Cabo Frio, swimming and drink

Hark at me. Another alcohol-free night last night. This won’t last. Jai McDowell wasn’t what I expected. Maybe times have moved on since 2011 when he won BGT, but he definitely wasn’t my sort of performer. Little character, no flair and fairly dull songs. To be fair to him, he had a harder audience than I think he was expecting. So maybe the majority of the audience was in our position and hadn’t heard of him either and had expected to be wowed. We weren’t.

However, talking of being wowed, after dinner we set off in good time to get prime front seats in the theatre for an action replay of Tom Suha the gorgeous violinist from Budapest. We had another dynamic and entertaining performance with a smattering of stories. Tom has more than a twinkle in his eyes and you can tell he’s constantly on the lookout for mischief. He regaled a situation where he’d helped a lady at the lift earlier on in the day. When she asked him what he did on the ship, he replied that he was the ship’s Gigolo. Before she had the chance to respond as if on cue, two ladies can out of the lift thanking Tom for an excellent performance the night before. The original lady was left slightly open-mouthed. Who cares if it’s a true story or not, it got some laughs. But then he turned himself to a rendition of Carmina Burana which was quite simply stunning. Sadly he leaves the ship when we get to Rio tomorrow. A day of mourning has been set aside. 

This morning was an early start (for us) and what greeted us was beautiful. Welcome to Cabo Frio. Verdant would be the best way to describe Cabo Frio. Low green hills, some with cacti, on one side of the bay and miles of white sandy beaches with a mass of low-rise buildings behind on the other side. Our stop at Cabo Frio wasn’t on the initial itinerary, we were scheduled to stop at Buzios. We’ll never know what Buzios was like, but we’re more than happy with this change. What made this stop so special was we couldn’t dock as they simply don’t have this sort of infrastructure. We downed anchor and heard a commotion and clatter as the tenders were released. This was how we were going to get to shore.

We had to complete a ‘test’ to be allowed ashore. There was a mat with two lines on it. As long as you could step from one line to the other, you were allowed off the ship. Easy peasy for us young things. Needless to say, disembarking the ship today was more for the able-bodied amongst us. The tenders are solid and have the ergonomics of a brick. I’d reckon there were about 75 of us on the boat. After the stability of the ship, it was strange to be so low in the water and be buffeted around so much. We were taken to a small jetty in the heart of Cabo Frio, which probably took around 10 minutes.

Then onto a catamaran which travelled at a maximum speed of about 3 knots. After the rather rowdy experience we’d had in Tenerife, we approached this trip with a little trepidation and had indeed, at one point, considered cancelling, as we were concerned we’d have an action replay of that experience. How wrong could we be? We were taken through the waterways of Cabo Frio, which was a similar experience to cruising past the Sandbanks properties…only a tad more tasteful.

Then off to Papagaio Island and the opportunity for a dip. I’d not taken the opportunity when we were in Tenerife and thought the waters would be a little warmer here in Brazil. They weren’t, but it was still fun to go for a dunk in the sea off the boat. One of the crew pulled a puffer fish out of the water, just after I’d got out. It was enormous and ugly…the puffer fish!

One always needs to sample the local traditions and one of them was an evil brew called Cachaça made out of fermented sugarcane. We had the make Pirassununga 51. It had a lot of lime and ice in it and was exceptionally yummy. A few of us on the top deck thought this would be a great idea. Before you knew it, everyone was very chatty and animated.

We upped anchor and moved locations to another spot of swimming, but it would have been unwise after sampling this local brew, so I just dried off in the sun instead. Then back to the pier and onto the lifeboat and back to the ship. We only saw a millimetre of Cabo Frio, but it was lovely. When we got back, we realised how much the evil brew had knocked us out and after a nap, woke to grey skies, drizzle and poor visibility. How lucky had we been this morning basking in glorious sun. 

Using the tenders brought back memories of the row challenge, where we had to get out of the rowboat onto the support boat at all times of the day and night in all sorts of sea conditions. Luckily for us today, there was a team from the crew helping us back on board the ship. 

The tenders are all now back on the ship and we’re now making our way to Rio, where we’re being encouraged to see the sunrise. So the alarm is set for 5.30 to take in the first sights at the best time of the day. We have two fully packed days ahead of us.

Now for something completely different. I have sought permission from Amy, my PT, to share her blog with you. Amy walked the whole of the South West Coast Path in summer, all in one go, over 6 weeks and without support. She’s just come back from Everest Base Camp and I know some of you would be really interested in reading a real adventure. It is particularly pertinent given the very recent air disaster in Nepal. Amy describes those flights with nerve-racking detail. Here are the details for both blogs, if you’re interested.

South West Coast Path

Everest Base Camp