2-25 Day 51 At sea

Started the day with a bridge lesson.  Then went to a flower arranging class.  The man who does all the flower arrangements on the ship showed us how to make 4 or 5 different arrangements.  He is very creative!  And I did take pictures so I can maybe do something back in Sarasota!  Later in the afternoon went to the book club because we begin a new book.  This one is a mystery that takes place in India (our next major stop.)  It is called The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall.

Before dinner, Doug and I went to the photo gallery to see the pictures Joe Craig had taken of us.  He was the photographer who does mainly faces of people.  He had a show of all the pictures he had taken (the ones he chose) and we liked ours.  So, we ended up ordering some.  Very different kinds of pictures. 

Dinner was at the Pinnacle Grill for their African theme night.  It was fun and the meal was very good.  Everything was decorated in the African theme – including what everyone wore!  It was a 5 course dinner including a dried beef and green fig salad; an African tribal wedding soup (like the Italian one!); lamb bobotie (ground spiced lamb with baked egg topping) with yellow rice; springbok and ostrich with African green beans; and dessert was malvapudding (baked brandy tart with vanilla bean custard.)  The dessert was the weakest part of the meal.  But it was fun and we met some new people we enjoyed. 

We went to the late show and saw the Unexpected Boys.  We missed their first performance days earlier and heard how good they were.  And they were – a very lively foursome singing our age group music.  It was a fun way to end the day at sea.

2-24 Kwantu Game Reserve

This blog will be mainly pictures to show you some of the animals we were lucky enough to see today.  But before that, a few things before we set out.

When we arrived at Kwantu, we were greeted with snacks and drinks (non-alcohol since it is run by a Muslim.)  There is a wonderful lodge with cabins and other accomodations around for overnight visitors.  In their restaurant for guests staying over is a wonderful wrap around porch on the back overlooking a water hole and great place to watch animals.  It would be such fun to come back and stay a few days.  They have night safaris and walking safaris as well as the regular ones by landrover. 

Because there were so many of us from the ship, they had to get more drivers for the landrovers.  We really lucked out.  Our guide was the actual manager of all the animals in this reserve.  His job was to protect them and their environment.  He goes out daily to observe and check on the animals, so he knew where they were.  He was like a Crocodile Dundee – more about that later!

Our guide, Bill, on a termite mound.  The darker part at the top is the new earth being added.  He showed us the termites and even ate one!  He offered me one, but I declined.

[Note knife on his belt! But he had no gun]

Here is some of what we saw:

  Wildebeests

         Mother lion/2cubs

 

 

 

Lion prints in the sand

 

We saw elephants in the distance – sample of their damage. 

This is not ours, but like the one we were in.

 

The above is just a sample of some of what we saw.  Couldn’t begin to include everything!

After the safari, we saw some of the animals they have in their rehab program.  We saw white lions (not albino- recessive gene), female lions, a Bengal tiger, and a wild African dog.  We also saw the head of the hippo that attacked our guide, Bill.  He told us how this hippo started to charge him, knocked the gun he had into his jaw (broke it) and then threw him to the ground (broke his ribs)  The only reason he survived was because he landed in a small ravine that the hippo could not get into.  Two months later after he got out of the hospital, he went out and killed that hippo.  Another story was how an elephant started to charge him, and the only way to get away was to crawl under his jeep.  The elephant dragged him out by her trunk (broke his collar bone), and the only reason he survived that was because the elephant burned her trunk on the hot exhaust pipe.  Those were the only narrow misses he described to us, but he said he had been attacked by other large animals as well.  He is a regular Croc Dundee indeed. 

After that we had a wonderful lunch – followed by a show by a local tribe.  It was colorful and lively – mainly dancing and chanting to drums.  It was a wonderful day, and I hated to see it come to an end. 

2-24 Day 50 Port Elizabeth

This day will be divided into two sections – the first about Port Elizabeth and the surrounding area; the second about our safari at Kwantu.  So, in this entry, it’s mostly facts about this area. 

In the 1700s Port Elizabeth was a military post near the dock.  Now it is an industrial city where lots of car parts are made and exported. 

Khoi-San tribes (blended communities of S. Africa’s indigenous Khoikhoi and San people) lived in long-established villages on Algoa Bay when Portuguese Perestrello “discovered” the area and claimed it for Portugual.  Eventually, the British took it over and it was named after the British leader’s wife who had died – not the queen.

It is now considered to be the rainbow nation – a melting pot of many cultures.  It has a population of 1.5 million and is also called the “friendly city.”  It also has the most sunlight of any other S. African city and has beautiful beaches.

A special shaped rock formation called “dolosse” was first developed here to protect the land from the sea.  It started with

a wife who used her broomstick to do what the rocks do.  Her husband then realized he could do the same

thing with rocks that would be stronger.  He didn’t patent his idea, and it was later patented by someone outside Port Elizabeth. It’s an interesting formation.

Wives started another enterprise outside the city limits.  Originally a pineapple farmer’s wife brought pineapple juice to sell at a little stand for people traveling through.  Eventually, more wives participated making homemade goodies as well.  Now there is a renowned large farm store where women have started a business of making and selling their homemade items.  Everyone knows to stop for these delicious goodies.

By bus we traveled from Port Elizabeth to our game reserve on the Entu Highway, which is the main artery between Cape Town and Durbin.  We passed a lot of farmland with cattle and sheep.  There is not enough rain to grow crops.  Before the private game reserves were developed, farmers had elephants and other large animals to contend with on their farms.

Closer to Port Elizabeth, they are making a new harbor called Coeka (sp!) mainly for cargo ships. It will cut travel time in half for ships coming from east to west and vica versa.  Now they will be able to meet at this new harbor and switch cargo so they only have to go halfway around the southern coast of Africa.  Also, along this area we saw where they are harvesting salt.

As we got closer to Kwantu, we saw a baboon crossing the road, a couple of monkeys in trees by the road, some zebra and two giraffes.  Along side the road there were a lot of prickly pear bushes which some of the animals enjoy eating.  Excitement was growing with all of us on the bus.  We were ready to get out of the bus and into our landrovers! 

Next blog entry is about Kwantu Game Reserve about 1 1/2 outside of Port Elizabeth.

2-23 Day 49 At sea

During the night we passed around the Cape of Good Hope which can be very rough seas.  We were very fortunate in that we slept through it – so while others thought it was a little rough, we had no idea!

In fact, this will be a very short entry because all we did today was sleep.  Slept through breakfast, got up for lunch, came back and took a nap until dinner.  I think I really needed this because I wasn’t quite up to par and then had two busy days in Cape Town.  So, my body spent today recovering again.  Got up for dinner, and then read a bit – and surprise, went to bed fairly early.  Doug did pretty much the same, so maybe he’s fighting off getting this bug. 

Tomorrow is our safari in Port Elizabeth so we really don’t want to miss that one!

2-22 Day 48 Cape Town (day 2)

Today we took the hop on/hop off city tour bus.  It’s a double decker red bus that has narration in 6 different languages (everyone is given a set of ear phones.)  We did this on our own so that we could keep the pace we chose.  Since we only had one day, we took the red city tour with 17 possible stops. 

We began at the V&A Waterfront (where the ship’s shuttle drops you off) and drove into the downtown area.  We didn’t get off at the Convention Center, but learned that until 1947, this area was under water.   It is a nice, clean downtown area with “robots” (their word for electric stop lights!) 

 This is a view from our bus window of a downtown street

 

We passed the statue of Diaz who was the first to go around the Cape of Good Hope, but never made it to what is now Cape Town.  We also drove up one of the main streets called the Strand which is a shopping/hotel area now.  It was beachfront property until relatively recently as well. 

We got off at St. George’s Cathedral to see the beautiful stained glass windows inside.  We then browsed through the little market stands at Greenmarket Square which was mostly pedestrian with little shops and cafes.  Very pretty for being in the middle of the city center. 

 We bought a small Zulu mask at this stall.  It was the kind this tribe used like we use as a passport.

We made our way to Long Street which is a big shopping area during the day – at night we were warned not to go there.  We found a Pan-African market (building that was 3 levels of individual shops selling little  artifacts) and had fun browsing.  We also went through a very first class store with unique African furniture and accessories. 

By this time we were getting hungry and so headed over to St. George’s pedestrian mall where we had lunch at a little outdoor cafe called Winesense where we had a delicious lunch.   It was a great place to relax with a glass of wine and people watch.  On our way to the next stop to catch the bus, we went through the Mandela Rhodes Place and took a picture of Doug with a statue of Mandela.

From there we rode on the bus for a few stops without getting off – just seeing the sights from the top of the bus.  The Sa Museum (planetarium) would be a fun place for kids, and the old Mount Nelson Hotel would make a great place for afternoon tea.  Since I didn’t make it to Robbens Island, I had hoped to at least visit the District Six Museum, but we arrived at 3 and it closed at 2.  So, instead we got off at the Castle of Good Hope which was a fort, but is now a museum.  It even has a moat. 

Today the “tablecloth” lifted off of Table Mountain, but no one was allowed to ride the cable cars up to the top because of the high winds.  But the base was one of the stops on this tour, so we drove up along a windy road and passed Lion’s Peak where people like to climb to the top and picnic while they watch the sunset.  Bit of a climb!!  From the base of Table Mountain, we had a fantastic view of Cape Town below us surrounded by the ocean. 

 

Through the zoom lens of my camera

 

 

Table Mountain with only a little of the “tablecloth” on top

 

Back on the bus, we went back down and around the back of Table Mountain to the beach side.  The view from the back is totally different.  We stopped at Camps Bay – one of the better beaches and resort areas on this side.  It is at the bottom of this mountain and has a beautiful bay and white sand.  Lots of restaurants,shops, and condos line the beach street.  While it looks pretty, it was very windy while we were there, so not that many people were on the beach.  I wanted to put my toes in the water and found it very cold.  Also there were big waves!

 

After this, we stayed on the bus until we came back to our starting point.  We passed other beach areas, but many were full of kelp and so you couldn’t swim.  But they were pretty to look at.

Back on the ship, we had a quick dinner in the Lido since we missed our dinner time.  Then we went to see the ship’s entertainment - Cape Town Folklore Show presented by young singers and dancers from Cape Town.  They told a story through song and dance (in their native language.)  They were dressed in modern day clothes instead of costumes.  It was OK and interesting, but we didn’t quite follow their “story.” 

Our conclusion to Cape Town – there is still a lot we want to see and do, so we hope someday to return.  We really liked it a lot!

2-21 Day 47 Cape Town (day 1)

This city lies at the foot of Table Mountain (3570 ft), so named after its flat top.  When the clouds cover it, they call it the “tablecloth” because the clouds drape over the edge of the mountain (“table”)

This is the way it appeared to us on our arrival into Cape Town.  It was that way all day!

We had to take a 15 min. shuttle ride to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront area.  This former dock area turned its old warehouses into a tourist area with craft markets and restaurants, etc.  It is still a marina for smaller boats, so there is a swing pedestrian bridge that opens and closes for boats to pass through.  It is a HUGE area, and we had fun doing lots of our shopping here.  Along the way, there are street musicians playing as well.  We enjoyed a Thai lunch between shops!  You could spend the day here and not see it all.

   While the weather was warm, there was a big wind (unusual for this time of the year) so you couldn’t wear a hat or it would be blown off!  When we returned to the ship, it was so windy, that the wind was blowing off the water where the ship was docked so that you got sprayed with water walking up the gangway.  Doug was hanging on to me so I didn’t get blown away.

After dinner we went to see the big screen movie, Cry the Beloved Country.  Having just read the book, it was good to see.  And it was a most appropriate movie for S. Africa.  Doug was moved by the movie as he had never read the book. 

While I was sorry to have missed our original excursion for the day (the day trip to Cape of Good Hope), I was glad we cancelled it because I never could have done that much today.  I’ll just have to come back some day to see it. 

2-20 Day 46 At sea safari

While Mariner Appreciation Day continues today , the highlight will be tonight at the Safari Tent Camp dinner.  More in a minute about that.

Since our main African speakers are getting off in Cape Town, this morning was a question and answer session with the ambassador and professor.  It was very interesting and informative.  The passengers are, for the most part, informed and intelligent, so the questions were quite good.

We skipped the special presentation from the CEO of Holland America.  Knew it would be mainly a big sales pitch.  We later heard that it was, and that there were big complaints from the passengers about skipping the Seychelles Islands.  Glad me skipped it!

Enjoyed my final book club discussion about Cry, the Beloved Country.  There is so much to talk about – more than just the book – mainly the whole apartheid issues and what is now happening.  Some of the passengers have shared lots of good info about S. Africa because they have lived there. 

Tonight the ship really threw a huge party.  They spent the day preparing the Lido deck for this event.  Everything was decorated as a safari tent camp – with big tents with tables for eating underneath, lots of skins and woodcarvings of animals, and even an old Land Rover they hauled up on the ship.  Lanterns hung everywhere.  The buffet included lots of African style dishes, but there was a special table with actual game meat of all kinds including sprinkbok, kudu, and wild boar.  They had pigs and lambs on fire spits as well.  AND, they provided all the free drinks you wanted. Throughout the evening, there were African musicians singing and dancing, as well as a “medicine man” in costume going around dancing and “healing” with all his magic words!  It was quite the party.  Everyone had a wonderful time.  We will hate to see the big CEO get off the ship!!!  

The ship’s evening entertainment after dinner was the Soweto String Quartet – four Africans playing and portraying the timeless spirit of Africa. [Soweto is an infamously poor township in S. Africa.]

They were so good, we bought their CD.  A great way to end a very African evening!

2-19 Day 45 Luderitz, Namibia

Started the day at the doctor’s office and got some antibiotics since I was running a fever.  In all our trips, neither of us has ever seen a ship’s doctor, but I was determined to get well for Cape Town.

Around noon since I was just sleeping all day, Doug took the tender into the really small town of Luderitz.  We had not planned an excursion there – but were going to maybe check out the old deserted mining town (Kolmanskop – 8 miles east of Luderitz) that is basically a ghost town today.  It was a thriving city when gold was discovered, but when the mine was empty, all the rich people moved to the next boom city leaving behind beautiful homes.  Today these homes are empty except for sand dunes that blow through them.

Doug went into the town and just walked around – not much to see.  There was one main paved street that became gravel after about 8 blocks!  While the town is new, not many people live there.

There was much more excitement on board the Amsterdam, however.  Mr. Stein Kruse, the president and chief executive officer of Holland America Lines came on board to help celebrate Mariner Appreciation Day.  You’ve never seen so much “sprucing up” of the ship.  We were glad he was here because they washed our outside window!   There was a cocktail party that I couldn’t go to and Doug chose not to go.  It was formal night and we weren’t up to it.  So we grabbed a quick bite and called it an evening.  However, we were surprised around 7:30 with a knock on our door and a steward brought us a dish from the dining room.  Our table had remembered that I love crepes suzettes and had missed them the last time they served them on Doug’s b-day because we all had his cake.  I had talked about “the next time” for weeks!  So, when they had them on formal night and we weren’t there, our waiter went back and made an order himself, plus a card, and had it sent to our room.  I was so touched!  While I didn’t feel well physically, that was a wonderful emotional boost!  (And yes, I was able to eat them!!)

2-18 Day 44 Walvis Bay, Namibia

It was a foggy morning arriving in Walvis Bay.  We were told that could be the case, but it would burn off soon and you could see sand dunes.  Well, today’s story is going to be Doug’s since I was unable to make it for our excursion – a 7 hour day in the dunes.  So, I slept most of the day and Doug took lots of pictures so I could see what it was all about.  So, today I’m like you – learning through his story and his pictures!

Doug, a driver, and two other couples got in a 4 x 4 right off the ship and headed along the coast line which is basically a dry desert. They went through the coastal town of Swakopmund – a tidy, well laid out small town about 20 miles north of Walvis Bay. Today it is the center of the popular Namib coastal resort with secluded beaches in and around town.  This is where Angelina Jolie  had her first born child.

The first stop (an hour after leaving the ship) was to see the Musical Rocks which are a part of the Moon Mountains.  They are sizeable boulders strewn across the hillside which when struck with another rock sound like driving a spike.  Fairly ho hum. 

Driving on through the Moon Valley, they saw desert plant life.  There were lichens growing on rocks, which when the guide poured water upon them, they seemed to grow.  The most interesting plant was the rather unattractive welwitschia tree.  It mostly appears to be no more than a pair of misshapen leathery leaves.  The majority of the plant lives below the ground and its only source of water is fog and dew.  Many of these trees are over 1,000 years old with some 2,000 years old.

The two leaves grow about 1 1/2 a year and also the ends die the same amount of growth.  You can tell the age of the tree by the width of the trunk (in the middle of the leaves).  Every inch represents about 100 years!

Lunch was in an oasis under a group of palm and blue gum trees – served on real plates, not paper!  Other 4 x 4 vans on the same trip all met there, so there was a large group enjoying some food and drink – and getting ready for the hard part of the trip!

Dune 7 (which is 7 miles from Walvis Bay) was the big stop where everyone had the opportunity to climb the 600 foot dune.  Not everyone chose to undertake this climb, but Doug did.  The sand was very loose and climbing was like trying to go the wrong way on an escalator.  There was a very narrow path everyone stayed on until the top edge.  When Doug got to the top and looked over, all you could see was more dunes! 

On the way back to Walvis Bay, the final stop was the lagoon and tidal flood plains near the water’s edge where flamingoes can be seen.  There weren’t that many of them, and they were whitish in color.  (Pink flamingoes get their pretty color from eating shrimp.)

Before Doug returned, there was a group of children from the Bernhard Nordkamp Center for AIDS orphans in Nambiba who performed for the passengers on the ship.  I was not up to seeing them, but later watched their performance on the ship’s TV station.  They were very cute as they sang and “moved” to the rhythm of their music.  This Center is amazing in what it does for these children through sports and academics. 

That evening Doug took care of me because I was getting sicker and sicker.  Started with chills and fever and continued coughing.  Not a fun night.

2-17 Day 43 At sea

This is the last sea day – tomorrow we arrive in Africa.  I think everyone is ready for land!  We were a bit tired, so slept as late as we could before starting the day’s activities.  There are a lot of good choices today, so it’s hard to decide which ones we want to do.  I went to my bridge class which I’m really enjoying.  Doug went to the enrichment lecture with our favorite speaker about Africa.  We are learning so much about this country, especially South Africa.

I went to the cooking  class with Ray Bear again.  He is such fun to cook with.  Today we made fresh tuna ceviche, buttermilk fried chicken and banana splits.  It was not like banana splits I’ve made.  We made a caramel sauce from scratch (learned you are never to stir the caramel sauce while it is cooking – just wipe down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush.)  The presentation of the tuna ceviche was beautiful – as pictured here!

While I was having fun cooking, Doug went to the Mongolian BBQ up on the Lido deck.  He really enjoyed it. 

Today’s tea time was a special Indonesian one.  Doug was too full, so I went just to see what it was like.  The decor was all Indonesian as well as the special teas with assorted pastries – two very Indonesian.  I had their wonderful jasmine tea and tried the banana-like fritter and the coconut wrapped one.  Very tasty and fun.

After dinner, I was starting to feel crummy – nauseated, cold symptons, etc. so I went to bed so I’d be ready for Africa in the morning.

2-16 Day 42 Mardi Gras at sea

The day didn’t really get started for me until late afternoon.  I slept all day – really not feeling so great – bad head cold/sore throat, etc.  It seems many people on board have this.  I knew I didn’t feel well when I missed bridge!

Doug slept late too, but did get up to hear the enrichment speaker.  The ambassador spoke about South Africa:  Africa’s Great Power.  The afternoon speaker’s topic was The Apartheid Legacy.  Both were excellent as usual.  I was sorry to have missed them, but caught the last one on the ship’s tv later that night.

I finally got up to go to book club so I didn’t miss the discussion of this great book.  Then decided after seeing all the mardi gras decorations all over the ship, that I would try to eat in the dining room.  So, we did and it was fun with all the decorations and mardi gras menu.  For every such occasion, the wait staff dress up in a fun attire.  Here is a picture of our two waiters:

 As you can see, it was oh so very festive!  We all got beads to wear.  The whole room was decorated in gold, purple, and green.

 

After dinner, I went back to bed and Doug worked on e-mails, etc.  Have to get better before getting to Africa!

2-15 Day 41 At sea

We lost another hour this afternoon, so it was a shorter day once again.  Started with bridge, followed by a cooking demo with Ray Bear, guest chef.  He made seafood chowder, which was really good, but too much trouble to make (for me!), king crab and avocado balls, which I will make they were so good, and his famous caramel popcorn ice cream.  I know the last sounds weird, but it is really good.  He is trying to market it.  But I’ll make it when I get home and you all can see how good it is!

Avocado ball filled with crab!

 

Doug and I had a quick lunch in the Lido.  The captain always makes a 12:45 announcement with an update of our location, weather, etc.  Today, he announced that our youngest guest, 4 year old Jasmine, would be blowing the horn.  It was really cute.  He let her do it 3 times before he continued on.  She wanted to turn the ship 360 degrees (like the captain likes to do) but he decided to wait until another time for that!   Jasmine is the only child on our ship, and everyone loves her. 

We headed back to the cabin and I took a nap because I wasn’t feeling all that good.  I slept the rest of the day and night.  Doug spent time on the computer and enjoyed some down time in the cabin.  We had hoped to go star gazing with some of the deck officers, but just couldn’t make it – later heard it was cloudy anyway, so I didn’t miss it! 

Not a very exciting day – but getting caught up on some sleep.  We woke up in the middle of the night and remembered that we were crossing into the eastern hemisphere sometime while we slept!

2-14 Day 40 Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The ship really knows how to throw a party!  All their theme nights are wonderful.  And tonight was no exception. But, before I get to the end of the evening, I’ll start with the morning activities. 

  I started with my bridge class – I have found the right niche.  We have a lesson and then some learning play time.  It’s perfect and I’m learning a lot (so far, no conventions, Kathie!!) 

  While I was doing bridge, Doug went to the port talk on Cape Town.  Even though we have our activities planned for those two days, there is always something to learn.  It should be an amazing two days.

At 11 a.m. we went to the enrichment series talk given by the ambassador.  It was very interesting as he discussed what it is like to be an ambassador – the behind the scenes, so to speak.  We had not appreciated how dangerous job it has become and how many ambassadors from around the world have been killed in duty.

Our education continued at 2 p.m. with another presentation by Robert Schrire – the S. African professor.  His presentations are always fascinating.  Today his topic was Nelson Mandela and the struggle against apartheid.  We learned a lot about Mandela the man as well as his time in prison.  S. African history has been an eye opener on this segment of the trip.  Between the lectures and my book club (Cry, the Beloved Country), I have really learned a lot about S. Africa.  And there is still a lot to learn.

Heavy duty S. African day since my book club discussed our book at 4 p.m.  I cannot recommend this book enough.  While it was written 60 years ago, it is so appropriate today.  And in many ways, that is rather sad that more advancement has not been made.

The evening shifted into pleasure as our table had booked a table in the Pinnacle Grill for a special Valentine’s Day dinner.  It was formal night, so everyone was in their fancy red.  The whole ship was decorated in red and hearts, etc.  Very festive.  As we came in, the women were given a red rose and everyone a glass of champagne.  In addition, Charlie (one of our 8) had a rose in a vase for each of the women.  Very sweet.

Dinner was delicious.  I saved the menu.  In addition to the champagne, we each had a small glass of a pink cosmopolitan.  Our first course was a mushroom (almost soup like with a cream froth on top) dish, then a salad of lettuce with asparagus and pink grapefruit pieces topped with warm lobster tail meat (still partly in its shell).  It was amazing!  And it only got better.  Next was the best roasted shallot and butternut squash soup we’ve ever had.  Doug, who doesn’t even like squash that much, really loved it.  The main course was a choice and both Doug and I ordered the grilled pepper-crusted filet mignon with green peppercorn sauce.  The steaks on this ship are excellent.  It was served with the best gratin potatoes (sliced sooo thinly) and sauteed spinach.  Dessert was supposed to have been chocolate covered strawberries, but the shipment that came in was not of the best quality, so they ended up making a strawberry charlotte.  The presentation was better than the actual dessert!

Doug and I went and had our picture taken not only with the captain, but mainly with the photographer whom Doug had met earlier who does faces.  So, we had pictures taken by him.  Look forward to seeing how those came out.   It was a great day!

Time Out

I’ve picked up a sore throat and cold, so will get back to my Blog when I’m feeling better.  Have to get rested so I’m ready to hit the ground running when we get to Africa in two days.  Hope everyone had a happy Valentine’s Day! 

2-13 Day 39 At Sea

We have been losing an hour every other day on this crossing, and it is starting to catch up with everyone.  Today, we could hardly get up and rolling.  And others we talked to on board had the same reaction. 

But once up, I was on my way to bridge class and Doug did his walking exercise.  At 11 we had the captain’s brunch.  He is doing this in big groups for everyone on board.  It was actually quite nice – champagne, steak, great dessert – and served nicely.  We sat at a table for six and met two other couples we really enjoyed.  Both were from Alabama – one retired physician, the other retired engineer.  They had great stories.  It was really pleasant.

I played bridge for fun at 1 for an hour with my new bridge tablemates.  I really like all three of them, so it was great fun.  Lost another hour, so I used the time to watch two lectures I had missed on our stateroom channel, while Doug attended a photography class.  The thing that made this special was the speaker – Joe Craig is an internationally known portrait photographer.  He was asked to train the photographers. who photograph the Congressmen.  And his comment was that these Congressmen want to look wise and young!   After his talk, he chose  half a dozen people from the audience to photograph.  He chose Doug, saying, “I’ll take you, young man.”  I guess compared to most of the folks on this cruise, Doug is a youngster!  Craig claims that by looking into a person’s eyes, in his photographs, you can see their whole life.  So, now Doug’s picture will be displayed in his gallery showing in a few days.  Pretty cool!  So, after that, assuming Craig is right, everyone will know Doug’s life story!

After my afternoon exercise/walk on deck, Doug and I enjoyed reading out on the back deck.  It was a glorious end of the day with beautiful blue calm seas around us. 

Since we had such a huge lunch, we skipped dinner with our 5:30 group and had a later supper in the Lido just the two of us.  It was so nice.  Then Doug went to the first part of the show (to see the comedian again) while I read in the library.  Met up with Wray and Marty (a couple from out dinner group) a little later while we read, and ended up talking to them for almost an hour.

So, here I am – later than I had hoped – finishing this up.  But it was one of the most pleasant and relaxing days we’ve had.  We want to spend more time reading out on the deck when the weather permits it.  Just too nice! 

While at sea, I’m going to try to continue to add pictures from earlier in the trip.  At some point, I hope to learn how to edit my Blog so I can put them in my earlier entries.  But for now . . . .  two pictures of Robinson Crusoe Island as we approached and from higher up on the hillside looking into the harbor.

 

2-12 Day 38 At Sea

 Woke up to fog again this morning, but decided to do my walk around deck for 30 min.  The humidity was 102% (I didn’t know it could be above 100%!) and I was wet when I finished.  But it felt good to walk!

Had breakfast with the Catholic priest on the ship.  It was a very interesting conversation about his duties and how he came to be on this cruise.  Then off to bridge which was really good today.  Was reassigned to a different table, and I really like the other 3 in this group.  And I learned (or re-learned) some things as well.

Had hands-on cooking class after that.  I really like Chef Ray Bear from Canada.  He is helpful and really down to earth.  Today we made Cornish game hens with an Asian twist (all in the sauce he puts on it before cooking) that were stuffed with pears, celery, and onions.   He taught us to make a very simple salad dressing – Lyonnais – that is one of his favorites.  He put this over a simple lettuce, onion, bacon, tomato salad.  The crowning touch was his egg yolk which was a totally different texture than a regular hard boiled egg yolk.  You cook the eggs for 2 hours over VERY LOW heat and then remove the slimy egg white leaving this wonderful yolk.  It was the best salad I’ve had on this ship!  For dessert, we made green apple and balsamic tart tatan.  It basically is a sliced apple in a muffin pan with a pastry on top – and the sauce on the bottom (which makes the dessert), baked and then flipped over.  Served with ice cream, this is excellent.

After enjoying this wonderful meal, went back to the cabin to check on Doug.  After dinner last night, he was not feeling at all well and was up a lot during the night.  He only got up for one lecture this morning, and spent the rest of the time sleeping.  So, ordered room service for him and then went to my creative writing course, followed by book club.  I really like the book we are reading and it is so appropriate for getting ready to go to S. Africa. 

Decided to skip dinner since Doug was not ready to eat and went to the 5:30 movie – Duplicity.  It was ok.  When that was over, Doug was ready to get some dinner in the Lido before going to the 8 p.m. magic show.  The magician was from the United Kingdom (Jamie Allan) and started his performance with several really weak tricks.  Then he began his sleight of hand with cards mainly, which was a bit better.  However, we had seen most of them performed by Ted – and executed much better than this guy.  Don’t know why we bother to watch other magicians when we have the best right in our family! 

After a very active day, I was ready to read and do my Blog.  But Doug was feeling better so he decided to go see Duplicity at the late show.  I hope he can explain it to me!  It was a busy, activity packed day today – and a fun one.  And Doug seems to be back to normal now. 

 

This is a sloth we saw in Costa Rica.  It only comes down from the tree once a week to “poop!”

 

It was fun to see how bananas are processed from the tree to the export boxes. Costa Rica

1-11 Day 37 At Sea

 

Morning: bridge and cooking demo with the two main chefs from the ship.  Lobster folded in chicken breast in a coconut curry sauce; also bay shrimp around lemongrass with a spicy sweet bell pepper dip.  Both were excellent – the last one my favorite.

Afternoon: Doug went to his secular humanist meeting and both met up later for talk by Ambassador Walker – this time about international conflict and cooperation and their diplomacy.  It was quite informative.  Then I learned how to put pictures in my Blog, so I’m going to try this and see if it works! 

Evening:  skipped dessert at dinner!  This is quite an accomplishment – two days in a row.  But the highlight came as I was walking the deck after dinner.  The seas were like a lake today – the calmest I’ve seen them.  As I looked out at this huge expanse of beautiful blue ocean, my eye caught an extra movement.  It was a group of about 3 or 4 dolphins jumping in and out of the water.  What an unexpected joy!  Made the whole day!

        

Here we are in Antarctica – brrrr!

Testing for picture

Today I went to the tech expert on the ship to see how to download pics in my Blog.  So, this is a test.  This is a sample of just one of

 

many glaciers we saw in Antarctica.  If this works, I will be adding more pics!!!

2-10 At sea

2-10 At sea

The next 7 or 8 days will be pretty similar, so unless you're interested in ship life, you can probably skip the next few entries and catch up with us in Africa – where life will really get exciting!

Got a head start on the day by getting up early and walking the deck. It was a beautiful sunny , mild day - perfect for being outside. Then a healthy breakfast in the Lido. Doug took advantage of being able to sleep in.

Decided to start up in the beginner's bridge group (which was a good idea) because now they are 6 weeks into lessons and what they are learning is a good review for me. So, I'm at a table with Alan and Anne Marie who are really nice (cruise critic group.) It was a fun hour.

Doug went to hear Ambassador Howard Walker discuss 21st Century World Order: Shifting Centers of Power. He really liked it and said it was a good overview of the whole world – and looks forward to future lectures which will be more detailed and in depth.

I went to the cooking demo with the new guest chef – Ray Bear – from Canada. He is not well known, but is a friend of Shawn's (the Pinncacle chef on our ship). His specialty is lobster! He made a delicious lobster bacon mac and cheese as well as lobster scallop potatoes. As an extra not on the menu, he made sushi with lobster. All of it was excellent and fun to watch.

Doug and I met up for lunch in the Lido – but ate out by the pool. We decided we have to start eating less, especially desserts, so we had a heatlhy lunch.

Tried to learn how to put pictures on my Blog by going to our techspert, Jeff. Only I had forgotten my password, so I have to go try again tomorrow.

New book for book club, so I'm doing this one. It's for Africa – Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton – an old classic. Look forward to reading it again with more adult perspective.

After some quiet reading time out of the deck,, went to dinner and left before dessert! We went upstairs and enjoyed some fruit on the back deck instead. I went to the movie Amelia (about Amelia Earhart) and it was so good. While I knew the ending, of course, I wasn't aware of her life leading up to her last flight. Then back to the cabin for the night.

2-09 Montevideo, Uruguay

2-09 Day 35 Montevideo, Uruguay

Two years ago we had the best ravioli lunch in this city, and today we hoped to find the restaurant again and repeat the experience. So, on this around the world cruise, in this port, it was all about ravioli. Doug thought he could remember how to get to the restaurant even after two years.

So, after an Internet connection near the ship, we set off in search of the best ravioli ever! We found the street it had been on – with all the other restaurants and shops and outside markets as well. This area is called Mercado del Puerto (market by the port) and is only a few blocks from the ship. It is very colorful and a fun gathering place. Doug immediately found the restaurant – it was still there. The name of the restaurant is El Palenque. We not only sat at the same table as before, we had the same waiter! We recognized him, and told him why we were back. And the menu looked the same with our ravioli still there (called ravioli Palenque au gratin). After we ordered, I was taking a picture of the menu so I could remember the dish, and our nice waiter just gave us the whole menu. When our dish arrived, it looked like we remembered it – but Doug was going to give it the taste test – and sure enough, it was the same and as good as we remembered it. What a culinary joy to have found this once again! So, we enjoyed our ravioli AGAIN. When we were getting ready to leave, our waiter not only brought the bill, but a book about this restaurant commemorating its 50th anniversary. Our waiter's picture was in it, so we asked him to sign that page. His name is Pablo. The recipe for our ravioli was not one of the ones in the book, so he went back and got a basic recipe for it – just the ingredients basically, but no measurements. I'll try to play with it, but I think the best solution is another trip back to El Palenque!

We needed to walk off our heavy meal, so we strolled around the town. We met an American man who had moved to Montevideo two years ago and he told us about an old palace that was now a museum just a few blocks up the street – and it was free! So, we did that, and walked some more. Found a grocery to buy cokes for our upcoming 8 day crossing of the Atlantic to Africa. So, now I'm stocked until Cape Town! It turned out to be a very hot day, so we headed back to the ship. I had hoped to have one last dulce de leche (their wonderful sweet caramel), but I was still too full to indulge.

Dinner was special tonight because it was Wray's 75th birthday. After the meal, they gave him a cake and all the wait staff sang to him. Very festive and fun.

We went to the ship's show – they have all new entertainment now for the next 8 days. His name was Rick Starr and he was a comedian. We laughed a lot in this show. After a little stroll outside – the weather is warm and perfect – we went back to our cabin for the night.

2-08 Buenos Aires (Day 2)

2-08 Day 34 Buenos Aires (Day 2)

Before I even start with what we did today, I have to write about what happened to some of our passengers in Buenos Aires! It was terrible!!!!

We were warned many times about not wearing expensive jewelry into town and to be aware of pickpockets, etc. Well, we had lunch with a man who was standing in front of an expensive jewelry store waiting for the store's shuttle to take the group back to the ship. He had forgotten to take off his real Rolex watch when he left the ship in the morning. So, he just kept his long sleeve shirt down even though he was getting warm. But outside the jewelry store, with only 10 min. before the van would load up and leave, he rolled up his sleeves. Within that 10 min. window, a man jumped him from the back, knocked him in the head as he grabbed his arm, pulled him down to the ground and slipped his fingers under the watch and ripped it off his arm. He then ran off and was on the back of a waiting motorcycle. From the time the guy jumped him to the time he was out of sight was a total of 10 seconds!!!! There was no time for anyone to even react, and the guy said that even if he had had a gun, he wouldn't have had time to even fire it. The guy's arm was all bruised and had cuts from where the thief's fingernails dug into him. The back of his head didn't feel so great either. The jewelry store didn't help him at all – told him to go to the Marriott hotel desk (jewelry store is part of the hotel)- and they wouldn't even let him in the door. But the Marriott was great and had their medic fix him up, etc. The reason we know this story in such detail is that this man (and his wife) were at our lunch table the next day. We saw his arm and everything. It was pretty yucky looking.

There were two more incidents in the pier terminal as well. These were pickpockets at the ATM machine. They dump (spray, drop, pour) a nasty smelling liquid on your shirt, and then act as if it's an accident and try to wipe it off you. While the one man wipes, the other picks your pocket. We were warned about this as well. Well, we know the one couple this happened to and they screamed and made such a disturbance themselves, that the guys ran off. But another couple didn't scream, I guess, and they were robbed of all their cash, driver's license, credit card, etc. Don't know too much about them.

Well, with that behind me, I'll describe our last day in Buenos Aires. It was the opposite of yesterday's water tour. We went on a bus about 1 ½ hours out of town to the prairie lands (called pampas here). We were in the province of Campan near the town of Los Cardales – spending the day at the Estancia Santa Susana. Estancia means ranch. Gaucho means cowboy. Originally this was an almost 3,000 acre ranch dedicated only to agricultural activities. In the last 25 years, it has become a tourist attraction as well. The owners no longer actually live in the original home (now a museum), but still help out on the ranch – along with their children. While we were there, the owner was trimming bushes while his young son participated in the gaucho show.

Upon arriving, we were greeted with wine and wonderful meat empanadas – the best we've had in S. America! [It was only 10:30 a.m. - wine???] We then went into this huge dining area where we sat at long tables and listened to Spanish songs and watched Latin dancers perform. In addition, this older gaucho danced and had the most amazing steps and routine. It was a delight. They were all in costume. Gauchos wear big wide belts with coins on the back and a knife sticking out. They also wear boots and wider pants. Around their necks they wear scarves, and of course, a big gaucho hat.

After the performance, we toured the old house and saw how it would have been in the early 1900s. The owner had collected all kinds of things, so it was a wonderful assortment of not only furniture, but clothes, hats, shoes, hat pins, sexy (according to the times) undergarments, and swimsuits. A separate little house was its own church with an alter and wooden benches and its own confessional.

We were then on our own to walk around and either ride a cart pulled by horses or ride a horse with a big group. With my love of horses, I kept both feet on the ground and took pictures instead of my gaucho Doug as he climbed up on his big stallion and rode across the plains. Well, it was a good sized horse and he did get to ride around on the grounds with a big group, so it was only a walk, no trotting or galloping, but it was still a gaucho adventure. And, I have lots of pictures of him!

This was followed by the gaucho show. There were about a half dozen gauchos on horses performing out on the field. The first thing they did was put a bell around the neck of the female horse and guided her with a rope galloping around the area while male horses immediately followed her. The gaucho would lead the horse in a different direction, but the males horses continued to follow the bell (or would it be “belle”!) And they were in groups, so the male horses knew exactly which female they were to follow. It was like a synchronized dance. Then they did an amazing stunt. They hung these little silver rings on a wire between two poles. The gauchos had a small, narrow stick and while riding at full speed, they would try to put their stick through the ring and pull it off the wire. I couldn't even see the little rings standing still, much less on a galloping horse. Well, they must have practiced because they could do it. Every time they would ring one, they would present it to one of the lady guests and give her a kiss! I now have a ring and the memory of a gaucho kiss!

Lunch followed the show. When we arrived we had seen these huge fire pits with beef and chicken cooking cooking on top of the them. The smell made you hungry. Well, we were served more wine (or beer) and began with a basket of wonderful bread. But what made it extra good was the condiment they made to go with it. It was good olive oil with finely diced black olives, garlic, a little red pepper to give it a faint zip, and other herbs we couldn't figure out. It was the best!!! Four different kinds of salads were served that were delicious as well, and then the hunks of beef and chicken. You also put this condiment on the beef, and it really made it even more tasty. Dessert was a simple small pastry (typical to this area) with fruit in it. It's English name is small quince jam pie. Between the wine and the meal, everyone practically staggered back to the bus – where we all took a little siesta!

Doug had eaten so much of the zippy condiment and had so many glasses of wine, dinner was not very appealing to him. So, he got some soup upstairs while I had a very light meal at our regular table. Neither the movie or show appealed, plus we were both really tired out. Between the late night SuperBowl, early morning excursion departure, and all day in the fresh air, we decided to call it a day.

While some of the guests didn't have such great experiences in Buenos Aires, we did, and even after the second time, we would like to return some day. There is still a lot to see and do here.

2-7 Buenos Aires, Argentina

2-7 Day 33 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Land at last! And what great land it is here in Buenos Aires. We are so excited to be here. And given it is Sunday, there are a lot of flea markets and local handicraft markets open today. Our tour wasn't until after lunch, so we had the morning to walk around these markets.

Unfortunately, it poured rain as we got to our favorite one. We donned our ponchos, but it really was pouring. And the other couple we were with didn't want to get that wet. So, we ducked into a cafe and enjoyed a hot chocolate while we waited for the rain to slow up. After almost an hour, with dark clouds still prevalent and rain still coming down in buckets, we gave up and went back to the ship.

At the terminal there, we were able to connect to the Internet (for a reasonable rate) and get a reasonable phone card. So, while Doug checked our bank accounts, etc., I called our boys. Ted's son has been very sick and had just gotten out of the hospital, so I was eager to check up on him. It is hard being so far away when you have a sick grandchild and the doctors can't find the cause of all his stomach pains. So, we have to keep waiting until he sees a specialist either in KC or St. Louis. The not knowing is what is so hard. And Ted and Heather are so drained both physically and emotionally trying to take care of Michael as well as their other two at home. Better news was calling Rob and finding his kids were with him today, so got to hear their sweet little voices. We had to leave a message on Chris' answering machine since he wasn't there.

This afternoon Doug and I took a river boat tour – go figure – over a month on a ship, and we chose to go on a boat!!!! Actually, we had heard about this tour the last time we were here, and heard it was really good, so months before we came on this cruise, we had signed up for it. And great it was. Before getting to the river part, we drove for about 20-30 minutes seeing the outer parts of this big city. It is just beautiful. We drove through beautiful neighborhoods with wide streets, parks, and weeping willow trees hanging over the street. Green everywhere. We stopped at an area called San Isidro with cobblestone streets and a park with lots of trees. On one corner was a huge cathedral with the tallest spire/steeple we had ever seen. It was beautiful both inside and out. The rain had stopped so some of the merchants had set up their little stalls. I was able to buy a scarf and scarf holder that I had seen last time I was here and regretted not getting then.

From there we went to the Tigre Delta with its many rivers and streams and green islands that can only be reached by boat. These Delta islands are formed by the continuous sediment of the Parana River. For more than 100 years, channels of the Tigre Delta have been a favorite getaway for the inhabitants of Buenos Aires. We got on a small covered wooden boat that took us through part of these channels and streams to see many, many little homes/cottages sitting up on the banks. Some were fancy and rather large, others looked like shacks, and many were just like little cottages tucked away behind huge trees all along the border of the streams. I took so many pictures because each one had its own style and character. We did this for about an hour and could have spent all day here. Since it was Sunday, there were lots of families out on their boat decks fishing or having a picnic. You almost need to have your own boat of some size just to get around and back to the mainland. However, there are boat buses that take residents around. There is also a grocery boat that will deliver food – just hang your grocery bag on your door to indicate you want them to stop. Because the water is so dirty, they can't drink it, so have to bring in their own huge water jugs. We saw lots of rain water catches on top of the roofs as well. We also saw people swimming in the water – not something I thought looked very appealing. It was a delightful way to spend the afternoon – and the weather was great.

Back on the ship, we went to the Gaucho BBQ up on the deck by the pool. It was such fun. Staff dressed as cowboys (gauchos) and the meats were cooked out on big grills. It was really tasty. They had a huge assortment of all kinds of things, but it was the shrimp that amazed me the most. I have never seen such large shrimp – and they were grilled to perfection! The weather was perfect and it felt so good to be eating outside.

After dinner, we decided to watch the SuperBowl. We could only get it on ESPN, so we didn't get to see all the fun commercials all of you did. It seemed funny to be in Argentina watching a game in Miami. Made us a bit homesick actually.

Tomorrow is another big day – an all day tour to a gaucho ranch out in the countryside. So, we'll see another part of this country. Should be fun.

2-6 At sea (again)

2-6 Day 32 At sea (again!)

The seas are calm at least, but I'm ready for some solid ground under my feet. And that will happen tomorrow in Buenos Aires! Doug and I have been there before and love this city, so we are excited about going back.

Had a 8 a.m. haircut and had a nice chat with another lady while we were both waiting to have our hair done. A few hours later, I found out she was Mark Bittman's wife (our all-star guest chef on board and with whom I was doing a cooking class at 11 a.m.!) I like her much better than her husband. She is really down to earth. Good haircut, by the way! The stylist is from France and does the captain's hair. Guess if she's good enough for him . . . .

Doug was so intrigued with the Pampas Devils performance that he went to a coffee that interviewed them. The leader was discussing the tango, and how if anyone other than an Argentinian tries to teach it, it's just not that great. He even gave a demonstration. According to him, the Argentinians developed this dance and really “feel it!” Everyone else just dances it.

I felt sorry for all the people getting off in Buenos Aires – they had to go to a disembarkation presentation this morning! I'm sure not ready for that. Instead, I got to go to my cooking class and creative writing class. Our menu was more Asian and all three dishes we made were flavorful without being too spicy. We have the rice pudding recipe, but it took way too long to cook, so we never tried it. But it was more of an Indian style Bittman said. Look forward to trying it at home.

While I cooked my lunch, Doug enjoyed the Mongolian cook out buffet up by the pool. He said it was really good. [He also had the French stylist cut his hair this morning!]

During dinner we entered the river (Rio De La Plata River) that will take us up to Buenos Aires. It is very shallow and narrow in parts, so we took on a special river pilot to guide us in. It will take 10 hours to actually get there. We saw the pilot board the ship. The river is a brownish-reddish color due to the earth here.

After dinner, we went to the ship's show (3 of the entertainers who had performed this past week), and we enjoyed all three. Doug especially enjoyed the Pampas Devils (the gaucho show.) Went to bed knowing that when we woke up, we'd be in Buenos Aires!

2-5 At Sea

2-5 Day 31 At sea

Today was mainly a maintenance day – Doug doing work on the computer, while I was throwing out and packing unneeded items until we return home. So, not very exciting. I only did a couple of things. First, I went to a bread decorations demo. You don't use real bread dough, but more like a play dough with equal amounts flour and salt. Then you design your “creation” and bake it slowly. They will last about a month. The bread chefs did a lot of sea creatures, which would also be fun to duplicate in FL.

Met with a lady who has been in my creative writing class. She is a published author of children's books and had some samples with her to see. She is a writer and illustrator and is very good. She gave me tips about how to get started if I were interested in publishing. I think, for now, I will just have fun with my writing. But she was in a suite on the 7th floor, so it was fun just to see it. I think her balcony is as big as most cabins!

Was going to take a nap, but as I started to lie down, I heard the ship's fog horn. The last time I had looked out a window, it was a bit overcast, but smooth seas. Now, I couldn't see anything but fog. And apparently it was the case for the captain. So every few minutes the fog horn would blow, and I finally decided that if another ship was going to come crashing into us, I'd rather be with Doug, so I joined him in the library. The 30 foot waves didn't scare me, but the fog horn did!

Formal night for dinner with a cute theme of gnomes. The staff was all dressed up in the funkiest costumes. The menu had “gnome” titles (lots of mushrooms!) and for dessert I got the Snow White meringue with marshmellows. It was fun and the staff were really into it as well.

Went to the ship's show – their Amsterdam singers and dancers doing “Latin Night.” It was OK – lots of energy. Not a very exciting day, but enjoyable nonetheless.

2-4 Altered curse-at sea

2-4 Day 30 Altered course – at sea

During the night, the rolling and listing of the ship woke us both up. We later learned that we were in hurricane force winds with 25-30 foot waves. This is when we were glad to be in the middle and lower part of the ship. This was the kind of weather we expected in the Drake Passage – so now we got it as we left the Drake Passage and were close to the Falklands.

Because they were having similar weather on the east side of the Falklands (where we were supposed to go) and because we had to tender when we got there, the captain, after consulting with people in Stanley, decided to alter our course and go straight to Buenos Aires. Even with the altering of our course, the waves were high all morning until a little after lunch. We were glad to sleep in a bit and enjoy the rolling around from our bed instead of the hallways of the ship!

Went to the morning lecture about Buenos Aires even though we have been there and already have our tours planned. It was still fun to see the places again on her slides – and made us eager to be there again.

In the effort to meet new people, we went to lunch in the main dining room again. There were 3 people at our table. One older single woman from Phoenix who was very nice and fun to talk to. It's a good thing, since the other couple was from France and only spoke French between themselves. Initially, I introduced myself and asked where they were from, etc. They seemed totally disinterested and only said they were from France (pronounced “Fronce.”) So, we enjoyed the other woman.

Looked forward to the afternoon presentation about how to live and work in the interior of Antarctica. Most of it was fairly intersting. Could have been better with a better speaker. I missed my creative writing class to go to that talk.

Skipped the mid-afternoon English tea.. Just couldn't handle the idea of eating more! So, I spent the afternoon reading until dinner.

Dinner was pleasant. The captain (in an effort to make up for not being to land in the Falklands) gave everyone champagne with dessert. Afterwards, we went back to our cabin to read because neither the movie or show appealed. It was a very relaxed and pleasant way to end the day. I'm reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, so it keeps me on the edge of my seat!

2-3 Day at Sea

2-3 Day 29 At sea

After midnight we left the Antarctic region and headed into the Drake Passage – known for being rough waters. On this trip we have been very fortunate because both crossings (going to and coming from Antarctica) were smooth. However, we were not able to connect to the Internet in the passage – which seemed strange. Thought that would have happened further south.

In the late morning, I went to hear the Ice Pilot's report of what we actually did do and see in Antarctica. We started with Plan A and ended up with Plan D – which wasn't that much different really. We did miss a whole section we had hoped to see, but ice and wind kept us from it. Learned that the reason we could not continue the first day through the Lemaire channel was due to unusual and unexpected calving of a glacier that resulted in two huge icebergs. While we could still get in, the captain was concerned that the icebergs might move and block our passage getting out. Another thing we learned was how much contact is maintained between other vessels in the area. When the Antarctic Dream was pointed out to us on day 2 (it's a smaller expedition vessel), I had no idea that we were waiting for them to come out of the channel we wanted to enter. They gave us info about the conditions. The same with other vessels in the area. It's all about cooperation. And on day 3, I did not realize how close we actually came to Admiralty Bay (10 miles.) But visibility was only ¼ mile and there were lots of “growlers” in the ocean. Growlers are smaller icebergs that are especially hard to see because they tend to look like white caps and bob up and down under the water. They can be very dangerous to a ship. Little details the Ice Pilot also told us was that penguins (while not a flying bird) actually do “fly” when they are in the water. They use the same method in the water that regular birds use in the air. Also, we saw less penguins than normal because this is the time of year they nest and their chicks are being born, so they are out gathering food for them. It was a most informative and interesting talk.

Doug and I had lunch in the main dining room again and had one of the best lunches ever – it was an Indian chicken dish – I'm trying to get the recipe for it. One couple at our table was an “I can top that story or experience” while the other couple was nice. They are part of the cruise critic group – but we hadn't really met them or seen them until today. They had great stories about being in the waters off Somalia and how their ship had to go in a caravan with other cruise ships with navy ships in front and behind them. They also had helicopters above them and guards with guns on the top deck. Pretty scary, they thought, but also exciting!

At 2 p.m. I went to the Exportations Speakers Series with Warren Salinger. He talked about South America – the southern cone – made up of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay. It was really interesting. Took lots of notes. While I was there, Doug spent hours working on the computer downloading pictures and doing back ups of all the ones we've taken so far. Big job!

After dinner, we went to the ship's entertainment which featured the Pampas Devils. It was a combination of gaucho culture (singing, dancing, drums) and the tango. They danced with their Bolla (sp.!?) balls on rope – it's amazing what can be done with them. And the foot work of their style dancing is amazing and interesting. And, of course, the tango was a real treat.

At the end of the night, the captain announced we would not be able to get to the Falkland Islands due to very bad weather and to really be careful while walking around the ship because he expected very rough seas. So, we headed back to the cabin to read before bed.

2-2 Antarctica (day 3)

2-2 Day 28 Antarctica (day 3)

The anticipation of early morning whales woke me up before the alarm was to go off at 7 a.m. However, the only thing to be seen outside our cabin window were lots of icebergs . . . not a very comforting sight. And those were only the ones on port side!

Still, I wanted to check what it was like outside, so I began at the Crow's Nest so I could see the entire front of the ship – and go quickly between port and starboard sides. There were only a very few people up there since there was nothing to see – it was fogging in. And then it began to rain, and eventually snow. It was way too windy to spend any time out on deck. And there was no point since there was nothing to see.

On my way back to the room to meet Doug, I stopped by the Lido deck – which was now covered in snow. So, I got Doug and we went back up to get our picture taken in the snow and with a snowball in hand. The staff from Indonesia who had never seen snow were having a wonderful time out on deck – making and throwing snowballs. Someone even made a little table top snowman!

The captain was on the PA speaker many times during the morning – announcing a change of course due to weather. He originally hoped we could go to King George Island into the more protected Admiralty Bay. Then hsi goal was to just go close along the coast of the island. However the weather only worsened and he was getting reports of strong gale force winds and more icebergs, so in the end he said we were just going north to Elephant Island (our last scheduled stop in Antarctica.) It would take hours normally, but even longer now due to the icebergs. He had to go much more slowly to avoid them. And they were everywhere – but much harder to see due to the limited visibility.

So, it turned out to be a reading day since the only thing to see looking out the windows was fog. We decided to have lunch in the main dining room and were seated with a very nice and interesting couple originally from India. It was probably one of our more enjoyable dining experiences! Halfway through lunch, however, the captain made a very quick turn of the ship and once again, the sound of dishes and glasses shattering on the floor filled the dining room. Fortunately, we were able to hold onto ours so nothing fell from our table. The captain came on and apologized for the sharp turn, but said it was necessary to avoid an iceberg!

The rest of the day was pretty much the same – relaxing, etc. I went to my creative writing class and read.

As we sat down to dinner, we saw Elephant Island out the window. They don't broadcast the narrative in the dining room, so we missed most of that. Barb and I went out on deck to take a few pictures – but it was still pretty foggy. The captain was able to go around the entire island so we saw all of it. The importance of this island is that this is where Shakelton left 22 of his men while he and a few others headed off to get help. His men were stranded on this island for four months. But Shakelton did return and rescued all his men. We saw the point on the island where they first landed – near some rock outcroppings – the only fairly level place to land. Most of the island is just sheer rock/ice cliffs going straight into the sea.

On the other side of our ship was an island that was actually making its own cloud as we went by. I have a good picture of that. Also, as we came to the end of Elephant Island there was a huge iceberg nearby with two groups of penguins on it. They looked pretty forlorn with the rough seas and the fog around them.

After dinner and lots of pictures of Elephant Island, we went to see Love Actually (we had seen it before), but it was a cute movie and a good way to end the day.

We were disappointed that our 3rd and last day in Antarctica was such a loss, but grateful that two of the three were so good and that we were able to see whales, penguins, and seals. Apparently, our 3rd day was pretty typical of what this area is like much of the time. It also helped us appreciate the early explorers and what their voyage had to be like in this kind of weather, but in much smaller vessels. It's a wonder anyone of them survived this harsh environment.

2-1 Antarctica (day 2)

2-1 Day 27 Antarctica (Day 2)

Yesterday we saw Antarctica under sunny skies. This morning we woke up to snow and ice on all the decks. Staff had shovels scraping it off. But we were told that to see the whales, you needed to be up on deck by 6 a.m. And so, of course, I was! But the whales decided to sleep in, I guess, because I didn't see any!

Our original plan was to go to Couverville Island first, but because of wind and another ship already there, the captain altered the plan. So, we headed off further south to Paradise Bay (which was going to be our 2nd stop.) On the way, we did see some whales. From what I've observed so far, the whales are not like the ones I've seen in Hawaii, where they come out enough for you to see almost their whole bodies. These are smaller, and dark in color and usually you can only see their dorsal fin as they swim near the top of the water. You can find them from their blowholes spouting, but by the time you see that little dorsal fin, they are usually gone or you see the tip of their tail as they take a dive. Nonetheless, it is a joy to see them. It helps with binoculars, but pictures are almost impossible.

Paradise Bay is protected by tall ice covered mountains (these are all really volcanoes). Because it was overcast, it was harder to see the contrast between the sky and ice. But while we were in the bay, we saw all kinds of beauty and animals. There were seals on ice floats – one even had a bird on the float with him. And penguins – and more penguins! What funny little creatures they are. They were always in groups on ice floats – standing, waddling around, flapping their little black wings, sliding into the water, throwing themselves back on the ice float, etc. They were such fun to watch. They also would swim in groups and they would bob in and out, in and out as they swam along. It was fun and easy to see them along side the ship.

The scenery was as spectacular as the animals. The ice bergs came in all sizes and shapes. It was almost like looking at clouds and “seeing” things in them or seeing them as something (i.e. one looked just like a turtle.) Sometimes we would see the beautiful turquoise color either in the ice berg or around it, often submerged under the water. There is no way I know to describe how beautiful it was. In addition to the ice bergs, the ice covered mountains themselves varied in size, shape, some bare spots, etc. With the ice bergs in the forefront of these magnificant peaks, it truly was a Kodak moment.

In this bay, we also saw what is left of an Argentinan and Chilean base. They are no longer used, but some of the buildings remain. The former was in a position for a relatively easy landing by smaller boats, and some of the smaller ones stop there for their passengers to put their foot on this continent. The latter was on a rock outcropping and seemed much more desolate and exposed.

As we made our way out of this beautiful bay, we saw more whales and penguins and birds. We then went back in the Gerlache Strait toward Courverville Island (weather had improved and the other ship was gone.) To get there we had to go through a very narrow channel called the Herrera. It wasn't clear until we got there whether or not we would be able to go through it – it could have been blocked by ice. But we were fortunate, and our captain took us through it. On one side we saw a hillside with the “penguin trail of poop” which makes it easy to find these little creatures. We could follow their trail from the water's edge up to the top of this hillside where there were hundreds of them. We could also watch them going up and down the hill. I can't imagine how those webbed feet allow them to climb up the packed ice to those high peaks.

In this protected area, we saw our most amazing sight so far. It was a HUGE colony of penguins on their nests. There were over 3000 of them. The hillside they were on appeared to be on three levels, and there were so many penguins on each level, it would have been impossible to count! It looked like something out of National Geographic. The chicks were being born about now, and the parent penguins would go in and out of the water in search of food for their young, so there was a lot of coming and going along the water front. Because they are small, and we had to be a certain distance away, it was hard to make out the adults from the chicks. The captain stayed in this spot for a long time so we were all able to get good pictures of this spectacular colony of Gentoo penguins. Their nesting ground was out on a rocky ledge area. We saw moss on the cliffs for the first time near their large nesting rock. It was hard to leave this spot – it was that impressive.

We spent the entire day in the Crow's nest with two other couples from our dining group (the ones we really like!) in a little corner watching out the big windows. We would run in and out for pictures and come back in to warm up. Mid-morning hot chocolate really hit the spot! It was so cold out. We also took turns going to lunch (we didn't want to lose our perfect viewing spot!) We all decided early on that we did not want to get all dressed up for dinner – it was a formal night – their Winter Wonderland ball. But we thought the winter wonderland was right outside our window – not all the decorations they put up all over the ship. So, we made reservations for the Italian restaurant (which has big panel windows) at a time that was between spots the ship was stopping to see.

We had barely finished dinner when we heard the narrator discussing our next stop – Deception Island. We raced over to the other side of the ship to see this island. It is like the top of a volcanic crater and there is an entry way into it. Our ship was way too large to enter inside, but we could see inside. It would have been a very protected area for smaller ships. We hadn't brought our coats to dinner, so while I tried for some outdoor pictures, it was just too windy and cold. While we snapped our pictures from the inside, we could look down beside the ship and see all those little bobbing penguins swimming along – and also look up to see a huge flock of birds (not sure what kind) flying all around in front of us.

Doug and I thought that was our last stop for the night, so we went to see the movie (Scoop with Woody Allen) the ship was showing. It was pretty funny. When we got back to our room, I called Barb to find out the ship went further north and made another stop to see penguins. Aghhhh! Even having seeing thousands and thousands of penguins, I hated the idea of missing “just one more!” Oh well . . .

This was a fantastic day – very relaxing watching beauty all around us. I'm so glad we were able to come to Antarctica – even if we didn't put our foot on it.