Day 10
Belém
After a long transit down the mouth of the Amazon River early this morning we anchored off the city of Icoaraci, which is about 10 miles north of Belem. This is as close as we can get to Belem due to the depth of the Amazon River. The ship will be running shuttle buses to the Docas Station Tourist Complex in Belem (about 13 miles and 45 minutes away). The station consists of several renovated warehouses that are now full of shops and restaurants. ATM’s and restrooms are also located there. This complex is about a quarter mile from the Mercado Ver-o-Peso, the largest market in Latin America.
To ensure a timely departure, the last tender is at 4:30 PM but the last shuttle bus from town will be at 2:30 PM to allow for traffic, which can be bad. Since we were there on a Monday, most shops and businesses were closed which probably helped with our driving time.
GOING ASHORE
Shoreside tenders were used today instead of the ship tenders. These tenders are small wooden boats with an estimated capacity of about 120 people. That’s not that much different than the capacity of our tenders. When I first heard we were using shoreside tenders I thought they would be much larger and allow tendering to go faster but it didn’t appear to be the case.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, we will be taking ship tours during most tender ports to avoid aggravation with getting tender tickets. On the World Cruise there are so many four and five star Mariners that priority tendering is essentially meaningless.
CHEF LED MARKET EXPERIENCE & CULINARY WORKSHOP
The 8 hour HAL tour we took today was the: “Chef-Led Market Experience & Culinary Workshop.” described as being “led by a local chef, you will visit the Mercado Ver-o-Peso, before preparing and tasting your own Amazonian dishes”.
The tour had a show time of 8 AM in the Main Stage with the departure listed for 8:30 AM. We arrived about 15 minutes early and there were plenty of seats available. The tour dots with the bus numbers were passed out as we entered the theatre, which was different than we remember on previous tours when they gave us the tour dots as we left the theatre. Tendering started on time and our tour was the first group called down to A deck.
The tender ride ashore was only about 10 minutes, and loading was fast and easy. Once we arrived ashore, at the end of a 200 yard long pier, we were greeted by enthusiastic young people representing the community. They passed out handmade necklaces and we were greeted by dancers and musicians and a person dressed as a blue bull frolicking in the street. We didn’t have any time to really enjoy the ceremony as we were immediately ushered onto our waiting tour bus.
MERCADO VER-O-PESO
When we arrived at the Mercado we were warned by our tour guide to keep our bags and purses in front of our bodies and hold our cameras close to avoid tempting thieves. This was the second warning about this potential crime issue so we were on high alert. Expecting higher humidity than we experienced, it was a pleasant surprise to find walking around the large market fairly pleasant. The sections of the market we visited sold mainly food both fresh, and prepared, along with beverages. We did not go through the sections that sold clothing or household goods.
There were always three heavily armed police officers within eyesight of our group. I’m not sure if they were following us intentionally or if they are just there all the time anyway.
We met Philipe, our chef who would be cooking for us later in the day. He accompanied our tour to various stalls where he picked up a variety of ingredients explaining them through his interpreter as he made the purchases.
I bought a bag of cashews from one of the vendors and they were very good. The vendors took US dollars everywhere in the Market without hesitation. In fact, the ship made a note in the Where and When that it would not offer currency exchange in Brazil due to the ease of using US currency. We are not sure if this is the case in every Brazilian establishment.
There were a couple stalls where we sampled some of the local fermented beverages, which were unusual to our American taste buds. One tasted more like extra strong cough syrup than anything I want to drink a second time.
For such a large market in a hot area I expected it to have more of an odor. It was actually fairly relatively smell free, and pleasant to walk around. Only in the fish market did we notice an aroma and even there it wasn’t overpowering.
After about an hour and a half of wandering around the various stalls we headed back to our bus for a short ride to the Gastronomical Institute where they would hold the cooking class.
CULINARY WORKSHOP
The people in the school only spoke Portuguese with one exception besides our guide. They both translated everything the chef and his assistants said.
There were about 20 people on the tour. We have taken many cooking classes and tours over the years and when there are this many people we realize up front that we’re not going to get a lot of firsthand cooking or preparation time. We would be mostly observing someone else, which was fine for us.
For those people who may be taking a cooking class or tour for the first time don’t be surprised if you don’t do a whole lot of on hands preparation for cooking. For the most part you may help out chopping up some ingredients or minding a pot but these tourist-based cooking classes are more entertainment than actual cooking lessons, which is fine with us because that’s what we are looking for. But it is important to set your expectations if you haven’t taken many cooking classes previously.
After a brief introduction from the staff, who explained the history of the school, we moved back to the large kitchen area which was set up with four tables were students could prepare ingredients.
As it turned out, we watched Phillipe and his helpers prepare the 3 dishes with his helpers at one station while the students all gathered around to observe. A couple of the guests did jump in to help peel some of the shrimp for the appetizer course.
The main course was a large, freshwater fish, that was baked and then boiled in a broth before being served alongside a rice like side dish.
As the meals are being prepared there is always a lot of time for informal conversations with the staff. We find this time with local residents one of the side benefits of taking cooking excursions.
About 3 hours after we arrived, the lunch was finished and ready to eat. It was delicious and everyone had a wonderful time.
BACK TO THE SHIP
A little after 3 PM, we headed back to our waiting bus. After a short drive we arrived back at the port around 3:45PM.
We shopped for a bit at the pop up craft center that was set up for our visit before heading back to the ship.
I won’t be commenting on every dinner unless it is something remarkable. The menus can all be found on the blog. However, the food on the cruise so far has been exceptional. We haven’t had a bad meal yet. Service is excellent.
THE MAIN STAGE
Tonight’s entertainment was the second show by the Holland America Singers and Dancers called “Salsamania”. Another wonderful show by a very talented group of performers. The college football championship game was on both big screen TV’s in the Sports Bar and it was also broadcast over the ships TV system as well. Reception was perfect, but we did get TV commercials for South America. I am now up to speed on the upcoming Cricket Matches that will be shown on ESPN soon.
