JANUARY 24, 2008—H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y
TO MY LITTLE SISTER, KELLYE!

The wind continues to howl past our patio doors and the sea was very wobbly at times in the night, but we slept well.
TALES OF AN AVIATOR: This was one of our British “chaps” who had an impressive career as a fighter pilot including several years in the British equivalent of the Flying Angels or Thunderbirds. He focused on the planes of his training and performances for crowds. In the typical dry wit style of the British, he focused mostly on how stupid and cocky he had been in his youth and how he almost killed himself several times over his career. He certainly must have an angel on his shoulder. We were all laughing so hard we had tears running down our cheeks.
These lectures by the British spy and this fighter pilot are well attended by men and women, a tribute to how entertaining they are as speakers.
TODAY’S OCEAN: is sunlit, crystal blue, and with low waves. Absolutely marvelous and not another thing in sight! This makes you appreciate how brave the people in olden times must have been (that or too stupid to realize the dangers) to go across oceans in little more than rafts.
READING: I found a lovely site that is (mostly) quiet where several others were reading. I finally finished the Discover magazines to pass along to Ed. One of our dinner table mates loves this magazine also.
LUNCH: There was a 10 country luncheon buffet but I stuck with fruits and iced tea (I made up for it in the evening however).
RATATOUILLE: Ok, you can laugh, but I’ve wanted to see this movie since it first came out. I’m amazed at the way the animators have captured the gestures and expressions of the various cultures and social strata. And I love Peter O’Toole’s voice as the food critic. Give it a chance if it comes on; it’s cute.
BALLROOM DANCE CLASS: It was the tango today. Ed wasn’t there but I stayed for about half of it. I enjoy seeing how different people teach and the steps they show. I think I could do this if I did it all the time-and it’s good exercise. These two dancers from the ship’s troupe taught the American tango.
QUEEN MARY: Dr. Sarah Weber regaled us once more with the story of the Queen Mary. She is a great story teller, as was this morning’s speaker.
NAP TIME: I could hardly keep my eyes open but couldn’t sleep when I tried to nap. Of course, after supper, I’m wide away and bushy tailed.
DINNER: The original 6 of us were present but I don’t think the final composition of this table is finished yet. I am constantly amazed at the interesting lives all of us have had. We talked about the cost of the various excursions, various kinds of ships (one of our members was in the Navy for 20+ years), classroom environments yesterday and today. We also discussed the fact that we can’t get CNN this far out in the Pacific but Fox News comes in loud and clear. Several at our table thought that was just fine. So Ed and I are checking out the lip flapping on Fox. I was relieved to see Juan Williams of NPR as one of the pundits. The Democratic pollster was a stranger to me as was the Republican strategist. None of us are quite sure who’s left in the Presidential race but we do understand that Guiliani’s numbers are bombing and steady-as-she-goes John McCain is moving up.
ENTERTAINMENT: This was Yasha Konviser, a violin virtuoso, who is from Russia but recently became an American citizen. He played classical and C&W (The Orange Blossom Special). For one piece about a swan, a performance by Pavlova (the ballerina) was shown on the screen as he played. My word, she was incredible and his music was gorgeous with it.
The violin had an electrical enhancement which Ed really dislikes. I’m ambivalent but it does help hear all of the notes above the background band.
I was thinking about how fortunate we are to be able to experience this classical music in such an intimate setting. And this performance venue is right under our room and we never hear a thing.
Ed was saying that we have 589 passengers, which means we aren’t a full ship OR we have a lot of single supplements (which is also possible). 385 are from USA; 87 Canada; 63 UK. There are 373 crew members. 167 Philippines; 42 from Indonesia; None of the rest are above 15. there are a total of 33 countries represented among the crew, and 15 among the passengers. Also, among the passengers, 1 each from Spain and Sweden.

JANUARY 23, 2008—STILL ON THE WAY TO EASTER ISLAND

No ships anywhere around us and we’re in one of the deepest areas of the ocean. The wind howls almost unceasingly yet the TV shows it at 23 mph roughly; perhaps it’s a function of how it impacts our balcony. The ship rolls steadily as the veteran that she is.
PORT TALK: Our perpetually cheerful port speaker (I say this with affection) went over Easter Island and Pitcairn Island with his usual array of photos, photographic hints, and gossipy history, much of the latter from the logs of the Bounty. I’d love to have a marathon movie session on here with the 3 versions of the movie Mutiny on the Bounty with Charles Laughton, Marlon Brando & Trevor Howard, and Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. Wouldn’t that be neat. I don’t think we get off at Pitcairn; we only cruise around with a naturalist telling us what we’re seeing.
Before I move on, Easter Island has hundreds of those maoi (I’ll have it straight later but this is those huge faces in stone); Most of us thought there were only a few here and there.
LUNCH: One couple at our table, now retired on an island between B.C. and the mainland near Seattle, sailed all these waters for 6 yrs in a 50’ boat. She is a ham operator. They had wonderful stories to tell as you can imagine. Father came by to be sure we were behaving ourselves.
MORE GALAPAGOS: There was a presentation by the future cruise consultant on board. This fellow was our accompaniment to the Galapagos. Apparently, he has his own set of video clips memorializing our repeated indignities and plans to show it after some editing. We’re all looking for him to see how much the bribes will cost us.
THE SPY IN THE SKY: The resident British spook expert gave a spellbinding presentation on the secrets of aerial intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance-the key to modern warfare. From Montgolfier’s balloon to Predator and spies the size of bees. Almost most all of this was new to me but still interesting. He did cover the Gary Powers U-2 incident over Russia; U-2 planes are still in service apparently.
He had several instances where things were classified information yet one could find the same images on Google earth for example. Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing!
SUPPER: One couple said they were still full from lunch and didn’t join us. We have lively discussions despite the disparity in ages, geographic groundings, and nationalities—or perhaps it’s because of those!
TONITE’S ENTERTAINMENT: David McArthur (slight hint of Scottish accent among the British sounds), a classical pianist, lulled us with pieces by Schubert, Grieg, Chopin, and a Louisiana virtuoso who did some composing, Gottschalk (are you listening, Nancy?). He is a seasoned performer and it was wonderful just to relax and let the sounds wash over you. I am again reminded that there is no real substitute for hearing music in person.
There’s lots more going on here: A sock hop, Karaoke, sing-alongs with the resident lounge piano player and such. We’re promised a star party when the situation is right and we’re excited to see how this one is done.
THINGS WE HAVEN’T DONE YET! I’d still like to do some ceramics but the scheduling seems to always conflict with some other event and I want to have uninterrupted time. Afternoon tea is still on our “to do” list. Trivia! We’ve yet to do this but we both enjoy it immensely. The padre and others were discussing some of those dynamics and questions this week. There’s another doctoral study there; make no mistake, none have yet bested “The Laundromat” though. Not a day goes by that someone hasn’t discovered the bizarre behavior of that small, closet like room.
There’s a “friends of Dr. Bob and Bill W”. All 12 steppers are invited. I haven’t been to a 12 step meeting in years. Might be good to see what this one is like.
Some we’re not likely to do: Pool games, crazy golf (you chip into the pool-whoopie), Bridge (always big on ships and cruises), Chats with others about sights we’ve seen; these are moderated by cruise staff. Ping pong and shuffleboard (we’re told it’s too windy for these on the upper decks. One of the couples at our table loves this and the husband especially complains that it isn’t on the promenade deck where you can avoid the wind by going to the other side. I suggested they put it in the suggestion box and it might happen. But human nature being what it is, I suspect it’s easier to just gripe about it). Deck Quoits (kind’ve like horsehoes I’m told though I have yet to see it).
Daily there is “walk a mile”, Yoga ($10), Stretch and relax, Kick Boxing ($10) and Pilaes ($10). There are cards and games you can check out. The library now has one copy of a few different news papers. There’s a major movie each day: tomorrow it’s ratatatouille (ok, you can laugh but I’ve wanted to see it ever since I saw the previews). Various of the lectures are repeated now and then on the room TV.
There are computer at sea classes for a fee of about $25 each. And of course the spa daily has events promising perpetual youth, unblemished and smooth skin (all over if you’re willing to fork over substantial $$), melting fat, and kissing aches and pains goodbye.
There are three lounges on board: the Cabaret where the major entertainment and lectures are done, as well as the dance classes (again, scheduling conflict often). I was really proud of Ed the other day: I did the red hat get together and he went to the dance class. So soon I expect he’ll be driving me around the floor with purpose. The Pacific Lounge is on Deck 10 forward; it’s like you’re usual nightclubs. And the Casino Lounge which is next to the bar and, you guessed it, the Casino. I don’t see a lot of “action” in the Casino though.
We are not spared the ubiquitous art auctions though I have to say, I’d love to attend the lectures as I think I’d learn a lot. There are some lovely paintings on sale but there’s no danger Ed or I will be tempted to buy though we do gaze and enjoy many of them.
Mahjong has just gotten going and we can’t forget to mention (drumroll please) Bingo! Ed and I usually play during the last game when the jackpot is big. That will be a long way off. And of course there’s Mass every morning. Father will be getting off in Rome, flying to Dublin and visiting there before returning to Klamath Falls Oregon where he lives. I suspect a Rabbi will come on board then for Passover.
There are two boutiques on board; this is a small ship as you know. But each day a different set of wares is places on tables in the atrium with the expected 15% and 20% off signs. The Photo and Video Galley regales us with frequent photo opportunities and accessory packages of frames, scrapbooks and such. And of course, the bars feature about 3 different cocktails each day. When they advertise the Capiranahs (Brazilian national drink), Ed is there front and center.
FUTURE PORTS: Jan 26th for Easter Island; sail around Pitcairn Jan 29th.
In the meantime, I still have lots of reading. Ed finished one of the Discover magazines today and is back to his Barbara Ehrenreich book. My Iberia is on hold while I catch up on the Discover magazines so as not to hold Ed up. I still have several Vanity Fair issues in reserve that he doesn’t yet know about.

JANUARY 22, 2008—ON THE SEA TO EASTER ISLAND

NOTES ABOUT THE GALLERY that goes with this blog. I have to reduce the size of these photos so they may not have the clarity you’d otherwise expect. Also, I may not remember to put the photos in the right category so you should set it to see all of the photos.
LAST NIGHT’S ENTERTAINMENT: We didn’t go but we heard we didn’t miss anything good. That of course made us feel better. Instead, we decided to get little things done and go to sleep early.
A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP: The wind howled past the balcony all night long. The ocean swells are greater now and the ship sways as she glides along the ocean top. We woke up easily before the alarm rang, turned on CNN to see what had happened in the world, and realized how isolated we are from world events while on tour, and to a certain extent, while on board.
AIR FLIGHT HISTORY: Air Vice Marshall Ron Dick , along with a photographer, has written a 5 book series about the dramatic story of conquering the Pacific by air. He had fascinating photos and unbelievable stories of daring and courage among the early pilots.
LUNCH: When we sat down, the padre remarked that he and I had to “quit meeting like this or folks would begin to talk.” Another fellow we’ve seen around the ship and with whom we had meals, also joined this table. He’s currently reading an hilarious book by Bob Newhart and undoubtedly there will be a waiting list to read this book. Several vignettes were repeated for us and I guffawed.
We had a free ranging discussion about the sales on board, how to really find bargains (on shore), the pros and cons of buying the ship’s Coke package, changes in the life on these ships over the years and the impact of Carnival’s ownership on what is and isn’t done. The Irish humor is a continuing enjoyment of mine and Father didn’t disappoint today either. The funniest story was about a mock trial at an all men’s event he attended. It’s too long to recount here, and those of you who know me will know that I’ll laugh so hard I won’t be able to finish it anyway.
In the TALK ABOUT GETTING RELIGION DEPARTMENT: Folks are being diligent about using the alcohol hand sanitizers around the ship. The crew spray the handrails each day with some solution. And folks with peculiar symptoms are quickly isolated. This place is a contained Petri dish so it’s understandable that they’d need to use extraordinary precautions. Also keep in mind that the Captain has absolute rule on this ship and what he says is what will happen irrespective of an individual’s personal wishes. We’ve heard only praise for how this is being managed.
FUTURE TOURS: I did my homework yesterday and put notes in the excursions ashore book for Ed to look at and make decisions about many of our future tours. I didn’t realize just how many long excursions there are. For example, there’s a trek to the Great Wall in Beijing from Shanghai.
BEHIND ON MY READING: Ed is coveting the Discover magazines I haven’t yet completed. It’s not that he doesn’t have plenty that he hasn’t read yet. It is that he wants to read what he sees on the covers. So I need to put aside Iberia by James Michener, and catch up. I also brought along a few Vanity Fairs that are like a book manuscript in size.
RED HATS: I knew you couldn’t wait. Five of us plus one “wanna be” showed up and had a nice visit sharing information about our chapters, events, and other miscellany. One lady lives in B.C. half the year, and near Mesa, AZ the other half. A woman now retired to Florida (escaped from Chicago) is Goan from India and had not heard of a royal name but she said she’ll become Maharani something. She’s the first Majarani I’ve met. One of the ladies is a computer teacher on this cruise and her chapter sent her off with a red baseball cap embroidered with their chapter name.
RMS LUSITANIA: Sarah Weber regaled us with the history of this well know ocean liner. She kept us on the edge of our seats to the very end. And it was all so unnecessary and again a function of stupidity and wartimes.
DINNER: One of our couples was at the captain’s small group meetings and will be doing second seating dinner tonite. So the six of us had a fun round of discussions. There is a dry sense of humor with one of the men and he has a sweet countenance to go with it. The head waiter made peach melba tonite. On previous nights he has made bananas foster; both were scrumptious.
TONITE’S ENTERTAINMENT: The ship’s dance troupe was scheduled. However, at 7 pm the cruise director was told that the major male singer is ill with a fever. So he asked tomorrow’s entertainer if he would be willing to fill in at the last minute. He had not yet rehearsed his skit because he didn’t expect to perform until tomorrow night, so it was a little bit of a hairy start. However, he picked up steam, started doing some things with people in the audience, and it all ended on a fun level.
One of the funny remarks he made was: The name of this ship is the Sea Nile. It stops in the same port everyday and no one knows the difference.
We have booked most of our excursions but a few ports remain for decisions. Some of the offerings are equally attractive and there’s only so much time. Ah the travails of travel.
FUTURE PORT VISITS: Ed heard that there is stormy weather at many of these island ports so we may not be able to land, or may avoid the islands all together. This would be a great disappointment of course, but not the end of the world (we’ve been to there already).

JANUARY 20, 2008—GALAPAGOS

WHAT I’D DO DIFFERENT NEXT TIME: Go with a smaller group (so you’re not squeezed like sardines into the dinghy among other reasons). Take cool water if possible. Have a supply of plastic bags to put dirty and wet items into your backpack. Be sure to have a good hat: broad brim, air holes, and a chin strap so you don’t lose it in the strong winds. Check that you have lots of sunblock. Bring good sunglasses, preferably with wrap around lenses to protect from the flying sand (my camera was gritty for a while: I’ll probably have to have it serviced when I return but so far it’s still working). Lip balm is a nice addition, eye drops (to wash out the sand), plastic bags for electronic equipment: one lady ruined her camera in the wet but her flash card was saved). Binoculars are a great addition. We had ours along, however, after you get your reading glasses, sunglasses, camera, and hat strung around your neck, one more appendage seems much. So I took it in my backpack for several days, but regretfully, we never took it out.
Lower your standards of personal cleanliness. There’s no way you’ll remain dry or clean. Don’t bring any apparel that isn’t rugged and forgiving.
THE NATURALISTS: These folks really are an amazing lot. They must be multi-talented, multilingual, and have good teaching and people skills. They are naturally curious about their environment and clearly enjoy hearing stories contributed by the people in their group. I think my son Pat would have enjoyed this work and would have been very good at it. Alas, they are all younger men, many single (by choice or chance as they are gone for several days at a time from their homes), and all very fit.
PACKING: Ugh. But we got it done. Ed has really used the digital scale for weighing our luggage. However, it means that our backpacks are burdened with all the electronic gadgets we brought along.
CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH CENTER: This was a long walk through various areas where we got to walk with Lonesome George, the oldest turtle in the world. Even at this they believe he can live at least a hundred more years and perhaps more. These tortoises are part of a breeding program so we saw the eggs hatching all the way to the four year olds. The latter are still not as large as my palm and so cute. Each is given an identifying number on its shell and this is used to keep track of it’s heritage and such. After this year, they are released on their native islands. In this way, the population is being replenished after being decimated by sailors and joy seekers.
We saw more giant prickly pear cacti forests and several diverse land birds. This too quick visit was only 40 min!
CROSS ISLAND TREK: We went by shuttle to the pier where we picked up a ferry to the island for the airport. This is a good way for the locals to travel and they commandeered the first bus to arrive. We waited for the next one and our naturalists helped us all get on. We were (again) already late for our schedule.
Then began a very long bus ride across the island. On the southern side, it is very moist and tropical with almost rain forest like qualities. As soon as the bus reached the summit, you could begin to see the changes into the desert of the northern side of the island. We arrived at the airport along with thousands of other folks. It is not easy to figure out any organization here. At this point, the ship’s employee took over and we all somehow managed to get on the plane (you walk a long way down the tarmac to get the plane here, something which further challenges getting people with physical limitations on board.
You quickly learn that departure times for these airlines are pretty much advisory. This flight, on Aero Gal (for aerolineas Galapagos) took us to Lima where we had to transit immigration yet once more. Since I had my Reid sleeve on, I had some concern about security clearance (remember the fiasco in De Gaulle airport last year?) but they waved me through without a hitch. This time we flew Tame Airlines which is a cooperating airline with United so we got 600 miles credit for that leg.
On the plane was a family with two adorable little girls, probably 4 and 6. You just wanted to pinch their cheeks. The stewardess gave them both tootsie rolls and they were even fun to watch when they were sucking on these.
At the Lima airport, a local travel guide met us and after some time with luggage and traffic, we boarded a bus for the ride to the ship. We arrived back about 8:45 pm. There was a local folklorico group as the program but we wanted to unpack, get a good shower, and catch up on some of the sleep we lost because of the engine noise on the Legend (which may only apply to a few rooms: the noise level that is).
HE’S A STAR!...AGAIN. Last night the ship had a Neptune party to celebrate those who were pollywogs. Ed was asked to be King Neptune and I was “his” Queen. We arrived a few minutes before the show for Kyra to give us scripts, put on make-up, and get our costumes. Ed had a huge Trident with the script pasted on the reverse. His regalia were complete with a crown, impressive cape (through which his favorite tiger shirt shown) and a white apron/skirt. I had a tiara (which kept falling off: it was child sized and there light on the ceiling was less than an inch above my head. I finally just held it) and a cape and I was given two glasses, one with a red liquid, the other green.
We also had passengers in costumes for the Prince of Tides, 3 pirates (one guy was exceptionally good!), “the captain”, and sea gull, iguana (the young lady who played the iguana was hilarious in imitating the movements we had observed over these several days), turtle, shark, penguin, and one other I’ve forgotten. Most of the latter, were teens on the boat.
This was all played up beautifully for the “audience” of fellow passengers, with music, announced arrivals and such. I had to kiss the Captain—don’t ask why: it was part of the script. I wondered about how to do this when Kyra showed me to put my cape over the Captain’s head and pretend. The Captain was much taller than I and he cooperated by bending under the cape; he was probably as confused about our roles as I was. Later, the pirates were to pick two members of the audience to be “slaves”. I ordered them to “kneel down in the presence of my King!” (don’t you know Ed was loving this!). Then the Prince of Tides and I made the slaves choose whether they wanted to drink “turtles blood” or “iguana pee” with strong suggestions being shouted by the pirate chorus. The Prince of Tides dubbed each one as one of the animals we had and the animals pulled their slave with them. After the slave drank whatever drink they were told (the green had mint flavor and I’ve forgotten what the red was), the animal left the stage followed by the former slave, now the same animal, and they had to actually act like that animal. Again, the iguana was hilarious as the girl wriggled her body, jutted her head, and spit—exactly as we had watched the iguanas do all these days.
At the end, all of us actors, were to grab someone from the audience to dance. I grabbed Harry, our naturalist. (Now that I think of it, I have no idea who Ed grabbed!). Harry it turns out, is a very good dancer, unlike moi, but he was kind and we had a good time. We were rewarded with a free drink for all our service. Ed and I stayed a while and enjoyed a family with young parents and teens who were a delight to observe.
In our rooms we found a certificate from the ship documenting how many times we had crossed the equator during our stay.

JANUARY 19, 2008—GALAPAGOS

After breakfast, we left for SANTIAGO (Egas Port). This was a wet landing (I’ll say). Tuff stone layers and lava flows are the terrain here. Hunting herons, great blue herons, lava herons (remember I can’t tell herons or egrets from each other), American oyster catchers (these fellows are black and white with the brightest long red beak!), and the yellow crowned night heron (I can recognize this one!).
This looks like a moonscape.
Marine iguanas graze peacefully on algae (they have a snout that is adapted for this purpose). Again, we saw these gorgeous sally-light foot crabs. (I’ll try to remember to reduce the size of one of the photos we took and post it in the blog’s gallery so you can see.) Sea lions frolicking every where. They look like they are having so much fun. When they are dried out on the beach, you’d think they were dead except for their flippers swatting flies (and these are huge flies).
ONE OF OUR FUNNIEST EXPERIENCES and one which will probably symbolize this trip for us: we had a “dry” landing onto (wet and slick) lava and in a few steps, a staircase made of stones had been created. We are mounting it single file when a sea lion races toward us bellowing as he heads toward the water. It is very clear that he’s telling us to move out the way: he has the right of way. So we automatically move to the right so he can scamper down. We laugh every time we think about it.
OCEAN WATER: is actually wonderful. Temps range from about 68-72. The water is crystal clear! You must observe the waves coming in as they suck the sand from around your feet and you will suddenly find yourself in water deeper than you expected.
For those who snorkel, you can see octopuses, sea horses, star fish, and other sea life. One day I’d love to snorkel with family and without a tour so that my visual and other “challenges” wouldn’t be such an impediment.
SEALS: Here these have a small body size and because of the face, are sometimes referred to as teddy bears. They sound different and they have two layers of fur.
RABIDA: Also known as Jervis. This is often considered the geographic center of the Galapagos because it has the most diversified volcanic rocks of all the islands. This was our afternoon tour after lunch and a rest on the ship. This beach is red because of the iron. Rabida is a very small island with many mocking birds and pelican nests.
This island was also a salt mine area and there is a lagoon here where flamingos are often seen. Because of time constraints (some of our folks can’t walk very fast), we did not see that.
At the end of the afternoon, we took a dinghy ride by the reefs and cliffs where we saw our friends, the blue footed boobies and shellback turtles. A marine iguana was perched in a crevice high on the side of a cliff. I haven’t a clue how it got there!