CarolfromTX
Senior Member
- Location
- Central Texas
We recently returned from a two week cruise to the eastern Caribbean and 1000 miles up the Amazon River. I‘ll try not to bore you with an endless travelogue. We started in San Juan for two nights. We walked, on a tour, all over Old Town, about three miles, eventually reaching the fort at the summit. Oh my lord, were we tired when we got back to the ship! Most of the islands had beautiful beaches, and all of them with the possible exception of Barbados, had a big divide between between rich and poor. Big yachts in the harbor, ramshackle buildings on shore. we took several “city tours” that took us to a scenic overlook. And here is where it gets interesting. On at least two islands, the guide proudly pointed out a cricket stadium, saying that it was a gift from the Chinese government. The Chinese brought in their own labor and equipment and in exchange for the stadium, the island government signed a “friendship agreement.” Hmmmm.
The most unusual place we stopped was Ile du Salut, aka Devil’s Island. We tendered onto this small upthrust of rock in the sea. In preparation, the ship showed the movie Papillon the day before. All I can say is no wonder the French used it as a prison. The beaches were steep and rocky, and the climb to the top was brutal, especially since all that was left were basically ruins, except for a restaurant. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to go there, but in fact there were lots of people other than cruise ship passengers.
And on to Brazil. The Amazon river is 200 miles wide at the mouth! It’s flow is greater than the next ten largest rivers combined. Even knowing these things, I was unprepared for the sheer size of the Amazon, and especially for how fast the current was.
The most unusual place we stopped was Ile du Salut, aka Devil’s Island. We tendered onto this small upthrust of rock in the sea. In preparation, the ship showed the movie Papillon the day before. All I can say is no wonder the French used it as a prison. The beaches were steep and rocky, and the climb to the top was brutal, especially since all that was left were basically ruins, except for a restaurant. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to go there, but in fact there were lots of people other than cruise ship passengers.
And on to Brazil. The Amazon river is 200 miles wide at the mouth! It’s flow is greater than the next ten largest rivers combined. Even knowing these things, I was unprepared for the sheer size of the Amazon, and especially for how fast the current was.
