Located near the Guama River, Belem is the capital of the state of Para. The river here defines the Belenense Life and located along the banks are many of the city’s most interesting sights. It was the discovery of rubber and its importance in the 19th and 20th centuries that triggered an economic boom in Belem. The newfound wealth fuelled the infrastructure and it was during this time that most of Belem’s colonial buildings were constructed. Belem became known as the “Tropical Paris” and this culture is still evident in the city today. Today, Belem remains an important commercial and economic centre, transporting large numbers of fish, shrimp and timber through it port.
So wonderful to be back in Brazil once again. We are anchored and floating in the brown sediment water of the Amazon basin once again, some don’t like the colour, I think it is incredible, like a giant latte. Just the magnitude and the power of this river is amazing as we sit in the entry of the “lungs of the world”. Today, we are not as fortunate as last March when we were here and tendered a short ways to the main city of Belem. As a result of our ship’s draft and the depth and runoff of the river we are anchored a fair distance away, in a place named, Icoaraci. We are also at the mercy of using the local ferries as tenders here and then, for most, a 45 minute to an hour shuttle bus into Belem - wow did we have it good last year. That said, we are on a Cruise Critic excursion today, so our only concern is to get to the tender pier on time - good luck with that. I will get into this a little late but the seasoned crowd here on board is very interesting, in short, some have experienced full ship tendering nightmares on past world cruises and therefore are prepared to stand in line for three hours to get a tender ticket - awe, no thanks. We did get to our assigned bus just in time by waiting about 15 minutes to pick up our tender tickets - geez people just chill.
Livi, our guide from DoBrazilRight did a great job shuttling about 16 of us in the 20 seater van to the city, his english was pretty good and it was fun helping him our with a few words we was having some trouble with. Our bonus and surprise today is where he was taking us, the Emilio Goeldi Museum. Last year since is was Carnival day here, this was closed to all but tour groups, today, with it being a Monday it was also closed with the exception on organized tours, a few ship tours and ours - nice. This museum is a bit of a sanctuary in the busy city of Belem, more like a natural park and mini zoo. We were here for about 45 minutes and then to the Deiparae Vigini (Mary) of Nazareth Basilica, beautiful as we able to see the conclusion of a service. We were then off the Republic square for a few pics of the square and the 1878 built opera house. Our tour concluded at the water front which houses the largest outdoor market in Brazil - we did buy some Brazil nuts this time around. Shuttled back to our pier, now an hour away before getting aboard the ferry back to our ship and late lunch and sail away. Very nice as we cruise out of the Amazon basin with the ships singers and dancers putting on another standing ovation performance. Life is indeed good. A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day - “It takes courage to choose hope over fear… The path forward is to bring people together, not push them apart” - Mark Zuckerberg
Glad that you were able to visit the museum that we weee not able to do last March.
ReplyDeleteM&S