23. Ilhabela, Brazil

Ilhabela, Brazil          Hot, humid weather.  

It’s the Friday before Carnival arrives in 2018…. anticipation is high

This Island is very close to Rio de Janeiro, our next and main stop. The Island would not exist if it were not for tourism. We tendered with a small boat from the ship to the pier and it was terrible. 

Tenders

The organization of the tenders and the crew’s helpfulness left a lot to be desired. It took us 90 minutes to leave the ship and land ashore. Passengers were fuming; the incompetence of the crew was obvious. 

We were told that a ‘medical emergency’ had to get off the ship first and then some person fell getting into a tender and had to be seen by the Doctor. Yet I have a hard time believing that with 4 tenders’ running back and forth this would take an hour and a half. Well, maybe I am cruel in judging the crew, but the return trip proved me right, the crew had no experience with their shuttle tenders.

Very Clean Streets, Lots of Shops

The Island is set up for tourism. The streets are clean, there are stores everywhere, in fact they are packed right next to each other, enticing you to come and shop. They only forgot one thing… the merchandise they offer is boring. I saw very few people actually getting into the shop to buy. We tried finding items we could buy but no such luck. The weather is hot, 88 F and humid.  I guess I get cranky in humid weather.

Pretty Little Church

We visited the church in town, Carol likes churches.

The Black Madonna

Inside the Church

Most people coming off the ship just walked around then looked for a restaurant to sit and eat. And yes, they had restaurants that offer dinners, but this is the middle of the day… there were not that many that just had snacks or just drinks where you could sit and watch the crowd. The outside temps were too hot to sit in the sun; nobody wanted to sit outside at a café style coffee shop in this heat. What people were looking for was an air conditioned place with windows overlooking the outside activities. 

Well, they did not have those.

More Shops

We found a place, after scouring the small town that had A/C and Wi-Fi but it was on a side street, away from the view, away from the main ‘happenings’ of the Island. This place had no view at all.

The Wi-Fi was not working properly, so we just sat, cooled off from our walk through town and window shopping and then decided to call it quits. 

Waiting to Get Back On the Tender, At Least Water Was Offered

We went back in line to get back to the ship. Standing in line was almost as bad as getting off the ship. 45 minutes standing in the sun to board the tender. Long lines of people were herded into walk ways to get back on the ship. For me this made it a bad experience. I do not like the shuffle in a queue line, shuffle forward a little, and then wait, only to shuffle a bit more to wait again. For 45 minutes?

I make a bad tourist.

The sanctuary of the ship appealed to me more than the heat. The A/C on board worked well all over the ship. 

Carol was hopeful of ‘winning’ a give-away at Effy's. She went there whenever she sees a promotion to put a coupon in the box and hoped her name would be drawn. So far she has won an emerald necklace but I am sure it is not worth millions. Or even thousands!

But she was having a good time.

I understand that we are all different…  some folks will absolutely love Ilhabela, it is a weekend getaway for many people from Rio, It‘s just that I might be jaded having seen so many tourist towns. 

Schlock For Sale

Those towns do not seem ‘real’ to me, no real town has so many shops next to each other selling t-shirts, bandanas or plastic toys. It’s not real; it’s not what ‘normal’ towns look like. 

I am now looking forward to Rio, and Carnival……  let’s go there!

22. Back at Sea

Back at Sea (2 days)

We are aiming for Rio but meanwhile we have a few more sea days and one more minor stop.

The sea days, while it seems there is nothing to do, go by quickly.

I now understand why some folk do not even bother getting off a ship. They just remain on board for the whole cruise. No, they do not seem to have an interest in seeing another city, or fighting the lines or the crowds. Some people here on board just ‘vacation’. Their food is prepared for them, they are being served, their beds are made, their room is tidied, everybody waits on them. They love it and do not want to go ashore. I am not at that age yet, or I am too curious to not see stuff.

I prepare as much as I can before I go off the ship.

I organize myself and book excursions if I find they are good and reasonable and informative.

I use the time between ports to learn about the next thing coming up.

YUMMY!

But yes, it’s a good life doing nothing, just loafing, drinking cappuccinos and eating cake and cookies.

There is nothing wrong with those sea days….

Some people dash down to the on-board gym to work out, I tried that a few times, but I am more content with sitting and watching. I will never again be 30 years old; I know I am getting older. I can live with myself the way I am.

21. Fortaleza, Brazil

Fortaleza, Brazil

This is day 13 of the cruise already. Just to show you how time flies.

During the last few days we attended destination presentations given on board to be better prepared when we do get off the ship for a visit. Not only did the lecturer talk about Fortaleza but also about the marine life around us. From whales to penguins to birds, to mammals, the Southern Hemisphere has its’ own wild inhabitants.

Carol has already booked a penguin tour in the Falklands; I passed on that tour.

Skyscrapers of  Fortaleza In the Rain

So we are off the ship to explore the city of Fortaleza. It is my first visit to a city in all of Brazil. What will it be like?  How will the people be different from the rest of the world?

Time to find out!

Cathedral

To start with, it rained. We needed to take a shuttle to the port terminal and then another shuttle to the city proper, dropping us off near the Cathedral. Well, not close to the Cathedral but a few blocks away.

Many Stunning Stained Glass Windows

The Church itself was typical, lots of stained glass windows, very Catholic, very ordinary in many ways but yes, it was a big Church, a Cathedral. Carol liked it, she likes to visit churches, as for me?  Meh!

Graffiti Everywhere

Now Which Is My Electricity Wire?

The city of Fortaleza has many ‘skyscraper’-like buildings built close together in what seemed to be a random pattern. Graffiti was on almost every surface that could be reached. Wires to carry electricity, cable TV, or what not, were strung between poles. All the wires were bunched together, to me it looked like being in India when it came to the wiring. My impression was a slovenly looking town.

 A few blocks away from the cathedral is the ‘famous’ Old Mercado.  A large city block filled with small shops full of schlock. We bought nothing. The Mercado is a tourist attraction (old jail?) but the sellers of the articles, the small shop owners, have really no clue as to what tourists are looking for. Totally out of sync with what the demand of a New Yorker or worldly person could be, they offered items Made in China for sale. Sorry it was really bad.

Multi-Level New Mercado

The same happened at the General Mercado, a more modern building near the Cathedral. I tried to buy a short sleeved shirt and walked up and down all the floors of this market. It’s impossible to find good merchandise, no matter how much I tried. They just don’t have it. All the clothing I looked at was cheap looking, baggy and totally unattractive. It is amazing to me to see so much stuff spread over at least 6 floors of 3 football-sized floors without finding at least ‘something’ useful, something attractive.

Sorry Brazil, my first impression was not a good one. I hope it gets better after Fortaleza. I so hoped to find a nice town, especially since the presenter of the destination presentation showed us the potential of the area. I guess since the presenter was Brazilian he wore rose colored glasses.

Quite a Bit of Trash Around But Not Seen Here

I sat for a while just outside the store, waiting for the rain to subside. People, lots of people were milling about and I felt a certain ‘resignation’ in their faces, in their body language, in their way of living.

They are resigned to living like this. They looked to me like they were ‘washed out’.  No fight left in them.

Locals - Mid-Day

We were told there is Wi-Fi at the bus terminal but when they asked for my passport number and my email address, I passed on using their ‘service’. I don’t need Wi-Fi that badly.

Back on board we had time galore, we even had time to do the laundry. The machines are just down the hall from our cabin.

I was a bit bummed out for the rest of the day after finding this graffiti-laced town, full of barred windows and doors, narrow roads and decrepit looking buildings.

Tons of Trash

Why Brazil?  Why live like that?

We tried the early theater show and watched a magician, Michael Barron, who was very good. I could not figure out how he did any of his tricks.

VERY well done, Michael, bravo!

Then we went for a later dinner but it did not work for us. The lineup to the Bordeaux dining room was way too long. Almost like on the first day of the cruise. What gives, what is going on? So we went to the buffet upstairs instead.

Back in our cabin, we watched a movie on TV about a woman in the early days of NASA, a mathematician, who experienced the discrimination going on at that time. I believe it’s called “Hidden Figures”.  A GREAT movie.