Boca da Valeria, Brazil

February 27, 2008

We stopped along side a very small village (100 people???) and spent a most enjoyable time strolling thru the muddy paths “escorted” by the small children.

Women stood on the porches of their stilted homes and invited you in. Families dressed in feathery costumes and posed for pictures. Craftsmen sold their tourist trinkets in thatched huts and the children strolled along side cajoling for candy and money. Others had trained monkeys that “worked” for tips, while some locals just stood in the shadows gawking at us like we were gawking at them.

Mary Beth and Louise (two friends I have made who hail from Texas and are spending 10 months!!!!! Count em! 10 months on the ship.....they are teaching me Mah-jongg!..) and I decided to go ashore together. I am so glad that I was with them. Mary Beth brought along two large bags of chocolates...the small gold-wrapped chocolate coins we get on our pillows at night and a back of chocolate kisses she had brought along for this very visit. Well....once I brought out one bag of those chocolates I was surrounded....swarmed.!!!!....with eager children with their hands out-stretched and their fingers poking and prodding at me....it was amazing. There must have been 25 kids all around me wanting that candy. I am so glad that Mary Beth gave the bag to me...she would have been totally overwhelmed if she had been bombarded like I was. I only had a few single dollar bills in my pocket...and I was amazed to find that that money survived the “attack”. It was really tons of fun. The children were all polite,
if eager, and they were clean beyond belief. It was fun to share with them.

That night as we sat in one of the card rooms playing our usual game of Mah-jongg the ship suddenly listed sharply to the starboard side. We couldn’t believe what was happening....after all, we were sailing on a smooth river. People screamed... the dance band in the adjacent lounge stopped playing. You could hear dishes and bottles crashing and indeed a very large planter sitting beside our table came crashing to the floor breaking into smithereens. It was really very frightening! We decided that we must have turned sharply to avoid hitting one of the small fishing boats that dot the Amazon.

Soon the Captain came on the speaker and announced that the local Brazilian pilot that was on board to help us navigate thru these waters had misread the charts and had given the wrong instructions and had indeed turned the rudder too quickly to avoid hitting a sand bar. You could tell from his voice that the Captain was not a happy camper and he assured us that he had taken control of the ship and that we would be safe in his hands. I can’t imagine the total cost of the damage of that small incident. Much of the liquor in the bars was broken...dishes and glasses were thrown from the tables in the dining room. It was a mess....one that the efficient staff had cleaned up in no time. Phew...you just never know what will happen next!!!