Around the Bulge of Brazil to Recife

After leaving Belem, we had another two days at sea before arriving in Recife.  They make us aware of just how vast the country of Brazil is!  The fifth largest country in the world, (behind Russia, China, Canada, and the USA), Brazil touches every single country in South America but two – Chile and Ecuador!   It may be surprising to learn that Portuguese is the most common language in South America (just edging out Spanish), but when one considers that Brazil is by far the largest country in South America , it makes sense.

Pam and I are finding that we really appreciate the slower (although still very busy) sea days.  Despite having time to do what I want, it always seems that I’m playing catch-up with my journaling!   I was in the Neptune Lounge (a special area provided for some passengers to relax and visit with one another) on the first of the two days at sea requesting an accident report, just in case there were problems after my close encounter with a large branch, and it was a perfect opportunity to ask one of the ship’s staff if there was any news about the lady who had been injured in Roseau, Dominica.   He replied that she had been airlifted to Fort Lauderdale and that it appears that she will lose her leg.  As our friend Sally commented, “That’s why I do everything I can do now.  One never knows when circumstances will change and I will no longer be able to do the things I like!”  Our hearts go out to her and her family!  We are also closely following the events that occurred in Italy with the Costa ship accident.  We are certainly sorry for those people and can empathize!  One looks forward to a cruise (or any vacation) for a long time, and to have it end so suddenly and tragically makes us all appreciate each day we experience on board! 

A recent guest at the Good Morning Amsterdam session was Captain Jonathan Mercer.  Having joined the British  Merchant Navy in 1968, he has certainly had a lot of adventures at sea, including having had to abandon ship and survive for three days on a lifeboat in the South Atlantic before being rescued!  In 1979 he joined a European ferry company and worked his way up to the rank of Captain in 1987.  He became Holland America’s first British captain when he took over the Veendam in 1995.  His favorite aspect of being captain is maneuvering the ship in and out of “interesting” places.  Hearing this news just before the Costa incident gives us much confidence in his experience and abilities, despite this cruise being his first cruise at the helm of a Grand World Voyage.  We have been very impressed with Captain Jonathan (which is how he introduces himself) because he’s so friendly, jovial, and approachable!   It is a pleasure sailing on “his” ship!

The first Sunday we were aboard, we didn’t make it to church, but this week Chuck, Pam, and I decided that we should get down to the service.  We were just leaving our stateroom when Al walked by saying he was on his way to church.  The timing couldn’t have been better, especially since we hadn’t discussed it. 

The service was held in the Queen’s Lounge, where we usually have lectures and evening entertainment.  The service was fairly well attended, considering the ship’s population and the number of activities available!  The minister conducted a very traditional Protestant service.  We haven’t spoken with him, but one lady told us that he was Methodist. 

This followed on the heels of the first of several formal night “balls”.  Saturday night was Black and Silver Formal Dinner (where some of us ordered surf and turf as lobster is usually on the menu for GWV formal nights), followed by the Black and Silver Formal Ball in the Queen’s Lounge.  We opted for the movie instead, “Water for Elephants”, which we hadn’t seen in the theaters.  I am one who loves animal movies, and this was no exception!  While Pam and Chuck also liked the movie, it wasn’t quite what they’d expected.      

Incredibly, despite being such a large country, the vast majority of Brazil is in the same time zone.  That meant that when we had to get up early for our shore excursion in Recife, the sun had already been up for quite awhile!  Our stateroom was brightened with sunlight by about 4:30 AM!

The capital of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, Recife is located just below the easternmost point of the country and is an enormous port city of about 8 million people.  We saw little of the city itself as our tour took us out into the countryside. 

All four of us (Chuck, Pam, Al, and I) were booked on the same excursion, The Waterfalls of Primavera by 4x4 Safari.  Our tour guide Leonardo spoke excellent English, having spent a few of his formative years in San Diego while his father worked on his Masters Degree in Physics!  Leo told us that the word Recife means reef, and that the word Brazil is from the ancient Portuguese language, meaning glowing embers.  That immediately brought back memories of high school in Eden as our yearbook was entitled Embers. 

The 2-hour bus ride took us through rolling hills of sugarcane fields as far as the eye could see.  When we arrived in the small village of Primavera, we felt as if the circus had come to town and we were the circus!  The roads of this tiny little town were overwhelmed by the size of the tour bus, and locals seemed to materialize from nowhere to watch us pull in! 

After a quick rest stop in Primavera, we boarded four-wheel drive vehicles, driven by Brazilians who spoke virtually no English!  Leo had told us that there would be no more than eight to a vehicle and that we could opt to sit inside or climb on top for an excellent view.  He promised us that the vehicles would not go at speed over 60 miles an hour!  Needless to say, the four of us opted for the interior, but a few assigned to our jeep chose to ride on the top.  (He was kidding, by the way.  I don’t think the rough unpaved roads would let us go any faster than 20 mph.) 

Despite not knowing English, our jeep driver Wradimir did manage to use sign language and speak slowly to get his point across – most of the time.  Knowing French really helped as I was able to figure out many of his words.  We made our first of three stops at the lovely Urubu Falls (translation: Black Vulture Falls, named for the black vultures which one could see soaring overhead), where we took many photos before walking a short distance to meet a sloth.  This three-toed animal looked like he was always smiling and made me think of a sock monkey.  I never realized they were so long and bristly, but it was a very unique experience to have the chance to hold such an unusual animal!   (As many of you know, I never pass up the chance to hold an animal if given the opportunity!) 

From there we headed to a sugarcane plantation where we were shown how to “press” sugarcane, and then we sampled the sugarcane juice along with a sweetbread that is a traditional breakfast for Brazilians.  A short walk introduced us to a variety of interesting trees and the chance to sample some local fruits, including bananas, a kind of apricot that looked more like a mango, a cashew apple, and starfruit.

Our final stop was at a second waterfall where our group was given the option to swim in the pool beneath the falls or just sit and enjoy the beauty.  Those who went in could sit on the wet rocks and slide into the water as if sledding down a hill.  We were served a delicious outdoor lunch buffet, which included cole slaw, potatoes, two kinds of rice, two kinds of beans, fish, chicken, and beef, topped off by a selection of desserts.  We sampled the delicious Brazilian drink called Guarana Antarctica.  As we sat we noticed a few people taking pictures over our heads.  Looking up, we saw about a dozen small bats clinging to the ceiling.   That was certainly a surprise – as were many of the animals we had seen during the excursion (lizards, bugs, vultures, and of course the sloth and bats)!

We all agreed that this had been an amazing adventure – totally different from our experiences in our first Brazilian port of Belem! 

All too soon we were arriving back in Recife, where we drove along the beautiful beaches.  Recife has many signs along the beaches warning of shark attacks because in the 1990’s it had the notoriety of having more shark attacks than any other place in the world!  However, things have improved since people have been warned and now know where they can swim to prevent shark attack!  (Don’t think I’ll be trying out the beaches of Recife!)

BT