Amazonia and Neptune Day

FEB 21/23

WE ARE THE ARAWANA’S!!! Yes, that’s right, I just got back from Amazonia this afternoon. Wow, I had an amazing time!

Okay, so where to start...ummm, how about Salvador. We arrived in Salvador, Brazil on Saturday the 17^th. Once again it was a long process to get the ship cleared, so Ivan and I stayed on the ship for a free lunch (yes, free is ALWAYS good). We then walked over to the area where Carnival is held and checked out a few shops, then wandered over to the market (like the Straw Market in Nassau). That night the two of us went to Bahia by Night – a dinner and show hosted by SAS. The show was very cool, with traditional tribal dances and some Capoeira (a martial art created by the black slaves camouflaged as a dance to hide it from the slave-owners). Oh, and the food was also quite excellent. :)

The next morning at 1:10 we met as a group to head over to Amazonia, so I didn’t go out after Bahia by Night. Now, that was an interesting flight schedule…there’s some odd correlation between SAS and flights that leave between midnight and 2am. Needless to say, that night I didn’t sleep very much going between airports and airplanes and busses. We got to the boats around noon, ate lunch and started on our way down the river.

There is also something about SAS and not believing in rest! We sat on the boat for about 90 minutes as we traveled to one of the islands on the Rio Negro, then stopped for a few minutes at this little souvenir shop. Then we went for a hike in the rainforest, headed back in to grab sweaters and more bug spray, went out to catch caimans (in the alligator family), went back to the boat, ate supper, and then went to sleep pretty early. And by ‘pretty early’, I mean at 10. Yeah, that’s extremely early for what I’m used to on this ship! Oh, and our guides – Antonio and Allan were amazing and knew so much medicinal information about the fauna surrounding us. I’m sure it helped they are both natives to the area, but still very impressive. Oh my goodness, it was so hot in there…and of course we couldn’t just shower whenever we wanted to. I felt (and looked) so gross that night.

The next two days were kinda repetitive: woke up at sunrise, walked around various rainforests, fished for piranha, swam and washed in the Rio Negro, toured and talked to the people from a village and a tribe (yes, there is a difference), played soccer against the tribe, stargazed, and ate some really good food (including the fish we caught). Don’t get me wrong…we still had a good time (it’s just easier and less time consuming to list it all off like that).

Our last two nights were pretty fun. The one night they took us out on the little boats they used for going ashore…but instead of doing something, we just drove for 5 minutes and then sat there…in the middle of the river....so we stargazed and talked. We were really confused…why were we just sitting there? And then they FINALLY started going back to the boat…but wait!!! There were fireworks and this whole little party set up on the beach! We ate really good barbecued food, and fresh fruit, and cake (it was one of the workers’ birthday), then played tug-o-war, musical chairs, and of course did the limbo. :D Totally amazing. And yes, talented me, I was dubbed the Canadian Killer that night because I beat out the Life Long Learner AND the professor in a row while playing musical chairs. What can I say??? I didn’t look at who it was…there were just two of us running for a chair! (oops…) Yes, I had fun – can you tell?

And the SECOND night…well, now that one gave the first night a run for its money. We went to this lodge for a tribal dance show. Actually, what they were doing is called the Boybumba, the second largest celebration in Amazonia (first is Carnival), celebrated from June 28-30. Anyway, it was just this really cool show with really elaborate costumes and afterward they had us up there dancing too, following their lead. And OF COURSE there were just two of us up dancing 20 minutes into that – me and Jika (also on SAS, from Mexico, who also happened to be ballet/jazz/etc dancer). We were up until about 1am that night. So fun. :)

Well, when I said we were up…I meant up dancing. Really, we didn’t go to bed until around 3am. “Why?” you ask… “SAS planned flights” I respond. Yep, we went back to the boat, packed our stuff, docked, drove to the airport, sat in the airport, and FINALLY got on to the plane.

After another wonderful night of sleeping in airports and on airplanes and on busses, we finally got back to Salvador around noon for our last day here (Wednesday, Feb 21). I happened to run into Ivan just as I was going to eat lunch on the ship, so we ate, then went back into the city for some last minute souvenirs and then we went out for supper. I have to say, Brazilian food is really good. Oh, and so are their desserts.

Speaking of dessert…I’ve given that up for lent! Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to go to mass (there were none offered when I got back), so I decided to do something. This may seem like an ‘oh, that’s too easy’ sort of thing…but this is extremely hard to do on this ship – it is a serious sacrifice! I’d said before that the food is okay. Yes, it is…but ‘okay’ food every 3 meals a day for 3 weeks…the desserts are tasting really good. The hardest part, is they always have really creative desserts, too…and I don’t get to sample them!!!

I’m back in my room right now, but I just got back from work – aka the library. I’m actually quite happy to have that job right now. I mean, with what other position would I be able to sit, read my textbooks, do my homework, and write out my blog AND get paid ~ $31for it?

Ciao!

Lindsay

P.S. An arawana is a fish that jumps out of the water to eat things off trees. There’s your fun fact for the day. :)

FEB 24

So, today we celebrated Neptune Day. Why didn’t we celebrate it when we ACTUALLY crossed the equator? Something about needing a certain amount of classes before our first Global Studies exam, and they wanted the test to be before Salvador.

Side note: I got 94% on that test. :D

Anyway, because of the celebration we didn’t have any classes today. Wohoo! So, this morning we were all wonderfully woken up by the crew banging pots and pans all throughout the halls at 7:45. Sounds early…but oddly enough, I slept in for an hour!! So, I met everyone up at the 6^th deck dining hall (aka The Garden Lounge) for breakfast, then went back down to my cabin to change – I didn’t want fish guts to be poured all over the shirt I was wearing. Yes, you read that right…fish guts! I guess it’s part of some sort of initiation or something…but we all had to (voluntarily) stand beside the pool and have ‘fish guts’ (or what Wendy says was really chunky sour milk) poured over our heads. Standing beside the pool was definitely NOT a coincidence…we all jumped in after to wipe off the fish. Lucky me, I was somewhere near the end, so I’m not sure if I really got any cleaner or if I just swam in salty sour milk (the pool is filled with salt water). Once out of the pool, we had to kiss two fish, kiss the ring of King Neptune, and then we were welcomed to the other side of the equator. The only other activities of the day were the shaving of peoples’ heads (another supposed tradition – this year we had a record of ~40 girls do it) and a barbecue up on the back of the 7^th deck (The Pool Deck).

Yep, so that was my day today. I didn’t do as much homework as I would have hoped, but it was nice to relax for a little while at sea just this once.

Happy Neptune Day!

Lindsay