French Guiana (Almost) and Belém, Brazil (Yes)

After leaving Bridgetown we had a sea day. That night the buffet had this amazing spread of fresh fish. They had a yellow tail tuna in there. It was huge, I've never seen a real tuna before, just videos of these things. Most impressive buffet ever seen on a ship, or not on a ship. Oceania delivers.

They also had a crepe bar out and Mitzi fully loved it. So good.

After the sea day we were set to visit Devil's Island, part of French Guiana. However the weather was too rough and they couldn't manage the tendering safely (we have a lot of older folks on board and it's really hard to keep them safe if the weather is not calm).

So I took a picture as we sailed on by.

The next day was another sea day, and we crossed the equator from the north to the south. It was about 10a and they had a whole equator crossing ceremony. Dumping ice water and people and having them kiss a fish.

We had a nice lunch and later that evening they delivered certificates to use for crossing the Equator. This was Mitzi's fourth time crossing, first time on a ship. This was my third time, first time on a ship.

Then on Jan 15 we arrived in Belém, Brasil. Technically it was Icoaraci, about 30 minutes north of Belém. We had a tendering operation and I finally got a nice shot of our ship from a distance. We love this ship. So perfect.

I was here in Belém in 1986 as a missionary, exactly 40 years ago. One of my strong memories was the open air market by the water front. We got an Uber and drove down there. It was just as I remember. Busy, smelly, stalls for 4 blocks along the water front.

Then the fishing boats at the end. That picture of me with the fishing boats is the same spot I got pictures of 40 years ago.

It was fun to be there, and a little overwhelming. I'm 59 years old, I was 19 at the time. It feels like multiple life-times ago. Almost looking back at a different person. Very strange but comforting too.

I remember this clock in the square.

One of my favorite memories from living is Brasil is eating Coxinhas. It's a street food. Shredded meat (like chicken) fried in side a flour casing that looks like a pear. I would get so hungry and two of these would be a meal.

I purchased one and had wonderful memories. It was only $1. Back in 1985 i think they cost about $0.25 in US dollars.

We had lunch at this buffet. It was very Brasilian.

As we were walking around the town by all the shops we saw this Sex Shop. Classic Brazilian! Brazilians are very sensual people. They love the body, they celebrate the body, they are very open about it. It was a bit of a shock to me back in 1985 haha.

Walking on the streets of Belém.

This orthodontist business had two people in purple shirts on the sidewalk soliciting people to come in. If Logan had to promote his practice this way in Mobile, Alabama I would truly feel badly for him!

This old building has character and looks Portuguese. I guess that makes sense.

We saw this church and went in. Someone was singing and playing the organ and these nuns were all lined up in a row praying. We would be so curious to hear each of their stories and how they ended up here.

On our way back to the tender to get on the ship, it started down pouring hard. It's the rainy season and these water dumps just come up so fast. We got a good dunking.

We enjoyed our day in Belém. I'm grateful I got to go back. Brasil is a wild and loud country. I adapted to it, came to love it, and especially the people who are so friendly and love to talk and be kind. A nice gentleman at the dock got talking to Mitzi and she connected so well that he gifted her a delicious mango. And that is Brasil.

We've got 5 more ports along the coast of Brasil. I'm looking forward to it!