Darwin ~ Cairns ~ Karanda ~~~ November 2025

Crazy timing! Mary and Steve have been planning their Australia trip for years to visit Steve’s relatives. It’s too bad we were on opposite ends of the continent but we still felt a continent connection❤️

My new friend Phyllis and I spent the day in Karanda. This small village was delightful. We arrived by a skyrail, shopped, saw amazing aboriginal art, shared a plate of sweet potato fries, and walked through the Karanda Sanctuary.

Next stop: Alotau, Papua New Guninea

July 4th, 2025 🇺🇸

Well, my how time flies! I won’t waste our time on excuses. I’m sure you’re busy and you know I must be busy too. 😎 I’m in Alaska now! I feel so fortunate and thankful to live this adventure! 🥰

As you can see, my last post was at the end of March. 😬 I do apologize. We have completed the South American Segment and almost completed the West coast of the North American Segment. I’ll fill in those missed ports soon.

Currently, I’m in Ketchikan, Alaska celebrating our Independence Day. Cruising the Inland passage is absolutely all I hoped for and more. ✔️

It is almost 10pm and we’re expecting the fireworks to begin at 11pm. Way past my bedtime. But I can sleep later. We couldn’t ask for a better vantage point being anchored in the bay. As I sit here composing this post, waiting for the big show, the sunset is spectacular and the neighborhood fireworks have already begun.🧨

The parade this afternoon was a wonderful slice of small town Americano. The locals were all well represented including the smallest of infants to the most mature among us and of course, the family pets. I just couldn’t help but be joyful in the mist of all the enthusiasm and patriotism. Ahhh, the sights, smells, and sounds that illicit memories of bygone parades.

March 27, 2025

From 1853 to 1953, the French used these islands as a penal colony. Over 80,000 men were sentenced and assigned an island according to their criminal status. The most dangerous were kept on Devil’s Island. Steve McQueen portrayed the character Henri Charrière in the 1973 movie Papillion based on the book by Henri Charrière. Henri was convicted of murder in 1931 and pardoned in 1970.

I read that the author of the book watched the premier with McQueen and was pleased with the depiction. This movie horrified me. I was 18 years old and especially naive in 1973. However, being here inspired me to revisit the movie. I was surprised to find an excellent 2017 remake featuring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek. It is still horrifying. Humans can be frightfully cruel.

We were all looking forward to going ashore. The local tender was this catamaran that made many attempts to come along side on both sides of the ship. Sadly the swells and tide just didn’t produce safe conditions. Maybe we’ll be back this way.

~ 🗝️ ~

April 23, 2025

We’ll dock in Colon, Panama this morning. April 25th we’ll enter the Panama Canal. 🪣 Bucket List ~ two days to ✔️ing it. In the meantime, I’ll work on catching up with my journal entries.

I had a delicious tuna steak with sweet potato fries for dinner last night. Wellll done. Yummm!

March 25, 2025

We crossed the equator! I now share this “ancient order of the deep” with my father. He was a 20 year old young man serving in the Navy during WWII when he crossed the equator and became a “Shellback.” It has been 82 years ago and now my Son, Darrell proudly possesses these precious documents from our family history.

My initiation was quite mild compared to my dad’s. I barely kissed a fish. I believe all the Navy “Polliwogs” were actually tossed overboard. Being a confident swimmer, dad enjoyed a nice cool dip in the Southern Pacific Ocean. Not all the sailors were happy about going overboard as some were not swimmers!

💦 🏊‍♀️ 💦

Belém is the capital city of Pará, a state in northern Brazil. It is the gateway into the Amazon and sits along the Gaujará Bay and Guamá River. We have now entered what is known as the Amazon River Delta. The Amazon River is a mere three days away. So close yet so far. Sadly our plans changed to go further up river due to a Brazilian law requiring we take on a partial Brazilian crew if we remained in their waters over 30 days. Alas we move on. We have the crossing of the equator (80 miles away) and an initiation of the “Pollywogs to Shellbacks” to look forward to when we depart Belém in four days.

Meanwhile, the waterfront markets await. They consists of a meat market, a fish market, and the Açaí Berry Market. The most famous is the Mercado Ver-o-Peso Market which began in 1625 as a weigh and tax station. The discovery of the rubber tree in the 18th century was a major export from the port of Belém.

Paul Fishman, an Odyssey neighbor, could hardly wait to find the Piranha. That was his lunch for the day. I believe he is somehow paying homage to his namesake. Yum yum😋

“Cajú” and Castanho-do-Brasil” em abundância! Cashews and Chestnuts/Brazil nuts galore! Jeesh! Look at that knife. (Charlie, don’t get any funny ideas. I’m not holding a Brazil nut for you to shell ~ only green beans)

When I returned to the Odyssey I asked Sanjay if he knew what this commodity could possibly be. Between the two of us we unraveled the mystery. The above picture on the right is a google screen shot of the description. It is considered a “stone fruit.”

The meat and fish markets were in buildings along the waterfront. The remaining markets were under countless canopies which offered the most common and the most bazaar items for your everyday shopping experience. The remnants from the fish market were easy pickings for the swarming buzzards and egrets.

Bosque Rodrigues Alves Amazon Zoobotanical Garden

This botanical garden opened in August of 1883. It was 37 acres of natural habitat that was fenced off on the edge of town but now is in the heart of Belém. We were excited about our opportunity to experience what was going to be as close to the Amazon rain forest as we were going to get. It was a 20 minute Uber ride from the port. The ride itself was an experience we won’t soon forget. The driver only spoke Portuguese and not the least bit interested in trying to communicate. The park had such potential but I must admit, I was disappointed. I expected… more. The monkeys were the highlight. No sloth today.

~🙈 ~

“Land of Light” (Terra da Luz) This nickname is a result of Fortaleza’s constant sunny climate.

Fortaleza translates to “fortress” in Portuguese referring to its origins as a fortified settlement. The city has one of the longest coastlines in Brazil and is famous for its beautiful beaches. We were here just a day for supplies. I’m still a little wary and cautious about leaving the ship. I don’t want to take the chance of “missing my ship.” We were scheduled to “get under way” at four so I opted to just remain aboard. I found it interesting watching the crew off load our trash🤪 and take on needed supplies. About a dozen trucks were lined up waiting as soon as we docked.

👋🛳️🕓

🐬

~Joy~

I’m loving my days at sea!

I get to go to gym, then have a little breakfast…

After breakfast, I go for a walk on the deck, then go for a swim. The pool water 💦 temperature is perfect! (no swimming photos yet) Now it’s time for lunch! After lunch, we have a guest speaker who is all about “tips & tricks” using our phone camera. It is great fun being a student again. We also have a craft class, I made a necklace. Then I rush off to hear the next port talk. I need a nap but it’s already dinner time. One more deck walk then off to my cabin to slip into comfy PJs. There are more speakers and after dinner music but I do like my quiet cabin time before bed. I’ll leave that night life for the youngsters on board. After all, I have to prepare for another day. “Seas the day!”

❣️❤️❣️

Recife gets its name from the coral reefs that shelter its harbor. Reef translated into Portuguese is Recife. The city has over 50 bridges interconnecting all the islands to the mainland. That is why it is referred to as the “Brazilian Venice.”

Before we left the ship for the day, we enjoyed what seemed to be a parade of sail boats. I’m sure they were all headed out for just another normal day of sailing along the Brazilian coast.

Our goal for the day was to go for a walk to find the Jewish Synagogue museum, the local ice cream shop, and enjoy all the sights and sounds along the way.

This street was known as Judeus (Jewish) Street during the 17th century. Today it is called Bom Jesus Street referring to an arc placed at the end of the street.

We found the museum only to discover it was closed for the day. We did return the next day to find it opened and fascinating.

As I understand it, in 1654, of all the Jewish families fleeing the Portuguese Inquisition in Recife to New Amsterdam (New York) 23 refugees survived. Most New York Jewish families can trace their heritage back to these same refugees of 1654.

Museum✔️

Next on our quest was to find the local ice cream shop we had heard so much about. After asking directions from several nice Portuguese speaking locals and a grand downpour we stumbled upon said shop. The sun came out and presto, we spotted the ice cream cow!

Ice cream✔️

We heard Brazilian music and saw our Odyssey neighbors dancing in the streets. Colorful booths of local specialties lined the streets.

Sights ✔️ and sounds ✔️

Next port is Fortaleza after two days cruising the South Atlantic.

♥️🥰♥️