Due to the fifty five day length of the cruise most of the passengers were retired. They were the only ones who could get that length of time off work. It meant that the average age of the passengers were 75 years old.
There were courageous adventurers in their eighties heading off into the Brazilian jungles on Zimmer-frames. You had to admire their pluck. They wanted to see the world. They ate and drank heartily. They let no obstacle get in their way.
I was standing with the Captain on the Bridge looking out towards the thick green South American jungle.
‘What are all those sticks over there?’ I asked – pointing into the depths of the jungle.
The Captain peered into the gloom.
‘Oh,’ he said, ‘that’s just the passengers making their way back from an excursion.’
We looked over the old, quaint ship.
‘I’m thinking of putting a climbing wall on the ship,’ the Captain told me.
I looked over at all the octogenarians on the deck eating, drinking and laughing together. They did not look very agile. I could not imagine a more unlikely clientele for a climbing wall.
‘You’ll never get them up a climbing wall!’ I exclaimed in disbelief.
‘Oh yes I will,’ he assured me. ‘I’m going to put a buffet at the top.’