First I must qualify this post. I HATE ocean cruises. I repeat, I HATE ocean cruises! I only went on this one because it cruised up the Amazon River for most of its 1,000 miles. Something I would never be able to see unless I stayed in one of those villages for some time. This ship held 900 people. It was one of the smaller ships, but still WAY TO BIG.
Ours was the "small" ship on the left.
When these floating giants come into a port the entire energy of the island or small city changes. They see us as people who come to spend money (hopefully) and then leave before the day is over and we see them as very poor folks that make handicrafts and are very slow in service at the restaurants and can also be thieves. (Two of the women on our cruise wore jewelry into a local fish market and were robbed...I know, they were idiots.)
We descend like leaf-cutter ants as we swarm into their churches, museums and food places. One of our 900 said they thought the 20-minute tour of the local museum was too long! It was mostly history and political leader information and one of the few things they could show to us of interest.
Along the Amazon stops tourism via cruise ship is a brand new venture and they are struggling to learn enough English and to provide things that we want to buy, or see, or do. This is not just a hobby for them, this means they have food for their children and can repair their fishing boats! I will NEVER forget the haunting face of the small man in his late 40's who wanted to peddle us around the town, but the rain was too heavy for us to consider it. We gave him some money anyway, but that face...that face will never leave my mind. It is an ancient story.
It is a double-edged sword, this tourism thing. One of the talks about the tribes (100s) of the Amazon forest broke them down into three groups. Those who wanted nothing to do with outsiders and would shoot you with poison arrows as they retreated deeper into the forest, those who were willing to meet briefly with leaders to trade handicrafts/food for things they needed, and those who were making an effort to meld into the Western culture so that their children might have an 'easier' life and lived at the edge of the forest.
The Amazon forest, referred to as the lungs of Brazil and the whole continent, is being destroyed by both drug cartels and illegal loggers on a daily basis. It started with rubber barons 100 years ago. Seventy-eight million acres are lost annually to a forest that is currently 2.124 million mi² and there seems to be no slowing of this with the current levels of corruption in the government. It is a sad story and an old story and I do not regret that I saw it.
Here is a good Ted Talk to leave you in a more optimistic state of mind:
https://www.ted.com/talks/sebastiao_salgado_the_silent_drama_of_photography
Here is a good Ted Talk to leave you in a more optimistic state of mind:
https://www.ted.com/talks/sebastiao_salgado_the_silent_drama_of_photography
Americans can be ugly visitors, impatient and unappreciative. I can see how these people will have a love hate relationship with these cruises.
ReplyDeleteYes, that was a small cruise....900 vs 5000. Going on the even smaller ships down the Danube could be magic. As my budget shrinks, I'm reduced to a very non-intellectual trip to Disneyland this fall. LOL Mother went around the world on one of the Presidents in the 70's. She loved it. She had gowns especially designed for the trip, and she wore all her diamonds. I can't imagine living like that today. I am sorry you hate cruising. I agree about the big ships tho. Check out the Astoria...she goes places no big ships can get.
ReplyDeleteAn eye opener for sure!
ReplyDeleteI took a raft cruise down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon with 12 other people (many of whom we knew before the trip) and two guides. That is my speed. I would love to see the Amazon but your post sold me more guilt than desire!
ReplyDeleteIt is a twisted feeling. Tourism is a fair way to make money as well as preserve your culture by sharing it with others. Poverty is everywhere, including our inner cities. I handed a street person $20 in D.C. the other day and he was so very thankful and full of blessings for me. This is the world we live in and I learned much more about that area and can now advocate for the rainforest.
DeleteCertainly an education to travel to these places.
ReplyDeleteMoney makes the world go round, for the good and for the bad.
ReplyDeleteIt’s shocking and disappointing what has gone on and what continues to go on.
ReplyDeleteI'm not big on cruises either but the smaller the ship the better. We were on a 700 passenger cruise ship in the eastern Mediterranean and it was good. 100 passenger river cruise boats in Europe are good too. We did encounter travelers who seems reluctant to learn and that bothers me. We travel to learn.
ReplyDeleteI liked Olga's reaction to your post - "more guilt that desire". What can one do about such immense problems?
I have never been on a cruise and if I ever did take one, it would be to Alaska and all the ports up there. One of my blogging friends did and posted pictures that made me want to go. Your story about this excursion did not make me want to be there. The pictures of the local people, however, are fascinating. Thank you for sharing all this, the good and the bad.
ReplyDeleteyhttps://tabordays.blogspot.com/2016/07/it-is-always-about-people.htmlear I wrote a year ago about our Holland cruise to Alaska. A very different and more outdooorsy cruise.
DeleteAbove it the link to the first of a series of posts.
Yes thank you for sharing, it is a difficult decision meeting the third world from a Western point of view, yet every life is equal.
ReplyDeleteWith friends who love to do tours and think they touch the lives of people, who live a different way and become part of a story being sold to the tourist, it's a hard question whether it helps or not. On the one hand, money comes in, but they are paid to maintain something that interests voyeurs, which is what most tours have to be based on. One of my friends was in Thailand where on one of the tours, they visited a village where some women still stretch their necks by rings. Very pretty but also destructive to a normal life. Once upon a time, it was done for cultural/religious reasons probably. Now it's done for tourist dollars. Same issue with some places that elephants are kept near the villages, where they once in a while crush someone, but the elephants are expected on 'adventure tours' and the dollars are needed. Sometimes there can be an encouragement of finding ways to sell native crafts for good prices, not the bargains many expect. What though you can really do for other cultures is always debatable and begins to smack of the ugly American/European where we want to think we can fix things and make it all like us-- like we have it all figured out lol
ReplyDelete