Here we are again for the second half of our Holland America Line Grand South America Cruise onboard Volendam.

Buenos Aires really was a mid point as many passengers who had been along since Ft. Lauderdale disembarked and others joined us for the remainder of the cruise. We had 3 days and 2 nights there so our newcomers could get acclimated. From here we headed to Brazil, a huge country with lots of people and a tropical climate.

Santos Brazil. This was our first port in Brazil. It was founded in 1546 by the Portuguese. We visited the Coffee Museum which is in the old coffee trading center where world prices were negotiated. The funicular to the top of Mount Serrat gave us great views of the city and harbor. The old city has a restored streetcar which was short but enjoyable. Nice restaurants are popular in this tourist city. It was hot, 97 degrees, and humid. Here also Holland America brought on board “Oi Brasil”, a team of dancers, musicians and even a lecturer who would sail with us sharing the culture of Brazil all the way to Manaus.

Rio de Janeiro Brazil We got up early to witness the sail in past Sugarloaf Mountain into Rio’s harbor. The setting is spectacular. Christ the Redeemer sits high above the city. We docked right downtown but immediately noticed a very polluted harbor. We took a Holland America tour to Christ the Redeemer statue using a cog railway and stairs. We were lucky it wasn’t overcrowded that day so we had time for an extended tour past beautiful homes in the Ipanema and Copacabana neighborhoods. We got a brief view of the beach too. It was Carnival time in Rio and the city goes crazy with official and unofficial parades affecting traffic and access to tourist sites. People from all over Brazil come to Rio for Carnival. Since we had an overnight we were able to take the HAL offered trip to the Sambadrome for the Superbowl of Brazil. 11 months of planning and millions of dollars are spent on this event. After seeing the huge favelas (slums) of Rio we wondered if those resources could be better spent elsewhere. It was crowded, loud, relentless, colorful and tiring. There were some topless performers, lots of thongs. Our bus got us there by 8PM, the first Samba “School” paraded from 10 to 11. We stayed for 3 schools and caught the first bus back to the ship. We got back at 3AM! It was an experience to remember but not repeated. Many of us wished we had visited Rio some other time. Rio was hot and humid.

Salvador da Bahia Brazil Salvador is another of Brazil’s oldest cities. It was founded in 1549 and is a center of Afro Brazilian culture. 75% 0f the population identify as African or mixed race after 500 years of inter-racial marriage. The historic city center is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is also another big Carnival city. While we were there it was crowded and all monuments, churches and most tourist sites were seriously boarded up to prevent damage from unruly crowds. There was a large police presence and yet many of our fellow cruisers lost their phones to thieves and at least one was assaulted and lost a necklace. We were all warned not to display any jewelry but still we’ve never seen so much street crime in any other port. Police did nothing. Having said all that, Salvador is a beautiful old city we wish we could’ve seen some other time of year. We remained docked here until 11PM but no one ventured out in the evening when the streets were full of homeless and beggars. Not as dirty as Rio but close.

Recife Brazil Recife is the largest city in Northeast Brazil. Its population is over 4 million. The city center has a craft market in an old prison and many beautiful colonial buildings but we were warned not to walk around too much. Near the port we walked to Bon Jesus St said to be among the prettiest in Brazil. While there we saw a synagogue established in the 17th century during a period of Dutch rule. It was the first synagogue in the New World. When the Portuguese expelled the Dutch that synagogue moved to what became New York City, again the first in North America. We took a HAL tour which also included the nearby town of Olinda a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Fortaleza Brazil Another huge city most of us had never heard of. Fortaleza had a large craft market, cathedral, closed museum and shops. We had fun shopping for yarn and crochet hooks. We also bought brazil nuts and cashews.

Belem Brazil This was our first port in the Amazon region. We actually had to anchor and tender into the port of Icoaraci to reach Belem via an hour shuttle bus. Icoaraci itself was a very rough town. We literally walked a gauntlet from the tender to the bus. Docas Station in Belem is very nice with restaurants and cafes. Mercado Ver O Peso is huge and historic. There is an old fort and art museum. Everything is geared to the river and the countless boats coming and going.

Santarem Brazil Santarem is a city right on the Amazon. Here we joined 6 others for a small boat tour of the area. We saw villages built on stilts, pink dolphins, giant water lilies and the meeting of the waters where the Amazon and its tributary flow side by side without mixing for miles. We fished for Piranha (didn’t catch any). It was great fun.

Boca da Valeria Brazil This was probably the most unusual stop of the entire cruise. Our giant ship anchored just off a small river and tiny village miles from any city. The native people shared some pets and costumes. Here we took an even smaller boat up the smaller river past more water lilies and homes. This entire world is river based and most of these people will never drive or fly, but they may have smartphones soon.

Manaus Brazil Manaus is over 900 miles up the Amazon from the Atlantic Ocean. We were fortunate to have 2 days and 1 night there. This is a very historic city since the rubber boom of the late 19th century. It was called one of the gaudiest cities in the world. No extravagance was too much. The Opera house built in 1896 cost 10 million dollars. It was built with marble from Italy, glass from France and iron from England. The first performers traveled 3 months from Europe and died from yellow fever before they ever got on stage! It has now been restored and is still spectacular. We had a tour during the day and that night HAL arranged a special big band performance just for our group. The acoustics, lighting and performance were unforgettable and a highlight of the entire cruise. Next day we toured up river to a small village then enjoyed lunch at an outdoor restaurant serving Piraracu an air breathing native fish growing up to 10′ and 485 lbs. Delicious.

Parintins Brazil Here we had another cruise only performance celebrating Boi Bumba, a festival in this part of Brazil. At all our Amazon ports we tendered to the pier. Anchoring was a challenge for the captain as the current was at least 4 knots with frequent 50 foot trees floating downriver.

Alter do Chao Brazil Another small village and our last stop on the Amazon. Many of us found Brazil to be a big rough country. We saw more poverty, slums and pollution than anywhere else we visited. Most people spoke no English or even Spanish. Why would they, they live in a huge country with 215 million people. Yet Brazil undeniably impressed us with its culture and geography.

Devils Island French Guiana Made famous by the movie Papillon, Devils Island now receives several cruise ships each year. The notorious prison has been restored just to safety and there are no guided tours. HAL showed the movie the night before our visit so we were primed. We saw monkeys and a large rat like mammal called an agouti.

Bridgetown Barbados We had visited Barbados in 1992 on Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas and remembered quite a bit from that trip. The port is much expanded now and this was one of the ports where Cruise Specialists provided a complimentary excursion. The bus tour visited many island highlights and a lunch at a historic plantation.

Roseau Dominica Dominica was surprisingly one of our favorite ports. At the last minute we decided to take the HAL Hot Springs Escape tour. It was great fun as we swam upstream in the Titou Gorge slot canyon to a waterfall and then soaked in Wotten Waven natural hot pools. This beautiful island has at least 4 volcanos and 365 rivers and is nicknamed “The Nature Island of the Caribbean”. Locals celebrate all its healthy living features and call it the longevity island. On a sad note while sailing from Barbados to Dominica a guitar player in the house band suffered a medical emergency and passed away before we could reach a hospital. We didn’t know until late that day and the entire ship was saddened. He was 32 years old.

Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas USVI We’ve been to St. Thomas many times so we just did our own walking tour of this busy cruise port. The 99 steps led us to Bluebeards Castle. Unfortunately it and the adjoining inn were closed and for sale. Pandemic victims?

San Juan Puerto Rico San Juan is a great cruise port. And very popular. The day we arrived there were 4 other cruise ships. And mostly gigantic. So the old town was busy but we still had a good time touring the many sights. Our smaller ship had to dock a few miles away but again Holland America provided a free shuttle to the heart of everything.

Throughout our 34 ports circumnavigating South America all the locals we met were friendly and helpful. We also got to know many of the ship’s crew like never before on any other cruise. Being with largely the same passengers for 74 days gave us the feeling of a community. We didn’t know everyone’s names but you knew faces and couples. When in foreign cities you could recognize familiar faces. In other ways too this was a very unique cruise for us. We had multiple lectures every sea day. One day we had 5 of these educational experiences. We learned a lot. We also found it pretty easy to reach our daily goal of 10,000 steps. Neither of us gained weight on this cruise. The entertainment on board was very diverse with comedians, classical quintets, singers, magicians, the B B King R&B band as well as entertainers from many of the countries visited and of course the house bands and world stage dancers.

Another new experience for us was having a host on board for the entire cruise. We booked this cruise through Cruise Specialists, a travel agency in Seattle. In addition to a better fare and additional stateroom credits the company provided a host couple to answer questions, 2 complimentary shore excursions, 4 cocktail parties, a premium dinner, Columbia brand embroidered hiking hat and tote. We were impressed and plan to use them again.