From: Sherman Rootberg
Date: Mon, Feb 18, 2008 at 8:27 PM
Subject: Monday, February 18, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Cruising Up the Amazon to Alter Do Chao
Today is Presidents day. But far more important, it is my Birthday.
It is also Ari’s birthday. Granddaughter number 3 of 4. She is five today. I talked to her on the phone and we discussed this coincidence. She informed me that I am much older even though we both have the same birthday. When I asked how old, she said I must be 10. I could hear someone in the background coaching her and saying, no, much older. Then she said 55. I’m not going to confuse her. She already confused me.
While we were in the restaurant eating breakfast we started going
through an area of very heavy junk in the river. Trees, branches, small islands of what looked like sod, and all sorts of vegetation. One time I saw my entire lawn go floating by. There must have been heavy rain in this area.
At about 10:15 we approached the city of Santarem. The Tapajos (top ah joes) River enters at this point. It is clear rather then the doo doo color of the Amazon. They do not mix for quite a distance. It still looks fairly dark to me but definitely a completely different
color. We were told there is a great difference in the PH (acidity) also. We stop at this city on the way back down the river. Most of today’s pictures are of this place, as we cruised by, because there wasn’t much to photograph at Alter Do Chao.
There are also some small towns started by people from the US. One is Americana. 3,500 southerners came here when the south lost the Civil War. They had to have slavery. Their decedents are still here but no longer speak English. While in office Jimmy Carter
came to visit. His wife’s uncle is buried here.
Another town was started by Henry Ford. That’s two Nazis I’ve mentioned in two paragraphs. His idea was to grow rubber to keep the price of rubber from controlling the cost of his vehicles. It was a total failure while similar plantations all over the world were highly successful. He hired manufacturing engineers instead of agriculture experts. Everything was planted wrong and improperly cared for. The town just barely exists today and a
caretaker is trying to raise money to restore the old buildings. They want to try to turn it into a tourist attraction.
Another of the high points of the day also happened this afternoon. As we were cruising along, our onboard enrichment lecturer was giving information about this area. This is the same lady that has been with us the entire cruise. She talks over the public address whenever there is something of interest to inform us about. To be able to watch from the balcony and hear her over the TV, we
opened the balcony doors and turned up the volume. As you may remember, we are almost on the equator. It gets a bit humid here in the rain forest. All of a sudden the smoke alarm goes off. All of those kind of things are loud, but you should have heard this one. There was nothing you could do. You couldn’t go to the phone, you couldn’t leave the room, all you could do was stand there with your fingers stuffed in your ears. Finally it quit. There is a heat detector right next to it. When that showed normal temperature they must have shut it off. When we called about it, they said it is from the 
humidity if you leave the balcony door open for a long time or take a shower with the bathroom door open.
At about 12:30 this afternoon we arrived at Alter Do Chao. We anchored a long way out in the river. It must be shallow any closer. Huge amounts of sand and silt are moved around daily. Large islands appear and disappear over night. Three tenders were lowered and they continually moved people up and back.
At about 1:30 we saw there were no lines and we got on a tender and went ashore. It let us off at a dock on a beach. Some people were going swimming. Not I, thank you. On the beach there were maybe ten different people selling junk displayed on tables. Prices seemed pretty high and you could not knock them down much. It is not at all like Mexico. We bought a few mounted fish to bring back. Now I have a nasty thought. Are there any bugs or worms or other moving things on or in them? I put them in a big plastic storage bag and I am going to see if they will freeze them for at least 24 hours. Otherwise I am going to dump them.
They held our fish for us as we walked down a road along the shore line. There were some nice houses and a nice looking hotel along with cafes. There were some stores in the distance, it looked like. It was far too long a walk for the hot sun we were in. The shore was lined with small local boats and it was very picturesque. We walked back and picked up our fish and got on a waiting tender. It left almost as soon as we got aboard. It was nice to see once but don’t go out of your way to get there. No attraction. Very tiny.
Tonight we are going to Signatures for my birthday. Originally, they said we would not be going ashore until my dinner reservation time. At breakfast I explained this problem to the Maitre D’, Remy Chartois. Remy had been on the Voyager the last two years and had been excellent. This time was no exception. He said it would be a problem because everyone would want to show up late and at the same time, but for me he would always find a way. Smart man. We both agree that I am very important.
I did get a card with a hand written note wishing me a happy birthday. It said it was from the cruise director and entire cruise department. No one signed it. Cruise Director, Bryan Townsend, is still a big stiff. There could not be more then a few anniversaries and birthdays per day. The bum could sign the card or at least have the sense to have someone sign his name. On the voyager they put these things on TV. I am far too important for this sleazy treatment. Ain’t I?
Obviously, others agree I am. For the last two years we have cruised around the world and we were aboard at this same time. As I mentioned, we got a mention on TV if it was our birthday or anniversary. I have been on this ship for almost two months now and have never seen any acknowledgement of the same, in any way. As I said, we had dinner in Signatures, the fancy French restaurant. The food and service was impeccable, as it has always been. Then, just after ordering dessert, Remy brings out a cake with a burning candle on it.
It says Happy Birthday Sherman Rootberg. No one else, has been seen, in any restaurant aboard, being given a cake. Obviously I am very special, or is it a special pain in the - - -. Whatever, the cake was supposed to be some kind of moose cake. It was so heavy it was like a solid bar of dark chocolate. It was so rich we could barely finish a half of the small cake.
Date: Mon, Feb 18, 2008 at 8:27 PM
Subject: Monday, February 18, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Cruising Up the Amazon to Alter Do Chao
Today is Presidents day. But far more important, it is my Birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ME
ME
It is also Ari’s birthday. Granddaughter number 3 of 4. She is five today. I talked to her on the phone and we discussed this coincidence. She informed me that I am much older even though we both have the same birthday. When I asked how old, she said I must be 10. I could hear someone in the background coaching her and saying, no, much older. Then she said 55. I’m not going to confuse her. She already confused me.While we were in the restaurant eating breakfast we started going
through an area of very heavy junk in the river. Trees, branches, small islands of what looked like sod, and all sorts of vegetation. One time I saw my entire lawn go floating by. There must have been heavy rain in this area.At about 10:15 we approached the city of Santarem. The Tapajos (top ah joes) River enters at this point. It is clear rather then the doo doo color of the Amazon. They do not mix for quite a distance. It still looks fairly dark to me but definitely a completely different
color. We were told there is a great difference in the PH (acidity) also. We stop at this city on the way back down the river. Most of today’s pictures are of this place, as we cruised by, because there wasn’t much to photograph at Alter Do Chao.There are also some small towns started by people from the US. One is Americana. 3,500 southerners came here when the south lost the Civil War. They had to have slavery. Their decedents are still here but no longer speak English. While in office Jimmy Carter
came to visit. His wife’s uncle is buried here.Another town was started by Henry Ford. That’s two Nazis I’ve mentioned in two paragraphs. His idea was to grow rubber to keep the price of rubber from controlling the cost of his vehicles. It was a total failure while similar plantations all over the world were highly successful. He hired manufacturing engineers instead of agriculture experts. Everything was planted wrong and improperly cared for. The town just barely exists today and a
caretaker is trying to raise money to restore the old buildings. They want to try to turn it into a tourist attraction.Another of the high points of the day also happened this afternoon. As we were cruising along, our onboard enrichment lecturer was giving information about this area. This is the same lady that has been with us the entire cruise. She talks over the public address whenever there is something of interest to inform us about. To be able to watch from the balcony and hear her over the TV, we
opened the balcony doors and turned up the volume. As you may remember, we are almost on the equator. It gets a bit humid here in the rain forest. All of a sudden the smoke alarm goes off. All of those kind of things are loud, but you should have heard this one. There was nothing you could do. You couldn’t go to the phone, you couldn’t leave the room, all you could do was stand there with your fingers stuffed in your ears. Finally it quit. There is a heat detector right next to it. When that showed normal temperature they must have shut it off. When we called about it, they said it is from the humidity if you leave the balcony door open for a long time or take a shower with the bathroom door open.At about 12:30 this afternoon we arrived at Alter Do Chao. We anchored a long way out in the river. It must be shallow any closer. Huge amounts of sand and silt are moved around daily. Large islands appear and disappear over night. Three tenders were lowered and they continually moved people up and back.
At about 1:30 we saw there were no lines and we got on a tender and went ashore. It let us off at a dock on a beach. Some people were going swimming. Not I, thank you. On the beach there were maybe ten different people selling junk displayed on tables. Prices seemed pretty high and you could not knock them down much. It is not at all like Mexico. We bought a few mounted fish to bring back. Now I have a nasty thought. Are there any bugs or worms or other moving things on or in them? I put them in a big plastic storage bag and I am going to see if they will freeze them for at least 24 hours. Otherwise I am going to dump them.They held our fish for us as we walked down a road along the shore line. There were some nice houses and a nice looking hotel along with cafes. There were some stores in the distance, it looked like. It was far too long a walk for the hot sun we were in. The shore was lined with small local boats and it was very picturesque. We walked back and picked up our fish and got on a waiting tender. It left almost as soon as we got aboard. It was nice to see once but don’t go out of your way to get there. No attraction. Very tiny.
Tonight we are going to Signatures for my birthday. Originally, they said we would not be going ashore until my dinner reservation time. At breakfast I explained this problem to the Maitre D’, Remy Chartois. Remy had been on the Voyager the last two years and had been excellent. This time was no exception. He said it would be a problem because everyone would want to show up late and at the same time, but for me he would always find a way. Smart man. We both agree that I am very important.
I did get a card with a hand written note wishing me a happy birthday. It said it was from the cruise director and entire cruise department. No one signed it. Cruise Director, Bryan Townsend, is still a big stiff. There could not be more then a few anniversaries and birthdays per day. The bum could sign the card or at least have the sense to have someone sign his name. On the voyager they put these things on TV. I am far too important for this sleazy treatment. Ain’t I?
Obviously, others agree I am. For the last two years we have cruised around the world and we were aboard at this same time. As I mentioned, we got a mention on TV if it was our birthday or anniversary. I have been on this ship for almost two months now and have never seen any acknowledgement of the same, in any way. As I said, we had dinner in Signatures, the fancy French restaurant. The food and service was impeccable, as it has always been. Then, just after ordering dessert, Remy brings out a cake with a burning candle on it.
It says Happy Birthday Sherman Rootberg. No one else, has been seen, in any restaurant aboard, being given a cake. Obviously I am very special, or is it a special pain in the - - -. Whatever, the cake was supposed to be some kind of moose cake. It was so heavy it was like a solid bar of dark chocolate. It was so rich we could barely finish a half of the small cake.
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