Santarem, Brazil
Contrary to our cruise director’s forecast of a high of 59 today, we reached a high of 90. I don’t remember her giving us an “update” since her forecast last week but maybe I missed it. Santarem, Brazil, did reach a high of 61.
Today we had no excursion booked and we left this port open to see any sights or do some shopping.
Another tender port, we made no rush to get to the tender. When we did arrive, there was little waiting. The ship was using its’ tenders and also some from shore. They looked similar to the tenders from the last port and we were happy to be on one of the ship’s tenders.
Some of the passengers are still angry about the Brazilian Visa fiasco. Many commented on the conditions of the cities visited and said things like “they should be paying us” to visit, not the other way around. Arguing with or about the government is a waste of time.
20 minutes on the tender brought us to the port. We boarded a complimentary bus to town. We decided we would walk back to the port later in the afternoon. It was a 4k ride out to the center of town. One of the things to see in this area is the “meeting of the waters”. The Rio Negro and the Amazon river mix in this area but the waters run side by side without mixing for 6k. The speed, temperature, and amount of dissolved sediments create this phenomenon. One can see the “black water” running side by side with the muddy amazon.
We snapped a few photos and were on our way to explore the town. We wandered into a store that obviously made uniforms and other customs items such as baseball caps with logos and other things printed on them. Unlike Europe, most in this area do not speak English. There isn’t enough tourism in this area and those in the souvenir trade feel comfortable with learning how to say hello in 5 or so languages. Communicating with the store clerk here was fun. Both sides were laughing. Google translate helped us out of a jam. We saw something for one of the grandkids but decided to return later when we received verification of the correct size.
Next shop was the makeup store. More fun here. Confirmation of understanding was made by a thumbs up on both sides. Thankfully the store took credit cards. This was our last Brazilian port and we didn’t want to go the ATM and have extra Brazilian reals to take home. The US dollar was worth about 5 times the Brazilian dollar. This made everything very inexpensive. We had the opposite look that we have back home when we get the final bill. You know that surprise look you get when you empty your practically empty shopping cart and then get the final bill? We had a similar surprised look but we were happy, not disgusted.
Shoe store was next. Quality appeared to be very high. Shoes made in Brazil. Do we get these at home? I don’t remember seeing Brazil on anything at home. Viet Nam, yes. China, yes, yes. Brazil, no. Terri tried on some shoes she and the sales woman laughed as they tried to communicate. It was like a sporting event. My turn came when it was time to pay. “Credito or Debito?” That one was easy. The little handheld device card reading device was now showing option 1, option 2 and option 3. All the sales people nearby tried to help. They could certainly communicate the numbers, uno, dos, tres with words and fingers but they could not communicate what each option was for. I thought back to a time that we were in Normandy, France at the local supermarket. I gave the cashier my credit card and she was asking for something else. As I tried to communicate she got angry and then disgusted that I couldn’t understand. She didn’t seem to realize that louder and slower French didn’t help me. How could I be so dumb? No such problem here. Everyone was laughing and somehow the credit reader advanced to the next screen and we were good to go. I learned later the options referred to which currency would you like to pay with. 1 Brazil, 2 USA, 3 Euro, etc.
We found a dress at a shop that was not more than 4 feet wide. The woman running the establishment was sitting on a staircase and the walls of the shops next to her reached the sides of the stairs. We were able to tell her that we would return a bit later when we confirmed our grand daughters’ size. When we did return, it was time to pay. I showed her my credit card. She shook her head no. I was not surprised. Very little infrastructure on a stairway. She said something that sounded like digital payment. I showed her my paypal account on my phone and we were good to go.
Next stop was a restaurant for a drink and some food. We ordered an appetizer. When it arrived we had a hot plate of beef and onions and a side dish that looked like parmesan cheese. We asked what this was. Farofa. A Brazilian dish made from toasted cassava flour. Dip the meat in it. Delicious! We shared the appetizer. It was more than enough for two. We paid our bill, had another big smile and started the trek back to the port.
90 degrees and sunny made the walk seems a bit long. When we finally reached the port we were handed a cold wet towel and something to drink. HAL sets up a tent with chairs, cold drinks, and cold towels at every port whether it is a tender port or not. Nice touch! The tender ride was slow and hot. It was nice to have the AC back on the ship.
At dinner, we watched the ship cross over from the black water to the muddy Amazon. Exciting stuff! No picture gives it justice.
Evening entertainment was the Oi Brazil group. They have been on the ship for a week. They were …