Where in the World are Ric and Anne?

So, here is the welcoming party greeting us on the bank of Boca Da Valeria as we come ashore from the tender from MS Zuiderdam. Cute kids with parents, the kids holding interesting Amazon fauna. So, here be sloths.             The village also had a school, houses, etc., but Anne and I returned to the ship without exploring much beyond the school.  The village is definitely geared to tourism, and I felt uncomfortable seeing the kids being paraded in hopes of "one dollar," as were the adults. (Compare to falcon hospital in "The case against travel" article posted some time ago.) Food for thought.

 (Report on 12 January events) This was our first excursion to city along the Amazon. We visited a market typical of ones you've likely seen in other countries.  Here is fish monger with lots of fresh fish. I can't tell you what kind they are but they are not the mammoth Arapaima that can be over 150 kg and longer than a man is tall. These fish merchants are weighing in already cut sections of Arapaima. These were big sections!The man with the hat must be from the fishing boat, watching his fish being weighed. Unfortunately, I missed getting photo of Arapaima before being cut up.   Here we have one of many vendors selling souvenirs. And here more market commerce.    And lovely people, all seemingly enjoying their shopping.   And another vendor allowing me to take his photo. Then two men outside the market, one happy to all me to snap his photo, the other suggest a dollar would be appreciated. (I declined)  Back at the dock to take a tender back to the ...

       (Report for 11 January)  [BTW, when reading these blog posts, be sure to click the Read More invitation at lower right of first "page" so you see the entire post.] As we approach the Amazon River, the waters turn brown. Brazil's "Big Muddy" puts the Mississippi's in its place.          As we enjoy a leisurely (i.e., slow service) dinner with fellow Road Scholars) we gaze out the aft windows at the chocolate sea. That's Doris Goldthwaite at right and Bob at same table. Our 21-passenger Road Scholar group is assigned three nice tables nightly for 5 pm. Only rarely do we all come to the Dining Room at that time, others choosing to eat at the Lido Market on Deck 9, or perhaps calling for Room Service, included for us. (Nice!) The food is excellent, IMHO. Once into the river it seemed rather narrow? Huh? It turns out the mouth of the Amazon might better thought of as the Straits of the Amazon, as shown at right. Now, by "narrow" we're ...

Early morning. So, Anne and I are confined to our cabin with covid as we sit docked next to Willemstad, Curaçao. But we are docked on our port side, the side our cabin is on, facing the city. Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Later in the morning.  We are both feeling poorly, but not that poorly. I'm actually pretty much done with runny nose and hacking cough, but have been succumbing to long periods of sleep. Anne's had low fever and has little energy. And now she's got runny nose, cough, and not feeling great. Hopefully she's just a day behind me and will be feeling better tomorrow. I [Don't ask me what the "I" is above. Some sort of heading or something I've accidentally inserted, but I don't want to spend more time figuring out Blogger right now. So, finishin up today's post: After Willmestad.  At dusk we were "steaming" toward the Panama Canal, which we reach tomorrow, I believe. Night, 10:30 pm.  An hour ago I counted ten ships south of...

 (At Sea, Caribbean Sea, north of Venezuela) Ric has Covid. So, I’ve been bemoaning the rapid pace of our Road Scholar tour, what with morning lectures on sea days, bus rides and walking tours on port days, and leisurely but enjoyable dinners in the main dining. Well, now I have lots of free time, but am confined to our cabin. After our last day on the Amazon and our long jungle hike—I’ll catch up on those later—I felt I had nasty cold coming on. Two days later, having no relief, and knowing that my colds usually go into bronchitis, I made appointment at Medical Center yesterday and was diagnosed Covid positive. Rats! Now my self-imposed quarantine extends through Wednesday. So, no more bemoaning rapid Road Scholar pace. Lots of time to do what I’m doing right this moment—catching up on blog, Rosetta Stone, watching movies (Oppenheimer, Walk in the Woods), and vegging out, being sleepy from codeine-laced Tylenol. Since my diagnosis, Holland America has treated us exceedingly well, ...

So, I’m finally getting the hang of basic Google Blogger, I guess. Further, I’ve picked up an unpleasant cold so will be having time on my hands for a few days, largely confined to our cabin. So, I’ve got time to catch up on our week on the Amazon River. And what a river! It dwarfs the Mississippi, particularly in outflow. In fact, it’s outflow is greater than the next dozen rivers combined: Cheers, Ric

(Random Rambling) So, before you envy or begrudge us this around-the-world cruise, let me share an article from The New Yorker. I have some sympathy with this article. I do like to tour with a group, but I also like to slow tour or vacation with family. Some year I'd like to have us rent a house in France or Arkansas or on Indian Lake in Ohio or ... you get the idea. But there's a lot to be said for just staying put, especially on our permanently docked cruise ship, the SS Goodwin House Bailey's Crossroads. So, if you are not touring any time soon, here's well-argued apology: Well, there you go. I don't much care for the author's pithy, rather snotty last sentence. But what do YOU think? BTW, if you leave a comment please sign it. Otherwise, all that I or others see is "Anonymous." Cheers, Ric