SOUTH AMERICA BLOG #3
22 November 2008
Costa Rica is trying hard to become attractive to travelers. Our stop at Puntarenas (Sp = Sandy point) introduced us to some wonderful sandy beaches, typical Central American life style, a warm muggy climate and not much that would steal vacationers away from Cancun and Acapulco. We chose a shore excursion that would show us the exotic side of jungle bound Puntarenas.
Our tour entitled “Train, Bus and Boat adventure” did indeed feature all three forms of transportation as we explored the sea shore, the interior jungle and looked for crocodiles and exotic birds in a river flowing into the Pacific Ocean. Everything went smashingly well until we came to a wide spot in the road where we were to meet a train on a narrow gauge rail line next to the road. We left the bus and stood in the shade it created for the best part of an hour waiting for our train ride. A series of frantic calls by our guide finally determined that something had gone wrong with the track and the train couldn’t reach us. It was decided that if the train couldn’t come to us we would go to the train. Our bus rattled over country roads, past meager homes and small tilled fields as we fought our way deeper into the jungle. We found the train parked next to a small school in a village that featured a half dozen homes, a dozen or so smiling inquisitive kids and a beleaguered looking crew. We scrambled aboard the little train and began our ride through the Costa Rican jungle which looked something like Tarzan films minus hanging vines for dramatic tree to tree jungle travel. Our train whistled along for a while before slowing to a stop in the middle of nowhere. Looking out the opened window of our coach we watched a crew of a half dozen workers as they stared questioningly at a section of track as we crept by. Apparently a rain storm earlier in the day had washed out a small section that had just been jury rigged for our passage. Not a single one of the staring workers looked as though he believed our train could really make it through…but we did. We eventually popped out of the jungle at the spot where we had waited an hour for our train.
Our bus now picked up speed racing over rough winding roads to take us to our boat ride segment of the tour. The boat was a part of a local concession that promised sightings of alligators and rare birds, and maybe an iguanas or two as we explored the Tarcoles River. We began with an immediate sighting of a crocodile who appeared to be chained to the pier. We did see flocks of Macaws, at least that is what our guide called a bunch of birds that flew over, and a gazillion or so snowy egrets. We were a bit disappointed not to be introduced personally to a spoonbill or a jacanas that our advertisement had touted for the area. We did spot a number of crocodiles that seemed to smile in anticipation of dinner when we floated by. It surprised us to see a family of locals out for an afternoon swim just a couple of hundred yards up stream from the advertised meanies. The promised treat of local fruit while listening to authentic local marimba performers was shortened to a quick stanza or two while we off loaded the boat and climbed aboard our bus where we found a plate of fruit on each seat. Dottie found that Costa Rican fruit is kind of squishy as she sat down before realizing lunch had been served. The Norwegian Sun delayed its planned departure for our late arriving tour bus and our wonderful visit to Costa Rica ended.
Our visit to Manta, Ecuador left us with an entirely different feeling about Central America. Manta, a city of more than 200,000, is a bustling port community serving the sea going transportation needs of the country. The Pacific beaches of Ecuador provide breath taking views of the sea meeting the land. Manta beaches were selected for the sixth annual South American Wind Surfing Championship. Ecuador’s tuna fishing industry works out of Manta with literally dozens of tuna boats unloading tons of tuna around the clock. We were fascinated as we watched cranes lower nets into the holds of the boats and return with huge loads of fish that were dumped into trucks for transport to local canneries.
We learned that the area we now know as Ecuador was originally visited by a Spanish scouting expedition in 1526. Francisco Pizarro and his conquistadores invaded the country six yeas later. Following Pizarro’s death, his brother Gonzalo took over and led a rebellion against Spain. Gonzalo’s independent rule lasted until 1548 when the Spanish Crown defeated his small army.
The independence leader, Simon Bolivar, finally defeated the last vestiges of Spanish colonial rule in 1822 when several future South American countries formed the Republic of Colombia including what is now Venezuela, Panama and others. Ecuador withdrew from the the Republic in 1830 and has been a self governing country since.
The grand adventure of our cruise was our three day shore excursion to Macho Picchu, and ancient Inca city and a site that is now one of the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World. We began with a 6:00 AM ride by bus to the Lima, Peru International Airport. An hour long flight took us from sea level at Lima to 11,000 feet at Cusco, Peru. We had been warned to expect some difficulties with the sudden altitude change and we did. Just walking from the plane to a bus which would take us to our hotel was breath taking, like it took a lot more breath than we had to give.
Our hotel was as grand as we have ever known and our guide’s admonition to take a nap was followed by Bill as Dottie managed to arrange our few things for our two night stay. Our lunch and afternoon tour of Cusco introduced us to the local sights and Inca lore that pervades everything. During our visit to the Cathedral of Cusco our guide pointed out the many ways that Inca beliefs were woven into the Catholic ideology. Incas worshipped nature and their descendants have created a form of Catholicism that incorporates the ancient worship of Inca idols in small but observable ways. A prominent statue of St. Paul holding a large cross included an obvious sun carved in the middle of the cross to indicate the Inca worship of the Sun. Our guide spoke of the confusion that the mixing of beliefs has caused, especially among young people. It was suggested that although the country is basically Catholic, few if any of the younger generation attend church or refer to themselves as Catholic.
Our city tour took us to the Plaza Recogido, Plaza de Armas, Santo Domingo Convent and the winding ancient streets of the city of 400,000. All of the sites visited contained portions of previous Inca stone architecture. Along the way we learned that Peru, a country of 24 million has 19 million cell phones. The country is slowly growing out of a long period of inflation and lack of financial growth. We saw few cars outside the city indicating low income among a large part of the population. We did observe that everything seemed very clean as compared to other developing countries we have visited.
On our second day, we were up before 4:00 AM to catch a bus at 5:00 AM that would take us to the Macho Picchu train. During our first night at Cusco, Dottie was kept awake by a constant cramping and involuntary movement of her legs caused by the sudden change in altitude. The train ride took us from Cusco at 11,000 feet, across a pass at 13,000 feet, to Macho Picchu at 8,000 feet in the high jungle of Peru. Our train followed the Ollantaytambo River which flows down the eastern slope of the Andes into the Amazon River. The rapid descent of the river provided wonderful views of white water rapids along the way. Occasionally we passed small farms where corn and potatoes were being grown.
Macha Picchu was awesome, to say the least. The Inca city built in 1450 and abandoned in 1540 was never visited by the Conquistadors. There are several theories about why people abandoned the site. The most logical seems to be that the terraced fields were unable to feed a growing population. Another theory is that the Spanish gift of smallpox invaded the town through visitors from Cusco and drove the inhabitants away thru fear. Whatever the case, the site was soon overgrown by jungle and not known to the outside world until 1911 when an American professor/explorer, Hiram Bingham, visited the site after learning about it from neighbors. The site was subsequently cleared of jungle to display what is seen today.
Pictures of the site show huge buildings built Inca style with large limestone blocks amazingly shaped and fitted without mortar so that they have remained through the centuries’ many earthquakes. We climbed the many stone stairways connecting buildings until our legs were numbed. Even though the altitude difficulties we were experiencing told us otherwise, we couldn’t imagine not seeing everything there was to see. Our four hours at Machu Picchu left us with some marvelous memories of what the amazing Inca civilization accomplished
Our knowledge of the Inca Empire was enriched by each of the guides along the way. The Incas built one of the largest and wealthiest empires in the western hemisphere between 1100 and 1500 AD covering much of the region now included in present day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. The empire was ruled by a king who was worshipped as a god. The empire disintegrated when the king and his brother fought for control.
The ancestors of the Incas are interesting people. They farm areas of the Andes as high as 19,000 feet. We saw productive farm operations at 13,000 feet. They continue to follow a conservative set of rules to live by that were written by some ancient Inca king. One king dictated that no couple would have sex during the month of November each year. To this day August birthdays are the most popular among Peruvians. Peruvians are friendly and outgoing with visitors, especially if the visitor appears to be in a mood to pose with a Llama for a photo or by some handiwork created by a semi-talented housewife.
We managed a few poses but avoided collecting Peruvian handicrafts. Even though we knew in our hearts that our family members would really be excited about receiving a hand made flute for Christmas, our luggage was overweight before leaving home and we simply are not using enough tooth paste and deodorant to make more room for such good stuff.
Smelling good with pleasant love you all
Gram and Grampa Bill, Mom and Dad, Dottie and Bill
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
South America Blog #2
SOUTH AMERICA BLOG #2
17 November 2008
The Big Guy is looking after us!
Back in July on board the Norwegian Jewel, the crew told us that all one had to do to get married on board was to let the staff know. Later, in August on board the Norwegian Jade, the same message came across loud and clear. Just ask and it happens.
Just before sailing, Bill called Norwegian Cruise Lines to see if there was anything we had to do before boarding to have a marriage take place. We were told, for the first time, that requests had to be made thirty days before sailing! Yikes!
Hoping that rules were made to be broken, we made contact with the officer in charge of such things as soon as we boarded the Norwegian Sun on November 4. We found that 1) this captain did not do marriages and 2) there was no ship’s Chaplain on board on this cruise. We asked what options were open to us. Marvelous Claudia Lay, Group Services Coordinator, went to work on our behalf and look for ways to get us married. The best she could do was a civil ceremony at Manta Ecuador on November 15. Since this seemed like our only option, we asked that arrangements be made. We were required to furnish legal proof that Bill was not married. He emailed his attorney to have the document faxed to Manta. A few days later Manta reported that a copy would not do and that an original document was required. Since the piece of paper was locked in Bill’s safety deposit box Manta was scratched.
It next occurred to us that Bill’s brother Loran could fly down and join the cruise in time to meet our November 16 hoped for wedding date. Loran quickly agreed and Bill set about to rent a cabin for his stay on the Sun. Bill immediately found that NCL doesn’t allow passengers to join a cruise mid stream (so to speak). Bill called the NCL offices at Miami and talked to a line of supervisors who refused to budge on the issue. Brother Loran was scratched as an option.
We met with the travel company sponsoring the Machu Picchu shore excursion to see if he could arrange something at 8,000 feet during our visit to Cusco, Peru. He was quick to state that he knew of an Inca Shaman who regularly did “Commitment Ceremonies” and went to work making arrangements for us. We thought about the idea for a few days and decided against a ceremony squatted in the dirt while a brown skin native danced around sprinkling us with good luck potions.
We decided that the eggs in our basket had dwindled down to a final few that required that we find a passenger on board who could do the deed for us. For more than a week we had told everyone we had met of our lack of success in making our marriage a reality. We had half of the passengers saying hello to us and nodding their heads negatively to report on their searches. Bill offered our room steward $50 if he could find a minister among the 900 staff on board.
Finally, on Saturday November 15, we had two hot leads. A couple we had never met tackled us in the dining room and told us of a father and son they had met one of which had claimed to be a minister. At the same time, Denny, the man who bought Bill’s contracts for five cruises, reported finding a retired prison Chaplain he had met over the bridge table. Before we made contact, Claudia Lay called to tell us about the same man. Claudia met Reverend Joe Rigby when he asked if he could conduct a Sunday morning service on November 16 in the absence of anything planned by the ship. She suggested we go to the service and introduce ourselves.
On Sunday morning, November 16, we met Reverend Rigby after the service and arranged to have lunch with himnd his wife Shirley. Over lunch we found that Reverend Rigby would be pleased to marry us. We quickly contacted Claudia Lay who busted her buns making everything happen. Within a few hours, the Chapel was reserved, the Four Seasons Dining Room arranged a separate room for our wedding party dinner, Dottie called a number of our shipboard friends and invited them to our wedding and wonderful Claudia scratched up a handful of little flowers and arranged them in a small bridle bouquet.
A dozen couples arrived at the Chapel precisely at 6:00 PM and Reverend Rigby made us man and wife. Friend Marty Finver, the Bridge Director, was our official photographer providing a nice record of our big moment.
Our wedding dinner at the Four Seasons Restaurant was a masterful touch. New friend Roger Kent, who with his wife Anne served as our witnesses, offered the first toast as the one person in the room who knew us better than any others. Roger and Anne met us in the embarkation line at Francisco on November 4. The two dozen guests consumed nine bottles of ship’s wine that we provided as they enjoyed two and half hours of enjoying the moment with us.
When we had an opportunity to toast the moment, we thanked our new friends for making this big moment in our lives memorable. We also recognized that we had been blessed by our savior with a rich new future that we accepted with the realization that his expectation of us is that we would share with all we meet, through our example and actions, that love can be and should be a part of each senior citizen’s life. As two who have passed their seventy-fifth majority, we know that the richness of life found in a loving relationship can be possible if we learn to expect and work for the happiness that follows.
We love you all so very much,
Gram and Grampa Bill, Mom and Dad, Bill and Dottie Berck
17 November 2008
The Big Guy is looking after us!
Back in July on board the Norwegian Jewel, the crew told us that all one had to do to get married on board was to let the staff know. Later, in August on board the Norwegian Jade, the same message came across loud and clear. Just ask and it happens.
Just before sailing, Bill called Norwegian Cruise Lines to see if there was anything we had to do before boarding to have a marriage take place. We were told, for the first time, that requests had to be made thirty days before sailing! Yikes!
Hoping that rules were made to be broken, we made contact with the officer in charge of such things as soon as we boarded the Norwegian Sun on November 4. We found that 1) this captain did not do marriages and 2) there was no ship’s Chaplain on board on this cruise. We asked what options were open to us. Marvelous Claudia Lay, Group Services Coordinator, went to work on our behalf and look for ways to get us married. The best she could do was a civil ceremony at Manta Ecuador on November 15. Since this seemed like our only option, we asked that arrangements be made. We were required to furnish legal proof that Bill was not married. He emailed his attorney to have the document faxed to Manta. A few days later Manta reported that a copy would not do and that an original document was required. Since the piece of paper was locked in Bill’s safety deposit box Manta was scratched.
It next occurred to us that Bill’s brother Loran could fly down and join the cruise in time to meet our November 16 hoped for wedding date. Loran quickly agreed and Bill set about to rent a cabin for his stay on the Sun. Bill immediately found that NCL doesn’t allow passengers to join a cruise mid stream (so to speak). Bill called the NCL offices at Miami and talked to a line of supervisors who refused to budge on the issue. Brother Loran was scratched as an option.
We met with the travel company sponsoring the Machu Picchu shore excursion to see if he could arrange something at 8,000 feet during our visit to Cusco, Peru. He was quick to state that he knew of an Inca Shaman who regularly did “Commitment Ceremonies” and went to work making arrangements for us. We thought about the idea for a few days and decided against a ceremony squatted in the dirt while a brown skin native danced around sprinkling us with good luck potions.
We decided that the eggs in our basket had dwindled down to a final few that required that we find a passenger on board who could do the deed for us. For more than a week we had told everyone we had met of our lack of success in making our marriage a reality. We had half of the passengers saying hello to us and nodding their heads negatively to report on their searches. Bill offered our room steward $50 if he could find a minister among the 900 staff on board.
Finally, on Saturday November 15, we had two hot leads. A couple we had never met tackled us in the dining room and told us of a father and son they had met one of which had claimed to be a minister. At the same time, Denny, the man who bought Bill’s contracts for five cruises, reported finding a retired prison Chaplain he had met over the bridge table. Before we made contact, Claudia Lay called to tell us about the same man. Claudia met Reverend Joe Rigby when he asked if he could conduct a Sunday morning service on November 16 in the absence of anything planned by the ship. She suggested we go to the service and introduce ourselves.
On Sunday morning, November 16, we met Reverend Rigby after the service and arranged to have lunch with himnd his wife Shirley. Over lunch we found that Reverend Rigby would be pleased to marry us. We quickly contacted Claudia Lay who busted her buns making everything happen. Within a few hours, the Chapel was reserved, the Four Seasons Dining Room arranged a separate room for our wedding party dinner, Dottie called a number of our shipboard friends and invited them to our wedding and wonderful Claudia scratched up a handful of little flowers and arranged them in a small bridle bouquet.
A dozen couples arrived at the Chapel precisely at 6:00 PM and Reverend Rigby made us man and wife. Friend Marty Finver, the Bridge Director, was our official photographer providing a nice record of our big moment.
Our wedding dinner at the Four Seasons Restaurant was a masterful touch. New friend Roger Kent, who with his wife Anne served as our witnesses, offered the first toast as the one person in the room who knew us better than any others. Roger and Anne met us in the embarkation line at Francisco on November 4. The two dozen guests consumed nine bottles of ship’s wine that we provided as they enjoyed two and half hours of enjoying the moment with us.
When we had an opportunity to toast the moment, we thanked our new friends for making this big moment in our lives memorable. We also recognized that we had been blessed by our savior with a rich new future that we accepted with the realization that his expectation of us is that we would share with all we meet, through our example and actions, that love can be and should be a part of each senior citizen’s life. As two who have passed their seventy-fifth majority, we know that the richness of life found in a loving relationship can be possible if we learn to expect and work for the happiness that follows.
We love you all so very much,
Gram and Grampa Bill, Mom and Dad, Bill and Dottie Berck
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
SoAmerica Blog #1
South America BLOG #1
12 November 2008
Our South America adventure began wonderfully as Joy volunteered to drive us to Pier 35 on the San Francisco Embarcadero. Even though we arrived early we were greeted by several hundred fellow passengers waiting in line for the embarkation process. Within minutes we were well acquainted with a wonderful couple, Ann and Roger from Hawaii. We knew we would see them often during the next 34 days.
Our first port of call was Los Angeles harbor at San Pedro. As one of the world’s largest container ports, our landing had all of the characteristics of arriving in Chicago by train. We really didn’t plan to go ashore but our unpacking found a couple of necessities missing. Since walking anywhere from the port is 1)a long way and 2) not particularly safe, we opted for a cab to take us to the nearest Walmart or whatever. The cabs that were available were choosing passengers that wanted their $75 quickie tour of LA highlights and not particularly interested in short hauls. After waiting patiently for the best part of an hour, we found another couple with a similar need and decided to share a rented car. The car rental turned out to be a godsend. It was cheaper by far than a local cab and gave us an opportunity to make some new friends; Debbie and Trevor from Texas.
Arrival at Acapulco followed three great days at sea as each day became warmer and longer. We took the city tour that included a stop at the famous Mirador Hotel where Mexican divers have been diving off a cliff into 12 feet of water for forty years to entertain guests. After a quick Marguerita we were treated to the famous spectacle of normal looking men diving 110 feet into a rising tide to make us happy. Since the divers do their thing five times a day, seven days a week they must know how to do what they do. We enjoyed the dives and a ten minute folkloric show and we were on our way.
We learned a lot about Acapulco from our seasoned guide who still smiled after telling the same jokes for the twelve years. The wonderful bay was home to the Nahua tribe for 2000 years before they were conquered by the Aztecs a hundred years or so before Hernan Cortez and his sailors took the port in 1521. Acapulco ultimately became the jumping off point for later Spanish exploration of Mexico and points south as far as Peru. Later it became the only port authorized by Spain to receive Spanish galleons from the Philippines and China. Legend has it that the first foreign visitor to Acapulco was a Chinese monk named Fa Hsien sometime around 417 AD.
Our ship parked just below the Spanish Fort San Diego constructed in 1616 and rebuilt in 1776 after a great earthquake. The fort is now a national museum that we decided not to visit.
J Paul Getty recognized the resort potential of the area and built the first major hotel, the Pierre Marquez, in 1957. In the fifties an international airport was built and the Mexican government encouraged the development of more resort facilities. Today the bay is surrounded by luxury hotels that attract visitors from all over the world. Acapulco is the major vacation spot for Mexicans. Just a four hour drive from Mexico City, many Mexicans frequent the area annually. Today, the older area, known by locals as Acapulco Traditional, has hotels available for as little as $10 a day per person.
Our tour took us by the “Black Lagoon”, the site of many movies including the African Queen, Tarzan, Papillon and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. We drove by the Acapulco Princess Hilton and the Pierre Marquez all near the little neighboring town of Puerto Marquez.
After our tour, we set out on foot to explore the Zocolo, the town square, and strolled along the waterfront where local fishermen were selling the catch of the day.
Another day at Sea brought us to the Guatemala port of Puerto Queztal. The temperature had now reached the mid eighties accompanied by a humidity of 95%. We opted to go ashore and visit the small group of merchants who live off of the cruise ship tourist trade. Some fellow passengers took excursions into Guatemala City and/or Antigua, an hour’s drive away.
Our stroll ashore gave us an opportunity to be confronted by the usual aggressive merchants of all kinds of handicrafts, watch mothers teaching their kids how to weave the wonderful stuff that folks like us will pay big bucks for, tour a “Jade Museum” where we learned a lot of stuff about Jade and it’s many colors, listen to some marvelous marimba music played by eight marimba players working two huge marimbas and see a staged fashion show where lovely ladies and handsome gentlemen modeled Guatemala traditional clothes that one would never see on the street.
The next few days we will be visiting ports every other day with days at sea in between. As we creep closer to the Equator it gets warmer and muggier; but not inside where the ship’s air conditioning system keeps all at a marvelous if not a bit chilly 70 degrees.
We’ve had some interesting moments during our first week at sea that we will tell about later. For now, we’re happy as clams, we are well and smiling, life couldn’t be better….unless maybe if we could spot one of those giant sea turtles that people keep seeing pass our ship.
We send our love to all……
Gram and Grampa Bill, Mom and Dad, Dottie and Bill
12 November 2008
Our South America adventure began wonderfully as Joy volunteered to drive us to Pier 35 on the San Francisco Embarcadero. Even though we arrived early we were greeted by several hundred fellow passengers waiting in line for the embarkation process. Within minutes we were well acquainted with a wonderful couple, Ann and Roger from Hawaii. We knew we would see them often during the next 34 days.
Our first port of call was Los Angeles harbor at San Pedro. As one of the world’s largest container ports, our landing had all of the characteristics of arriving in Chicago by train. We really didn’t plan to go ashore but our unpacking found a couple of necessities missing. Since walking anywhere from the port is 1)a long way and 2) not particularly safe, we opted for a cab to take us to the nearest Walmart or whatever. The cabs that were available were choosing passengers that wanted their $75 quickie tour of LA highlights and not particularly interested in short hauls. After waiting patiently for the best part of an hour, we found another couple with a similar need and decided to share a rented car. The car rental turned out to be a godsend. It was cheaper by far than a local cab and gave us an opportunity to make some new friends; Debbie and Trevor from Texas.
Arrival at Acapulco followed three great days at sea as each day became warmer and longer. We took the city tour that included a stop at the famous Mirador Hotel where Mexican divers have been diving off a cliff into 12 feet of water for forty years to entertain guests. After a quick Marguerita we were treated to the famous spectacle of normal looking men diving 110 feet into a rising tide to make us happy. Since the divers do their thing five times a day, seven days a week they must know how to do what they do. We enjoyed the dives and a ten minute folkloric show and we were on our way.
We learned a lot about Acapulco from our seasoned guide who still smiled after telling the same jokes for the twelve years. The wonderful bay was home to the Nahua tribe for 2000 years before they were conquered by the Aztecs a hundred years or so before Hernan Cortez and his sailors took the port in 1521. Acapulco ultimately became the jumping off point for later Spanish exploration of Mexico and points south as far as Peru. Later it became the only port authorized by Spain to receive Spanish galleons from the Philippines and China. Legend has it that the first foreign visitor to Acapulco was a Chinese monk named Fa Hsien sometime around 417 AD.
Our ship parked just below the Spanish Fort San Diego constructed in 1616 and rebuilt in 1776 after a great earthquake. The fort is now a national museum that we decided not to visit.
J Paul Getty recognized the resort potential of the area and built the first major hotel, the Pierre Marquez, in 1957. In the fifties an international airport was built and the Mexican government encouraged the development of more resort facilities. Today the bay is surrounded by luxury hotels that attract visitors from all over the world. Acapulco is the major vacation spot for Mexicans. Just a four hour drive from Mexico City, many Mexicans frequent the area annually. Today, the older area, known by locals as Acapulco Traditional, has hotels available for as little as $10 a day per person.
Our tour took us by the “Black Lagoon”, the site of many movies including the African Queen, Tarzan, Papillon and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. We drove by the Acapulco Princess Hilton and the Pierre Marquez all near the little neighboring town of Puerto Marquez.
After our tour, we set out on foot to explore the Zocolo, the town square, and strolled along the waterfront where local fishermen were selling the catch of the day.
Another day at Sea brought us to the Guatemala port of Puerto Queztal. The temperature had now reached the mid eighties accompanied by a humidity of 95%. We opted to go ashore and visit the small group of merchants who live off of the cruise ship tourist trade. Some fellow passengers took excursions into Guatemala City and/or Antigua, an hour’s drive away.
Our stroll ashore gave us an opportunity to be confronted by the usual aggressive merchants of all kinds of handicrafts, watch mothers teaching their kids how to weave the wonderful stuff that folks like us will pay big bucks for, tour a “Jade Museum” where we learned a lot of stuff about Jade and it’s many colors, listen to some marvelous marimba music played by eight marimba players working two huge marimbas and see a staged fashion show where lovely ladies and handsome gentlemen modeled Guatemala traditional clothes that one would never see on the street.
The next few days we will be visiting ports every other day with days at sea in between. As we creep closer to the Equator it gets warmer and muggier; but not inside where the ship’s air conditioning system keeps all at a marvelous if not a bit chilly 70 degrees.
We’ve had some interesting moments during our first week at sea that we will tell about later. For now, we’re happy as clams, we are well and smiling, life couldn’t be better….unless maybe if we could spot one of those giant sea turtles that people keep seeing pass our ship.
We send our love to all……
Gram and Grampa Bill, Mom and Dad, Dottie and Bill
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