March 8 - Lazy days on the Amazon River

Today is our second day cruising on the very brown Amazon River.  Here are a few facts about this body of water.  It’s the second longest river in the world after the Nile. It flows eastward across Brazil for a little over 4,000 miles from the Andes Mountains, where it originates in mountain streams which combine to form the river,  to the Atlantic Ocean.  A photo taken from orbit showed the river to be about 235 miles wide at its mouth. The Amazon carries the largest volume of fresh water in the world accounting for nearly twenty percent of the water discharged into the oceans. During the rainy season the river can rise as much as 30 feet; consequently there are no bridges across it.  One can only cross by boat. The average depth of the river is between 66 and 160 feet, but there are places where it plunges to about 330 feet deep.

The water we’re sailing through is a muddy brown color and the shoreline is an endless line of green.  The trees all look to be the same height with very rarely one that has grown a little taller.  Every once in a while we pass what looks like a house or shack along the river’s edge.  There’s no sign of electricity at these places.  With binoculars I can see that they all have some kind of ramshackle dock. That reminds me that I must say that the river is very wide. I’m not a very good judge of distance, but to see detail on the shore I have to use binoculars.  We did take on two Amazon River pilots because apparently the course of the river is constantly changing and they can help to prevent us from running aground.

Not very exciting pictures I know but they'll give you an idea of what the last two days scenery has been.

This morning a Holland America ship, the Volendam, passed us going in the other direction.  Aside from that we’ve passed a couple of small barges carrying containers.  Just before noon there was a tiny boat with a single man aboard that approached us and waved.  I think he was excited to see us because there aren’t many ships like ours that come along in these parts.

We’ve had more lectures on weather, flora and fauna of the area,  and exploration of this region. Of course we’ve had trivia, bridge and art classes.  The problem is not finding something to do, but rather how can you fit in everything you’d like to do.  What can I say, life is tough.