Tuesday 9th February Day 36 - two thirds of the way through the trip. This morning we were pulled into Rio Grande (Large River) port by a tug, for several miles inside the breakwater and then pushed sideways by two tugs into our berth between two other commercial ships. Martin was up on deck early again and in time to see a few dolphins accompany the ship for a short way down the river. They had gone by the time I was on deck around 7.30am though. It was a boi...

Friday 22nd January Day 18 - a third of the way through our trip. Up at 6.30 to see the sun rise and the sail into Rio de Janeiro. Cloudy and raining gently. The peaks all around us were covered in cloud although we could just about see Sugarloaf Mountain. There were only a few people - the usual ones - on the front deck when I arrived (Martin was one of the first despite still not feeling 100% and now the one with a cold) but it soon filled up with more peopl...

Wednesday 20th January Up early for our Excursion in Ilheus (pronounced ill-jouse) as we were leaving at 8.30. I was up on the front deck at 7.15 just as we were being nudged into our place in the port by a Tugboat. We were berthed next to a huge ship the MSC Splendida, which seemed even bigger than the ones we were alongside in Las Palmas. We walked along the quay past the MSC Splendida to our coach and were again welcomed by a group of drummers on the quayside...

Monday 18th January Our arrival in Recife (pronounced ray-seef) was around 8.00 but Martin was up earlier to see the view of the approaching coast. I was on the front deck at about 7.30 and we were already in the harbour. The coast line was lined with tall thin high rise buildings as far as you could see - which wasn't too far because of the moisture in the air. It was hot but very cloudy with dark grey clouds all around. It had been raining as the decks were w...

Thursday 14th January The first of four days at sea as we cross the Atlantic to South America. Most days Martin has set the alarm so that he can see the dawn break but this morning decided not to, and woke up just as a early! Our cabin is an inner cabin without a window but is not in complete darkness because there is an inch/couple of centimetres gap under the door where a strip of light shines through from the corridor. The gap allows the steward to post t...