Atlantic Crossing Day Four
Today was our fourth day crossing the Atlantic Ocean since leaving the Cape Verde Islands, and I think it’s fair to say that the anticipation amongst the passengers is growing exponentially. From various conversations with people, usually over breakfast, or in passing, that anticipation wavers between the thrill of visiting one of the most iconic rainforest on the planet and an underlying anxiety of what’s in store. Having been there several times before, we often find ourselves being asked how bad the mosquitos are and what are the odds of dying of malaria, or how hot is it going to be? Is it safe to go walking about by one’s self in the towns and cities?…
We are within 24 hours of crossing the equator, and it is traditional for the entertainments team to lay on a ‘Crossing the Equator Ceremony’, during which permission is asked of King Neptune to pass from the Northern to the Southern hemispheres in return for undertaking a few daft, but generally entertaining, tasks. All of this happened at 11am, but we didn’t see it because we were involved with other things, but I have it on good authority that part of the proceedings involved kissing a very large fish. Ceremony aside, we expect to be approaching the mouth of the Amazon this evening, and will be crossing the equator proper at around 6am tomorrow morning.
My art classes were back in their regular place, which I was pleased about, if only because it’s less distance to move the materials from where we store them in the Conference Room.
However, we did happen to notice, as we were packing away at the end of the session, that water was running down the walls…. oops… that’s not a good sign…
Another thing that I’m slightly concerned about is that I seem to be losing my voice.
As the afternoon wore on, the sea changed from blue to green, and then to brown as we made our approach to the estuary. The Amazon churns out enough fresh water every minute to service a large city, and reaches out approximately 100 miles or so into the Atlantic. Not far now….
