Apparently she was waiting for us to get into position where everyone could get photos of our ship with Sugar Loaf in the background. At least this was the purported reason we passed starboard to starboard instead of port to port. She was a grand view and sort of historic as this was her inaugural voyage from Southampton. We loudly anwered her whistled greetings and it was a memorable passing. We stayed overnight in Rio and were able to see some of the Carnival spirit with even a Samba group coming onboard the ship to provide a good show of their rocking rhythms. Unfortunately, there was a lot of rain and low clouds to contend with on both days so the photos will all be disappointing for the passengers. Nevertheless, the city is exciting in whatever weather. Feb 26. Departed Rio 1700 after all the usual city investigations, swimming at the famous beaches and even trying to see something from Corcovado. Incidentally, a new escalator/elevator arrangement has been completed to allow visiters to omit walking the 220 steps or so that previously had to be climbed to reach the statue of Christ the Redeemer at the 2400' level. It does make a difference. Feb 27. Another good chance to enjoy the ship at sea when such activities as line and ballroom lessons are provided by a sensational couple from South Africa, Thabo and Sophia. They also demonstrated their competition level skills at a number of evening performances. It is hard to overstate their contribution to the cruise experience. Feb 28. At sea. A good chance to try the postage-sized swimming pool but the least motion of the ship has the water swooshing wildly from one side to the other. Everyone seems to be out on the deck somewhere enjoying the sunny weather. Feb 29. Recife 0900-1800. The twin cities of Recife, where the downtown is located, and Olinda, where the old colonial buildings are still visible, makes for a nice visit for the cruise passengers. The surprise is that there is a Carnival Parade as this particular Sunday is the time for all the police and military to enjoy themselves as they have been working throughout the week and could not participate in the fun. The festivities include a Samba Dance competition right on the main street located along the waterfront and a nice beach in which I swam in up to the reef. Mar 1-3. At sea. We crossed the equator going north to the entrance to the Amazon then turned southwest to cross it again as we proceeded upstream. One has heard of the enormous distance of the mouth of the Amazon that is in excess of 150 miles so one is not prepared to find that the entire journey is within sight of both sides of the river as the channel that is followed is constantly between islands in its lower course and averages five miles in width in its middle course. There is no sense as to how wide the estuary is nor how many tributaries and distributaries there might be. Very curious. The Amazon is coffee colored because of all the sediments it contains. Occasionally, a tributary such as the Tapajos or the Rio Negro that carries clearer water will join it and that makes an interesting "meeting of the waters" where the two bodies of different characteristics will travel downstream quite a distance before fully merging. Upon entering the Amazon, the ship emptied the swimming pool and did not refill it until after we left the river. There was no reason given except the word was that the water was too contaminated for use. It was unfortunate as that was where the pool could best be used. The weather was typically hot and humid and the river had no motion to cause the pool to build up any wave action. Maybe Orient Line should cover up the pool entirely and make a usable dance floor that could also be used for outdoor dining. They could use the room and quit pretending they have a pool. Mar 4. Santarem 1300-2100. Santarem is located at the juncture of the Tapajos River from the south and the Amazon River. It services the huge region to the south and the single through road to Cuiaba some 800 miles to the south. It is a principal shipping port for soybeans and lumber products. It has a population of about 170,000 and quite an array of river boats service the city. I toured by taxi with one of the stops on a hill that afforded a good view of the city and the meeting of the waters where the Amazon and Tapajos joined forces. The muddy Amazon is not considered desirable for swimming as it harbors parasites; however, some of its more than 1,000 tributary rivers such as the Rio Negro and the Tapajos apparently are not considered as dangerous and swimming is witnessed at a few nice beaches such as Alter do Chao some ten miles west of Santarem. Mar 5. Boca de Valeria 0800-1400. Boca de Valeria is a small village at the mouth of the Valeria River where it joins the Amazon. Although the village has a relatively few families living there, more homes are located up the lazy streams nearby. The inhabitants are reported to be Portuguese descendents who intermarried with local Indians. Known as Caboclos, they number perhaps 300 and primarily fish and raise chickens and pigs. Only less than a handful of cruise ships stop here so the village is not yet inured to the tourist vices although they have learned to dress up and have their pictures taken for a dollar. In fact, it seems everything is priced at a dollar. There is a single little bar in the village that sells beer for either two dollars or two reals (approx 70 cents) so you see the real appreciation of the dollar may not have sunk in entirely. We got our first chance to see some pink dolphin just offshore of the village. There were precious few sightings however and except for turtles there was not much to see in the waters of Amazonia from the ship. Mar 6. Manaus. Arrive 0900. We will have three days in Manaus, an unusually long stay, and it should be easy for everyone to get their taste of life in Amazonia. Of course, a city tour, which was furnished by the ship, visited the celebrated Opera House and the other historic places around town and provided an overall view of this rather large urban area which has over one and a half million inhabitants. Of course, the city is centered on its waterfront. Mar 7. Manaus is situated on the Rio Negro just upstream of its entrance to the Amazon or Solimoes River as it is called in this section. The Rio Negro, as its name implies, is a darker river that is purported to have acidic qualities that keep parasites from infesting the waters. It is also the second largest river in the world, next to the Amazon, in volume of water that it moves. People do swim in the river and I had to give it a try. It was very warm and not particularly noteworthy but I enjoyed it. I swam at Ponta Negra which is the area's most popular beach and is located near the Tropical Hotel, some ten miles west of the city, which is itself much worthwhile to visit. It has a small but well maintained zoo which is run by the military, presumably to instruct its members as to what a jaguar and capybara look like, and it is free to the public. There also is a floatplane facility at the hotel's private beach which I should imagine would provide a great view of the meeting of the waters and the nearby picturesque Rio Negro delta. (Manaus Photos) Mar 8. A number of passengers took excursions into the rainforest in the region and a few who joined the ship in Manaus reported enjoying an upstream river camp for a couple of days. Only twelve cruise ships will visit Manaus this season so there is much local interest in each visit. The city presented a fabulous dance show right at the terminal for the cruise passengers complete with fire dancers. The terminal, incidentally, is outfitted with a clever floating pier that can handle ships through a rise and fall of forty-five feet in river level. A series of dates is painted on the wall of the waterfront to indicate the high water marks of each year and it makes quite a strong statement. Manaus departure 1900. We fortunately departed just before sunset and were able to see the interesting meeting of the waters of the Rio Negro and Solimoes from the higher deck of the ship. There was no announcement of this occurrence and unfortunately most of the passengers were already inside and getting ready for dinner. See the next article for a short discussion of the next voyage of the Marco Polo. REFERENCES: Three Perfect Days in Buenos Aires (1999). Buenos Aires Perfect Three Day Map. Three Perfect Days in Rio de Janeiro (2001). Rio de Janeiro Perfect Three Day Map. General Cruise Information. Travel Articles by the Author.  |
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