Up the Amazon

Aidan expands on our disappointing experience whale-watching off Dominica:

Before whale watching we prepared with binoculars and whale watching eyes. But it was a disappointment. No whales. We almost saw a mature male sperm whale but we did not. We kept hearing whales (ed: this was on the ship's echolocator) but we could not tell where they were. After a few hours we gave up and went back to Dominica. That day the ship took off on the way to Brazil. When I wrote this we were still going to Brazil.

Aidan's sketch of whale watching, with him in the catamaran and the whale laughing at us on the other side of Dominica

 Living on a ship is easy. But not easy peesy lemon squeezey.

 Waves: you have to do a lot. So don't look at waves, they will hypnotize you:

Aidan's drawing of two passengers being hypnotized by waves, and one already hypnotized and in bed.

John: We have been on the Explorer for several consecutive days now, chugging up the Amazon as we head toward our Brazilian destination of the city of Manaus. We arrive in the morning there, and have outlined some sightseeing and also an overnight trip to an "ecolodge"--a lodge just a few miles upriver from Manaus that is said to offer both interesting views of the rainforest and comfortable accommodations.  Sounds good to us.

The transition to the Amazon was notable mostly for the change in the color of the water, from blue to a muddy greenish-brown. At first, the river was so wide that we could see neither shore.  But for the last couple of days, we have been in the midst of a lush, almost uninterrupted rain forest, streaming by us hour after hour. It looks sort of like this:

Imagine that picture extending the length of your vision as you look either to the right (starboard) and left (port). But it's not boring, at least not yet; it's hypnotizing, as Aidan suggests, in its own way. There are interesting birds to spot (one serious birdwatcher on board managed to strike a particularly elusive quarry off his list the first day), the occasional village, and small boats.

Maeve wanted to get a closer look:

More in a couple of days, after our Manaus visit. In the meantime, Aidan and Maeve are enjoying their cabin: