Aventura en America del Sur, part 2

Tuesday, December 16th

Parati, Brazil

    During the night we had sailed south, past Rio to our next destination, the small port town of Parati. Originally founded as a shipping port for gold mined in the interior and as a port of entry for the slave trade, Parati's significance declined as the gold ran out and slavery was outlawed. Today it remains a colonial town almost "frozen in time," as our ship's daily program, "Pursuits," pointed out. It is recognized by the Brazilian government as a National Historic Site, and UNESCO is considering it for inclusion on the World Heritage List.
    Once again we tendered ashore, this time from a pretty decent distance due to shallow water. The weather was once again spectacular so the jaunt was pleasant and soon we began to walk the unique cobblestoned streets of Parati.

    Parati is known for its artists, and we found one who makes unique jewelry and other items out of coins. You can look up this fine artist at Atelier Aracati. 

    
    Sue found herself a beautiful top, and despite the challenging footing on the cobblestones---which are not quite like those back in the States---we had a fine morning in this one-of-a-kind place. 

    Back on board, we availed ourselves of the pool deck for the afternoon. Dinner for the evening was a special Mediterranean-style buffet, served on the pool deck. We discovered quickly that when Azamara does a buffet, they don't mess around. For entertainment after dinner, the ship's band performed at the White Night Party, with vocals supplied by Eric, Teacake and more. 

    It was quite a party, and we enjoyed ourselves on the dance floor until fairly late. During the party the ship weighed anchor and set sail for our next stop, the islands of Ilhabela, our final stop in Brazil. 

***

Wednesday, December 17th

Ilhabela, Brazil

    The word "Ilhabela" means "beautiful island," which is certainly appropriate for this archipelago off the southern Brazilian coast, about 200 miles south of Rio. We would come ashore on the largest island, often called Ilhabela but officially Ilha de Sao Sebastiao. About 28,000 residents live on these islands and many more come for the holidays. 

    The main island got its name from the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci when he arrived here in January 1502. It was about 100 years later when the first Portuguese settlers showed up, cultivating sugar and later coffee with the help of slave labor. With the completion of Brazil's coastal highway in 1970, linking the islands with Rio, tourism has increased. We would soon discover why.

    We came ashore and joined a tour that took us first to Curral Beach and then to the interior. Brazil is famous for its beaches and this would be one of the best we visited.
   

      From the beach we boarded our open-air 4x4 and headed inland for a visit to Ilhabela State Park, which covers 104 square miles, nearly the entire surface of the archipelago. It was set up to protect the ecosystem known as Atlantic Forest, which in total covers over 1,500 square miles and stretches from northeastern Argentina up along the Atlantic coast of Brazil. A high percentage of the plants and animals found within this ecosystem are found nowhere else in the world, and many species are classified as endangered. 
    Our trek into the forest wasn't quite as long as we expected, which was probably a good thing because the insects were pretty vicious. We'd been forewarned and had applied insect repellant, but it didn't seem to do much good on our legs and feet. Still, we were able to visit a beautiful pool that was part of a small river. 

    Back aboard the Journey, we cleaned up from our day ashore and had our second signature dining experience at Prime C. We'd heard the night before from fellow passengers that the steaks here were top-notch, and they were right. 

Presentation was always immaculate in the ship's restaurants. 

    Following dinner, we repaired to the lounge for the evening's show, featuring the comedy and magic of Mandy Muden, and she really put on a great show. 

    The ship weighed anchor and we headed south. Over the next two days we would enjoy the Journey at sea, a chance to relax before our last two stops, Uruguay and Argentina.

***

Thursday-Friday, December 18th-19th

At sea aboard the Azamara Journey

    Sea days are critical aboard any cruise, in the sense that you are, of course, confined to the ship and so the ship and its crew really have to come through in order for passengers to avoid boredom. It's a delicate balance between providing enough activities to keep people interested and enough free time for relaxation poolside or in the library with a good book, and Azamara pulls this off very well.

    Like almost all cruise lines, Azamara provides a spa, which is connected to the gym. We avail ourselves of these places quite often during our cruises, more so with the gym, as its use is free to all passengers, whereas the spa can be somewhat costly. But there are always going to be some services we want to sample at the spa, especially on this cruise since Sue won a gift certificate in a drawing on our first day aboard. She gave this to me for a special shave and facial, and it was nice indeed. In days of yore American men of means almost always took their shaves in a barbershop; Theodore Roosevelt got a shave nearly every afternoon from the White House barber. Modern men who never have this experience are missing something for sure. 

    There's ping-pong and darts and other games both on deck and in lounges. Bingo is always popular, and while at sea the ship's casino is open from late morning to late at night. I'm a big one for the regular trivia contests, too. One of the things we like to do is engage in conversation with our fellow passengers, and we always meet people from all over the world. 

Part of the Drawing Room, the ship's well-appointed library.

The ship's band was on hand in late afternoon with great music.

At the Italian dinner buffet on the pool deck, a specially-prepared pizza entree.

Flag trivia was hosted by the lovely Ashley, also one of the ship's singers and dancers.

The casino was always busy on sea days and evenings. 

    There's entertainment each evening, of course. Thursday night the ship's singers and dancers, led by Eric, put on a slam-bang show, "Door to Dreams," a tribute to Broadway, followed by a tribute to ABBA, the iconic Swedish pop group from the disco era. The next night was another treat, a Motown show from Bruce Parker. Azamara was certainly living up to its reputation for first-class shows. 

    No cruise would be complete without Karaoke Night, and the Journey supplied one on Friday night, hosted by Stephen, a young man from Pittsburgh who was also part of the singing and dancing team. A fine time was had by all, including yours truly, who contributed a cover of my favorite John Denver tune, "Back Home Again." By the time we retired after the show, we were ready to head ashore the next morning for our first visit to Uruguay.