We had another rainy morning to begin our last day in Brazil but it cleared a bit later . We have been in Brazilian waters or ports for the last 22 days. What a country of contrasts of different cultures. More European in the south, Portuguese mixed with whatever in the middle, African influence in the north middle, Spanish in the north, and Indian mixed with everything in the Amazon basin.
The Amazon is so vast that the light coffee colored water turns the salt water of the Atlantic brown for well over 100 miles out to sea. It seems a bit strange to have the swells of the ocean again after 8 days on the river. There was so much down river current last night that the ships speed reached 30 knots.
Another stupid passenger comment was made by two ladies chatting about the large unloaded freighters anchored on the river waiting for cargo. Most of the freighteres, as well as cruise ships, have a bulb on the bow which improves the ships performance. When the ships are not loaded the bulb is out of the water or partially out. The two ladies agreed these ships with the visible bulbs must be ice breakers. Tom overheard them and said "must be". The fact that the ships were in a tropical rain forest was apparently missed by the ladies.
No comments:
Post a Comment