On the move

Sunday, February 3, 2019

Today is an “at sea” day so I’m going to keep this one short so that I have some time to go outside and enjoy.

As I mentioned before “at sea” days are a little more calm for me, allowing me to recharge my social battery, read a good book, or even get in an extra long nap. But, I have one more thing that I do each day after we’ve pulled out of port and that is to update my map.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I bought this map to trace my travels. Initially, I wanted to have some fun tracing my travels on this cruise. But now, there’s something that is kind of bothering me and I can’t seem to make up my mind about what I should do.

As you can see, I’ve already scratched Colombia, Panama, and Perú. That leaves a big, annoying brown spot that is Ecuador. Ecuador lies between Colombia and Perú, yet we had no stops in Ecuador so it remains unattractively unscratched.

I have, however, been to Ecuador and I’ve done so recently. Just last August I spent a week in Ecuador and the lovely Galapagos Islands which are part of Ecuador. Therefore, I’m teetering on the cusp of scratching off Ecuador and simply repurposing my map as “all of the places I’ve visited this year.” That will make it look nicer, IMHO.

I don’t know. Which should win out: my personal esthetics or the originally stated purpose of the map? Help me decide. Tell me your opinion in this brief little poll.

Thank for your feedback. Tomorrow I arrive in Arica, Chile, a country that I’ve never visited before.

What is it?

A couple of posts ago, I presented you with this little imp:

Stephanie Foster was the very first one to ring in with the correct answer! Way to go, Stephanie. And, I’d like to add, that although finding that first correct guess is fun, I sometimes laugh out loud at some of the wrong answers.

Now, don’t forget there’s still one animal out there that’s waiting to be identified. Send a reply to this post and tell me what you think it is.

G’night.

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Today was my second day in Lima and I have been falling behind in my postings on this blog. The primary reason for the delays has been the quality and the administration of Wi-Fi on this cruise. So, in an effort to get caught up (as well as to download some entertainment) I went ashore once again, this time in the daylight.

Our ship, the Amsterdam, is not actually docked in Lima. It is docked in Callao (kai-YOW). Callao is a district of Lima that lies to the northwest and is the chief seaport for the area. Callao is a rough-and-tumble place and we have been warned not to venture outside the gates of the dock and meander around the partially paved streets in Callao. “It’s dangerous,” we are told. For this reason, there are shuttles and tour buses that take us from the ship, safely through Callao, and on to prettier places that cater to tourism.

In the bus, and once outside the gates, I got a glimpse of Callao and it was pretty much as it had been foretold to us. These photos help to tell the story.

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The place is rather run down and dirty. There is little evidence in Callao of civic pride. It is clear that many people here are just trying to keep food on the table and do not have much time for community involvement.

Anywhere you go in Perú you have to live with very aggressive drivers. The rules of the road seem to be largely based on the idea that the bigger the vehicle, the more likely they are to demand the right of way. God help the people on small motorcycles, and there are plenty of them! Some drivers seem to disagree with this “fait accompli” and when they do, their only recourse is to lay on the horn. So, that is what you hear, anywhere and everywhere in the greater Lima area: loud, blaring, rude horn honking. I’m so very happy that I will not be doing any driving anywhere near here.

It does not take long, however, to get to wonderful places like the Miraflores District where a beautiful beach and modern buildings greet us. A 30-minute ride can make a huge difference in the environment in which you find yourself.

At least part of the reason for such dramatic differences in the forty three districts of Lima could be that each district has its own government with its own leaders. The economy of one district (and the tax money gained therein) has no bearing on any other district, even the ones right next door.

My tour bus dropped us off for a few hours of shopping in Miraflores. Rather than shopping, I used the time to find a place to sit down, have a beer, and reduce my backlog of pending Internet communications.

Here is where I find a marvelous place with a good Internet connection, but with even better beers! The BarBarian, for me, was a little slice of heaven. This place had some very good food, but the real excitement came from trying diverse beers that are made by this very company.

While I sat in this place, I almost felt like I was at home. It seems to me that if you can find a place that makes and serves quality craft beer, that place is likely to look and feel very much like good craft beer outlets anywhere in the world. I enjoyed more beer here than I can remember doing at any place in the last several years. There were twenty different craft beers on tap, several of which were made by BarBarian and the others were guest beers. Personally, I tried their Double IPA, their Session IPA (which, at 6% alcohol is the strongest session ale I’ve found), and even a porter. I’m not a big fan of porters, but this one was a delight! Perhaps I’ve just been away from home for too long. Still, if David Hibler or Matt Tolle were here to see me down that pint, I’m sure they would have been amazed.

And, if one was not attracted to the tap beers, one could certainly find something among the bottled beers that they might be taken with.

This place, BarBarian, is so dedicated to the making and serving of beer that some of that enthusiasm spills over (ooooooo, another bad pun?) into the washrooms where fresh clean water is always on tap.

My afternoon joy passed all too quickly and, sooner than I would have imagined, my time here was up. I needed to run back to the shopping center if I was to catch my bus back to the ship. As we approached the gate we needed to pass through security where a man in charge of security would board the bus and make sure that each of us had ship-issued ID. While I waited for the security officer I looked out my window and saw a sign that was trying to explain the security stop. One particular part of the sign certainly made it look like security at this gate was a matter to be taken personally.

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And, finally, back to the ship where our “Sail Away” party was just about to begin.

Once again, I’m on the Lido deck, aft, to watch Lima slowly disappear behind us as we sail away to our next port.

What is it?

It may be too soon since my most recent post to declare the identity of yesterday’s towel animal. So, I’m not saying anything about that right now.

But, there’s no reason that I can’t offer you a new mystery animal for you to identify. Therefore, that’s what I’m going to do. Here is your new animal:

As always, you may comment directly via this post or send me a message by any of the many ways the Internet provides. It’s OK. I’ll just need to find a nice pub in order to wade through all of the communications. 😉

That’s all I have for today. Tomorrow, I’ll spend all day at sea.

G’night!

Friday, February 1, 2019

I spent most of today aboard ship. Why? Because I was just in Lima about 5 months ago and I was pretty sure I had seen the best of it. Still, I reserved my evening hours to go downtown to see the “world famous” Circuito Mágico del Agua. More on that later.

At the designated time, those of us on the tour were gathered up and loaded onto the bus. Our tour was to include a visit to the Plaza de Armas in the Colonial district of Lima, and from there to go to the park to see the water and light show.

The trip to the Plaza de Armas from the ship was to take about 30-40 minutes. However, by the old gods and the new (I’m re-watching Game of Thrones) there was no luck for us. Maybe it was because it was Friday night. Maybe it was because the high school and college students are out of school for the summer. Maybe it was because there is some political unrest in Perú owing to the stagnant economy causing demonstrators to take to the street. Maybe it was some combination of all of those things, but it all added up to really bad traffic for us.

After we had been stuck in traffic for 90 minutes, our tour guide announced that we would have a very brief visit to the Plaza de Armas so that we would not miss the light and water show at the park about 20 minutes away from the plaza.

After another 45 minutes of being stuck in traffic our guide asked if we’d just rather skip the tour of the plaza and go directly to the water show. Although there was a unanimous cry of “YES!” from the passengers on the bus, our guide had to call in to get permission to skip part of the tour that we’d all payed for. Apparently the tour guide was told he could not skip any part of the tour and so the bus whirled us around one lap of the Plaza de Armas. If we wanted photos, we’d have to take them through the windows of the bus. So, I’m not happy with this (you already know how much I like to explore plazas de armas in colonial cities) but it’s not the fault of the tour company, and I really do want to see the water show.

So here are some photos from a lighting-fast lap around the Plaza de Armas in Lima, Perú.

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After applying muscle cream to treat my mild case of whiplash from our victory lap around the plaza, the bus headed on to the park so we could enjoy the water show.

We arrived at the park just in time for the beginning of the water show. Our guide seemed to know just where to stand to get the best view. We were by no means alone in our position; the park was packed with people on a warm summer night. Still, I’m convinced we had the best possible view of the show, as long as one could see over the tops of other people’s heads. For me, at 6 feet tall, it was not a problem as the general population here is considerably shorter than I am.

The show itself uses jetted water that is set in time to a musical background. The jets of water can take on almost any color. Additionally, there are lasers that shine into the water to make marvelous shapes and visions. On top of that, the water can be set to create a fine mist, perfect for projecting video images, using the misted water as a movie screen. So, here’s a part of the show:

After this, the main show, our guide took us on a walk around the park to see many of the other beautifully illuminated fountains. Here are a few:

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But, on a warm Lima night, this might have been the most fun fountain of them all!

On the way home, I got to see a seedier side of Lima. Lima is a very large city. It has over 11 million inhabitants. All big cities have their problems, there are seedy areas. Perhaps our bus was simply on the shortest route back to the ship ands that route happened to take us through the “darker” areas of town. I don’t know. But I will tell you that I have lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco and even San Diego back in the day. All of these places have sex workers, but I saw more prostitutes in Lima this night than in any other city I’ve visited (or lived in) so far in my life. On a more positive note, they were also the most attractive prostitutes that I’ve seen in any city. God bless them all.

We got back to the ship at about 11:20pm, a little late according the schedule, but that was fine by me. I’d had a (mostly) fun evening and I’d seen things that I had not seen before. And, for some reason, this night seemed like a good one to do a little midnight dessert, pairing some very special chocolate with a glass of red wine. Within an hour, I was very much in my happy place!

They’re back!

Ok, it seems as though a large number of you, my readers who fill my heart with joy, are up for some more towel animals. Here’s the latest one. I’m expecting to hear from you many on-the-nose guesses as to what it is.

So, what is it? Think you know? I think this one is very easy so let’s have some fun. The first three readers with the correct answer will earn the pleasure of buying me a beer at the bar on the Lido deck at just $11.15 per beer!

Excited? Of course you are! Now, start sending your guesses.

G’night!

Thursday, January 31, 2019

This morning I woke up in Perú. Again.

For the second time in 5 months I find myself in Perú, but this is the first time I’ve been to this place. The ship is actually docked in a town on the southern outskirts of Trujillo called Salaverry. Salaverry is a very industrialized place with no particular interest to tourists. It looked like this when we were allowed to disembark:

Perhaps the most notable feature of the area is a giant sand “wall” that separates the town of Salaverry from the mountains behind it. A closer inspection revealed that the wall of sand is slowly moving toward the water and has already started to engulf some of the makeshift housing in the area. On my tour today (more on that coming up) the guide explained that many of the houses we could see on the north side of town belong to squatters. They don’t own the land they’ve built upon, but nobody is attempting to take that land away, either.

Salaverry is a rather poor place. It looks depressed, like Naco, Sonora and makes Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, look like a true gem. But then, Salaverry is not the town I’m interested in today. I’m going to Trujillo.

At the appointed time, our tour group disembarks and heads to the awaiting bus. I board the bus and choose my seat. There, on the seat back in from of me I read the name of this tour company: Turismo Milagritos. The literal English translation is “Little Miracles Tourism.” As I look around at the heavily industrialized and financially depressed town of Salaverry, I’m thinking that if we all get back without incident, it might be a little miracle, indeed.

The bus cruised quickly through the town of Salaverry and within a half an hour we were at the heart of Trujillo: the Plaza de Armas (or Plaza Mayor, as it is sometimes referred to.) I absolutely love to visit the central square in these Spanish colonial cities because they are all the same and yet every one is different.

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Every Plaza de Armas that I’ve ever seen is a large, open area in the center of the city, usually a square or rectangular area. It always has the seat of government to one side, and a cathedral on the opposite side of the park. It is usually mixed with some commercial area, and must also contain monuments to local leaders, military men, and other historical events or cultural embodiments.

In Trujillo, the central monument is this guy:

This guy, named Freedom, symbolizes freedom and celebrates Perú’s declaration of independence in 1820. It’s a beautiful piece, constructed with a stair-stepped foundation, upon which is placed a base for the bronze figure that is placed at the top.

Our guide told us to pay attention to the proportions of Freedom. In particular, she told us to look at the size of his chest and arms as compared with the size of his legs. Once you take a close look you can see that the legs appear far too short for the torso they hold up. Then she told us a story.

In the planning stages, this monument was designed to stand proud and tall in the plaza. A little too tall, it seems. The original design would have had the top of Freedom reaching a point higher than the highest point on the church. This was deemed by the city fathers (and, no doubt, the bishop) to be inappropriate. To them, nothing should rise higher than the House of God. As a result, the stair-stepped foundation was lowered slightly, but Freedom was likewise reduced in its stature. (Wow! The symbolism here is powerful!)

So, today, Freedom stands tall in Trujillo, but not quite as tall as religion. And, as a result, we have this oddly proportioned man, still trying to illuminate a dominated world. It’s a good story. Do I believe it? Well, I’ll concede that it’s a very good story. How’s that?

After a very brief stop at the Plaza de Armas, we rejoined our bus to head to the Huaca de la Luna in the Moche District near the mouth of the Moche river. The Huaca de la Luna, and the companion pyramid Huaca del Sol, are located at the base of a sacred mountain. The temple complex was believed to be an administrative and religious center for the Moche people. The Moche were an advanced tribe living in and around the Trujillo area long before there was a Trujillo. The Moche culture is very old. It is much older than the Incas. Archaeologists believe that the Moche culture, which lasted about 650 years, became the Chimú culture which lasted enough 600 years or so before they (the Chimú) were conquered by the Incas.

What is left of the Moche culture largely can be found in the area of these two huacas, or temples. The huacas are pyramids and the Huaca del Sol is the largest pyramid in Perú.

The huacas were built with adobe bricks, like those seen here:

Bricks were created by individual families as a governmental tax. That is why each brick is marked in a manner that would identify the family who made it. The bricks would be gathered and used in the construction of the pyramids. The Huaca del Sol pyramid, at its peak (oooooo, bad pun), was constructed of 130 millions of these bricks!

The Huaca del Sol was looted and largely destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors and, following that, the elements continued to take their toll. The huaca is in poor condition and is not open to tourists. Therefore I’ll have little more to say about it.

The Huaca de la Luna, on the other had, was open to view and it was full of amazing details. The huaca had been buried beneath a sand dune at the base of the sacred mountain and was not discovered until 1990. Because it had been buried for so long it is quite remarkably well preserved. It is so well preserved that many of the adobe walls within the huaca still retain their pigmented colors and are an indication that, in the past, the entire temple area was brightly colored.

We are also told that this huaca was built layer upon layer into its pyramidal shape. This photo shows several of the layers of the temple from the viewpoint of a large central square.

The bottom layer shows naked slaves chained together and led in procession. The Moche did practice human sacrifice and these slaves may depict that ceremony, or perhaps it is just intended to show the power and strength of the Moche people. Above that layer we have dancers, holding hands. Above that is a mythical symbol used by the Moche. It is a spider god that has a crab’s head for a backside. Very odd, but very creative.

The tour involved a lot of walking and little of it was on flat ground. I found the tour to be a good bit of exercise for mind and body alike. Ultimately, our short day in Trujillo had to come to an end, and our busload of weary tourists headed back to the dock in Salaverry and back aboard the Amsterdam.

Once aboard and after a little “freshening up” it’s time for me to head to the Sea View Lounge on the Lido deck at the back of the ship. Each time we sail away from a port, the ship hosts a “Sail Away Happy Hour” and this is an event I hate to miss. There is something very exciting (to me, at least) to watch a place that I’ve just explored start to slowly recede into the distance. To watch the foam on the ocean created from our propellers as we sail away, and to see the lights in town start to twinkle to life, and to have a nearly-half-price beer in my hand, these are the things from which memories are made.

What is it?

Well, wasn’t this one a little stinker. For the longest time there were no correct guesses about what kind of animal this is. Even though I gave you all a nice clue that it was not a bear.

If you happen to follow me on Facebook, you received another clue, telling you to think “south of the equator.” At last some correct guesses came streaming in, and if you’re like Julie Tolle (and a few others) you correctly guessed that it is supposed to be a koala. Now, if you couldn’t figure it out for yourself, you’re in good company; I couldn’t figure it out myself and had to ask the animal’s creator, my cabin stewardess, Ayu.

I have more photos of these crazy yet clever towel animals that I could share with you. Should I continue? Let me know.

You can comment directly from this site. If you are seeing this post as a single post on the past, the “reply” section at the bottom of the page is where you do that.

If you’re seeing this page with several posts on it, look on the left of the page at the start of the post to find a link to make comments.

G’night!

Tuesday & Wednesday, January 29 & 30, 2019

Preface

One of the worst things that can happen aboard ship happened to me on Tuesday. Imagine, if you will, calling for and then entering an elevator, all by yourself. The elevator arrives and you step inside. Once inside, as the doors close, it becomes abundantly clear that somebody who just left your elevator left a nasty fart behind. So, there you are stuck in a tiny box with a prize-winning fart. What could be worse?

Well, halfway to the floor you’re trying to get to, the elevator stops, the doors open, and in walks another passenger. As the doors close they also detect the foul aroma, then snap their heads and look directly at you!

ARGH!

And Now the story

Well, the schedule calls for two days at sea as we travel from Fuerte Amador to Trujillo, Perú. Therefore, I don’t have any photos from shore excursions to show you. So, what can I show you? How about a day in my life at sea.

Fine, if you don’t like that topic, leave now and come back tomorrow.

When we have a day at sea, I do something that I’ll bet most of you want to do on any given day of the week: I sleep in until I awaken naturally. Sometimes that happens at 8am. Sometimes I get to sleep until after 10am. It’s pure bliss!

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Once I get out of bed I have to start dealing with my day. There is no coffee maker in my cabin and I always start my day with coffee. That means I’m into the shower, then shaved, dressed, and out the door of my Dolphin Desk (deck 1, aft) cabin almost as fast as I can move.

Although there’s no coffee in the cabin, good coffee can be found in the Lido Market Restaurant (deck 8, aft) and great coffee can be found in the Explorer’s Lounge (desk 4, midships). I never make it to the Explorer’s Lounge because the Lido Market has decent coffee and lots of choices for breakfast, as well. They have everything from fresh made breads to fruits and juices, to custom omelettes. There is always a broad choice of breakfast meats and I’ve found that the cooks will happily crisp up your bacon if you find it too soft (and I know you’d like that, Joe.)

After breakfast, I like to take a walk around the ship to get a little exercise. The Promenade Deck (deck 3) has a very nice wooden track that winds all the way around the ship. 3.5 laps around and I’ve completed one mile. The ship even has a scheduled event each morning to encourage people to get up and walk at 10am.

After all of the necessaries are out of the way, I usually refer to the Holland America “app” to see what kind of activities are planned for the day. The app is actually a website portal that runs on the ship. Listing the day’s planned activities is only one of the useful features on that portal.

On Wednesday, for example, the portal informed me that there was a presentation in the Wajang Theater from America’s Test Kitchen that looked very interesting.

I attended this event and found it to be quite enjoyable and very informative. This class was about making a classic dinner for two. One of the nice things about this presentation (like the TV show itself) is that they really focus on kitchen techniques, and not just the ingredients and how to prep them. At this event I learned about strong and weak spices, and how to make perfect rice in any amount. Recipe pages, printed on nice heavy, glossy stock, were available to everybody. Great show!

After morning activities, I’ll usually return to my cabin to work on posts like this one. It’s amazing to me just how long it takes to transfer photos, enhance photos, write, proof read, re-write, and publish. It’s a lot of work! So much work that I usually fall into an afternoon nap for an hour or so. Life can be so hard and demanding, don’t you agree?

Around 5pm I’ll head to the Ocean Bar (deck 5) and meet up with my team for a game of trivia. Fifteen questions, plus one “bonus” question. Our team has yet to win, but we’ve come pretty close. We’ll keep on trying.

If there’s no trivia game (it happens on some evenings) I’ll head up to the Crow’s Nest to watch the world go by and try out some exotic cocktail that I’ve never heard of.

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There’s a show in the big theater every night, but I haven’t attended many of them. The acts that are brought in might appeal to my father (if he were alive) but the music selection, the “night club” vibe, and the corny jokes just don’t appeal to me. What does appeal to me is Cigars under the Stars, held in the outdoor Sea View bar (deck 8, aft) every night at 9pm. I’ll take my iPad and a nice cigar out to the Sea View bar, order up a glass of Don Julio Añejo, and continue my re-watching of Game of Thrones in the warm night air. So nice!

After a cigar and a glass of tequila, I’m usually ready for bed, especially if there is a shore excursion the next day.

The next morning, I get up and start again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Really, there are many fun things to do and the list changes every day. There are specialty restaurants with outstanding food. There are guest speakers on topics related to our cruise every day. Sometimes more than once a day. There is onboard shopping, but that only lasted me one day.

And sometimes, I just like to sit outside on a comfy lounge chair in the sun and read a good book. Or, I’ll use some time to continue to plan activities I want to do later in the cruise. For example, just today I booked my excursion to Petra, Jordan, that will happen in the spring.

What else?

Well, I do have hanging on my wall a scratch-off world travel map. As I visit each country I scratch off the coating on the map to reveal the country underneath in full color. The map also has the flags of each country beneath the map, so I scratch off and uncover the appropriate flag as well.

And, so where am I

Just to help you keep track of where I am in the world here’s my graphic progress report

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What is it?

So what was it yesterday? Some of you guessed the towel animal was an octopus. That’s what I though it was as well. But, we were wrong. The creator of this fine towel animal tells me it is a squid!

So, I’ve got a new one, and this one is going to be more difficult. Therefore, I feel that it’s only right to give you a little clue. OK?

Ready?

Here’s your clue: It is not a bear! Now, post your reply or just send me a message, as you prefer.

G’night!

Monday, January 28, 2019 – Monkeying around

We overnighted, anchored in Fuerte Amador where I woke up to Panama City in the daylight. Maybe not as pretty as the illuminated skyline view I had the night before, but impressive nonetheless.

For today’s adventure, I’ve signed up to participate in a little ecotourism. Much of Panama is covered in tropical forests, including a variety of islands created as part of the formation of the Panamá Canal. These islands that lie in Gatun Lake are accessible by small boat, and that is my plan for today; I’m going monkey hunting on Gatun Lake!

To get from Fuerte Amador to the monkeys (and other animals, too!) we start out riding in one of those damn tenders again. A ten minute tender ride delivers me to the dock in Fuerte Amador . There, I’m greeted by our tour guide for the day, Ariel.

Ariel escorted all of us to a bus that would take us to a little place called Gamboa. Along the way, as we travel through the old Canal Zone, it was very obvious that this area was once owned by the US Government. All of the buildings, many of which are now offices, stores and coffee shops, were once military barracks. Building after building, every one looked just alike. Even today they remain painted the same color: brown. Ariel gave us some history of the Canal Zone and of American-Panamanian history over the years. For a part of the drive, we are right along side the Panama Canal and we can watch the ships traversing the locks.

When we reach Gamboa, we head to a small marina where we board an even smaller covered boat to head out into Gatun Lake.

Once on the lake, we cruise north to a small area of islands where, we are told, we may see up to three species of monkeys, two kinds of sloths (three-toed and two-toed), maybe some crocodiles and some cayman.

Question asked by our guide: What is the primary difference between the three-toed and the two-toed sloth?

See answer below.

We rode in the boat over the lake for about 15 minutes and then pulled to the side and entered the area of small islands were the monkeys live.

The driver of the boat headed for our first stop. When we arrived there, two other boats from the same tour company had already made the trip and were making monkey noises in hopes of attracting monkeys from out of the jungle that completely and thickly covers the entire island. It became pretty clear that all of the tour guides come to the same places on each island, and that the monkeys have likely become conditioned to where to be if they would like to obtain a nice piece of banana. That sounds like a cheat, but after all, the guide gets to fulfill his promise, we get to see the monkeys, and the monkeys get a nice meal. Win, win, win.

As expected, the temptation of the banana draws monkeys down from the tree tops. One good-sized capuchin monkey, lured by the banana, jumped from an overhanging tree onto the canvas top of the boat, ran across the canvas to the front where Ariel was holding out a banana.

From there, we learned that this particular cheeky little monkey was very aggressive and was not happy with the small piece of banana he was being offered. Oh, no. Not this guy. Instead, he came onboard our boat and headed directly to our guides cache of tropical fruit!

On another island not far away, we came across a howler monkey and her baby. Ariel advised us that howlers seldom come down from the tree tops and that we were quite fortunate to see this little family so exposed out on a branch with no leaves.

We also saw many species of birds including white heron, black heron, snail kite, kingfisher, and falcon. I don’t have any photos of those animals because I forgot I needed to do so. The environment and the viewing was just that breathtaking that I actually forgot to take photos for a while.

After leaving our little island paradise we proceed back to the main part of the Panama Canal to return to the marina in Gamboa. Along the way, in addition to seeing large container ships heading in the opposite direction, we were fortunate enough to see this beautiful tall ship. She is the Dar Młodzieży, a Polish sail training ship. So statuesque and graceful!

We docked again in the marina and transferred from the little boat back to our bus. The bus then took us back to the Fuerte Amador harbor where the tenders awaited us. Or did they? Upon my return to the harbor the line to get onto a tender was a block long! I decided I’d rather wait with a beer in my hand so I visited one of the many local bars surrounding the terminal building.

Here I found Leñas y Carbón, a place that proudly proclaims its speciality is steak and seafood. I figured a place that specializes in steaks and seafood, perched on the side of the ocean in a country fames for its seafood would be a great place to enjoy a beer and a shrimp cocktail. I order a “Balboa” the local lager, and a $15 shrimp cocktail. (Yeah, they know they have the tourists by the balls.)

When the shrimp cocktail arrived I had to give it a second look. No cocktail sauce (like in the US) and no pico de gallo (like in Mexico) but a sauce made from mayonnaise and catsup. That would have been bad enough, but each of those giant and once beautiful shrimp had been overcooked to the point that they were tougher than beef jerky. I actually tried to choke down two of them, then pushed the glass away. My waiter noticed this and asked if everything was OK. I told him that the shrimp were inedible and that the sauce showed no kind of inspiration at all. He gave me a sorrowful look, them provided me with the bill. I was not compensated in any way.

I guess that I’d be stating the obvious if I wrote that I’m never going back to Leñas y Carbón.

Once back on board I treated myself to what I believe was a well deserved dinner of filet mignon and steamed veggies. Best meal of the day!

Answer: One toe.

Ariel, the guide

What is it?

As part of my last post, I shared this image and asked you all, “What is it?

I was very happy with the number of you who ventured a guess. But, if you didn’t guess “butterfly” then you don’t win this time.

By the way, I didn’t have the right answer, either.

So, what is it today? Well, take a look at this one and see if you can figure it out. Yes, this one seems much easier than the last one.

So, what is it? Answer in the comments section of this post or just send me a message.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

This morning, I was lying in bed (did I choose the right verb, Mark?) with a good book when the room proceeded to get gradually but discernibly darker. At first, I thought that it must be clouding up. But then I noticed that the sound from out side, that constant droning sound of the engines rumbling had also stopped. Mustering all of my strength, I looked out of the window. To my surprise, I saw this:

That is the wall of the Gatun Lock of the Panamaa Canal just about 18 inches from my window. And this started the most exciting day of the trip so far, and I don’t even have to go ashore to enjoy it. Today is our transit of the Panama Canal and we’re starting at about 7:30am from the Caribbean side.

Once official Panamá Canal pilots have boarded the ship, we pulled up to the Gatun Locks and the “mules” hook up to us on either side. The mules are locomotives that are used to keep the ship squarely in the center of the lock, never touching either side. Once connected, the Panamanian pilot uses the ship’s own power to propel us into and out of the lock.

Gatun Locks has three locks in a row, lifting us about 85 feet higher than the level of the ocean, but matching the level of Gatun Lake.

We sail through Gatun Lake for about 30 miles at a rather slow speed. Traversing the entire canal (end to end) takes about 10 hours.

The sailing across the lake is uneventful. The lake is very large and takes quite a while to cross.

Eventually, we reach Culebra Cut and the continental divide. In Spanish, “culebra” means “snake” and here is where the canal snakes through the mountains that create the continental divide. This part of the canal is the most dangerous and is one of the reasons that the Government of Panamá requires a trained and experience Panamanian pilot at the help of the ship.

A landmark of the continental divide in the Panamá Canal is Gold Hill, and here is a photo of Gold Hill:

Now, the photo of Gold Hill is not at all exciting and, originally, I was not going to include it in this post. But then something memorable happened. Our on-board narrator had just made a ship-wide announcement about Gold Hill and the continental divide. I was standing next to an older lady (certainly older than I) when another older lady approached the first and asked, “What did he just say?” The first lady told her inquisitor that we were just now crossing the continent divide. The lady who asked the question considered the other woman’s answer and looked around a bit. She then proclaimed that this new continent that we crossed into didn’t look much different than the continent we just left. I caught myself audibly groaning so I made a quick exit.

The Canal is built upon, surrounded by, and overpassed by beautiful works of engineering. Here, across the Culebra Cut, can be found the Centennial Bridge, named in honor of 100 years of Panama’s independence from Columbia. I was told that, at night, the bridge is brightly lit and appears as two pyramids floating above the water.

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Shortly after passing under Centennial Bridge, we come to the Pedro Miguel lock. By this time, I was back in my room. I really wasn’t paying attention to anything when I finally noticed that the room was darkening, yet again. Here’s what I saw in the next minutes that passed:

Continuing on past the Pedro Miguel lock, and after emerging from the Miraflores Locks, the ship was in the Pacific Ocean and I feel like the first phase of this voyage (the Caribbean Sea) is already over. I happy, though, that there are many more phases remaining. Still, I place some punctuation for this trip right here.

We anchored in Fuerte Amador, a small island near Panama City that was converted from US Military use to a commercial hub. It is connected to the mainland by a narrow strand about three miles long.

On the ship, I settled in for what was likely the finest meal I’ve had so far. In the Italian specialty restaurant named Canaletto. For my entrée I enjoyed Ravioli al Gamberi. These little pillows of pasta are fill with a spicy preparation of shrimp, then served in a deliciously mild seafood sauce that was almost a bisque. So tasty!

After dinner, and to end the long day, I enjoyed Cigars under the Stars. This gathering is held nightly, outdoors, in the Sea View lounge. With a cigar in one hand an a glass of Don Julio Añejo tequila in the other, I soaked up this view for about an hour. This is Panama City, by night.

In order to help you get your bearings regarding where I was today, I offer this little map.

What is it?

In my last post I offered a challenge to you: what kind of animal has been made from towels that lives on my bed? Here is that animal.

Did you try to guess what is was? I know that several of you did. My favorite answer came from Araceli Rojas who told me it was a “sexy fish.” It’s very entertaining to read “sexy” and “fish” in the same phrase. Araceli, I love your guess, but it is not correct.

The correct answer was provided by several of you, including Julie Tolle, Marilyn Ronci. Excellent guesses! It is, according to its maker, a lobster!

Tonight’s “What Is It” looks like this:

So, what do you think this is? Feel free to send me your guess in the comments section on this page, or send me a message via any other method that you know I use. I’ll be reporting the results soon. Have some fun. Join in and send me your guess!

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Preface

These musings that you find posted here are not just for your eyes, gentle reader. Another purpose of this river of words is very personal and selfish. At some time in the future I may want to relive my adventure, every little detail of it. Therefore, you may find in these posts some accounts that seem to be of very little public interest. I reserve my right to post such accounts as may fulfill my future desires.

Now on to the story

Taking a page from Anette Martin’s playbook, I was up at dawn today to enjoy watching the sun rise. Although this is not a normal activity for me, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The sea was relatively calm as was the air. The hallways and dining areas were nearly empty which lent to the serenity of the hour. It also gave me some time to think about where I was and what I was doing there, sort of “being in the moment.”

Around 11:00am we enter the area known as the San Blas islands. These islands lie just off the coast of Panamá and are inhabited by the Kuna people. These people have maintained and fiercely defended their culture and way of life for hundreds of years.

The San Blas islands are a small archipelago just off of the north of Panamá. There are about 365 of the islands but most are uninhabited. The islands that are inhabited are densely populated. The “buildings” are mostly thatched huts that are built very close together. Small sailing craft ply the waters between the islands like taxi cabs crisscrossing the downtown area of a major city.

Because there are no harbors in the San Blas islands, we need to get ashore by way of “tenders.” Tenders are small boats that carry about 50 people and bob up and down in the ocean like a cork. Riding in a tender is not at all difficult, but you may die getting on and off of the tender itself when the seas are the least bit rough.

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After a 15 minute tender ride we were on the island where we were allowed to come ashore. The Kuna people are very strict about who is allowed to come to what island(s) and when. The particular island that we were allowed to see was not at all large and seem to be, mostly, like an open air market.

In my visit, which lasted just a little over an hour, I walked down every street on the island, even mistakenly going down a path that I thought was a narrow street but was actually somebody’s private path. I saw the entire island from end to end, three times! Such a small place yet so many people living here. It certainly struck me as a very crowded place to live and work.

Although the Kuna people do speak Spanish, I was surprised at the responses I got when I tried to interact with them. The women are reluctant to say anything. The men would speak with me but only briefly and very tersely. My opinion was that these people, who have fiercely defended their culture and their lifestyle for hundreds of years, were not particularly happy with all of these strange looking (to them) visitors from the outside.

It was almost impossible for me to get any of the Kuna people that I spoke with to laugh. It really seemed as though they were there to conduct business and interact with us, their visitors, only to the degree that it was possible to make a buck.

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One of the world famous handicrafts that these indigenous people make are molas. I’ve know about these little pieces of art for decades and have always been fascinated by them. It was amazing to me to walk among the largest selection of molas I’ve ever seen in one place. After visiting a hundred (maybe?) different displays, I finally found one that speaks to me. When I return home, I’ll frame this one and mount it on my wall so that I’ll always remember this amazing island and the peculiar people who call it home.

Having survived the tender ride back to the ship, I headed to the “Crow’s Nest” lounge to refresh myself. There, in the menu, was a cocktail that sounded so good I just couldn’t refuse it. It’s a pomegranate ginger martini with a sugared rim. Deeeee-lish!

Just for reference, here’s a map that shows our exact location as we sail away from the San Blas islands. Consequently, it also shows you exactly where the San Blas archipelago is in the world. We’re just 90 miles away from the Panamá Canal, which is where I’ll be tomorrow! G’night!

And Finally…

Every night when I return to my room I find some kind of an animal made from a towel. The towel animals seem to be different each night and this is the animal I found on my bed as I returned to my cabin. Let’s have a little fun. Please send me your idea about what this animal is supposed to be. You can post in the comments section on this page, or just send me a message. Ok. Ready? What is it?

Friday, January 25, 2019

Preface

If you have been reading my blog, you already know how disappointed I was with the window in my “Ocean View” cabin. This morning, as I was preparing to go ashore, this happened:

Now, on to the story

As much as I love time at sea, the relaxing pitching of the ship, the feeling of being desperately alone on the ocean with little or no land within view, it is very nice to finally set foot once again on dry land. And here, as I firmly plant my feet on the dock in Santa Marta, Colombia, I wonder if the locals look at me and laugh as I walk around with my “sea legs” still very much active. If so, they’re at least polite enough to not laugh directly in my face.

It’s very warm here, 88º with humidity clearly about 50%. The skies are clear and I’m very happy to be back on land, and in a predominately Spanish speaking country. I feel very confident as I walk along the malecón and interact with the locals in their own language. Just trying to speak Spanish with them elicits smiles and warm greetings.

So, what makes Santa Marta one of the nicest places you’ve never heard of. Well, allow me to explain.

History

Santa Marta is a very old city. Established in 1525 by the Spanish conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas, it is the oldest city in Colombia, and the second oldest in South America. (Pardon me while I experience a little shiver because I can hardly believe it; I’m in South America!)

Although the city does not really have many sites that date from that time, it still honors many of the people responsible for its very presence. A beautiful park is named for Simón Bolivár, liberator and first president of Colombia, and a statue of General Francisco de Paula Santander, the first vice president, is in another park close by. There is an interesting history between these two men. I leave it up to you to explore the topic on your own.

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Around town

The city is small. I walked around about half of the downtown area in three hours which included stopping in a local bistro/bar named Ouzo for a liquid lunch.

I found a very picturesque little alleyway called Carrera 3 in the downtown area of Santa Marta. This “street” is lined with restaurants, bars, and merchants. In places, trees from the parks along it path hang over the narrow street and create a colorful “old world” look.

I spent some time walking around the parks and trying to take in the culture. In so doing, I found some unexpected sights, like these:

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If you don’t remember Juan Valdez, perhaps this will jog your memory.

After enjoying my walk around town I returned to the ship to have a cocktail and take in the view of the beautiful harbor. On the stroll back, I encountered two happy women on a street corner. They smiled at me and asked me where I was going. I told them I was headed back to the ship. They asked me, “Why?” and suggested that I go with them and have a party. Isn’t that nice? A couple of local girls wanted to have a party with just them and me.

Anyway, back to the beauty of the harbor. A true landmark of this harbor is the tiny island with a lighthouse on the top.

Also, while I was sitting on the Sea View deck, I saw stars floating just above the water next to the ship. I stood up to get a closer look. It took a little time to figure out what was causing all of the twinkling but eventually I could tell that the “stars” were tiny fish (maybe the size of a guppy?) that were being chased by a larger fish and were jumping out of the water in an effort to escape. There had to be millions of them brightly reflecting the sun’s rays! Quite a show!

So, I’ve departed Santa Marta and now I’m on my way to the San Blas islands of Panamá.

Wednesday and Thursday, January 23-24, 2019

I’ve been at sea for two full days now. I’m starting to learn my way around the ship and I’ve participated in a few events. So far, I’ve started to develop some early opinions about the Holland America experience.

Ocean view room

First of all, when my only view to the outside world is a window, I kinda expect the window to be a bit like a TV screen. Perhaps that’s a stretch, but the window in my cabin seems filthy. At first, I thought a window this dirty would be caused by negligence on the part of Holland America. However, over the last two days I have learned that the high seas, combined with my cabin’s proximity to the water, makes a clean window almost impossible.

Perhaps my disappointment comes from the fact that this cruise is the first one where I have chosen not to have a balcony. I think that, going forward, I’d choose either a balcony room (more expensive) or an inside (windowless) room (more affordable.) An ocean view room is not so great, in my opinion.

Activities

There is a nice list of activities for us every day, but some of them look better on paper than they actually turn out to be. There was a lecture today on the Pirates of the Caribbean. The real ones, not the actors from those Disney movies. On paper, that sounded like a great lecture, so I attended. The gentleman delivering the lecture merely read the words off of the screen of his Powerpoint presentation. I hate that. Further, to drive home any point he was trying to make on each and every one of his slides, he interjected some personal anecdotes in an attempt to be humorous. They weren’t, judging by audience response. Or maybe it was just that he was wearing his headband-microphone incorrectly so that we could hear his every wheeze. I dunno, but I was not enthralled with the event.

Other activities seem to be well attended and enjoyed. There was a nice presentation of “A Visual Tour of your Ports of Call.” Looks like there are some amazing shore excursions in my future!

As I was planning for this cruise, I wondered just what they might have on board to keep us all entertained. I think the entertainment here is pretty good, with things to appeal to people of many ages and physical abilities. For example, I passed on the ring toss competition and the “Sit, Knit, Needlework, Project Linus and More”, but the twice-a-day trivia events are fun, as is the daily “Walk a Mile” event.

Food

The food, so far, has been just “OK” but then again, I have yet to try out the formal dining area, enticed instead to the more casual food found on the side deck. There is a very nice choice of foods, most of which are prepared and served nicely, if casually. I tried lunch today at their signature burger bar called the “Dive In.” I’m not sure that I’ll be going back there soon.

It seems as though the kitchen has been instructed to cook with very few spices. I find that salt is very lacking, but that may be intentional considering the ages and potential health issues of the passengers. There are salt shakers on the table, but I’m very happy I brought my own bottle of salsa picante!

Here is the formal dining area where, I hope, excellent food can be found. I’ve kinda avoided the giant room so far. I think that, maybe,I’ve fallen victim to Joe Caracci’s dislike of large crowds.

Weather

Certainly the ship cannot be blamed for the weather, but we have had very rough seas since we departed Ft. Lauderdale. Here’s a little video of the swimming pool on Wednesday night.

Everybody is walking around like they’re half drunk (which successfully masks that I really am half drunk) and those with canes and walkers are having a tough time of it. The weather has also had a chilling effect on dancing. I met a couple of dance instructors last evening and they said it was impossible for them to do their jobs with the dance floor pitching as it was.

The good news about the weather is that in spite of the wind and the rain, the temperature keeps getting warmer. Last night for “Cigars under the Stars” the temperature was 76º. Today was in the 80s.I’m happy that I’m missing winter at home!

Other thoughts

As I settle in and get to know my new, temporary home I have an growing appreciation for those at home who are helping me to preserve my house and home while I’m away. Keith and Laura Phillips are keeping a close eye on everything, even relaying to me important mail deliveries. My neighbors are watching over any comings and goings, my pool tech (Hi, Rick), my landscape maintainer, and my housekeeper (Hi, Araceli) are all doing their parts to keep Casa Amistad in great shape until my return. Thank you to all of you!

And finally, where’s Robert? As I write these words I am here:

Next stop, Santa Marta, Colombia! I’ll be going ashore to check the place out, so I’ll update this blog as soon as I can. Pardon me if I fall a day behind.