Cruise to Rio de Janeiro for the Carnaval

Dugout Canoe in Ilhabela

Sunday before Fat Tuesday at the Aquaduct

Bridget Bardot in Buzios 

Towel Art on the Veendam

 x

Copocabana Beach in upper left, taken from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain

Ilhabela beach

         


Patrica and I boarded the Holland-America ship Veendam February in Ft.Lauderdale for a 27 day cruise to Rio de Janeiro in time for the Carnaval, a massive week long party the same time as Mardi Gras. We made one day visits to 8 Caribbean islands before anchoring in Belem, Brazil, at the mouth of the Amazon River.  We visited another 6 ports in Brazil before debarking in Rio de Janeiro.

I think it was on the way to Trinidad from Aruba, we saw the fraction of a second 'green flash' at the very end of the sunset, the first time for either of us, I was thrilled to finally see it after many years looking at hundreds of Ocean sunsets.  The sky was very clear all the way to the horizon, and we were at about 100 feet elevation on the stern of the Veendam. 

We took our first organized excursion after visiting several islands, in Trinidad, saw a few birds in the mountain rain forest, one a very loud bird with a percussion like call

 https://www.hbw.com/ibc/video/bearded-bellbird-procnias-averano/adult-male-calling  
      
We especially liked our driver's commentary of the island. He stopped to show us flags at a residence indicating that the owner was Hindu, another residence had some flags to indicate political affiliations.   He usually drives the van as a public transport, because there aren't many cruise ships calling at Trinidad.  We didn't often chose to pay a typical $120-$180 for the two of us for the excursions, preferred to take our scooters into the port by ourselves.  Some folks did many excursions but chose to save money by booking an inside cabin without a porthole.

We took our kick scooters in Barbados towards the public bus terminal, and for a one dollar fare rode to the hills in the middle of the Island to the Harrison Caves. While the other Islands of the Lesser Antilles chain are volcanic, Barbados is the result of uplift from the movement of the continental plates, which eventually resulted in the caves forming.  We took an electric tram down a partly tunneled road through many beautiful underground grottoes with stalagtites and stalagmites and waterfalls.

Underside of tile roof st Royal Island, next to Devil's Island

                                                Patricia in front of Devil's Island

                                 The Sambadrome in Rio, the Monday before fat Tuesday

These dancers are usually at the head of each group:   Dancers Compilation - Samba - Carnaval Brasil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1UQMNcykvY




High energy drumming:    STREET CARNIVAL DRUMMING:

 START ABOUT 3 MINUTES INTO THE CLIP
:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He4qVF-AZxQ&list=RDHe4qVF-AZxQ&start_radio=1&t=0

We burned a lot of fuel!

When I cruised and lived 15 years on my Cape George 40 Cutter, various cruise ships would dock 200 feet from my berth in Astoria Oregon, and lines of passengers would form to get on excursion buses.  With 10,000 sea miles on little boats, I thought I would never want to be like a herd of cattle, happy for my independence on my own boat. Having cruised with Holland-America, I would do it again, don't miss worrying if my anchor is holding or if the winds and seas are going to turn against me, happy to line up and get on an air conditioned bus for a ride to the center of town or an excursion to a bird sanctuary. Many sailboat owners only use their boat one month per year, but the cost of ownership is actually greater than a ticket for a month for two people, on a cruise ship.

The environmental cost is another matter, we burned 500,000 gallons of oil on our 6,000 mile trip, which for 1,300 guests was 385 gallons per person or 770 gallons burned for Patricia and I, about 7.8 miles per gallon, actually more than that, because the fuel also provided electricity and air conditioning.  That is about the same fuel consumption as my previous 18 ton sailboat when under power. For comparison, the ship is 57,000 tons displacement, which divided by 1,300 guests is 44 tons, or 88 tons per couple.  (Regrettably, I can't convert that to actual weight of the ship.)

I have studied CO2 emissions climate change for 20 years, advocate a $50 per ton carbon tax, which in the USA, would raise about $80 billion per year, which I want to be used for energy efficiency.  If cruise ships calling in US ports paid the tax, our cruise would have cost just $125 more, but the tax proceeds would go a long way towards mitigating the environmental costs, if intelligently used for efficiency improvement subsidies. 

Rio Street Party
 

xxxxxxx

They gave a great tour at the Petropolis brewery

.


Flying home after changing planes in Panama, looking down on the Caribbean entrance to the canal.  The 3 rectangular ponds recycle water, operating the new larger locks for post Panamax size ships. The locks are to the left of the ponds, and the 100 year old locks are mostly hidden by the cloud above the new locks, and above that, center, is the Gatun Dam and Chagres River that made the canal possible.
 

When I tripped over my kick scooter and broke the neck of my femur on a Petropolis cobblestone sidewalk, I was amazed at how many people stopped and wanted to help me.  I scooted on my bottom to a waiting taxi, and a half dozen folks were giving instructions to the taxi driver.  The fellow closest to me, most willing to help, had a Star of David tattoo on his left shoulder.  The  Santa Teresa hospital had a decades old X ray, but an up to date high tech operating room and friendly staff.  Fortunately my doctors spoke a little English,  and  Spanish speaking Patricia got a lot of practice speaking Portuguese.  Fortunately, Petropolis has high tech medical care at about a third the cost of USA healthcare.

I am grateful for having had the experience, with a friend