On the move

Monday, February 18, 2019

Where am I?

What happened today?

Well, I really screwed up today, and that’s just about the whole story. Here’s what I did (and didn’t.)

I got up this morning and prepared myself to go ashore. I hopped on the tender at about 12:30pm. The tender dropped us off at the docks in Vaitape which is the largest settlement in Bora Bora. Once I reached the docks, people were going through a gauntlet of vendors and tour operators and other touring related stuff. I decided to bypass the line and go take this photo of our ship in the bay.

I also bypassed the line of tour operators because I wasn’t planning on taking a tour today. I was planning to find a nice pub with some good wifi and spend the afternoon kicked back and enjoying the wonder of Bora Bora. My decision to do this came about due to two reasons. 1) The costs for any tour offered in Bora Bora was some of the most expensive that I’ve seen so far. Like $250 for a 4 hour jeep ride. 2) The bartender on the ship told me there was a very good watering hole right across the street after you disembark from the tender.

So, after snapping my photo of our ship I headed toward the main street of town to find that pub. When I got to the main road, there was nothing to be found that even remotely resembled a pub. So, I turned left and walked about 3/4 of a mile until I was at the end of town. (Vaitape is a really tiny place.) Along the way I did pass a little café stuck back in a corner of a parking lot and it did have a couple of beer signs. But it was tiny and open-air. I figure the little café could not be the pub that the bartender told me about. So, I turned around and went the other way for about one mile. At that point, I had reached the other end of town. A woman working in a travel agency saw me meandering and came out to help me. She asked me if I was looking for something in particular and I told her I just wanted to find a nice place to sit down and enjoy a cold beer. She then informed me that the only place in town to get a beer (other than the grocery store) was that little corner café.

So, I returned to the café, had a salad and a beer. At that point I had one bottle of the only brand of beer they had in stock, I had been to both edges of town, I had seen it all and there wasn’t anything to see. Confused and dismayed, I returned to the ship.

That evening, I learned from some fellow travelers that, had I stayed in line and run the gauntlet of tour operators, I would have learned about the $5 shuttle bus that runs around the island every 30 minutes. It goes to those postcard-like beaches on the south part of the island and passes by all of the resorts where one can buy a day pass and hang out at the pub, resort style!

I didn’t know that, so I didn’t get to see the best part of Bora Bora, my favorite South Pacific island, so far. Doh!

The island is breathtakingly beautiful, from wherever you stand. or float! We weren’t the only cruise ship in the bay, either. A Windstar cruise ship was there. It’s so much smaller than the Amsterdam yet it looks like it is completely modern, except for those masts! I would love to see that ship in full sail!

So, just as I wrote when I started this post, I repeat: I screwed up! Or perhaps I’ve just laid the foundation for a future trip to Bora Bora when I can hang out for a couple of weeks and get to know the island better. Dunno. Maybe.

I don’t even have a “sail away” photo for you this time as the ship didn’t leave Bora Bora until about 10:30pm. Sorry, I’ll try to do better, else this will wind up being a completely wasted trip around the world!

P.S. The photo at the top of this page shows you what I came back to this evening, hanging in my stateroom. I’m doing what I can to keep that monkey off my back!

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Where am I?

Our ship is docked at Papeete, Tahiti.

What happened today?

It’s a blustery, rainy day on Tahiti. The ship is docked in the harbor and downtown Pape’ete is in clear view. As I look out over the downtown part of the city, I’m just a little disappointed. Perhaps because I’ve only seen Tahiti in the movies or on TV, and as a result I pictured Tahiti, in my mind, to be an pristine island paradise with white sand beaches, beautiful women with flower leis, blue skies, and a cool breeze. This morning I see a crowded downtown, economic depression, no beaches (in view) and it’s overcast, hot, and rainy.

I had paid for a tour for today. It was supposed to show me the wonders of Tahiti. In spite of the rain, I was anxious to go out and see more of the island than this anticlimactic view of the inner city I was faced with at that moment. At about 1:30, I boarded the bus to go see the sites.

Fortunately for us, this was a Saturday and there was not as much traffic as there would have been Monday through Friday, according to our tour guide. She told us that some people who live in the “suburbs” about 36 kilometers outside of the city must expect 90-minute commutes to get to work, then the same deal going home. This news makes me happy that I’m not one of them, not here, nor anyplace else for that matter!

Once we’re outside of the greater Pape’ete area, things start to look more like the Polynesian paradise of the movies. There’s lush growth, I can see the waves breaking over the coral reef far offshore, and the people look as though there are truly living on “island time.”

Our bus stops at a park on Point Vénus. This point of land was originally used by Captain Cook for scientific purposes and is now a beautiful seaside park, though its natural beauty may have been a bit concealed today, owing to the rainy weather.

When Captain James Cook made his second trip to Tahiti in 1769, he had two goals: 1) to witness the transit of Venus, and 2) to find the great southern continent. Cook built a tower that would allow him a good vantage point to observe and study the transit. Once the tower was built and the equipment needed to accomplish the observation was in place, the equipment was stolen, according to our tour guide. Cook and some Tahitians went looking for the equipment, found it, and had it returned to the tower and reinstalled. This was accomplished just a day or two before the predicted transit. On the actual day of the transit, the sky was clouded over and no observation could be made. Cook travelled half way around the world to see this transit and could not see a thing.

By the way, he never found a great southern continent, either.

Aside from the historical tower (which now serves as the only lighthouse in Tahiti) the beach and park that is now Point Vénus was filled today with Tahitians enjoying the atmosphere, seemingly not at all worried about a little rain. Here are a couple of photos from Point Vénus.

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We left Point Vénus and did about half of our circumnavigation of the island in our tour bus. At some point, we stopped at a botanical park to see some of the native species of flora and fauna.

The park had a gorgeous waterfall, thanks to all of the rain we had been experiencing both today and the night before.

The heat and the rain also keeps many species of tropical plants in bloom for much of the year. Here, in the Tahitian summer, there were many strange and colorful flowers to be found. Pictured below are just a few that caught my attention.

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Lovely flora. But what about the fauna? Well, the number one animal seen everywhere in Tahiti is this one.

Our tour guide explained to us that chickens can be seen everywhere. They are a feral animal on the island. Nobody owns them, and nobody raises them. They just strut around, coming and going as they please following whatever whim might be in their little bird brains. Also, nobody chases them away! It seems as though the chickens are very good at pest control and are especially good at containing the cockroach population. Nobody wants cockroaches, so the chickens are always welcome, whenever they’re around. Even in the botanical garden.

We left the botanical garden with one more planned stop ahead: a dramatic black sand beach. We drove for a few miles and then made a stop at this beach:

The sand here was as black as coal! There’s nobody out on the beach because of the rain, but I walked out a ways to try and snap a quick photo before it started to rain again and I would get wet.

Well, I got wet. Those storms move fast over this island!

After our beach stop the bus took us safely back to the ship. I was very happy that I spent a half day getting to see a more tropical more primitive side of Tahiti. It was certainly an afternoon well spent.

What is it?

Previously I asked your opinion of what this towel animal was:

If you guessed it was a swan, you are absolutely correct!

Here’s today’s identification challenge. What is it:

Enter your answers in the “Replay” area of this page, or send me a message. Let me know you’re out there!

Tomorrow we visit Mo’orea. Hopefully, we’ll have better weather.

G’night!

Thursday, February 14, 2019 and Friday, February 15, 2019

Where am I?

What time is it?

Aboard ship, it’s always easy to know what day it is. For example, yesterday was Valentine’s Day and today…isn’t. Easy peasy. The sun comes up, the sun goes down, and it’s another day!

Knowing what time it is can be a completely different matter.

You may be reading these words from your home or your place of business. Knowing the time of day there is a very uncomplicated thing because you always know what time zone you’re in. Maybe you need to futz with Daylight Saving Time, but even then you only need adjust every timepiece in the place just twice a year.

My (temporary) home is a ship that moves about 400 miles a day. As a result, it is very easy to lose track of what time it is today because the hour changes depending on where we are, or more likely, where we’re going! Let me give you an example.

Look at the following graphic:

If you look carefully at the border between Perú and Chile you’ll notice that there is a two hour time difference between the two countries. That means as you head south from Perú, the moment you cross into Chile the time is two hours later than it used to be just a second ago!

Time zones are, theoretically, 24 evenly spaced slices on the surface of the earth. If this were actually true, however, the slices would run through the middle of countries, dividing them into time zones that might not accurately reflect local, commercial, or political desires of the affected country. So, time zones are altered (or sometimes completely ignored) by some countries in order to reflect the realities of life in that country. The missing time zone between Perú and Chile, again, is a good example of that.

The ship is like a floating country in regards to time zone observation. It has its own time as determined by the captain and crew, and may (or may not) reflect the actual time zone the ship lies in. A good example of this would be when our ship sailed from Lima, Perú, to Arica, Chile. On the map and as mentioned before, the time changes by two hours as soon as you cross the border. On the ship, however, it is easier on the passengers and crew to manage smaller, one-hour changes instead. So, when we left Lima, the ship set its clocks forward by one hour on the first night at sea, then forward again another hour in time to reach Arica and have the ship’s clocks align with the clocks ashore.

On this trip, so far, we have had a number of these one-hour time changes and that is why it has become difficult to know what time it is if one has not been keeping up with the announcements and setting their clocks and watches accordingly. Here is a list of the time changes we’ve experienced on board this ship that were influenced not only by time zones but by the local time at approaching destinations.

Date	Set clocks	by	leaving	approaching
2/3	forward	1hr	Lima, Perú
2/4	forward	1hr		Arica, Chile
2/6	back	1hr	Arica, Chile
2/9	back	1hr		Easter Island
2/11	back	1hr	Easter Island
2/12	back	1hr
2/13	back	1hr		Pitcairn Island
2/14	back	1hr	Pitcairn Island
2/15	back	1hr		Papeete, Tahiti

So that is nine time changes in twelve days! Sometimes setting the clock forward, but mostly back. Can you start to see why I’m not always sure what the ship’s time is? In the mornings, one of the first things I do is to consult the ships web portal to see what time is displayed there. Then, I go around and set the time on all of the digital toys that I’ve brought with me. Now, you may be telling yourself, “That’s silly! I’ve driven from Arizona to California and my phone automatically deals with the time zone change for me.” Well, that is very likely true because cellular networks at home send the current local time to everything on their networks, and they do it 24 hours a day. But, here on the ship, even though there is a “Cellular At Sea” cell network, it does not broadcast the ship’s time, so my phone has no clue that the ship’s time has changed. Neither does my iPad, or my computer. So, that’s one of my jobs to do (seemingly) every day shortly after I wake up. 

But, who cares?

Now that I’ve let off some steam about all this clock setting, let me point out some of the advantages of these time zone changes that I’ve experienced, so far.

Since I’m never quite sure when to adjust my clocks (at night before bed or maybe in the morning when I get up?), I’ve started to just go to sleep when I’m tired and get up when I’m through sleeping. This feels more natural to me and because I’m so clock-driven in “real” life (and I’ll bet you are, too) it feels more relaxed to just rely on the sun and forget what the clock might say. 

If one cannot get the clock out of one’s mind, then here is another way to look at all of the “1 hour back” adjustments: it’s like having a 25-hour day, almost every day! What could you accomplish if you had 25-hour days? I’ve been investing that extra hour in my sleep time. I can now sleep for 10 hours, but according to the clocks, I’ve only been asleep for nine! I know that, for the first time in a long time, I feel completely caught up on sleep. I have absolutely no sleep deficit at this time, and it feels amazing!

So, because we are heading generally west, I should still pick up a few more of these 25-hour days, and I’m OK with that even if I have a new clock-setting chore each morning. Still, a big question looms in my mind and I have no idea how it will be resolved:

What happens when I cross the International Date Line?

Company for dinner

A few friends dropped in for dinner last night. This is just one video I took. Over the course of my dinner I saw five large pods of dolphins. Even the wait staff said that they had never seen so much dolphin activity in a single evening. I see dolphins all the time in Puerto Peñasco, but I never get tired of watching their graceful beauty.

Money Report

I’m all set for shopping in Papeete, Moorea, and Bora Bora ‘cause I’ve got some French Polynesian Francs!

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But, that’s a story best left until tomorrow!

G’night!

Wednesday, Feb 13, 2019

Where am I?

So, what’s been happening?

Today has been very interesting in terms of visiting our port of call. This morning, we rolled up to Pitcairn Island, arriving at about 10:30 (so we got to watch as the island appeared on the horizon and slowly grew closer and closer to us.) This is unusual since most of our arrivals are early in the morning, so our approach is in the dark.

More things that make this call different from any other that we’ve made so far include:

• Pitcairn Island has no harbor, so we can’t tie up to a pier
• It also has no tender dock, so we can’t even go ashore
• We’re only scheduled to be here for three hours

So, what’s the plan? We can’t go ashore, but we’re going to be bobbing in the water here for three hours. What gives? The captain says we will be circling part of the island. We can’t even circle the entire island because the ship does not have (and, seemingly, can not obtain) reliable sounding depths of the waters to the south of the island. So, are we in a remote part of the world? You betcha! We’re so remote that the ocean depths here have not been reliably plumbed and, apearantly, it’s not important enough to do so owing to the dearth of marine traffic (which is the only kind of traffic on this island.)

Now, here we are, parked in front of this tiny speck of real estate in an otherwise empty ocean. Why? Why are we here?

History of Pitcairn Island

Have you watched the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty”? The 1962 version of the film stars Marlon Brando, and Richard Harris, among others, and received an Academy Award Best Picture nomination in 1963. It’s a great movie and gives you a (dramatized) account of the events of 1788 on the HM Armed Ship Bounty. It’s the story of some severe differences of opinion between Captain Bly and Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian that ended with the Captain and several other loyalists being cast off from the Bounty in the ship’s boat while Fletcher Christian and the other mutineers sailed away.

Now comes a long story, and I’m going to skip it here for purposes of brevity. If you don’t know the details between the beginning and the end of the mutiny story you should stop reading now and go watch the movie. Go watch it, then come back. Go on. I’ll wait for you here.

Welcome back! Now, Pitcairn island is where Fletcher Christian, several of the mutineers, and some Tahitian natives ended their search for a place where they might avoid detection and arrest by the British Navy who were patrolling this part of the South Pacific looking for them. As it turns out, Pitcairn was a good choice as a hideout! Why? Because even though the British navy knew about the existence of Pitcairn Island, all of their charts had it located 300 miles away from its actual position. No GPS in those days. 

In order to stay hidden from the British (and to prevent any of the mutineers from leaving the island and reporting where the other mutineers were hiding) the HMS Bounty was burned and sunk in what is now Bounty Bay on Pitcairn Island, in front of what is now Adamstown.

And today, 230+ years later, we are here at Pitcairn island, anchored near the underwater wreck of the HMS Bounty. The real deal! In a way, it’s like visiting a movie set except that this movie set is a historical reality!

Pitcairn Island in the present

There are still some decendants of the mutineers living on Pitcairn Island, but not many. The entire population of the island is considered to be about 34 people, according to one of the islanders who delivered a presentation to us. The population has been shrinking for about 20 years now, and there is some concern that Pitcairn Island will soon cease to be a viable settlement.

Even among those that do not plan to leave the island, there are challenges. For example, the electrical power on the island comes from a diesel generator that only runs during daylight hours. It feeds a small electrical distribution system to bring power to the homes in Adamstown. Sounds pretty normal for island living, except that there is only one man who runs, maintains, and understands how to power up this little place and he is 67 years old! I did not hear of any contingency plans.

We’re being boarded!

Since we cannot go ashore, a longboat full of islanders came out to greet us and to bring handmade crafts, postcards, stamps, and t-shirts directly to us. 

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With the help of the crew of the Amsterdam, an outdoor market was set up around the pool area on the Lido deck, and it was an instant hit. I’ve never seen this many passengers at one time on the Lido (mid-ship) since this cruise started and it was a Pitcairn Island souvenir feeding frenzy! Honestly, trying to work my way through the crowd to get to the customs officer was like swimming through frenzied piranhas after somebody innocently placed their bleeding wound in the water just to wash it out. 😏

I was looking for the customs officer because I wanted to get my passport endorsed with the official Pitcairn Island immigration stamp. (And, I got that stamp!) Along the way to the immigration desk I stopped to look at some of the crafts being offered. There were lots of things made from wood including some pieces that would have made excellent candy or appetizer serving plates. One table selling such plates was being operated by a husband and wife islander team whose last name was Christian. I had a hundred questions running through my head, but the shopper-piranhas were too much for me and I simply moved on.

And, the bar staff was kept busy as you can well imagine. Shopping in the tropical sun is thirsty work, but the bar staff (dressed in appropriate costumes to celebrate the day) kept cold drinks coming hand over fist. I know because I watched them for as long as it takes to consume two Anchor Brewery Liberty Ales. (In Matt Danger Tolle time, that’s about 10 minutes.)

In about 3-and-a-half hours time, it was all over. Everybody had whatever souvenirs they wanted (or acquired before they were all gone!) The outdoor market was disassembled, all of the displaced tables and chairs were relocated back to their original position and, “presto!”, everything was back to the way it normally is.

As the islanders boarded their longboat and headed back to their island, the passengers on the Amsterdam prepared to party. As has been a tradition throughout this cruise, we had a sail-away party with happy hour drinks, even though it was only 3:30 in the afternoon! Well, it’s not as if I have to go to work tomorrow, so why not?

All in all, it was a marvelous day spent: 

• interacting with a very large percentage of the population of Pitcairn Island (14 islanders!)
• shopping in a Filene’s Basement-style manner
• enjoying a mid-afternoon happy hour that lead to a lengthy evening of imbibing

Cheers!

http://youtu.be/ir6Hb5xqBIs

What is it?

Ok, the previous towel animal to be offered for your analysis was this one:

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And most of you guessed correctly that it was the NBC peacock!

So, here’s a new one for you. You may need to use a little more imagination than you did last time. Add your guess via the “Reply” area at the bottom of this post, and forgive my photography.

Next, we sail for two days and then arrive in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia. So, if you don’t hear from me over the next couple of days, you can probably find me at the bar.

G’night!

Monday, February 11, 2019

Where am I?

So, here’s what’s on my mind

This evening while returning to my stateroom to freshen up for dinner I found this letter in my mail drop. It has to do with that mess of events that led to some very unhappy passengers while we were at Easter Island.

If you recall my previous post, there were problems associated with getting people on and off of the tenders. Those problems slowed the process way down. And on the surface, the math for how long it took to load a tender and how many people wanted to go ashore did not equate to everybody being happy. Some win and some lose. It’s the luck of the draw, right? First come, first served. It’s only fair. (OK, I’m now out of cliches.)

But, there’s more to this story, and the situation is slightly more complex than it might seem on the surface. When I showed up for my shore excursion, there were already people who had been waiting hours to go ashore. Yet my group was called before those who had been waiting for a very long time. I got to go ashore, some others who queue up earlier did not. Was I just lucky? Well, it should be clear to all of you that I’ve been very lucky for most of my life, but I don’t think luck had much to do with me getting ashore while others waited (im)patiently and never made it.

Why would that happen? I have every reason to believe its all about the Benjamins.

Shore tours – Second party vs. Third party tours

The way I see it, you have three options for what you do when you go ashore.

The first option is to wing it! Be adventurous and blaze a trail of your own. Just get off and walk around, or do some planning and then hire a cab to take you to the places you’re interested in. This can be fun and it’s likely to be the cheapest option when you go ashore. If you’re looking to save money, you can certainly accomplish that this way.

Another option is to book a tour with a third party. Essentially, this is what the cruise ships do: they book with local tour conductors who meet their standards. The cruise ship handles all of the bookings then pays the local company. Passengers who are willing to spend some time doing research about their ports of call can often find those same tours conducted by the same operators for 10% to 50% off the cruise ship price. This option allows passengers in this category to enjoy the same experiences as other passengers who booked through the cruise ship company, but save some money in doing so. Same experience, less money! Sounds great.

Then, there is the opportunity to book directly through the cruise line. This is the most expensive option because the tour conductors still get the amount they need, but the cruise line adds a premium so they can make money on the tours as well! So, why would anybody ever book through the cruise line if you get the same tour as those who went directly to the third party and paid less? What do you get for that premium?

Well, for one, you get a guarantee that if your tour does not return you to the ship by the time the ship is scheduled to depart, the ship will wait for you to arrive. You only get this guarantee if you book through the ship line.

Personally, I have seen situations where passengers with third party bookings arrive late to the port only to watch their cruise ship steam off toward the horizon.

In contrast, on this cruise, a few people on a cruise-sponsored shore excursion were trapped in Fuerte Amador in horrible traffic resulting from a fatal accident. In this case, the ship waited for them because that’s one of the things you get (a guarantee) when you book through the ship.

In the case of the Easter Island fiasco, the other side of that same coin appeared for the first time in my experience, and that is where a passenger is given priority departure and guaranteed reboarding. If you book your tour through the ship (or even before you sail) the ship has a financial interest in you taking that tour. If your tour is cancelled, you get a full refund and the ship makes no money on you. Multiply that by a couple of hundred people and the captain has a decision to make: if time constraints will not allow everybody to go ashore that desires to do so, who do we let go? The decision is between those people who have chosen to do their shore excursion via one of the first two methods I mentioned and who have likely been waiting in line for hours to leave the ship, or the ones who have paid money to go ashore, money that the cruise line will need to refund if they don’t go?

Before you decide which is the right decision for the captain to make, keep in mind that cruise ships are here to make money for the cruise line and the captain is an employee of that cruise line. I think you have the complete picture now. And for the travelers that decided to “go it on their own,” well as they say, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

What to do?

Personally, on this cruise, I have a mix of second party (the cruise line) and third party (dealing directly with the vender) shore excursions lined up. For Easter Island, I booked with the cruise line and that turned out to be a solid, if slightly more expensive, investment. Why did I do that? Because, for me, Easter Island was very important as a place to stop and look around. It was important enough that I was willing to pay extra to book with the cruise line as a form of insurance. In this case, that insurance paid off!

In other places, like my approaching visit to Cairns, Australia, I’ve taken a more casual approach. I’ve booked a Segway tour that starts a couple of hours after we are to dock, and ends many hours before we are to depart. Any slack time will be used to explore town on foot. Plus, if the whole experience were not to happen, the amount of money that I’d be out is a burden I think I can bear.

What would you do? Save money? Operate with a guarantee? A little of both?

In any case, this incident of disappointed travelers drives home the benefits of planning one’s trip well in advance, giving oneself time to do the required research, and asking oneself about the importance (vs. the cost) of future plans at each port of call.

That’s it for today. No photos. Just dribble.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Where am I?

Land, ho!

After our lengthiest stint at sea thus far, I woke up this morning with a wonder view of land outside my salt-crusted window.

I began the day with great enthusiasm to see the place that is the home of the moai, those large carved-stone heads found around the island. I’ve been fascinated by these mysterious carvings since I was a teenager. In the ’60s in San Diego where I grew up, all of the surfers wore miniature moai around their necks, suspended on a thin strip of leather. Over the years, I learned more about the moai. I mostly learned that we have much to learn about them. In fact, very little is actually known for sure.

The moai were built several hundred years ago by one or two tribes on this island in the South Pacific Ocean that is one of the most remote places on earth. The culture that built them had no commonly used written language and so the secrets of how and why they were made, how they were moved, and why they were moved to the places where they are now found is all just a mystery. Another reason why I had such a fascination for these treasures: I love a good mystery.

But before I could get ashore to get a good close look at the moai for the first (and likely last) time in my life, I had to board a tender. This turned out to be a much larger task than it may sound like.

Although we have used tenders to get ashore in other ports (like Fuerte Amador and the San Blas Islands) today’s tender ride was a bit different owing to our location. There is one tender port on Easter Island and it is on the west side. As it turns out on this day, the west side had the choppiest water. The ship’s staff started tender operations at around 8:30am but the going was slow. The tender launch “deck” attached to the ship and the tenders themselves would often be riding and falling in the rough water at different heights. The swell would raise and lower the tender while the bigger, heavier ship would bob up and down at a different rate. The net result was that each passage from the ship onto the tender had to be timed to a point where the two platforms aligned long enough for a person to step across. You can imagine how slow it would be to put 60-80 visitors on a tender! People who had ship-purchased tours that were scheduled to depart at 10:00am found themself still waiting to board a tender at 1:30pm.

My tour was to leave at 1:30pm and it was also delayed, but only by about 30 minutes. This came at the expense of other passengers who wanted to go ashore and had been waiting to do so, but had not bought a tour from EXC, Holland America’s shore excursion extension. I felt bad for them, but I was very happy to be assured that I would be going ashore to see those iconic heads.

And so my tour began. We headed out to a beautiful park that overlooked the ocean (actually, much of Easter Island overlooks the ocean) and where a few of these amazing statues stand. You can see that not all of them are intact. Time and the elements have taken their toll on many of these monuments.

This park also has one moai that has been fully restored to the condition that is believed it would have appeared centuries ago. It is the only moai to have the eyes inserted and to have the “hat” placed on top of the head. Other than this example, the most restoral work done on any of the other moai has been to stand them up again, sometimes on a new foundation.

After visiting this park, our tour guide took us to the mountain that has the quarry where all of the moai were carved. This turned out to be a place that is as interesting as the standing moai themselves.

Here you can see two unfinished moai still lying in the stone, unextracted yet nearly ready to go.

There are also many standing moai, already finished and ready to be moved to their designated locations. But, where might those locations be? And who designated where they were to be placed? And why?

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It was a bit of a strenuous walk from the entrance to the quarry, then up the hill to where the exposed work could be seen, then around and down other moai already standing and waiting. Still waiting. I must confess that at the end of that “trail of discovery” I was a bit winded, but it was worth it to see how these giants were made and to see them in state, all finished up with nowhere to go.

As mysterious as “why” these heavy stone heads were made are the questions “where?” and “how?” Where were the final destinations for these monsters, and how would they get to those destinations? Our guide says that the traditional explanation for how the moai got from the quarry to where they stand now is that “they walked.” Well, if they did walk, how did they know where to go? Why are they where we find them today?

The truth is that nobody knows the truth. We don’t know how these rock statues weighing tons were moved down the hill and into places around the island. Personally, I like to think that they did walk there. That story beats the UFO theory, IMHO.

Our penultimate stop was at a place with 15 moai all standing in a row. And, that row contains the tallest of the moai on the island. Its name is Paro and it’s over 30 feet high and weighs in at more than 85 tons! Kinda reminds me of Ron Upson. (Hi, Ron!)

Our final stop was at a beach famed for its pink sand. I looked at it. It didn’t seem very pink to me. Therefore, I have no photos of it to share with you.

Originally, the “All Onboard” was to be at 4:30pm. When our tour arrived back at the tender dock in town it was 6:30pm. Due to all of the delays with the tendering process, the Captain decided to delay our departure in an effort to allow everybody to go ashore that wanted to. In spite of that departure time change, some did not get to go Ashore. I’m so very happy that I wasn’t one of them!

What is it?

OK, our last terrycloth guest to make an appearance looked like this:

Many of you said it looked like a ray, a sting ray, a manta, or a mantaray. Nobody guessed that it was the B-2 stealth bomber, which it isn’t. True enough, it’s a ray!

Ready for another one? OK, I’ll do a couple more, but I’ve been warned that the assortment of animals is near an end and that I’ll be seeing some old friends soon. So, enjoy this while it lasts. Ok, here’s your towel pal for the day:

What is it? Post in the “Reply” area at the bottom of this post, or just send me a message. You know how.

Where am I headed now?

Now that we are leaving Rapa Nui (Easter Island) I’m so happy to have fulfilled a nearly life-long dream. I’ve seen the moai, up close and personal. As we sail off to our next adventure, I take with me some wonderful memories.

I’m looking at two days at sea, and then a very brief visit to Pitcairn Island or Mutiny on the Bounty fame. BTW, that is also the onboard movie this evening. I understand that we will not get to go ashore (the Captain fears another Easter Island tender fiasco) but a handful of the natives (many descended from Fletcher Christian) will come about to entertain us and sell us soiree wares.

So, for now, farewell!

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

The Rime of the Ancient Marine

Tuesday – Saturday, February 5 – 9, 2019

OK, well, things are not that desperate as there is still plenty to drink (at least that was true the last time I checked the onboard bars, and I do that frequently.) Still, five full days at sea is a long time to go without being on land.

Where am I?

Here are some maps to show the ship’s progress from Arica, Chile, to Easter Island, Chile. (Did you know that Easter Island is a dependency of Chile? 2200 miles off shore, Chile owns an island!

So, what do we do to keep ourselves occupied for several consecutive days at sea? Well, I think our choices kinda fall into two categories.

Onboard Entertainment

The crew of the ship do a pretty good job of providing us with a very diverse list of entertainment avenues. For example, here is a list of activities for just a single day. NOTE: This is a multi-page PDF document.

Some of the activities on that list are regularly recurring events. Others are unique events and still others recur, but not regularly. One must get up and read the calendar of events each morning to find out what kinds of interesting things (to them) are happening on any given day.

And, I can tell you, you can easily tie up your entire day with guest lectures about places we have visited or are about to visit, cooking classes, trivia contests, comedians, musicians, and maybe even a Las Vegas-style stage show. And what about a spa day?

On the other hand, when I start to feel like I’m panting due to the pace of the onboard entertainment, I start to consider the second category of entertainment:

Self Entertainment

No, not that kind of self entertainment! Shame on you!

There are plenty of things that I like to do that are more solitary and allow me to relax, focus internally, and simply enjoy being either in the current place and time, or to project myself into places and times that exist only in fantasy.

For example, today (Friday) started off a little bit cloudy. When it is overcast, I like to curl up in my stateroom with a good book, or re-watch episodes of Game of Thrones. I did that this morning until the room service breakfast I ordered last night arrived. After breakfast I cleaned up and went for a 30-minute walk around deck 3, the Lower Promenade deck. The teakwood deck is beautiful and has a soft feel underfoot. It’s a pleasure to walk on.

After that, I found a very comfortable chaise lounge with a nice view of the sea and listened to my audiobook as I watched a passing storm.

After a bit, I drifted into a nice nap. I must have slept for about an hour when I woke up panicking that I had not made any attempt all day to reach out to you, gentle reader, to advise you of all of the life-changing activities I had been up to today. Using all of the energy sparked by my sudden realization that I had left you out of my day, I proceeded to start writing these words that you are now reading!

I worked on the blog for a couple of hours. Much of that time was not spent enjoying waves of creativity washing over me, but rather trying to upload the images that more accurately deliver my experiences better than I could ever do with my written expressions. Damn! The Internet connection at this point is absolutely terrible!

Ultimately, I had to cease fighting with uploads and proceed to my first social interaction of the day, Evening Trivia! The trivia contest goes through 15+ questions almost every day. My team of six people has yet to win, but we’ve been very, very close several times.

And, we didn’t win tonight, either.

At the end of the trivia game while I’m headed back to my stateroom to freshen up, I’m struck by the vision of the ocean around me and I’m agog! Look at the color of the sea! We’re getting near the middle of the Pacific Ocean at this point, and it takes my breath away! I’m kinda surprised. All this time I’ve been waiting to run into an island of plastic the size of Texas, yet I’ve seen no evidence of it, yet.

So, this is life at sea. I’m as busy as I want to be, but with all the time in the world to kick back and relax.

My next post may be a couple of days from now after I have the opportunity to complete my tour of Easter Island. This is one of the stops on this cruise that really excites me. So, I’ll be back when I have something exciting to share.

What is it?

Hooray! Every single guess about the identity of this little guy was absolutely correct. He’s a frog!

Let’s move on to the next one. Can you identify this little animal? Bet you can! Post your replies on this page or just send me a message.

That’s all for now. Back in a couple of days!

Monday, February 4, 2019

This morning I woke up in a new country: Chile! I’m in Arica, Chile. This little town is only 18 miles from the border of Perú, making it just about the northernmost community in Chile.

In fact, Arica used to be part of Perú, but Perú lost some territory as part of the War of the Pacific between Perú, Bolivia and Chile. After the war, Arica became an important port for shipments to and from Bolivia, as it is closer than either of the next two best alternatives and Bolivia is a landlocked country.

Today, Arica is mostly known as a tourist location with its beautiful beaches and active nightlife. People (especially young people) flock to Arica from La Paz, Bolivia and Tacna, Perú to soak up sun and dive into the nightlife.

When sailing into the harbor at Arica, the most famous landmark you will see is the Morro de Arica. This is a big hill that stands right on the shore of Arica and can be seen prominently for many miles around.

There is a pathway that people can use to get to the top of the hill where a panoramic view of the little town of Arica can be seen. The following photo shows you that panorama, but it was not taken by me. No way. I was not going to spend my day being rescued half-way up the biggest hill in town.

So, instead of going mountain climbing, I went Wi-Fi hunting. From the gate of the docks (where the shuttle bus from the ship dropped me off) I could see Golden Arches protruding up into the partly cloudy skies just a few blocks from where I stood. McDonald’s has Wi-Fi, right? So, I proceeded down this very cute pedestrian alleyway in the direction of that giant yellow mammaric logo. The alley easily reminded me of the little alleyway I discovered in Santa Marta, Colombia. These car-less pedestrian shopping “malls” are really fun. I think there should be more of them everywhere!

Once inside the local McDonald’s I was relieved to find that they did, in fact, have Wi-Fi and that it was relatively fast. (Of course, I’m getting used to the ship’s Wi-Fi which makes a damn dial-up modem seem fast.) So, I decided to be a good customer, order some food and then find a corner where I could soak up all of the Wi-Fi that I could consume before the Amsterdam set sail.

The menu here in Chile was nothing like any McDonald’s menu I’ve seen in the US. I guess that a smart company tailors their offerings to accommodate the local tastes. That’s why I ordered the McPollo Italiano!

And just exactly how much should lunch in Chile cost me. I dunno, but I came prepared!

(And, I got about $1000 back in change!)

While waiting for my order to arrive, I glanced around at the advertising and promotional signage all around me. Here’s one of those promotional signs that really caught my eye. I know that there are some people, even Presidents, who simply cannot resist a McDonald’s hamburger. Some might even say they are addictive. But here in Chile, it’s apparently just fine to compare your food to CRACK! And, at $4000 per meal, maybe it comes with a whole bunch of real crack!

It didn’t.

Now, for just a moment, let me tell you about my McPollo Italiano.

Here’s what McDonald’s in Chile sells as something Italian inspired. First, you start with the same bun you use for your Quarter Pounder burgers. Ok, Italians have bread, too. Now, into that bun you insert a breaded piece of chicken, some mayonnaise, tomato slices, and guacamole. Don’t believe me? Look at the picture! Check the menu! What could possibly be more Italian than that? Joe Caracci would just love it!

Well, the rest of the day was spent mostly running around trying to find good/better Internet and doing a little window shopping along the way.

Then, just before departing from Arica, the local high school showed with their marching band and many dancing performers to give us a very colorful sendoff. Photos are attached here, but you really need to see the video! When shall we do that?

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All-in-all, I really liked little Arica. It was a culturally strange place (to me, at least) and therefore a bit exotic. I would be happy to return here, hang out at the beach, and eat more Italian food!

A new phase

As I prepare to sail away from Arica, I feel as though this moment is another “punctuation mark” in my world tour. A place where the focus divides between what has been and what is coming. For days now, we’ve been exploring the west coast of South America. As I leave Arica, I leave South America behind me and start out upon the next phase of this trip: little islands. What does the next week or two hold in store for me? I’m excited to find out.

What is it?

OK, it’s time to announce what this is:

Of course, you know it is a penguin! Lots of correct guesses this time!

So, tonight, when I came back from my visit to Arica, I found this guy on my bed. This one is probably the easiest animal so far.

What is it? Send me your reply, or just a message. I’ll let you know the answer soon, unless this one is a runaway, in which case I’ll move swiftly along to the next one.

G’night.