I am not a sailor. I can ride a horse for weeks on end, but waves? Not really. I wear acupressure bands and pop an occasional Dramamine. I do not stagger like a drunk, I’m walking a straight line and the boat is staggering under me. There’s a difference. But so far, praise His holy name, I have not been really uncomfortable, let alone green.
As I write this the wind is 30 knots with driving rain. When the wind really gets up there, it does not raise huge wind waves, it flattens them out. It’s a curious phenomenon.
This is considered the wet season. Fortunately for us tourists, but unfortunately for Mother Nature, there has been very little wet and our days have been sunny and not even all that hot. The forest could really use the rain, and it is late coming.
Yesterday and today, however, we have been blessed with wind and rain. We are out on the high seas thirty to fifty miles from land, making way from the mouth of the Amazon to Salvador in Brazil, so the only folks discomfited are those who want to lie out in the sun by the swimming pool and assume dark colours.
[Sidebar: A guide in Belize told us that there is a local tree there called the Tourist Tree. When sunlight hits the bark, it turns red, and then it peels.]
We passed over the Amazon Bar around 5:30 pm last night. Rather like the infamous Columbia River Bar, this one consists of a ridge of sand deposited by the vast river where it meets the ocean currents. We draw about 26 ft and clear the bar by 18 ft or so. At drinks before dinner, we agreed that at 5:30 we would all jump up into the air at the same time, mayhap to lighten Queen Victoria’s load so that she rode a little higher. You know. Just to make sure.
We were too drunk to follow up on the idea.
Or maybe not drunk enough.
We did, however, keep a close eye out for whales. The river bar alters currents and causes an upwelling in the area, which in turn brings nutrients to the surface, which attracts whales. We didn’t see any.
When I talked about having to get gussied up for dinner, you might draw the conclusion that the passengers and crew here are a snooty lot of class-conscious fops. Absolutely not. Everyone is open and friendly with everyone else. We have passengers from 34 sovereign countries, although Britain and the US are by far most numerous. Nearly all of them have taken other cruises on Cunard, and some have been around the world at least once. All are well educated. Nearly all are fluent in more than one language. For example, at breakfast yesterday morning was an Austrian lady who grew up fluent in German and French. And her English is impeccable.
People being similar the world over, I have seen my friends mirrored in total strangers. “That lady looks just like [ ] from the back. “ “He walks like [ ] walks.” “She has the same build exactly as [ ] and even the same hairstyle.” And ain’t nobody so laid back and down-home as all my friends and it’s true here too.
Tomorrow we call at Salvador, one of the oldest cities in Brazil.
If you admire classic architecture, this tour is for you.