South America and Pacific Cruise - Sector One

8^th - 25^th January 2015

Southampton - Madeira - St. Vincent - Recife - Rio de Janeiro - Montevideo

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Jan 9. Sea Day. Quite a rough day. It was choppy last night and I could feel it a lot as I overlook the bow of the ship. When I opened the curtains in the morning, the waves occasionally came over the bow. Some decks were closed. We were supposed to eat in the Beach House today to celebrate Barbara and Yvonne's birthdays (which were just before the cruise). Because of the weather, the girls decided to postpone.

Jan 12. Funchal, Madeira. Barbara, Rob, Linda and I had booked a cab for a brief island tour. We first visited a market in Funchal, mostly fruit and vegetables and fish, but also some other stuff. After that we drove to a high point for a view of Funchal, where we saw the church where Cristiano Ronaldo was bapised. Then it was off to a fishing village (more of a small town, really) called Camara de Lobos. We saw cod drying in the sun and a small church. The village was surrouinded by terraces where bananas were growing. We then stopped at a winery for a Madeira wine tasting, before heading off to the second highest sea cliffs in Europe, called Cabo Girão. They are 580 metres above sea level and there's a glass walkway over the edge. After lunch back on board, Rob, Barbara and I walked along the front and took the cable car to Monte. At the top, we wandered through Monte Palace Tropical Gardens. Very hilly and not very tropical!

Jan 15. Mindelo, St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands. There's not really much to say about this place. The town was bigger than I was expecting, but we only walked around the part by the port. We visited the fish market and a couple of other markets, both indoor and outdoor. There was nothing there really worth buying. The fish market was interesting, but the fruit and vegetables seemed poor quality and nothing exotic, unlike in Funchal. Dry and pretty barren surroundings.

Jan 19. Recife, Brazil. First stop was the Casa de Cultura, which is an old converted prison. From there we negotiated a six seater cab to take us to Olinda, the old colonial capital. There we saw large carnival heads, that are worn on people's shoulders during carnival. After that, we saw São Salvador church, which was quite plain inside. There was also a statue of Cristo Redentor. Then it was on to São Bento Monastery. We then drove through Olindo back to the old prison. Barbara and I then took a quick stroll along the river to the Dom Pedro II bridge, which was built by the British.

Jan 22. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Another warm day. The six of us took a P&O tour of Corcovado with Christ the Redeemer, a drive past Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana beaches and Sugar Loaf Mountain. The ride up Corcovado was fun on the funicular railway. At the top it was very crowded, as it was school holidays. It was quite hazy, but the views of Rio were as spectacular as when I visited with Angie a few years ago. After lunch (at a churrascaria, with loats of meat and a caipairiha, we took a quick stroll on Copacabana Beach before taking the cable cars to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain. When we got there, Corcovado was covered in cloud, so we had been lucky to visit it in the morning. An excellent port of call.

Jan 25. Montevideo, Uruguay. A hot day. In the morning we all took the Hop On Hop Off bus, which started from the port and took well over two hours for the full circuit. We passed Independence Square, where the Presidents office is. Then it was on past the National Library, Parliament, a large park called Prado and then past various residential areas, malls and the like. The final stretch was past the beaches, which were busy, as it was a Sunday. The beaches are not on the coast, but on the River Plate, which empties into the Atlantic. After lunch in an old building (ex-railway station?), full of food and market stalls we walked back to Independence Square and then on a long trek to a flea market we had seen on the bus tour. In the evening Rob, Barbara and I went back to the building where we had lunch and ate our dinner there. It was still extremely hot, even at 19:30.