2012-2-28 Bird Watching in Huatulco, Mexico

I went on a wonderful bird watching tour this morning.

The passengers were warned to wear long sleeves and long pants and insecticide. None of that turned out to be needed. Not a bug in sight. We did need our hats.

I had visions of walking through a swamp or a jungle but we walked alongside a golf course. The site was only 10 minutes from the ship and surrounded by condos and upscale hotels.

The golf course was ringed with trees that attract birds. We saw a variety of species but only a few of each. Some of the birds we saw were endemic, meaning they are only found in this area. 

We saw a Golden Cheeked Woodpecker--causing one of the gals to be ecstatic.

Here is a better picture of it from tomsap dot com.

I don't remember what this one with the top flare is called. 

The most spectacular was the Citreoline Trogon. I have never before seen a Trogon to my knowledge. Here is a photo from ebird. 

The guide was a real birder. He could recognize birds by song and also make the song and call the birds to us. He carried a telescope on a stand. When he saw a bird that was holding still, he set up the view and we just stepped up to take a look.

When I saw the Citreoline through the viewer, I was so excited. I exclaimed, “Oh!” and stepped away quickly so others could have a look. Unfortunately, I kicked the stand with my foot and knocked it out of alignment. The bird flew away just as
the guide got the scope was repositioned.

I don't recognize this bird, either. 

We saw a couple of examples of the Doubleday Hummingbird, another endemic bird.

The West Mexican Chachalaca is endemic and it’s a big bird. Here is a picture from ebird. 

It reminds me of a grouse or turkey. 

The last endemic bird was the Yellow-Winged Cacique which is like an Oriole. This picture is from Wikipedia. 

We saw a Baltimore Oriole which was on migration. The other migrating birds were the Yellow Warbler, the Orchard Oriole, the Hooded Oriole, the Solitary Sandpiper and the Northern Shoveler.

Two of the most colorful birds were the Orange Fronted Parakeet and the White Fronted Parakeet. They are residents in the area. The other resident birds that we saw were the Magnificent Frigatebird, the Snowy Egret, the Grey Hawk, the Cinnamon Hummingbird, the Great Kiskadee, the White-Throated Magpie-Jay, the Rufous-naped Wren, the White Lored Gnatcatcher, and the Great-Tailed Grackle. There were lots of Grackles and they are something of a nuisance.

Our guide was alfonsogabriel@hotmail.com. He
goes by Fonzie or Pancho. He said his mother calls him Panchito. He works for www.avesdemexico.com.

He is a great

guy and gave us a wonderful, if warm, three hours around the golf course.

We also walked a short way near a viaduct. I got a few fuzzy pictures of birds. I was hot and exhausted and took a two hour nap when I got home which is unusual for me.

2112-2-26 Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

We are docking in Puerto Chiapas in about an hour. I didn’t sign up for any tours here. This is supposed to be an area with great biological diversity but we are taking the day off.

Yesterday was a sea day. We attended the last of the last of the cooking contests. It was billed as the Culinary Mystery Box Finale. It was really fun. The beverage staff paired off against two of the culinary managers. The beverage staff usually wins.

The culinary managers are both from Holland. They are fond of saying, “If it ain’t Dutch, it ain’t much”.

The culinary managers pulled out all the stops to influence the contest. They gave the judges the same beautiful little cakes as last time. This time they added T-shirts and ball caps. The beverage managers fought back with wine and a serenade by one of the entertainment staff. Wouldn’t you know it? I volunteered

for the only contest that had no bribery.

The culinary managers pulled a really dirty trick and put some spicy hot ingredients on the beverage team’s lamb chops. Everyone saw them do it. It’s on tape, too. Unfortunately, one of the judges marked them down severely because the lamb
chops were too spicy. So, they lost. Life is unfair sometimes.

I went to the last book club meeting for The Lacuna. The book is set in Mexico in the 1930’s and the United States in the 1940’s. The political situation then had some parallels with today. People were very fearful in the 1940’s. It was the
beginning of the Cold War between the U.S.S.R. and the United States. The McCarthy hearings were on a witch hunt for communists. It’s interesting to hear the perspective of people from other countries. The novel is rated 4.3 out of 5 on Amazon.

I asked the librarian if the staff includes both Sunni and Shiite Muslims. She doesn’t know. I also asked if the ship planned to broadcast the Oscars. She said they will.

Just as we were breaking up the meeting, someone spotted dolphins off the starboard side. I had my camera and I got some pictures but the dolphins were pretty far away
by then.

After book club, I went to Dutch High Tea with three other ladies. One was a recent widow and the other two were widowed many years ago. We talked about the pros and
cons of remarrying. One of the women said that older men are looking for “a nurse with a purse”. I have never heard that expression and found it very colorful.

At the same time, one of the women said that she would only remarry if the prospective groom had at least ten million dollars! So, everyone is concerned with finances. The recent widow said that she really misses having a partner and is
lonely. She’s afraid that she is too vulnerable to date. It’s a wonder anyone ever remarries.

2012-2-25 Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica

We had another notice on our door this morning that the Norovirus is back. The rule is "if four cabins or more are affected, then we go on lockdown".  We have to wait two days after everyone gets over it before they lift the restrictions.

I went ashore yesterday without Bill. He is still not feeling well. The reverend and his wife were on my shore excursion as well as Rick and Linda from Cruise Critic. I had a chance to talk to Carolyn, the reverend’s wife about their arrangements on board the ship. 

They feel lucky that they were able to take this cruise. It was
offered to them and 400 other Protestant ministers via email just three weeks before sailing. Somehow, they were chosen.

They pay a per diem instead of a cabin fee. He can go on shore excursions free but she has to pay. They choose three excursions for each port and HAL decides which one they take. 

They must wait while everyone else boards the transportation, then they get on. They must sit in the back of the bus or boat, literally. I asked Carolyn if it’s a bargain and she said it is. She wants to go on another one soon.

I took the train and boat combination today. It was called “Tropical Train Ride and Exotic Mangrove Cruise” (5 hours). The train was old or maybe antique. It had openings instead of windows but it was fine. The area we covered was only mildly interesting, though. The mangrove cruise was much better. We saw some birds, monkeys and crocodiles but not a lot of anything.

From the movie, “The Big Year”, I learned that you see many more birds in the cold regions of the world but fewer species. In the tropics, there is a great variety of birds but few samples of each so they are harder to see.

The same is true of trees, bushes, etc. There is amazing variety in the tropics. Our guide was really good or we would not have seen anything. He stopped the boat and let it drift so we could sneak up on the birds and animals. We saw two small crocodiles

and some howler monkeys in addition to birds. The picture I took wasn't good so I added one from Wikipedia. 

I could have taken either the Aerial Tram or the Sky Walk. I think those would have been better choices as the action is mostly high up in the trees. The trees are many stories high. Of course, I picked an easy tour for Bill. He would have enjoyed it. The tender wasn’t bad, either.

The great success of the tour today was that we saw many Scarlet Macaws.

The bottom picture is from The Spruce Pets dot com. 

We saw two separate pairs of lovers. Our guide said they live to be about 75 years old and they mate for life—just like us! He also said he wished he had mated for life, but that’s another story.

Our guide showed us many interesting fruits and vegetables. He brought samples on the bus. He cut them open and passed them around for us to inspect and smell. The most interesting of these was the cashew. He stopped the bus and our driver got out and climbed a cashew tree. Each fruit has only one nut, which explains why they are so expensive.

Cashew on tree from Barakafm. org. 

As a side note, we have not had much in the way of variety in fruits and vegetables on this cruise. I am used to more variety even from our local Sam’s Club. I don’t know if it’s a cost issue or if the produce is unavailable. We have had papaya

a few times, but not very much and it goes fast.

Bill and I were in Costa Rica (Rich Coast) fifteen years ago and took a much better tour. It was a river rafting tour with lunch. There was no lunch on this tour. Because of the tendering situation, we left quite late. So, it was three o’clock before we got back to the ship.

When I returned, Bill still wasn’t feeling good but he had done the laundry! What a guy! We were told that there is a great internet station at the dock but it was closed. Also, I wanted to buy a little wooden oxcart for a Christmas ornament but couldn’t find one.

I was happy to see the little gal who scoops the ice cream getting off the ship when I got back on. She scoops ice cream for11 hours a day, every day.

2012-2-23--Rotterdam IV Ship Review and Cabin 1943

I was asked to post a little about the ship.

The date today is Feb 23, 2012. We are having a fantastic time on our 60 day cruise to the South Pacific and Inca Empires. We boarded the Rotterdam IV on Jan 4. I think it’s time to review the ship for people who are getting on later this year. If you want to respond, you can post on my blog, “Bill and Sherri’s

Excellent Adventures”.

I looked for reviews of Cabin 1943 but couldn't find anything. It has some special features like an extra large door opening. This is essential if your scooter, wheelchair or walker is wider than about 23 inches. There is no bathtub so you can roll right into the bathroom.

The shower area has a pull down bench. In combination with a handheld shower head, it works great. Because we have a walk-in shower, there are grates in the floor where the water sloshes around. We close the door at night to cut down on the

noise and the humidity. I am pretty sure nothing can be done about that.

I love the location at the back of the ship. 

There is no traffic back and forth in front of our door. There is no cabin across from us, only one to the side. We never hear them. They say they don’t hear us. We can zip up to the library and above that, the Lido café, very quickly.

I love the configuration. We have plenty of room which cannot be said of most cabins. We have a nice window.

We have five (count them!) floor to ceiling cabinets and three drawers in our desk. The TV is small but it’s fine. We have a sofa, an end table and a queen size bed which is very comfortable. The handicapped access bathroom is a delight and so is the wide door to the hallway.

Now for the not so great qualities; we are the first to know if the anchor is going up or down. We are right next to the engines so if the thrusters are in use, we hear them. The room was totally comfortable for a month but then we went through a period of a few days where our room too hot. The bathroom was especially warm. The crew took our complaints very seriously and checked twice a day until it was corrected.

We had a problem with our TV and the crew came right away and replaced the cable connector. Every request we have made has been promptly and professionally filled.

Also, I want to mention the plumbing problems on Deck 1. The people in the cabins in the low 1800’s said they have had trouble flushing their toilet since they got on the ship. It has now settled into a regular routine. They try to flush. It doesn’t work. They call the plumbers. I know this is true because I have seen the plumbers working there.

They are 17 elevators on the ship. The passengers use 12 of the elevators and the rest are for the crew. There are constant problems with the elevators. A few are out of service all the time. 

It’s only an inconvenience for us but must be a major
nuisance for the engineers and repairmen who work on the ship.

Other than those few things, I love being on the ship. The living is easy, 

as the song goes.

2012-2-24 Entertainment

We had a busy day. I went swimming at 7 this morning. Bill is feeling better but still taking it easy. He did every activity today except for swimming.

We received a notice that we will have to tender into port in Costa Rica. This is a disappointment as Bill has decided not to take the tender any more. I turned in his tour ticket but I kept mine. I will describe my adventure tomorrow.

At 10:00 this morning, I attended a talk about tomorrow’s port. At 11:00, we went to the Culinary Mystery Box activity. It was held in the Wajang Theater. Today, two
teams competed using a box of mystery ingredients. The assignment was to cook a
dinner in 30 minutes using only those ingredients with the addition of some
stock items. In each box, there is always one odd ingredient that the teams must
incorporate.

We saw the last competition so we knew the drill. I volunteered to be a judge. Last time, one team was from the beverage staff and the other from the bakery. They both used bribery. The beverage team served wine to everyone in the room. That’s not important to us, but the other team brought specialty cakes for the judges. I
really wanted to be bribed.

Well, no bribes this time. We actually had to judge the teams on their merits. There
were two people on each team. One team had a chef from the Canalleto and the
other had a chef from the Pinnacle Grill, which are specialty restaurants.

We had to judge on taste, creativity, teamwork, presentation and use of ingredients. The ingredients were lobster, vegetables, coffee, pineapple and starfruit. One team
had to include popcorn and the other had to use Goldfish.

It was great fun to be a judge. Team one was definitely the better team. It turns out that the Canaletto chef won the whole competition last time. I think he will win
this time too. The man can cook.

I’m not a big fan of lobster. To me, it just tastes like butter. This time, he cooked it
with thyme and oregano. There might have been some wine. He made a rice dish
that was underdone and not hot enough, so I marked them down for that. They
cooked the pineapple and star fruit together and then crumbled the Goldfish
over the top. I was surprised at how good that tasted. They used the pineapple
leaves to decorate the plate. It looked wonderful.

Team two overcooked the lobster and it lacked flavor. But, they did something with the vegetables that was tasty. They popped the corn and sprinkled it over the whole
dish which didn’t work well. They decorated the plate with the star fruit. It
wasn’t nearly as appetizing but the partner from the front office was a very
funny guy. He was so jovial that I gave them ten extra points for the
entertainment value.

I gave team one 95 points and team two 85 points. That is just about what the other judges awarded them, also.

We had good seats in the theater that we took turns going to lunch and then watched the daily movie. It was the latest version of “The Three Musketeers”. It was pretty silly. It combined the usual story with elements of “The Wild, Wild West” and
“Hidden Tiger, Crouching Dragon”. The art direction was phenomenal. I hope it
got an award for that.

The love interests were so young that I had to check to see if the young man had a
prominent Adam’s apple or a beard. I wasn’t sure he had passed through puberty
yet.

At 3:00, we went to hear the NASA lecturer. He gave us an assignment during his first lecture yesterday. He told us to go out on deck and walk toward the stern and
then toward the bow. We were supposed to look at the ocean askance (at a 15
degree angle) and record what we observed. The top ten written answers will
receive a free DVD. I entered the contest and will tell you tomorrow if my
answer was correct.

The lecturer is Larry Kuznetz. He helped to design space suits. The lecture today was called, “The International Space Station and Benefits from Space”. He took questions and we discovered that some people on the ship don't believe that anyone ever landed on the moon. He went through the ways that can be checked. And, he said, we did it 17 times. That's a lot harder to fake than doing it once. We also bounce signals off equipment we left on the moon.

Here is his picture from a book he wrote in 2011.

At 4:00, we met with our Cruise Critic friends to share the wine we received from the Captain. There are only ten in the group so one bottle was fine as we don’t
drink. Ted was the one who did the planning for our shore excursions. I took a
leaf from Susan and Erwin and we pooled our money to give Ted and his wife a
dinner in the Pinnacle Grill.

We had a great dinner and there is entertainment tonight. Nadia Zaitsev is playing the piano. She sounds good but Bill says he wants to pack it in for tonight.

2012-2-23 Manta, Ecuador

I am still scratching the “No,No” bug bites I got in Nuku Hiva. They are amazingly long lasting. Just one more strike against that place. On a happy note, we are back to serving ourselves in the Lido buffet.

I forgot to mention yesterday that we saw the Crystal Palace while we were walking along the Malecon in Guayaquil. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the same man who designed the Eiffel Tower. It doesn’t look like a palace. It resembles a well designed train station. I took this from the city website.

Travel is broadening and not only in the physical sense. We are learning so much on this trip. The brief exposure to other cultures is entertaining and enlightening.

Bill stumbled and tripped this morning in our cabin and hurt his back. He didn’t feel like venturing out to discover Manta so I went with a lady I met at the pool. There isn’t much to see except statues of tuna. This statue was near the exit from the port. 

There was a small flea market and it was well attended in spite of a light drizzle. Elizabeth bought a Panama hat for $20 at the first stall we came to. As we walked along, she discovered the same hat for $10 and felt cheated. We forget that we can barter here. I spent a few dollars on Christmas ornaments.

When I came back, I realized that the real show is right outside our window. They are loading up crates of large tuna mere feet from our ship. I went out on the promenade deck and took some pictures.











The HalCats did a great job last night even with a substitute drummer. The original drummer is sick. I hope that doesn’t bode ill for the return of the Gomboo. There are some severely talented musicians on this boat.

The entertainer last night played multiple odd instruments. Kuba (from Poland) was billed as a Multi Instrumentalist and Vibraphone Virtuoso. Both descriptions were true.

His most fascinating instrument was the one he played without touching it. It was two poles, one vertical and one horizontal that formed an electromagnetic field. The movement of his right hand controlled the pitch and his left hand controlled the volume.

It’s not a new instrument because we have all heard it in spooky movies including the original version of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” made in 1951. Bill knows the dates of all science fiction movies so I don’t have to look it up.

The vibraphone is also a remarkable instrument that can sound like a flute, an organ, a steel guitar, and more. I think I have seen a vibraphone before but I have never seen anyone play a thumb piano from Africa. It looks like he is playing with a small handheld electronic game but it is actually a small square board with strings on it.

He told us the proper names for these instruments but I don’t remember.

2012-2-12 Guayaquil, Ecuador

We just returned from a city bus tour guided by an unmarried young woman who teaches fourth grade in Guayaquil. School is out today because it is Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). The city is just about empty.

Guayaquil is at the mouth of a river. We sailed in here over night and now we are sailing out. It will take 4 hours to reach the ocean. Ecuador is right at the bulge of South America. We are half a degree south of the equator.

The local Catholics (almost everyone) celebrate Carnivale with water. They go to the beach if they can. If they can’t, they try to stay wet all day. 

They play with water pistols and throw water balloons at each other. They fill baby pools with water and play in them. I took pictures of several of the pools set up on the sidewalks outside the poorer homes.

They used to have the traditional parades and parties but there were riots and many tragedies. The new celebration looks sweet and peaceful. The residents of Guayaquil are known for being both liberal in their politics and extroverted in their personalities.

The current president of Ecuador is a leftist and our guide doesn’t like him. In fact, she says she hates him but that it is dangerous to talk that way in public. She said people spy on each other so it’s not exactly Canada.

Ecuador had runaway inflation in the 1990’s. The situation was somewhat similar to Greece’s situation today. To get the economy back on track, they adopted the U.S. dollar as their currency and public workers accepted a huge cut in salary. The income Ecuador receives from the oil business is dedicated to pay down the national debt.

Our guide said the economic upheaval was very painful. She pointed to a row of buildings that used to be banks. They all failed and the court cases are ongoing to recover some of the losses. She said her salary went from $600 a month to $200. Her salary has risen to $400 a month over the last twelve years but it is totally inadequate. Not only that but public employees often have to take to the streets and protest just to get paid. That’s why she does other jobs.

She’s a great guide. She said we were her children for the day. She cheerfully repeated herself several times and guided us like a mother hen.

We first went to see two beautiful homes called The Chocolate Houses. They were owned by the families who made their fortunes here in chocolate. Most of the chocolate candy in the U.S. is grown in Ecuador. She mentioned a few, including M & M’s.

The big export now is oil. They export oil to the United States as well as bananas, tuna, tilapia and other food products. They used to grow huge shrimp here (4 shrimp to a pound) but the shrimp got a parasite and it has taken years to recover the business.

They also export minerals, including uranium to Iran. That is controversial but it is ongoing.

The city government has done a spectacular public works projects on the waterfront. Again, I wish I could post some pictures. We walked about a mile along the waterfront taking pictures. The area is called Malecon 2000 because that is the year it was dedicated.

One of the attractions is the clock tower. It was erected after an especially bad bout of Yellow Fever in the late 1800’s.

There is a beautiful botanical garden but our guide said it is full of mosquitoes. This is the rainy season and they have an outbreak of dengue fever. That is one of the
tropical diseases for which there is no vaccine. So, discretion is the better part of valor. I just about took a bath in insect repellant but it turned out to be unnecessary. I never saw an insect.

The centerpiece of the Malecon area is the Anthropology Museum. It is new, modern and air conditioned! I took mucho pictures because it was allowed. Bill enjoyed the museum, too.

Human sacrifices but didn’t happen here. Ecuador’s macabre addition to human history is shrunken heads. In the Andes area, they killed their enemies, sometimes with poisoned darts. Then, they shrunk their heads and posted the heads on top of fence posts as a warning not to trespass or annoy them in any way. Today, they only shrink animal heads for the tourists.

We saw some indigenous people in the park. They are camera shy but I got a few pictures from a distance. They wear black wool clothes that are very distinctive. This was appropriate clothing where they originated in the mountains but it looks uncomfortable on a hot day like today.

We drove by the Cerro Santa Ana District which is the old colonial core of the city. The barrio or shanty town is a section of homes that has been redeveloped. The city fixed up the homes and installed 444 steps as there are no roads in this
section.

The owners who had their homes repaired owed nothing if they agreed to get a job or start a business. They also had to agree to follow many rules, such as not hanging out their laundry in public view. Each home has a picture in front of it showing what it looked like before restoration.

Now, it’s a charming, productive area. The houses next to the street and the stairs contain restaurants, little shops and art galleries.

There is an island on the other side of the river that was once inhabited by pirates. The pirates captured local women and held them for ransom. No one paid the ransom and the women were soon pregnant. Then, they all became one large family. Our guide found this very amusing.

We also stopped at the Seminario Parque which is dominated by a huge statue of Simon Bolivar, as well as a statue of wild boars fighting. There are supposed to be parrots in the trees but I only saw pigeons. However, there are many three foot long iguanas. Since school was out, children were playing with them and feeding them.

We are on our way to Manta, Ecuador but I don’t think we will go into town. We would have to take a shuttle and then just walk around by ourselves. There were no easy ship tours for this port. Ecuador is a dangerous place for tourists. I will have to hear what people say when they come back to the ship.

2012-2-12 Cruise Humor

Today, I have a guest blogger! Bill wants to share some of the jokes and stories we have heard.

1. I have enough money to last the rest the rest of my life-- unless I buy something.

2. I've been reading about Zen-Buddhism. The state of Nirvana is where no thoughts are going through my brain. When that happened before, I thought I was having a senior moment. Turns out, now, that I am a Zen Master.

3. I don’t take drugs. For me, the morning after pill is Ibuprofen.

4. "Yippee Aye Oh Ki Yay! Roaming cross the ocean eating sixteen meals a day!"

5. I went to a German-Chinese restaurant for dinner. An hour later, I was hungry for
power.

6. Barack Obama once gave a speech in Germany and 200,000 Germans came. They were shouting so loud that France surrendered just in case.

7. The second day of a diet is always easier than the first day. By then, you are already off the diet.

8. I have flabby thighs. Fortunately, my stomach covers them.

9. If you know what will happen in the future, you have ESP. If you know what will happen in sports, you have ESPN.

10. Why is it that when a man talks sex to a woman, it’s sexual harassment? But when a woman talks sex to a man, its $6.95 for the first minute.


Brett Cave, the piano player at one of the ShowTime Entertainment segments, introduced a song by telling us that his bride-to-be recognized that he lived for his music. 

She allowed him to choose the wedding music. He chose the Captain and Tennille’s song, “Love Will Keep Us Together”, for her walk down the aisle. When the music started playing, he looked at the entrance only to see his blushing bride shaking her head and shouting, “No! No! No! I’m not going to walk to that music.”

Well, she loved him enough to go through with the wedding. He told us that it was his favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite song of all time. 

Later, when he started playing an Elton John song, he told us that that one was his favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite song of all time. By the time he played his first Beatles song and told us that one was his favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite song of all time, the audience was laughing and joining in on the “favorite” parts.

2012-2-20 Lima, Day 2

We found out today that those on the ship who took off for Machu Picchu didn’t make it there. Our cruise ship was late getting into port because of the fog and the plane left without them. Some took later planes but they also needed to take a train. The train stopped running because of bad weather in the mountains. Reportedly, a road washed out.

The same thing happened two or three years ago, also in February. This is a bad time of year to visit Machu Picchu because it’s the rainy season.

First, you have to fly to Cusco and take a day to get used to the altitude which sickens some people. Then, you take a train, then a bus. Our guide said she returned exhausted after a four day trip and she’s young. She also said that Cusco is an

interesting destination on its own.

I forgot to mention the guinea pig I saw yesterday at the convent. There is a painting of The Last Supper that has a Peruvian twist. Right in the center of the picture, on a silver platter, is a cooked guinea pig. They are a favored dish in Peru. The guide asked us why we thought that a guinea pig was on the platter. None of us knew the answer. The guide said that in the minds of Peruvians, an important dinner would always include a guinea pig. 

There are other interesting additions, including a woman, albeit she is off to the side. The guide surmised that she was in the painting because someone had to serve dinner.

We had a great day. We started off earlier which was nice. Yesterday we didn’t get going until noon. We went to Pachacamac Sanctuary first. We traveled south out of the city on surface roads. We got on the Expressway but it was not very impressive.

Traffic was terrible. But as long as I was not driving, it didn’t bother me at all. Traffic at home is much scarier because it’s fast. Here, you can hardly move. We didn’t go above forty miles an hour on the whole trip, even outside the city. We spent most of the trip trying to wedge ourselves into some tiny opening in the flow of traffic. It took 90 minutes to travel 20 miles south of the port. I doubt if anyone could get up the speed to ram us.

The archeological site we visited today was a precursor to the Incas. We saw a section of the famous Inca road. Unfortunately, much of the area was covered with squatters who built houses and shacks on it before the government decided to protect it.

We saw armed guards at all the important historical sites. In the city center yesterday there were rows of Policia in full riot gear.

In 1945, a medical doctor started the excavation of this site with his own money because no one else was interested. It has proceeded in fits and starts since then.

Like the other sites, it is a work in progress. The most restored site was the Women’s House. Visitors are no longer allowed inside because of vandalism. It resembles a two story apartment building with a square in the center. Women lived here while waiting to be honored with either marriage to a nobleman or a sacrificial death. It was probably much of the same in some cases.

A big part of their life involved bathing. There are three levels of water on the site. One is for the women’s hygiene, one for drinking water and one for ceremonies.

Our guide said they began by sacrificing animals. Over time, they sacrificed their enemies, then moved on to women. If a woman didn’t want to go along with this program, her whole village was expelled from the community.

The Temple of the Moon or Huaca de la Luna in Peru was part of the Moche capital. It was also a murder factory. Several centuries ago, the people built a temple to the sun and the moon. The priests told them they had to massacre 100 people a day or the sun would not rise the next day. At first they captured enemies and sacrificed them. After a while they ran out of enemies and were reduced to murdering women and children. They were afraid to stop because, you know, the sun might not come up. Then they started killing a few more people each day to assure a good crop yield. Fear is never ending.

This is a tile created by an artist of "The Decapitor"--the symbol that is everywhere in the Temple of the Moon. He represents the parade of death that occurred here every day.

(On a side note, we would have never made it up there without the help of several people. Bill and I were struggling along with his walker. I was trying to help him up the hill. An able bodied man came over and pulled his walker from the front and someone else took his other arm and we got him up the hill.)

Unlike their bloody neighbors to the north, butchery was not involved in their sacrificial ceremonies. Instead, the victims were given an overdose of drugs such as mescaline and allowed to die peacefully. This preserved their good looks. Then, their bodies were opened up and stuffed with cotton. Their skin was rubbed with ointments for mummification. I don’t know what they did with the mummies. Some were buried around the Temple of the Sun.

There are beautiful views of the ocean from the Temple of the Sun. I wonder how many sites in Central and South America are called the Temple of the Sun or Moon? We have seen three already. 

On the way there, we saw a chicken farm with a nice view of the beach. The local Chinese call it the Chicken Resort, according to our guide.

On the way back, we started looking for lunch. Our guide took us to a very nice restaurant but we didn’t stay. It was $23 a person which seemed high to us. We decided to eat when we got back to the ship. The exchange rate is about three to one. So, the lunch would have cost the equivalent of $90. Pretty steep, even for rich gringos. I assume that she was promised a kickback for delivering us to the
their establishment.

Our last stop was the Indian Market in Mira Flores. It was filled with Peruvian arts and crafts and the prices were great. The problem is that we can’t carry much home in our suitcases. So, we bought a few toys for the kids and a Christmas tree ornament. I tried some Peruvian chocolate but didn’t think much of it. It was milk chocolate with and I like dark.

2012-2-19 Lima, Peru

We were late to dock this morning due to dense fog. Lima is unbelievably dry for a place with high humidity. Our guide says the average rainfall is less than an inch a year. They get water from the mountain runoff and also from aquifers. There is
plenty of moisture in the air, though.

We toured the capital city today. The traffic is heavy and the drivers are aggressive. I don’t think I could drive here. I’m too polite. However, they are dealing with 3000 city buses in a city of 9 million people. There are no freeways and no public transit aside from the buses. They also mix in pedicabs that are powered by a man on a motorcycle or bicycle.

Our favorite bicycle powered vehicles sell ice cream. Our guide bought some cups of ice cream with a mix of vanilla and Lucuma, which is a Peruvian fruit. It’s a burnt orange color and is somewhat like orange flavor but heavier. Very tasty. Our
guide also described a fruit called chilimoya which sounds intriguing but we didn’t find any to sample.

Ice cream pedicabs are abundant because Lima has a moderate climate. It’s warm but not hot and it doesn’t get very cold. Because of the lack of moisture, there are few annoying insects. There are no screens on the windows.

Buildings in Lima tend to be low. Those over five stories are required to have elevators, so most apartment and office buildings are only five stories high. One interesting feature is the rebar that sticks out of many townhouse style homes. The idea behind the rebar is to add another floor sometime in the future. When the children grow up, you can just add another floor for them. Or you can build a new level and rent it.

We visited the beautiful San Francisco Convent which is actually a Franciscan monastery. Only 33 priests live there currently but the building covers almost a city block. Again, we could not take pictures inside. It is three centuries old and has a heavy Moorish influence. The walls are covered with gorgeous old Spanish style tiles. The ceilings are dark inlaid wood. The walls look like stucco and are covered with murals and old paintings.

The walls are hollow. They are made of “Peruvian concrete” which consists of wood surrounded by sugar cane and some kind of plaster. They deform pretty easily during earthquakes. It’s unsettling to see wavy walls and columns that are obviously out of plumb. I worried about the next earthquake occurring while we were inside. It seemed to me that the building was moving. But it was probably because I have been on a ship too long.

The library full of ancient books had round ladders that go back on forth to access the shelves. It reminded me of Harry Potter and Hogwarts.

The most interesting part of the convent was the catacombs. For over a century, everyone who died in Lima city was buried there. Archeologists separated all the bones so that they could count the bodies. So far, they have counted more than 30,000 people. Apparently, this location satisfied everyone’s desire to be buried under the altar of the church.

It is creepy down there. Add in the low ceilings and the low light and you have a ready-made horror movie. Actually, it strikes me as a comforting thing to be mixed in with everyone else. But I don’t like being that far underground. Six feet is enough. We bought our grave sites where we have a chance of seeing the fireworks in Murray city. A small chance.

After that, we went to the city of Mira Flores which has an upbeat vibe. It is in a gorgeous setting, overlooking the beach on a cliff. There is a striking statue reminiscent of Barcelona called “The Kiss” in the center of the main park. It depicts a giant bronze couple hugging on the beach. There is low wavy fence with built-in benches that is painted to look ceramic. There are myriad flowers both on the ground and painted on the fence. People parasail off the cliff next to the park. Just as we were leaving, a new bride and groom arrived to have their pictures taken. It’s quite the place. Wait until you see the pictures.

All in all, I think I have become a fan of Lima. It has a spectacular location in a moderate climate. It has the potential to be a fabulous city. The economy is improving because of increased investment by Chileans. The new buses use natural gas, which helps but they really need a mass transit system.

The war with The Shining Path rebels in the 1980’s really set them back economically but it looks like things are improving. Rebellion is always a possibility when society becomes too unequal. My mother used to say, “If we don’t share what we have with the poor, they will someday come and take it.”

Education is mandatory but only for six years. After that, you have to pay. There is no old age supplement. Health insurance is not universal.

One of the major problems is that two thirds of the population or six million people live in the shanty towns. The government has given up trying to relocate them and is working on providing services. Many have electricity but most don’t have access to water. They buy water from trucks which we also observed in Mexico and on the Navajo reservation.

It’s very difficult to get around in the shanty towns because they are built on hills. The government has started building steps up the side of the hills. The people shop by using the pedicabs that are everywhere. They shop at smaller stores. No
superstores like Target or Wal Mart. We did see brands we recognized, especially KFC.

Tomorrow, we are going outside of the city to see more archeological digs and the slums.

2012-2-18 Trujillo, Peru

We spent the entire day yesterday immersed in the Mocha culture of northern Peru. Before I get into that though, I want to report that we sailed by pods of dolphins on the way down the coast. We were too far away to see any individual dolphins but that is what the captain said they were. 

Fifty to a hundred dolphins formed a mass of black, roiling water several hundred feet off our starboard side. You could see the splashes when they jumped in the air, which is their dance of joy, or their call to dinner. We saw flocks of brown boobies flying above them; swooping down on the fish the dolphins stirred up. 

Speaking of the coast of Peru, it is dry and reminded me of the Half Moon Bay area of California. They grow asparagus and artichokes, the same as Half Moon Bay. In fact, they produce most of the asparagus that we eat in the U.S., including the white asparagus. 

There are rolling hills covered with miles of asparagus fields all along the northern coast. The fields stand out bright green on the brown hills. Ice plant is a common ground planting. Ice plant was everywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area so it looked a lot like home to me. 

Historians speculate that the area suffers from an El Nino weather pattern which causes either drought or floods. The local people were aware that they were at the mercy of the whims of nature so the theory is that they tried to control it through human sacrifice. 

Unlike Nuku Hiva, there was nothing personal about these murders. It was like an assembly line. Of course, if they could get a hold of some enemies, that was good. But, it was really just a numbers game. The Sun apparently needed 100 sacrificial victims a day or it would not rise in the morning. Also, it was necessary to throw in some more victims to insure that the crops would grow. 

It’s understandable how this need for sacrifice grew into a cottage industry and became highly organized. Yesterday, we visited Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna, the Temples of the Sun and the Moon. The Temples of the Moon were built first so that area was much more developed. 

The archeological digs didn’t really get going until after 1990. The Huaca de la Luna was built in five layers but the Spaniards took off the top layer looking for gold in the 1500’s. They found gold in the form of ceremonials objects and garments. No one knows how much they found as they melted down the artifacts and shipped them back to Spain. 

The looters were not as interested in the other artifacts so many of them still survive to show how the culture developed over the centuries. They favored a certain kind of pottery and many examples were on display in the University Museum but we were forbidden to take pictures. 

I could have bought something to bring home but I forgot my purse with all our money in it. I was in a rush to publish my current blog before we got off the ship in the morning and totally spaced it. I had to run back the ship when we returned and grab some money for the tour guide. 

Our guide was Alfredo Rios Mercedes and he gave us a bang up tour of the area. We were on a wonderful bus with a driver so Alfredo lectured all day and answered questions. As usual, we asked about education. It’s mandatory but the students were on vacation. Winter break starts in mid-December and lasts until March 1. So we saw a lot of children wherever we went. 

I asked for the local consensus about America. It wasn’t enthusiastic but not too guarded. He said they like Obama more than Bush, but again, not a glowing recommendation. I took 300 pictures yesterday. It took a couple of hours to organize them when we got back to the ship. 

We were beat. Bill made it all the way to the top of the Temple of the Moon. We took his walker. People on the tour carried it up the different flights of stairs. We held onto each other and managed to struggle slowly to the top. As you can imagine, he stayed on the bus after that. 

After the Temples, we visited Trujillo city. We visited the main buildings around the Plaza del Armas. We saw some restored houses that are now owned by local banks. They were called the Urquaiga and Emancipation Houses. So, people were lined up outside to do banking business but they let us past the locked gate to take pictures of the courtyards and the house section. 

I took a picture of the Simon Bolivar’s bedroom. We also visited another Cathedral called San Francisco. I accidentally set my camera on Portrait and all those pictures were lost but it looked like most cathedrals in Spain. 

Next, we went to see the Citadel of Chan Chan. Chan Chan means Sun Sun. This is the culture of the people who succeeded the Mohicans. These excavations are also recent so only one of the 17 huge temples is even partly excavated and restored. Before this excavation, they just looked like hills of sand. No one really knew what was under the sand until they uncovered some of it. They were still dedicated to human sacrifice but organized it differently. 

You will have to wait for the pictures to see how they set up their public squares. It was highly geometrical. We saw only one set of circles during our walk. They did not use the wheel except in children’s toys. Somehow, the utility of the wheel escaped their notice. They carried the king on a litter. Last of all, we saw Huanchaco Beach and the Reed Boats. 

(I lost all my pics so I borrowed this one from the internet.)

These boats have the same design as the boats they use at Lake Titticaca except they are only pointed at the bow. We saw one person paddle a boat out through the surf and it worked just dandy. This used to be a major fishing area but has turned into a surfing city. Young boys took their body boards and ran down the beach into the surf. When they hit a wave, they would do a forward somersault. I don’t think that was their plan but they looked like they were really having a good time. The sanitary measures onboard have been loosened a little so we will be able to wash our clothes today.

2016-2-16 Rotterdam--Plague Ship, Part 2--Met man from BYU

We are back on lock down this morning. When we went up to the Lido deck for breakfast, everything was off-limits again. The crew has to hand us silverware, dishes, food, salt and pepper, etc. Here is the lead singer on the ship helping out with food service. 

We checked the laundry room on the way back and it was still open, so Bill gathered our dirty clothes and headed out. He got everything dried and was leaving when they came to lock it down. Some people had just put their clothes in the washer or dryer. The crew member took their room numbers and said they would collect the wet clothes from their rooms.

I went swimming at 7:30 a.m. and I had to ask a crew member for a towel as they are no longer out due to the Norovirus. We picked it up in either Corinto or Panama. The insidious thing about it is that when the vomiting and such goes away, the sufferer is still communicable for 48 hours. They are supposed to stay in their rooms during that time but I am sure that some don’t report it and continue to share.

We were in the pool for a short time yesterday but, apparently not short enough as Bill has a red head and pink shoulders. I wore my hair and a white T-shirt in the pool so I am not pink. Since I was also wearing my white socks, a woman asked me if I was doing my laundry.

I met a fellow in the pool who was standing in the deep end which is 6 feet deep. He said he played basketball for BYU and graduated in 1961. His last record was just broken by Jimmer Fredette. That record stood for over 50 years.

We are signed up to go to Trujillo, Peru tomorrow (Thursday, Feb 16) and then to Lima on Friday and Saturday. We will still be in Lima on Sunday but will take the day off.

We have big plans to see archeological digs tomorrow. It should be a long, tiring day but I hope it will be fun. We are going with the Cruise Critic group again. I think we will give the wine to the fellow who planned this trip for us.

2012-2-16 Valentine's Day

Another wonderful day on the Rotterdam! We spent the whole day talking about how we can make our life at home more like our life on the ship. It’s just as everyone says—this is the best retirement home in the world. It also reminds me a little of Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. I always liked that story.

I asked our Indonesian waiters if they did something for their wives for Valentine’s Day. To a man, they called home. I wasn’t sure who celebrates Valentine’s Day. They said it’s pretty much universal, among younger people anyway.

My throat still hurts and I am still coughing. I am still using Tylenol, cough medicine and cough drops. Bill had it but he got over it much sooner.

We went swimming today and it was wonderful. I kept my head out of the water so I don’t think it will make my cold worse.

We went to see the movie, “The Big Year” with Steve Martin and Jack Black in the Wajang Theater. We have already seen it at home but I love birds so I will probably watch it many more times. The other day, I saw Brown Boobies fishing outside our window. They wait for the flying fish to surface and then dive down to get them. I ran upstairs to the promenade deck and took some video. They flew within ten feet of the ship so I got some good pictures.

Tonight, we had a fabulous singer in honor of Valentine’s Day. Her name is Alfreda Gerald and she sang a Tribute to the Divas. It was all florid, romantic songs. She said she doesn’t normally do Whitney Houston but she sang “I Will Always Love You” in her honor and got a well-deserved standing ovation. We have had wonderful entertainment on this cruise.

However, it was another formal night. We have dressed up eleven times in the last month so we didn’t do it tonight. We have stopped going to the main dining room on formal nights. It’s just a nuisance. I agree with Bill--I want to wear only T-shirts and capris until I die.

2012-2-15 Panama

We never did go ashore in Panama. One of the serving staff told us that we didn’t miss much. I would like to see it one day.

Last night there was a movie in the big Showroom at Sea on deck four forward. I heard a lady say, "Is that the room at the pointy end of the ship?"

We saw “Tower Heist” with Ben Stiller. I thought it was fine. It was a send up of the heist movies with a social message attached. The little people took revenge on a Bernie Madoff-like character who stole their pension money.

I ran into a new friend this morning. She said they had a wonderful time on their trip to the Embara Indian village except that the traffic added two hours to their trip. Panama City has a spectacular skyline. It’s easy to see the money they are making on the canal. I counted 26 ships lined up to go through the canal yesterday. Those were just the ones I could see.

We were getting the Latin version of CNN International for a few days. I like it a lot better than CNN Asia or even CNN Europe. They cover the world with a new hemisphere emphasis. We saw Fareed Zakaria on Sunday and Anderson Cooper in the afternoon.

Of course, we get Fox News and all the reports about Whitney Houston.

I was on Facebook this morning and it’s good to see that things seem to be going well at home with all my friends and family. I do miss you all. I also miss the friends we made on the Hawaii part of the voyage. I wonder how John and Lore are doing, as well as Susan and Erwin. I will get in touch with them when we get home.

Speaking of our last cruise, I would give our gift bottle of wine to John if he was still on board. He really liked wine with dinner. I tried to give it to our cabin steward, Dodi, but he says he is a Muslim and doesn’t drink alcohol. I am still looking for a likely candidate to palm it off on.

There are displays set up on the Rotterdam selling Valentine’s Day items such as teddy bears and chocolate dipped strawberries. I told Bill that this trip is enough of a gift for me. It also covered Christmas and our anniversary.

We saw another amazing Magician/Comedian named Craig Diamond. Bill and I both think we remember him from the Tonight show with Johnny Carson. His comedy routine was as good as his magic.

2012-2-10 Corinto, Nicaragua

UPDATE:  I lost all my pictures from this area, I am sorry to say.

It’s 8:30 in the morning and already hot and humid here. We are docked at the mouth of a river. If you look to the left, it looks like a regular tropical island. If you look to the right, it’s an industrial port. I made another panoramic picture of the mouth of the river.

This is the location of Corinto, Nicaragua:

I went all the way off the ship and talked to the shore excursion expert. She said that we can walk out of the port area and there is a small town with several internet cafes. I think Bill can make it on his scooter. There are pedicabs right outside the gate. I would love to ride in one but I think the scooter is better for Bill.

While I was upstairs this morning, I talked to the Catholic pastor on board the ship. He said that the United States mined this harbor in the 1980’s. Now we wonder why we aren’t popular here? When I told Bill about this conversation, he said, “It won’t be a problem for us because we’re Canadians, eh?”

I asked our Guatemalan guide yesterday about the current attitude toward America. He said it is improving since the CIA stopped supporting the large companies against the local people. Chiquita Banana was the example that came to his mind. They are part of United Fruit.

I’m really glad Bill bought some hard candy at the Wal Mart. I need it to control my cough. I would love to go swimming today but I don’t want to aggravate my cold. It’s not bad during the day but really annoys me at night.

Lunchtime:
Bill is asleep so I am waiting for him to finish his nap before we head up to the Lido deck for our next feeding. We ate lunch in the main dining room one day at my urging and it turned out that Bill didn’t like anything on the menu that day.He wants a sandwich with potato chips every day. He had better eat them now as potato chips are never on the menu at home.

We ventured out to see the shopping stalls this morning. It’s hot. I know that those of you wading through the snow don’t want to hear about how hot it is here so I will be quiet about it.

I tried the internet but it was another confusing keyboard. I read one story in the Salt Lake Tribune and then gave up and came back to the ship. One good thing—it was only a dollar. I think I will invest another $100 in the internet on board before we get home. That is the price for 250 minutes. Even then, the connection is poor.

I get upstairs by 7 each morning. Not because I want to get up but because I want to get on the internet before everyone else signs on. I heard from another passenger that the Celebrity cruise line has free internet and it works great. It’s something to think about.

The story I read was about Josh Powell who murdered his wife and children. He had a difficult time growing up and was cruel to animals. That’s always a bad sign.

I bought some grasshoppers that a young man made for us out of reeds. They are way cool. I think they will turn brown before we get home but may still be okay. A woman from the ship said she bought one in Japan and it is still good. I took a video of him making them. He said his name was Kevin which sounds unlikely. School starts in Nicaragua next week. It is mandatory but unenforced.

I enjoyed book club the other day. The wife of the Protestant minister was there and she is has good insights. We talked about how wonderful it is to be raised in two cultures. The dolphin people switched back and forth from Spanish to English with ease and I really admire that ability. We discussed the character of the boy’s mother at length.

The passengers on this leg of the journey are in better shape than those that left Some are only on the ship for 15 days. They are younger and not as handicapped. There are fewer scooters and walkers. There are fewer people who are severely overweight, too. There are not as many attending the big shows at night. They must be in the clubs or dance areas. Many are going to Machu Picchu or the Galapagos Islands or both.

There are lots of jokes about how old and decrepit the passengers are on the longer cruises. I believe it. But, I still want to go. We are setting the clocks forward again tonight. We will be on Eastern Standard Time.

On Sunday, we are visiting the Embara Village in Panama. We will take a tender to port, then spend an hour in a van and then ride in a dugout canoe for about an hour. We will spend two hours there and then head back. There is plenty to do and see in Panama but not so much if you need a scooter. It will be interesting to see how Bill does with his canes and his water shoes which don’t offer any support.