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.

2012-2-9 Antigua, Guatemala

(I lost all my photos of this cruise except the ones I posted on Facebook.)

Bill was seasick for most of the afternoon yesterday. We had some rougher seas for a few hours and it set him off. So, he took some meclizine. Last night he didn’t sleep well. Today, he had a headache so it was not his best day.

We went off with our new Cruise Critic friends to see Antigua. They are great. We enjoy them all. As usual, there are teachers in the group and teachers are the best. Holland America attracts former teachers because of the interesting itineraries.

Our guide was Juan Pablo. He was born and raised here. He got married at 15 against his parent’s advice but he has made it work. He learned English from a friend and got involved in the tourist industry. Now, he owns several Toyota minivans and runs his own tour business. The group that we signed up with is called Happy Fish Tours but it turned out that they hired Juan to do the actual work in this case.

He told us that Guatemala has over 30 volcanoes and four or five are active. We saw three volcanoes just driving to Antigua. They were venting smoke, too. One was venting out the side as well as the top. We saw vents in the valley floor, too. It seems to me like a dangerous place to live. Volcanoes are much easier to avoid than earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. Just don’t live next door to one (or three).

If you look carefully at the volcano on the right, you can see that it's venting out the side. 

The capital city was moved to Antigua in 1547 because of a volcano eruption. Since then, it has moved to Guatemala City. They laid down the cobblestone streets before building the city so the streets are even older than the cathedral.

I bought three necklaces for my granddaughters from a street vendor and after that we were hounded mercilessly. 

The vendors followed us and constantly asked us to buy. I also bought a woven runner for my table. I hid it under my T-shirt but my fate was sealed then. Bill took away all the cash I had left so I stopped buying at that point. We have to think about how we are going to get home with what we bought.

We stopped first at the Cathedral de San Francisco which was built in 1547. The Pope visited in 2003 and named Brother Peter a saint. He was not a priest but did many miracles and good works. He helped to build the cathedral and is buried in it. Our guide, Juan Pablo, said he practices a local religion that combines Mayan beliefs with Catholicism. He told us the name but I don’t remember. It was something like Synchrisity. I got the idea that it combined Catholic beliefs with Mayan beliefs. We couldn’t take pictures inside the Cathedral.

Our next stop was a restored convent which was in ruins. It has been partially rebuilt and turned into restaurants, bars and museums. It is an absolutely stunning development. I probably took a hundred pictures. We also made a short stop at a jade factory for the requisite sales pitch. I took some pictures of jade.

Bill says he wants a day off tomorrow. We were going to the city of Leon in Nicaragua. It sounds like too much walking for him and he really doesn’t feel up to it. 

We have had three fantastic musical programs in a row. George Solomon put on a great 50’s/60’s music show. Last night, we heard a classical pianist from China. Tonight was Live Wire, a husband and wife who play foot-tapping Celtic music on a fiddle and a guitar. They also played “Molly Malone”, “Danny Boy”, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and “Dueling Banjos”. They were all really good. Tomorrow night, they will all appear again in a variety show.

We saw some wonderful buses in Antigua. 

We saw families walking on the side of the road and women carrying things on their heads.

We saw horses transporting logs. 

I'm not sure where I took this picture of an arbor but it could have been outside the restaurant where we ate lunch.

Here is a close up of the flowers in that arbor. 

We saw a woman selling flowers on the street in Antigua.

Here is the restaurant. 

I would eat this delicious food now if I could get it.

We had music during lunch. Very beautiful town. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Center.