Today is our last day on the Amazon River. Sometime early this morning we crossed North of the Equator for the final time this voyage. So, farewell Southern Hemisphere and the mighty Amazon. At noon, Capt. Phillipe said he expects to be out of the fresh water and well out into the Atlantic by about 2pm.
Since we had nothing to do today and a busy day yesterday, we slept in this morning. Well, Debbie slept in. So, we had our big late Sunday breakfast in Compass Rose today. Debbie got raspberries, chocolate croissant and Eggs Benedict (plural)! Making up for lost time and meals! Her voice is still creaky, croaky but she is still talking. Clay is feeling some better though he still has a lot of congestion and a bad cough. Starting the Cipro right away was probably a good thing for him and hopefully he will not get as sick as Margie or Debbie did. Margie had mixed berries and Eggs Benedict and Clay had blueberry muffin and blueberry pancakes with bacon.
Debbie went alone to the morning lecture. It was a British explorer named Robin Hanbury-Tenison. He was very interesting and had that dry understated British wit going on. As part of the Theater at Sea spotlight, there will be a Q&A at 1:45pm in the Constellation Theater with Ed Asner, Nat Chandler, George Dvorsky, Tovah Feldshuh, Shirley Jones, Patricia Neal and Susan Powell. At lunch today they are having Tex-Mex at the Pool Deck. Since we like that, we will probably go up. Tonight is Informal and the show tonight is again Spotlight performance with Nat Chandler, George Dvorsky and Susan Powell. The Big Screen Popcorn Movie at 3pm is Papillion. Debbie would like to go, we'll see. That would mean that she defers returning to the gym another day, but she's never seen Papillion other than on TV, not on a big screen. Hmmmm.. a dilemma.
Tomorrow we expect to arrive at Devil's Island at 12:30pm ship's time, which Capt. Phillipe informs us will be an hour different from island time! Pasted below is what we have as a description from the ship of our stop there tomorrow afternoon.
Independent Exploration of Devil's Island
Duration: Varies.
Walking.
Code: DEV-2490
There is no official tour program scheduled for today.
The haunting history of Devil's Island comes to life, as visitors arrive at Ile Royale, wander its footpaths, and explore the overgrown ruins of prison cells and administrative buildings. A recently-restored museum is open for visits, and a small hotel, the Auberge Iles du Salut, offers modern tourist facilities that includes a restaurant and gift shop. The ship will anchor while at Ile Royale. There are no vehicles on the island, some of the paths are hilly and uneven and the remains of the various prison facilities can only be seen on foot. A 45-minute walk lets you circle the entire 70-acre island. Lightweight clothing and sun protection are suggested as the climate is hot and humid. There will be a few local guides to answer questions and provide directions.
The complex was formerly a self-contained community with houses, offices, a hospital, bakery, butcher shop, and church. There was even a guillotine used to execute convicts who committed crimes while in Guiana. On nearby Devil's Island are the ruins of the facility used for housing political prisoners. Here, the inmates were often left without guards, since strong currents and sharks made a getaway virtually impossible. Even wardens were buried on Ile St. Joseph, while convicts were buried at sea. All penal facilities in French Guiana were finally shut down in the 1940s.
T-shirts, postcards, guide books and a variety of souvenirs are available at the shop located in the island's inn. Although local currency is the Euro, U.S. currency is accepted in the shop. Informative souvenir guide books are printed in English, and available for approximately $8 each.
We did go to Tex-Mex, but it was hot up top and there were no shaded tables available, so we took our plates inside and ate in LaVeranda. They had Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding for dessert. It was delicious with dulce de leche ice cream. Margie also really liked the dulce de leche flan. After lunch, Clay requested a haircut. We have all been struggling with our growing hair for the last couple of weeks. It seems that the heat and humidity bring out the hairy beast. But, with one or another of us being sick all along here most of Brazil, it has just gotten away from us. Maybe it was the people last night, bragging about their cheap great haircuts that pushed us all over the edge. Also, it was relatively cool and shady on our balcony earlier. So, we all had haircuts on the balcony. Talk about cheap haircuts! Those folks last night have nothing on us for being cheap! The price was right and no one looks too bad. So, success all around with only 1 week to go anyway! So, we left behind all that hair along with the brown waters of the Amazon.
Margie did go to the Q&A with the Stars after her haircut. Susan Powell, a former Miss America, served as moderator and all they did was take questions from the audience. The questions were mostly for Ed Asner and Shirley Jones.
Debbie did enjoy the movie. We are now officially back at sea! Margie wishes she was back in the Amazon! But, we can't get back to Florida that way, so we will keep our fingers crossed again for calm seas.
Tonight is Informal. The menu in Compass Rose is not too appealing. LaVeranda has stopped the Brazilian steakhouse. Tonight it has a steak and lobster only menu. We will probably just go for a quick dinner in Compass Rose. Debbie and Margie plan to go to tonight's show. It is The Song is Kern: An evening of Jerome Kern starring Nat Chandler, George Dvorksky, Susan Powell. More later.
Dinner was a calm, quiet affair for us. We all ate lightly. Debbie and Margie did go to the show. It was very well done and we enjoyed it very much. The 3 singers were all very strong and worked quite well together. It was a very good show.
