Day 14 23 January

We left Rio at about 11pm last night and watched the lights of the city and the port as we sailed out. We passed a strange boat possibly for oil exploration with a crane, helicopter landing zone and with every light blazing into the night. It was the sea going equivalent of a Christmas tree with all its lights on.  Two of the best moments in a cruise are often sailing into and out of harbour.  It was a brilliant evening with a wonderful display of stars in the black sky. It’s rare to have so little light pollution to be able to see the stars in all their glory.  The constellations are still familiar even though we are in the southern hemisphere but they have been shifted in their normal positions.

The cruise is divided into five sectors or legs and the first ends in Montevideo. With each leg there are different entertainers so Pam Ayres leaves us in Montevideo and Johnny Kingdom who presents a wildlife programme on the television comes on board. He is giving three talks, the opening one this afternoon. They also start showing a new batch of movies.

Today, we have returned to the open and empty seas with no sign of any other vessels nor flying fish or dolphins. The temperature is about 25 C, the sea is calm and it is not too humid. People are now starting to return to mundane issues such as washing and ironing. The self-service laundrette is packed and people are queuing to iron and dry clothes. We decided to send ours to the ships laundry and escape the queue.

A perfect day for sitting with a good book and watching the world go by.