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| the meeting of the rivers! |
Guess who’s back? Back again? Sara’s back. Tell a friend. Hey errybudy! I am back on the boat after an amazing 5 day stay in Brazil! And, now, we are crossing the pond, en route to Ghana! There is so much to tell that I am going to write a post for each day of my trip so y’all get the full effect. The problem is that I can only communicate so much of my experience to you through words. At least, some has to be lost in translation. If there were a way to post smells or sensations from touching or doing something on a blog I would be on that. Yet, I will have to give my most valiant effort to share my experience through my posts within the technological limitations of the contemporary era! I guess I will start this chapter of my blog the night before I disembarked in Brazil.
A group of six or seven of us discovered the observation deck at the front of the seventh deck of the MV Explorer. We lied down on the deck and stared at the stars for about an hour and a half. The sky was super clear and I could see more stars than I have ever seen before! But, the real entertainment came as we watched the swarm of Amazonian bugs invade our ship. For those of you out there hoping to write a textbook on bugs, look no further for your photographic material than the deck of a ship as it cruises down the Amazon. That is nature’s little way of welcoming you to this part of the world. "Welcome to the Amazon, where the bugs are plentiful, malaria is free and itching is guaranteed!"
The next morning at 10 AM, a group of 40 of us disembarked from the ship and were met by one of our tour guides, Marcus. Before I go any further, let me explain how ports work on Semester at Sea. Essentially, you have free-range to do absolutely whatever you want in a port, as long as you are back on the ship 2 hours before departure...sober. Well, there are some rules. Don't do drugs. Don't drive a car. Don't skydive. And, you are required to complete 6 of those day-long FDPs, class field trips, throughout the semester. But, for the most part, how you spend your time in port is of no concern to Semester at Sea. You have the option of signing up for Semester at Sea planned excursions in each port that are usually pretty pricey and can last from an afternoon to our entire stay in a port. Or, you can use travel books, the 120 minutes of internet time we are alloted for the semester, and the few internet websites that we are able to use without digging into our minutes to plan your time in a port independently. I was lucky and learned one more option early on in the voyage. Global Citizens is a private company that caters to Semester at Sea students by organizing trips in each port that are similar to many of the longer overnight trips offered through Semester at Sea at a fraction of the cost. I chose to sign up for a 5-day river boat tour down the Amazon organized by Global Citizens. So that's that. Let me get back to the first day.
After a 15-minute walk through the streets of Manaus, the city our ship was docked at, we reached our river boat. I don’t even know where to begin describing the boat. It was two stories tall and kind of looked like an old steamboat. Stay tuned, because I am going to post a picture of it as soon as possible. We cruised to the meeting of the rivers. Literally, this is where the Amazon and the Rio Negro meet. Here, the dark, nearly black, color of the waters of the Rio Negro attempt to mix with the Yoohoo looking waters of the Amazon (which reminded me a lot of Willy Wonka’s chocolate river). The colors are a result of the sediments in their tributaries. They don’t mix very well because of their different densities and, at the point where they meet, look more like black coffee before the creamer has been evenly distributed.
We were met by our head guide Anand G and cruised about 4-hours up-stream where we docked for the night. That night we slept in hammocks tied to the rafters of the boat and ate amazing Brazilian food cooked by Anand G’s wife on the boat. He brought his entire family on board, including his two sons, who are seven and ten and who are on winter break from school right now! Which, fun fact: the Brazil government requires all children to attend and even gives a stipend to parents in certain situations if they send their children to school! That is all I’ve got for now folks but more to come tomorrow! Just a little taste of what is to come! Sending love and kisses to all my peeps back in Amurica! Miss you all!
The next morning at 10 AM, a group of 40 of us disembarked from the ship and were met by one of our tour guides, Marcus. Before I go any further, let me explain how ports work on Semester at Sea. Essentially, you have free-range to do absolutely whatever you want in a port, as long as you are back on the ship 2 hours before departure...sober. Well, there are some rules. Don't do drugs. Don't drive a car. Don't skydive. And, you are required to complete 6 of those day-long FDPs, class field trips, throughout the semester. But, for the most part, how you spend your time in port is of no concern to Semester at Sea. You have the option of signing up for Semester at Sea planned excursions in each port that are usually pretty pricey and can last from an afternoon to our entire stay in a port. Or, you can use travel books, the 120 minutes of internet time we are alloted for the semester, and the few internet websites that we are able to use without digging into our minutes to plan your time in a port independently. I was lucky and learned one more option early on in the voyage. Global Citizens is a private company that caters to Semester at Sea students by organizing trips in each port that are similar to many of the longer overnight trips offered through Semester at Sea at a fraction of the cost. I chose to sign up for a 5-day river boat tour down the Amazon organized by Global Citizens. So that's that. Let me get back to the first day.
After a 15-minute walk through the streets of Manaus, the city our ship was docked at, we reached our river boat. I don’t even know where to begin describing the boat. It was two stories tall and kind of looked like an old steamboat. Stay tuned, because I am going to post a picture of it as soon as possible. We cruised to the meeting of the rivers. Literally, this is where the Amazon and the Rio Negro meet. Here, the dark, nearly black, color of the waters of the Rio Negro attempt to mix with the Yoohoo looking waters of the Amazon (which reminded me a lot of Willy Wonka’s chocolate river). The colors are a result of the sediments in their tributaries. They don’t mix very well because of their different densities and, at the point where they meet, look more like black coffee before the creamer has been evenly distributed.
We were met by our head guide Anand G and cruised about 4-hours up-stream where we docked for the night. That night we slept in hammocks tied to the rafters of the boat and ate amazing Brazilian food cooked by Anand G’s wife on the boat. He brought his entire family on board, including his two sons, who are seven and ten and who are on winter break from school right now! Which, fun fact: the Brazil government requires all children to attend and even gives a stipend to parents in certain situations if they send their children to school! That is all I’ve got for now folks but more to come tomorrow! Just a little taste of what is to come! Sending love and kisses to all my peeps back in Amurica! Miss you all!
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