January 20th – Going To Iguassu

After 3 days at sea, my excitement levels were rising after I was asked to escort one of the ship's overland tours to the amazing Iguassu Falls – one of the natural wonders of the world.

So, from Salvador we flew to Rio, and then flew on to Iguassu itself, where we were taken to our lovely hotel, the Hotel Das Cataratas – the only hotel actually within the National Park on the Brazilian side. We were able to view a bit of the falls from the hotel entrance – a tantalising glimpse of what was to come.

January 16th – The Sight, Sounds and Smells of Belem

After three fairly rocky days at sea, it was nice to see dry land again, as we sailed 80 miles up one of the branches of the mighty Amazon, to the equatorial city of Belem.

Last time we were in Belem it was unbearably hot, but today it was a much more pleasant 23 degrees. What made it cooler, was the constant threat of rain; but, seeing as Belem is reputedly the rainiest city in the world, you always have to be prepared for a rain shower or two here.

After a long tender ride in, struggling against the current, we launched ourselves into the chaotic streets of the city, heading for Belem's main attraction, the famous Ver-o-peso market, full of produce from the Amazon region, and lots of weird and wonderful fish from the river itself.

It's a place that's full of aromas, good and bad – fragrant herbs, rotting rubbish, sizzling meats on the barbeque, stinky fish, sweet fruits, and rancid stenches coming from the mud in the fishing harbour. Then, picking in amongst the foul rubbish washed onto the mud, were hundreds of evil looking black buzzard-like birds, who looked like something out of a horror film – as these demonic birds hopped around malevolently, they looked like they'd be quite happy to feast on the rotting carcass of satan himself.

We headed to the historic fortress which was the very start of the city, when the Portuguese began to build it in 1616. With its 12 feet thick walls and cannons pointing out to the river, this was a powerful statement of intent by the Portuguese, as they staked their claim to the Amazon region. As it was a Monday, the Fort (along with all museums) was meant to be shut, but we managed to sneak in behind a tour group who had arranged a special opening.

Sadly, without the other museums being open, our plans for the day were slightly ruined – this isn't a city that you want to wander at random, for fear of ending up in a dodgy area and becoming another victim of Belem street crime. So, we stuck to the busy shopping streets, where underneath the tacky shops and urban decay, you could see that this once would have been a very grand city 100 years ago. I wonder if Belem will ever clean up its act and re-capture those glory days?

January 15th – Crossing The Line

On our way down to Belem in Brazil, today we have crossed the equator, which means more festivities on deck and bizarre punishments meted out by King Neptune and his assistants. So, various passengers and crew were covered in whipped cream, tomato sauce and sausages, and made to kiss dead fishes – this is what passes for daily life when you're at sea.

January 12th – Barbados

After the British arrived on Barbados in the 17th century, most of the island's dense forest was cleared to make way for sugar cane plantations; so there's little of the island's original environment left. What has survived is mostly crammed into the narrow limestone gulleys that criss-cross the islands.

So, today (whilst Tracy visited "The Concorde Experience"), I visited probably the most fertile and best preserved gulley, the Welchman Hall Gulley – a narrow strip of lush vegetation and tropical trees, enclosed within vertical limestone cliffs. The whole place was teeming with life – creepy millipedes, skittish vervet monkeys, huge termite mounds – you got the impression that if you just dropped a seed on the soil, within days it would sprout into a full-grown tree.

Of course, what makes Barbados so incredibly fertile, is its warm tropical air and plentiful rain – so we experienced quite a lot of "liquid sunshine" as we drove around the island in our open-air jeep. Fortunately, a very potent rum punch helped keep the dampness away and meant that the conversation on the way back was much more animated than it had been on the way there.

Luckily, in the evening it stayed dry, so we had a wonderfully enjoyable deck party. Aside from all the delicious food served at the barbeque, there was some excellent local entertainment that came onboard - a toe-tapping steel band, lively calypso dancers, and some fantastically energetic stilt walkers. These guys could dance better balanced 12 feet in the air, than most people can on the ground.

What a great send off from the Caribbean, before we head down to Brazil.

January 11th – Above Dominica’s Rainforest

On the beautifully unspoilt island of Dominica, the thing to do is to get out of town and visit the island's lush rainforest. So, today I joined a trip that would give us a different perspective on this – from above.

We drove up into the steep green mountains that characterise the centre of the island, and went to the "Rainforest Aerial Tram" experience. Here we climbed into our tram, (basically a glorified suspended shopping trolley with seats), and were silently carried up into the canopy that clung to the side of the mountain slopes. Each tram had a guide who explained how the rainforest functioned, and pointed out the different plantlife in this incredibly fertile environment.

Our trip was all very gentle and sedate, but once we reached the top, I stupidly volunteered to do some zip lining with a few of the more adventurous passengers – a journey which would take us back down the mountain, a hell of a lot quicker than we went up it. As we had our safety briefing and got into our harnesses and helmets, the tension began to rise – not helped by the guide repeatedly whispering to me, "you're going to scream like a girl!".

I bravely managed not to scream on the first two rides, but the third and last zip line (helpfully called "The Fear Factor"), was over a wide open canyon on a line that was over 400 feet above the valley floor. This is probably as close a feeling to flying as you can get, as you pick up speed and hurtle across the canyon, trying not to look down too much. It all passed in a blur, so it was difficult to take in what was happening, but helpfully they had a photographer at the bottom to capture the moment.

It's hard to believe it from the picture, which makes me look like I'm just hanging there sedately, but this was the point when I'd reached top speed (a terminal velocity that felt like it really could be terminal if I didn't stop soon). The high-octane adventurer angle isn't helped by the fact that I was also forced to wear a lovely green hair net under my helmet, which did take some of the macho gloss off the picture.

Anyway, it was all great fun, and a fantastic way to see Dominica's greatest asset – it's superbly unspoilt natural beauty.

January 10th – Meeting His Excellency in Road Town, Tortola

Our first stop on the World Cruise is in the British Virgin Islands, on the beautiful island of Tortola. Unfortunately, no-one had told the BVIs that we wanted our first call to be an exclusive one, so Road Town's cruise terminal was taken up with two monster cruise ships, disgorging about 5,000 passengers at once, while we had to tender into port.

So, it was a good thing that we were heading out of town on our "Eco Safari and Kayak Tour", as we went to a protected piece of coastline to visit a mangrove swamp and coral reef. Here, we wobbled into our double kayaks and paddled off into the mangroves. Unfortunately, my kayak partner and I constantly veered off to the left - and so, every 30 seconds, we'd have to stop and change course, to catch up with our kayaking comrades who were heading off in a different direction. I think we must have kayaked at least twice as far as anyone else.

We stopped to listen to our guide explain how these endangered mangroves are so vital to the health of the marine environment; although it wasn't easy to concentrate on what we were being told, because my partner and I kept on inadvertently crashing into either the delicate mangroves (trying not to poke our eyes out on the branches), or crashing into our fellow kayakers, who didn't seem to have any problem staying still.

Next, we went to a deserted beach to have a snorkel on the reef – there were all kinds of different coral on show, visited by lots of colourful fish (no particularly big ones, but many different shapes and sizes). Maybe the big ones were eaten by the pelicans who were circling overhead and kept on divebombing into the water in a spectacular show for us. On the way back, we found that we'd miraculously cured our leftward tendencies, but we were now more rightward leaning than a Fox News broadcaster, and narrowly missed a couple of stationary yachts as we veered back to port.

Once we'd be delivered back to Road Town, it was time to explore Tortola's bustling little capital. Fortunately, most of the big ship passengers had all trooped back to their vessels for lunch, so the town wasn't as overwhelmed as you might think. We headed to the island's museum, housed in the old Governor's Residence on the edge of town – here the lovely attendant told us a bit more about her island, and we explored the old colonial house.

As we left the museum, Tracy spotted a gentleman in a shirt and tie coming out of the new Governor's Residence – we reasoned that he was either the caretaker or the Queen's representative on the island, so we asked him if he was the governor. It turned out that indeed he was, so we had a little chat with him about the island. It was interesting to talk to him about the impact of cruise ships on the island – he said he wasn't sure how much financial benefit that they brought to the BVIs, seeing as almost everyone goes back on the ship to eat for lunch. Certainly, the atmosphere in Road Town changes when there's so many people getting off the ship; although he did acknowledge that the taxi drivers were very keen for the cruise trade to continue.

After our meeting with His Excellency, we went back into town to explore its little back streets – even the main street (helpfully called Main Street) was pretty quiet by now, as all the Princess and P&O passengers were back onboard for their sundowners.

I wonder if we'll meet the Prime Minister of Dominica tomorrow?

World Cruise - Day 1

After the usual delays and fun and games with US immigration at Miami Airport, we are on the Silver Whisper and ready for our World Cruise Odyssey - just 129 days until we arrive back in Southampton in May. As we look around the port and see 6 monster ships with their thousands of passengers on, we feel very privileged to be doing this trip on such a beautiful small ship (max 380 passengers).

After just 16 days off the ship and in the UK for Christmas, I have already been told by two crew members that I've put on weight. Not many people go cruising to lose weight, but hopefully I can shape up a bit in the coming months.

Our short time in Fort Lauderdale has given us the chance to have an all too short catch up with our lovely friends Marty and Anita - there was a craft fair on Las Olas Blvd which we mooched round, followed by a delicious and huge lunch (the new diet hasn't started well).

So, 2 (hopefully calm) days at sea until we get to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.

http://www.silversea.com/destinations/plan-voyage/?voyage=4201-09&voyagetype=CRUISE&year=2012