Day 9 At Sea (again)

Saturday, October 26 was another sea day. Not much going on except jewelry sales, future cruise sales and lots more opportunities to eat too much. I attended a really good seminar on the Inca empire and the Spanish conquest of South America.  There was a pretty exciting volley ball game between the crew and the guests in the pool on the Lido deck.  The guests won this round. 

Days at sea give me time to reflect on my experience here and to watch the other passengers who all seem to have traveled the world many times over on cruise ships. It is a topic of conversation everywhere I go on board with bragging rights to the number of cruises taken and where they are going next. Some of these people must be using the cruise ships as their retirement home. 

The seas were not as calm yesterday but I am still not needing the Bonine or Dramamine. Yesterday I spent most of the day wandering the ship and eating way too much. There are only 2 movies on the tv in my room and I have turned it on to catch enough of the beginning,middle and end to piece together the plot or story of Cowboys and Aliens.  The movies in the theater have been just about as exciting so I have reverted to knitting and reading on board. Oh, and eating, of course.   The next 3 days are shore days with excursions in Trajillo and Callao so there will be a bit more variety. 

This is the towel critter left in my stateroom last night by the steward. Every night is something different. Very clever. 

I hope this post works. I had to switch to the digital camera and download pictures to my iPad. The blog app I was using on the iPhone suddenly decided it would log me off and then not recognize my password to get back on. Day 8 is all ready saved and ready to publish but there it sits on my phone languishing. Since my phone pics are not uploading to the cyber cloud, I think I can email my pics from the phone to myself and save them to the iPad and try again. The messages from Bloggo indicate they are working on a solution. In the meantime I will try this routine even though it is a bit more cumbersome for the photos. Hope it works!

Today I am off to see some Peruvian archaeology museum and see the Paso horses.  Now, however, it is time to eat again.

 

Day 8 in Manta Equador

It is Friday, October 25 in port at Manta Equador.  Very early arrival. 

It took 2 hours by bus to get to Bahia de Caraquez north of Manta. We passed lots of farming with bananas, rice, shrimp and mangoes. 

The tour brochure called these farms plantations. Hmmmm. 

In the museum were clay artifacts dating back thousands of years. These guys reminded me of maybe the original version of the Seven Dwarfs. No disrespect. Just what popped into my little brain when I saw them. 

We headed on to a home and hostel where we had delicious empanadas then got into little dinghies the go see a bird sanctuary. 

Lots of birds. Pelicans and frigate birds and cormorants. Couldn't get a picture of the violin crabs but was told that these little crabs come up out of there holes and stretch their front claws upward as if playing the violin. Remarkable!  

Pelican feeding frenzy. 

Frigate bird male all puffed out with his red display waiting for a female to notice him. 

Our guide had a wealth of knowledge about Equador politics, history and ecosystem. It was extremely educational day. 

 After 2 hour ride back to the ship, I watched the tuna fishermen in the boat next to us load tons of yellowfin tuna into containers. The nets were filled time after time with flash frozen tuna from the belly of the ship. Fascinating!  Tuna is the biggest economy of this area. 

Another great day on the Grand Adventure of 2013!  
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

Day 7 at sea

Today the ship is heading down to Manta Equador where we will dock tomorrow. Manta is near the Galápagos Islands. I don't have time to see the Galapagos but will check out some island there. We will cross the equator soon. Thought we crossed it yesterday but not yet. 

Sunrise this morning over the vast deep blue Pacific. 
 

Cooking demo by one of the chefs was a chilled melon soup and "chicken under a brick". Tonight one of the restaurants is being turned into a le Cirque and dress is formal again. 

Special china for le Cirque dinner. 

Lobster salad.  

Chateaubriand medium rare with beets and horseradish. 

Here are the 3 travelers after dinner and creme brûlée and a bottle of wine. Ate way too much again tonight. But, oh my, it all tasted sooooo good!  
 

And still another little towel critter waiting for me in my stateroom. 
  

Tomorrow will be a trip to the Isla Corazon here in Equador. The ticket says I may get wet during the dinghy ride. Should be another fun adventure!

 
 

 
 

Day 6 through the Panama Canal

Wow!  What an amazing journey!  The engineering, economic and political hurtles that were conquered to make this passage possible are mind boggling. 

The ship entered the channel very early before sunrise. I was all over the decks of the ship trying to find a good vantage point. So were all the rest of the passengers. 

The locks are just 4 feet wider than the ship. That leaves just 2 feet on either side. Wow!

Patience has never been one of my strong points and I found the process of entering the locks then moving on to the next (6 in all-3 at each end) a bit like watching paint dry but fascinating at the same time. 

This beautiful little moth caught my attention. 

Lake between the sets of locks that raise the ships then lower them back down to sea level. 

Entering the second lock heading back down to the Pacific Ocean. 

This little row boat brings out the lines to tie the ship to the mule locomotives that pull the ships through the locks. 

 

View trying to show the levels of each lock. 

There is a crocodile on the bank. Little hard to see but he is there. 

Panama City skyline in the distance. 

Under the bridge of the Americas built in 1962. 

Interesting building I think is to be some kind of exhibit about the canal and it's history. 

Looking back at Panama City from the Pacific Ocean. 

The journey through the canal takes 8 hours but is utterly fascinating. 

Another little towel critter awaited my return to the stateroom. What a wonderful day this has been. Day 7 is another sea day as we head south to Manta Equador on the other side of the equator. It is spring or early summer down here!  
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 

 
 
 

Day 5 of the Grand Adventure

Tuesday was another sea day with travel from Aruba to the Panama Canal. There is a lot of things to do on board so very easy to stay entertained. 

The Culinary Director gave a demonstration on making stuffed French Toast. Yummy!

This is the view of the pipe organ from Deck 5. At noon it actually played for about 30 minutes. Quite an elaborate animated set of figures all around it that added to the sounds of organ music in the Atrium. 

 Most interesting was the lecture of the history of the Panama Canal and what is planned for its future. 

Time for some relaxation on the veranda of my stateroom. 

View off the aft of the ship. I kind of liked the sense of movement and transition. 

And, of course, there was more food to try. 

Osso bucco and antipasto at the Italian restaurant on board. 

And another little towel critter was waiting for me. 

Tomorrow we switch time zones and start the traverse of the Canal at 6 am. Very excited!!  
 

 

 
 
 
 

Day 4 Aruba.

It was a beautiful day on Aruba and my first on shore excursion was excellent. 

I had booked a tour of the island on this 4WD jeep for an off road experience. The guide was great and we got to all the highlights of Aruba. 

First stop was the Casibari rock formation, the second highest spot on Aruba. 

In the distance is the highest spot. 

The Natural bridge used to be the most visited wonder on the island until it collapsed a few years ago. This is called the Son of a Bridge. 

Learned about wishing rocks. Pick a number, stack that many rocks and make a wish. If the rock stack stays for 15 seconds or more your wish will come true. Trick was to pick a low number so the stack would be more likely to stay. 

Found this little critter in the rocks.

Ruins of old gold mining processing facility. Only gold on Aruba now seems to be in the jewelry stores. 

This is Baby Bridge, one of 7 natural bridges on Aruba. 

Catholic Church originally built in 1700's. 

Inside the tiny little chapel. 

California lighthouse. 

We stopped at this beautiful beach and had a very refreshing dip in the crystal waters. 

Time to leave Aruba and head to the west and the Panama Canal. 

 

Beautiful sunset off the port bow. 

And another clever little towel creature waiting for me on the bed. 

Ate way too much again but the food is so very tasty.