Back on line after 3 days!

A Day at Sea - Monday

It was a fun start to the day. We were cruising off the coast of El Salvador. I was sitting on the balcony reading my book and drinking my tea when I noticed two dolphins playing in the bow wave. They looked like they were having such a good time. Then out of nowhere came this herd/pod, I don’t know what you call them, but a multitude of dolphins. There were easily 50 or 60 of them! I have never seen anything like that before. They were jumping, some clear out of the water. It was quite a sight. I watched for a while as I wondered if something was chasing them to have stirred up such a frenzy.  I tried to “capture the moment” - with minimal success. The picture caught a few hints but none of the dolphins clearing the water.  Then about 30 minutes later I saw this perfect row of white things. I couldn’t figure out what the heck would line up in a perfect row like that. When we got closer, it was a huge trot line! The cord separating the floats was about ¾ inch thick – and we just streamed right over it.  It was a perfectly clear day and since we can’t see the coast line that means this thing was at least 22 or 23 miles from shore. I cannot imagine what they were fishing for way out here or how they ever would find the line again to check for fish!  I don’t think it was just a loose line because, as I said, the floats were laid out perfectly straight for a couple hundred feet.  Anyway, a fun way to start the day – as you can see, I am easily entertained.  I was editing yesterday’s pictures and came across one of a cashew.  Have you ever seen a cashew tree?  It is an interesting nut. It grows on a giant red, jalapeño pepper looking fruit and the cashew nut looks like the stem, on the outside of the fruit. Strawberries are the only other fruit that have their seeds on the outside, I think.  A random thought I know.  I was actually going be good today and walk laps on the track with Jim.  I pushed away from my cholesterol bonanza that passes for breakfast these days. I rode the elevator down 2 floors to get my walking shoes (not a good sign about my commitment to exercise). The steward was cleaning the room and I didn’t want to disturb his progress, so I just walked down to the promenade deck and rested awhile on these inviting wooden chaise lounges, with those wonderfully thick pads. As you can see, it doesn’t take much to detour me from exercising. Tomorrow, another day at sea. (Note- While at sea, I don’t check emails. I just get on - post the blog, check comments and get off.)

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

The highlight of today’s visit to Nicaragua, at least for me, was the Masaya Volcano. Now that was interesting! It is an active volcano, belching out fumes and smoke. You could smell and taste the fumes and actually feel the heat coming out of the crater – quite impressive. You go right up to the ridge and look in – not so sure how smart that is, but defiantly different! You can only stay about 20 minutes because of the fumes. All cars are required to park facing the exit for a quick getaway. Not a reassuring measure. They say as long as it is producing smoke and fumes it is safe. Only on the way home, after the visit, did the tour guide tell us about his tour in 2002 when it spewed out 300 pound rocks and ash – crushing their bus! Well, we survived it and moved on with the tour. One thing I found interesting is it is just 13 miles between the Caribbean Ocean and the Pacific Ocean in Nicaragua. Now my question was – why not put the canal here instead of digging across 50 miles of Panama. Well, apparently I was not the first person to have this “brilliant” thought.  It was proposed in the early 19^th century using mainly existing rivers and lakes. In 1826 the US senate rejected Henry Clay’s bill to do so. It was thought cheaper build in Panama. They are now talking about building a canal here that could accommodate the mega liners and freighters of the future. In fact, even right now, the Panama Canal goes all one direction one day and the opposite direction the next, as ships are already too wide  to past in the locks. Nicaragua also has a “dry canal” on the drawing board which would entail basically removing the container cargo from ships in the Caribbean and taking the cargo by rail, 13 miles to the Pacific Ocean, to be reloaded and moved on by ship. That would save 500 miles (at least 2 days) at sea getting cargo from New York to San Francisco. . Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and we drove through a lot of the country side. It showed a blend of the terribly poor in the interior that contrasted with the beautiful coastal towns. The average number of kids per family in the country, where farming is the main source of income, is 8.  They say that is necessary to help with the farming and picking. The schools let out for  2 months during the harvesting season so the kids can help pick coffee beans etc. On the tour we also hit a huge market in Masaya. Again, sort of your typical Central American market. We continued on to a monastery in Granada that is now a museum. Like our last stop, San Juan del Sur has just recently become a regular port of call for cruise ships so you aren’t dealing with any crowds - yet. Our group was the only one in the museum.  Jim had actually been here before. During the time of the Contras and Sandinistas conflict back in 1980. One of his parishioners was stranded down here and couldn’t get back to the states. After trying unsuccessfully to get her back through “proper channels” he and her husband just came and got her in a shrimp boat! They never really even came ashore, just grabbed her from the dock and kept going. Today’s visit probably wasn’t quite as exciting.  Now on to San Diego where I can use my cell phone, collect email and shop at Wal-Mart!  I already have a list started.

Puerto Quepos, Costa Rica

We are in Puerto Quepos, Costa Rica.  We found an internet café and I sent a couple email “hellos” from “Puerto Rico” – Oops!  Hey, I was flustered working in Spanish – that’s my story and I am sticking to it. Geez., we are only eight days into the trip and already I don’t know what country I am in!  Costa Rica really is an interesting county however, in that it hasn’t had an army since 1949. They used those funds for healthcare and education. It now has a 95% literacy rate – one of the highest in the world. Costa Rica has more the 750 volcanoes. Most are dead or dormant but one is the most active volcano in the world. This is a new stop for cruise ships. I could tell as no one tried to sell us anything at our rest stop. I figure give it a year or two and that same rest stop will be surrounded with local venders selling their wares. Also, an hour on the internet only cost about $1.50. Such a deal! Great thought went into what to do while we were here.  I really wanted to do the zip lines. It looked like great fun. If it had been a week before the end of the cruise, instead of a week into the cruise, I would have done it in a New York minute. As I have broken about 9 bones, one from just stepping off the sidewalk wrong, I could envision me limping my way through the next 40 countries. We chose instead to do the Mangrove Wildlife and Boat Cruise. Yes, we got off this ship and got on another boat. It was a tour through mangrove forests viewing wildlife like iguanas (black spiny-tail –the world’s fastest lizard).  Hey everyone needs a claim to fame. I would like it noted that he wasn’t too fast for me. I got a picture while he was resting between sprints. We saw a troop of capuchin monkeys, with their cute white faces. I expected crocodiles but didn’t see any. We did see the “rare” silky anteater, a plethora of birds and some impressive termite mounds. The town itself is rather poor looking, but it is home to about 14,000 people. The coast is picturesque; you have the deep blue Pacific water, then the lush green forest with volcanic mountains in the background. Really quite beautiful.  We continue to eat really well – Carol reminded me  that I was in luck. That by the time we arrived in Hawaii I might appreciate that a Mumu could be the dress of the day. Great thought, what a first-rate excuse to just continue my feeding frenzy!

Laundry Wars

This was an “at sea” day – nothing much to report. We shoved off a week ago today so it is laundry day. We have heard these crazy stories about women getting in fights in the laundry room. They were telling us on two past cruises they actually had to put people off the ship at the next port because the women wouldn’t quit fighting, even after security arrived! I can’t quite imagine such a thing! They must have much better stuff in their dirty clothes basket than I do. I am eyeing these old broads aboard and I think I could take any of them easily!  Somehow, I can’t imagine getting that upset over anything, much less laundry duty. Luckily, Jim’s doing the laundry today – so I won’t have to find out.  We spent most of the day reading and eating on the balcony while watching an interesting assortment of birds that have followed the ship all day. I am told they are called “brown boobies” and they are excellent at catching flying fish mid flight! As we have been slugs most of the day we decided to “gussy up” and go for drinks, dinner and dancing tonight. Tomorrow – Costa Rica.

Panama Canal

As we sat out on our balcony with our glasses of wine last evening, we saw literally hundreds of flying fish. They were incredible to watch – they didn’t just fly from wave to wave; some flew two or three hundred feet! They looked more like birds than fish.  Then early this morning we entered the Panama Canal. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I thoroughly enjoyed the passage through the Canal. This wasn’t high on my bucket list but I had always heard about the Panama Canal and the stories about how 27,000 men died digging it and getting it operational.  I knew that it was a short cut from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but it is really a rather interesting operation to witness. I found the working of the locks fascinating. We had seen locks on the Eric Canal – but this was different.  To see these huge freighters and cruise ships squeeze into these little locks is impressive. There are two sets of locks side by side.  I swear the ship beside us looked like they were going to have to grease her sides to get her through. I don’t believe it had 2 inches of clearance on either side. I heard scrapes from time to time! Even the operation of the “mules” (electric train engines) that pull you into the locks was fun to watch. I was curious about what they charge for the transit. I assume they charge the freighters by the ton – cruise ships are charged a hundred dollars a head. It is based on how many people your ship could hold – then there is a slight reduction if you have  empty cabins.  I didn’t realize there were sets of locks on the Atlantic and Pacific sides and a huge manmade lake in the middle. I was expecting a skinny canal all the way through. The landscape is tropical – the forest/jungles are beautiful with every kind of tree you can envision from hardwoods to palms. One small island here has more varieties of trees on it that they have in all of Europe. They also have 970 varieties of birds. Without Courtney and Jim here to spot things for me I didn’t see much in the way of wildlife. I only saw some birds and one baby croc, but they supposedly have all the wildlife that you would expect to find in tropical jungles and waters.  As you might imagine with ships getting larger and larger they are in the process of constructing a third set of longer and wider locks. Each lock will be about the size of a football field. I am also amazed at the traffic. About 14,000 vessels transit the canal each year. Ships are lined up in front of and behind us for as far as I can see.  The 80 kilometer cut saves ships thousands of miles of travel time by not having to go around the tip of South America.  I need to close now. It is dinner time and since I have only had about 8 pounds of food today, I wouldn’t want to miss a meal.

Cartagena, Columbia

My first impression of Columbia was that it was just what I was expecting. As we entered the port, from our side of the ship, we saw this huge house/fortress on a peninsula. It had high walls and electric wires running all the way around it - even out about 100 ft. into the water! It looked like a place that could be defended against all comers. I thought “ah ha” the “casa grande” of some drug lord.  Just then a patrol boat pasted our ship with guys holding machine guns standing on its bow. Then we disembarked on the other side of the ship and there was a strip of high rise hotels and condos that looked like the skyline of Miami Beach. What a contrast! We hadn’t booked a tour so we were just going to get a cab by ourselves into the “Old City” to see the famous Dungeons, Inquisition Palace, and Cathedral etc. We battled our way through the glut of tour guides trying to reach a taxi outside the gates. We met a couple from Michigan on their own too so we pooled resources. Now I thought I was a negotiator, but this lady really wrestled them to the mat! We ended up getting an exceptional tour at a great price. Cartagena is a city of about one million people.  The Old City is just what you picture - a walled city with the narrow cobble stone streets.  The taxi driver was telling us it was bad when Pablo Escobar (a drug lord) was living here and in control. Escobar actually had a standing offer of a million dollars (I have to believe he meant pesos) given to anyone who would kill any policeman. My first thought was, I wonder what you would have to pay a cop to take that job? I can see where that might discourage most people from making that their career choice - which I guess was the point. As for the Dungeons, it is now a row of little stalls offering goods not unlike what you would find in similar markets in the Caribbean or Mexico. However, every shop had emeralds. Supposedly, 95% of the world’s emeralds come from Columbia. Cartagena was the center of slave trade out of Africa at one point so there were statues and markers relating that part of their history. They say Cartagena is so close to the equator that you don’t have seasons – its average temperature stays at about 82 year round. Not meaning to take exception, but being a Houston gal, I would say it felt closer to 90 with plenty of humidity. The sad thing is when we got back I didn’t know Jim had already paid and tipped the driver so I paid and tipped him too - doubling the price of our tour – thus successfully negating our great bargain!  Laura, I tried to attach some pictures from Aruba as requested, but with this connection after 16 minutes it was still trying to upload the first picture - so I just gave up. At these prices per minute I decided it wasn’t worth it. Maybe when we get to San Diego, if I find an internet café, I will try again. Next we transit the Panama Canal

Aruba

Today we arrived in Aruba. The last time I was here was about 39 years ago so there have been a few changes. I have only two clear memories of Aruba. One was how pretty and white the sand was on all the beaches. The second memory was about Michael, who was about a year old at the time. To this day, I still feel guilty when I think about how sunburned we let that kid get! We had him tucked under a little shady bush but I guess the reflection off the white sand got to him. In those days people didn’t use sunscreen, you actually worked on getting a tan. He was absolutely glowing by dinner time; I thought he might break into flames by bedtime. We covered him with some kind of medicated wet packs that I haven’t seen before or since and he was fine the next day.  He didn’t seem to mind; he was happy to be the center of attention (some things never change). Anyway, back to today - we had to set our clock ahead an hour last night (Atlantic Standard Time) and tomorrow night we set it back an hour again. I don’t get how all these various time zones work but I just do as instructed. Anyhow, Aruba this is a small island about 20 miles long and 6 miles wide (less than 75 sq. miles). We docked in the capital city of Oranjestad. The local language is Dutch. At one time they mined gold here but now I think oil is king, with a huge Valero oil refining plant. The island is the world’s leading aloe producer. (Hey, maybe those were aloe packs to soothe the burns – who ever heard of aloe 40 years ago?) I would have to guess tourism also ranks in there somewhere as a money maker for this island, based on the number of cruise ships in port. We didn’t take any organized tours. We just got on a local bus and headed out to the “hotel area” with all the pretty beaches.  There is one hotel after the other from the Hyatt to the “Club Med” all inclusive type hotels. We shopped at a little local open market as Jim needed a white shirt for his “singing debut” at the end of the first cruise segment. I can see we have two totally different “shopping” strategies. That is wrong right there – I “shop”, he “buys” without even asking the price.  While I was busy bargaining for a $6 hat, he is standing next to me paying full “sticker price” for his shirt. I can see that he will be no help on any of the shopping outings. Courtney and I have that “open market haggling” down to a high art!  We shove off at about 5pm tonight for Columbia. Provided the drug cartels aren’t acting up in Cartagena, we are scheduled to dock there tomorrow.