JANUARY 18, 2008…WE MEET THE IGUANAS ON THEIR TURF

ADVANCE INSTRUCTIONS: Pack light; luggage weight limit is 20 kgs (2.2 pounds=1kg) and no liquids. Green luggage tag so that our luggage will be transferred for us.
One of our ship speakers stated that you use 480 Cal per hour hiking. I’d bet we were expending more as nothing was flat (lava, sand, stone) and sometimes over elevations.
CLEAN-UP INFO FROM YESTERDAY, JANUARY 17: We often saw hammocks under thatched roofs with no walls. And again it is funny to see all the political advertisements painted onto the walls around houses and companies. I am also always saddened to see all the refuse thrown anywhere. This is very noticeable in most So. Amer. Countries and they would look so much better (and perhaps be healthier) if it were not so. FOR NANCY: many folks had their pigs in their yards but somehow I doubt they were pets. There is a beautiful black and yellow bird and many air plants growing on the high-wire electric lines in the areas with high humidity.
Along the race track ride from Manta to Guayaquil on the bus, (stop signs seemed to be advisory only to our driver) we saw many cacti that looked like the ocotillo of SW USA. There are many trees with yellow-green trunks but the “tour guide” on our bus was either lazy or too terrified by the driving to tell us anything along the way. There are many rice paddies here and one often sees grottos with saints by the road and in yards.
Egrets (or herons, I still don’t know the difference…but they were white with long necks.
ALSO FOR NANCY: Graves are above the ground here. No one ever said why but it may be because this is a heavy lava area and it’s brutal to dig graves. Also saw many houses on stilts, though not all. Makes you wonder but then that’s true in New Orleans too.
LOCAL CURRENCY: Is the USD. However, they have their own coins (since they often experience a shortage of US coins. Their value and sizes are the same as US coins.
YESTERDAY’S ISLAND: was Bartolome. It has volcanic formations: lava bombs, spatter, and cinder cones. Here, at the summit, we saw the tuff cone of Pinnacle Rock which is one of the symbols of the Islands. This summit has 362 steps (I’m obviously using my notes here: I didn’t count as I did the trek, I was concentrating on my gasping. It rises 140 meters.
Beaver tail (prickly pear) cacti are everywhere but they don’t look like it in the states: these have a long trunk, also covered with spines, before the paddles begin. I never got an answer as to what purpose this adaptation served. They are also taller and drier than I’m used to.
The animals on that hike were: marine iguanas, lava lizards, tiquilla (not tequila) bushes, and many types of cacti. Here we saw GALAPAGOS PENUINGS who were the sentinels inviting us to land as we arrived in the bay. Sea turtles are here and white tipped sharks but we didn’t see any.
I quickly develop a florid red face and Ed is never far behind me. Many folks came back with slight tans; Ed and I used sunscreen and our skin color changes are almost undetectable. At the end of the day, an icy margarita was a great reward (no this wasn’t a habit). It is especially appreciated since almost all drinks are served at room temperature everywhere.
You are hosed down as you return to the ship to get rid of as much sand as possible. I’m assuming the water used to wash us down, is ocean water.
LAST NIGHT’S ORIENTATION: Gave us the outline of our experience. Fresh bread becomes available at 6 am; tea and coffee plus snacks are always available in the library. You don’t need any money on board the ship: you leave your credit card imprint the first night. They check it with the mainland which often takes 48 hrs.
Of course, we also endured the mandatory life saving drill. No one likes these but I think we all recognize their importance.
Bring insect repellent and sunscreen as the sun here is unbelievably searing.
You have to watch for depressions in the sand and avoid them as they are sea turtle nests. The naturalists are good about pointing them out and watching that no one goes close.
ISLAND STATS: A few years ago, there were 140,000 visitors a year; last year, it was 170,000. Therefore, there is concern about limiting the numbers of people coming here (either to live permanently: 60,000 now, or to visit) since even with all the restrictions, there is still a significant impact on the ecology.
The Galapagos National Park was created in 1959. It is open from 6a-6p each day. You must have a naturalist to go anywhere. You must not leave the marked trails and don’t touch the animals as this leaves your scent which may upset the ecological balance. Don’t surround the animals and of course, don’t feed them or give them water. No flash photos, keep the noise down, don’t collect anything (can you imagine if each person took a small piece of lava when they visited?), don’t smoke, litter, or use cell phones (hurrah!).
EQUATOR STATS: We cross the equator several times during this visit since the islands sit right on the equator. Therefore, the water drains straight down without swirling.
SEAFARING TRADITIONS: Seafaring tradition maintains that all sailors who cross the equator during a nautical voyage must undergo rights of passage and elaborate rituals initiating them into The Solemn Mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep. These rituals date back to the Middle Ages, though the current ceremonies are most likely derived from Viking traditions. .) If you have not crossed the equator before, you are called a “(slimy) pollywog”.
Upon entering the domain of His Royal Majesty, Neptunus Rex, all pollies are subject to various initiation rituals performed by those members of the crew who have made the journey before. Upon completion of the initiation ceremony, the pollies are then known as “Trusty Shellbacks”. If the crossing of the equator is done at the 180th meridian, the title of “Golden Shellbacks” is conferred, recognizing the simultaneous entry into the realm of the Golden Dragon. If the crossing occurs at the Greenwich or Prime Meridian, the sailor is considered to be an “Emerald Shellback.”
At the end, we got a certificate documenting this. When we returned to the ship, there was another from the ship for us. (Initially, I was disappointed that we didn’t have a King Neptune ceremony—this is such great fun—but apparently there was one while we were off the ship and we saw some of the photos. Later I’ll tell you about this ceremony on the Galapagos Legend ship.
The latitude of the equator is 0 degrees of course. The length of the Earth’s equator is 24,901.5 miles. The equator is one of the five main circles of latitude. It is the only line of latitude which is also a great circle. The imaginary circle obtained when the Earth’s equator is projected onto the heavens is called the celestial equator.

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WAKE UP CALL: Each morning you are awakened by the gentle voice of a young woman, Kyra, who was absolutely charming and perfect for the roles she played: reception, MC, hostess, and more you’ll learn later. This was always at 6:45 am.
At 7 am Breakfast is served. This is gently announced on the PA but the cabin steward would gently tap on your door to remind you in case you hadn’t heard.
So while you are at breakfast, your room is freshened and laundry is delivered. At 8 am, they begin to call us by groups to alight the dinghies.
We assembled our backpacks, water, cameras, towel, walking sticks, and shoes, and tried to get into the rubber raft without killing ourselves or the men helping us both directions and on both ends.
SNORKLING: You can rent this equipment for $20 for the 3 days. Wet suits are also available for rent.
URBINA BAY (ISABELA): Wet landing near a fossil beach and then to coral. The beach is black and we were thankful for good walking shoes. We saw our first flightless cormorant here. They look so funny and out of proportion because their wings are so small compared to a relatively large body.
OK, SO NOW TO THE ANIMALS: It is amazing. There’s just not an adequate vocabulary to give you a good feel for it. The animals do not fear humans and they know it’s their territory. It was not unusual to be walking along and suddenly have to dodge stepping on an iguana; their camouflage is good but they just are so relaxed. They resemble an Escher painting!
Sea Lions lay about like logs tossed up on shore, occasionally swatting at a fly but otherwise oblivious to anything.
The pups are adorable; when babies, they cry pitifully for their mothers who seem to ignore then and run to play or eat in the ocean. Then the Mom returns and the baby nurses.
There are more than 30 species of finch but I’ll take their word for it.
It was my goal to see Blue Footed Boobies on this trip (more later). On this first day, we saw them flying and dive bombing into the ocean for fish. Let’s just summarize by saying how impressed we all were.
And we saw a giant dome sea turtle lollygagging around in the ocean. He also went under so we were denied the fun of getting closer to him. Because of the composition of their blood, they can stay submerged for a long time. There is some testing (cruel in the opinion of the naturalist) of the marine iguanas to show that they can stay submerged for an hour more or less.
There are no buzzards or vultures here so carcasses lay in the open to decompose. Some of the smaller, lava lizards, are carnivores. The female lava lizard in heat has a red chest and when pregnant, the red area spreads. But they are small so you have to look close to avoid stepping on them. Every time someone said “lava lizard” the phrase “lounge lizard” came to mind.
FERNANDINA (Espinosa Point): In the afternoon we saw the largest marine iguanas and more of the colorful sally-light foot crabs. There were many sea lions lolling around and a few Galapagos hawks. How do you tell a sea lion from a seal (later we saw California fur seals)? Sea lions have teeny tiny ears.
This is the youngest isle of the group; it is also the Westernmost. While there are snakes here, we didn’t see them though I believe they are harmless.
The volcano origins of these islands is noticeable everywhere. Brachycereus cacti were everywhere. Two kinds of lava were here: “pa-hoe-hoe” and “AA” (same as Hawaii). There were many mangrove beds extending into the sea here.
BONDING: After all the indignities and ooohhss and aaaahhhs we’ve experienced together, including the birthday of one of our members and the ending “play” (more later), we all grew to know each other in interesting ways. There were folks somewhat younger than us; the oldest were in their late 70s and real troopers. I’m wondering again about the advisability of some of these folks doing this. Many were very obese; few were flexible. Several had bad knees or way-too-recent knee surgery. Many used canes on a daily basis. Many were successful in business; several were academics and/or had professors and other professional people in their families. But all were interesting.
Complainers: We only had a few. One was a fragile belle type who quickly grew really old. My favorite memory of her is sitting on the beach on one beach towel, fully clothed, with an umbrella at her side ala beach ‘brella, and another towel covering the leg part; sunglasses and a “sun bonnet” style headdress too. And feature this issuing sugary sweet “requests” of her husband. Another was a woman who clearly is unhappy with anything. Her focus was on her perceived deficiencies of the ship and our accommodations. Blessedly, she didn’t go ashore very often.
TODAY’S WEATHER: was gray and overcast but we weren’t complaining because it meant it was cooler though the sun screen was still a must.
END VIDEO: (skipping ahead here): The last night there was a video of some of our experiences in these few days along with some stock footage of some of the stuff we saw. We howled at some of the scenes such as one woman wiping her husband’s legs and feet of sand while he lay supine on the 2nd towel on the sand. We appreciated the fact that they didn’t include too many that showed our less-than-graceful attempts to enter and leave the dinghies at the various sites. Grace and dignity were quickly lost by all at one time or another.
WRITING FOR PUBLICATION: It must be obvious to all that I do almost no editing for the blog. This took a big sea change in behavior on my part-to give up the self image for one thing-to do this. It is literally a very rough draft. I do this because if I were expected to make it manuscript ready, I wouldn’t do it: it would be too time consuming. I trust this will assuage the concerns of those who comment on my spelling or “flow”. Thank you.

JANUARY 21, 2008 LEAVING LIMA

I will catch up with the intervening days as I can but I didn’t want to get behind now that we’re back on board. Briefly: Galapagos is a must do…and while you’re young! I haven’t yet downloaded the photos but we have lots; there are thousands of dollars in cameras folks took on this trek; we still have our trusty Olympus.
LAUNDRY: All of you who have followed these missives know how I dread the laundry debacle. The purser’s desk told me last night that the Laundromat was opened at 7 am; though I was skeptical, I didn’t want to risk missing it. So I set the alarm for 6:30 am and dutifully trudged down there. Ed, bless him had gotten up at the same time I did, so I came back to tell him about the 8am opening time. He finished doing whatever it takes him to get out the door and I took my book and went to park by the Laundromat door at 7:15am. By 7:30 am there were two of us, and by 7:45 am there were four of us with others who saw the long line and the size of our laundry bags and decided to try later.
While we were waiting, we shared horror stories of behavior in the Laundromats on the various ships. I swear, some sociologist just HAS to assign these as doctoral research! I was asked if I was planning on taking up the 4 washers when I went in since I had come so early. Told them I didn’t think that would be fair (and I didn’t but boy wouldn’t I have loved to take up the whole place! Maybe I’ll get some brownie points in life for this). Anyway, it made us all very happy and we worked out the space and such easily. So finally it was opened and we all designated our washer and dryer and busily went about our jobs. The ship now provides detergent because of ecological reasons but many folks bring their own detergent because they don’t think the ship’s soap is good enough.
Unlike many other Laundromats, the tubs in the washers are quite commodious as are the dryers. The cost for each is $1.00 per load; quite reasonable as ships go.
I was able to get most of the washing done but the dryer took a little longer. After Ed finished breakfast, he replaced me briefly while I got fruit and such and brought it back to eat in the Laundromat. Later Ed read while I went to the small vendors aside the ship where I got a lovely top with a built in turquoise-like broach. When I returned, we hung what needed to be hung up and rushed to the room with our now dry laundry and plopped it on the bed. Before running out, we had to have the battery replaced in our safe so we could take money. We were off on a hunt for diet Cokes!
We had planned to go to the gate via the free shuttle and find a small shop with diet Cokes. Alas, the shuttle driver told it was too dangerous to wander around in the neighborhood adjacent to the pier gate. After much struggling with my Spanish, and foisting off the taxi drivers who even followed us in the shuttle, the shuttle driver understood that we were looking for Diet Cokes in can or bottle to take aboard the ship. So he suggested he take us to a mall about 5 min. outside the pier. We heartedly agreed although we believe it got him into some trouble.
He took us to a large supermarket where we found Coke Zero in bottle 6 packs. His neighbor were checking out there as well and so he visited for a while. We were in a hurry and the market manager figured this out and called us over where he personally checked us out, accepted our American Express, and wished us well. So we sped quickly back to the ship as we had little time before the ship left.
When I asked him how much we owed him (actually, in Spanish I said the equivalent of: How much for your services?) to which he replied: “voluntario.” So Ed gave him $10 USD which probably makes those Cokes more expensive than the approximately 50 cents each they cost us (and they are 12 oz each) but still less expensive than the ship charges. And we enjoyed this man’s company and had a fun experience. And of course, we made a minor contribution to the local economy.
LUNCH: We joined a table of 8 folks of various characteristics; this group included the resident priest and his Irish observations and humor reminded me of my Dad in his better days. We fell into two discussions: our experiences with our trips off the ship: some Macchu Pichu vets—who had one more day in Cuzco than we did last year—and the others had remained on ship. The other topic could roughly be titled: Awful table mates I have known. Well here’s another doctoral research area. Anyone out there a sociologist? Are you listening?
INTERNET: I was concerned about the volume of my email. It really wasn’t that bad. Jokes and embedded photos were immediately deleted as was some unfiltered junk mail. Among the pearls was an email from Ellen’s sister updating her status. She is increasingly weak. A scholarship in her name has been begun at CSUN and I had wondered when I would hear of this wonderful memorial to all her good work.
I enjoyed the Kodak based photos from my sister and niece as I can watch them rather quickly and it doesn’t hang up the computer because of the size of the files. My sister is in a gorgeous new home and I am delighted for her. She’s a talented decorator and I can’t wait to see what magic she adds to it. My niece’s grandson was the focus of her pics and though I haven’t seen any of these kids, this allows us to feel we know them in a way.
HEALTH UPDATE: It’s official: novovirus is alive and active on the ship. We are fine and at least I think this is highlighting to the folks who were rather complacent, the real seriousness of such a GI disease. Thank God we remain disgustingly healthy.
SPOOKS ANYONE? The SRO lecture for this afternoon is about Russian spies. The speaker is Glenmore Trenear-Harvey, Inelligence Analyst for Sky News TV.
MORE GREAT SHIPS: Later today we have another lecture by the Drs. Weber on yet another grand liner.
I’ll finish this now so I can send it and I’ll make up the blog entries for the missing dates.

WINDY, RAINY, COLD…AND WE’RE AT THE EQUATOR!

Today’s weather was dull and unpleasant. Few people were going outside and several planned events were cancelled because of the inclement weather.
PASSING THE EQUATOR: Unlike our other cruise across the Equator, there was no acknowledgement of crossing it except that the Patter noted that we’d cross it at 1 am. I was disappointed as that ceremony of King Neptune was a howl. Given the average age of the passengers and the small size of the crew (373) they probably decided it was too much to attempt.
LUNCH: Ed cornered the lecturer on hiking and we had lunch with him where he went over his slides about Galapagos. He’s a veteran of the dot com industry who is recreating himself for a second career. He’s a rather high energy person; one might almost say hyperactive. Friendly and eager to share his knowledge with you. It was a fun luncheon.
SHIP LECTURE: Sarah Weber’s lecture was moved to the Pacific Lounge as the art auction (I’ve never understood the attraction of this) was all over the Cabaret Lounge. This time she spoke about the Ile de France and the Normandy. She’s so easy to listen to and she makes all of this so interesting. I do get annoyed with the men in the audience who try to trip her up in an attempt to show how much smarter they are. None have ever bested her and I find that kind of “showing off” very off putting.
MACHU PICCHU: The hiking enthusiast talked about MP today. He described the experience of hiking the Inca trail of 27 miles over 4 days. Of course, he was open about the fact that porters carry everything. They also set up the tents (2 persons to a tent) and make the meals which are served in a tent with tables and china. They also make a bathroom facility for everyone. So when the group is finished with their meal and start off on their hike. Shortly the porters pass them with their 50# packs and by the time the hikers catch up with them, the next meal has been laid out, and so it went. He discussed the Incan history and tidbits about MP itself and it was still interesting to see the photos again and hear the stories.
PHOTOS: I have charged up all the cameras for our trip to the Galapagos tomorrow.
TOMORROW: We have to be in the lounge at 6:30 am (ugh) and we take a bus from Manta to Guayaquil (I don’t have the correct spelling handy). This takes 3 hrs. At the airport there, we take a small plane for the 600 mi trip to the Islands where we join a ship large enough for 100 passengers. There has been a long waiting list for almost all of the shore excursions. Since 150 people are leaving the ship in Manta, I gather the other 50 are going to MP.
I asked Ed for the tickets and instructions and he said he had read the instructions. So I’m reading along and mentioned that it said the dinners were semi-formal and what a bummer that was going to be. He says: “What?!” Needless to say he really did read the instructions then. He asked the tour office and they said no, just take your getting dirty clothes. Several of our excursions are “wet landings” where you jump off into the ocean and wade in. Thanks to Marjie, one of my Red Hat friends, I have a pair of water shoes. Ed bought some zoris at the gift store on board.
My goal is to take a picture of a blue footed booby. The animals are so accustomed to visitors and they are so safe that they are very approachable. This will be different. I’m also interested in seeing the flamingos, and especially the penguins who are less than a foot tall from what people say.
When we return to the ship we will be flown to Guayaquil and then change to another plane to fly to Lima where we meet the ship again at Callao. This means we will have a day in Lima.
DINNER: The full table was there tonite and we are the only ones who are going off for a side trip. We encouragd the others to eat our share of the goodies while we are gone. Tonite’s dessert was a Bananas Foster made by the Head Waiter. It was delicious.
Soooo no blog for a few days. Love to all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PAT!

JANUARY 15, 2008

TRANSITING THE PANAMA CANAL

I finally had a chance to look at the blog as you see it and none of my underlines or emoticoms show. So I’ll try to remember that as I write.
EMAIL: We have one account for our email since we must use the web based mail (long story for another time) and I use the WiFi to upload my blog. I, along with many others, have been confused about exactly how this system works. So tonight Ed and I went down to the Purser’s desk to figure it all out. For our free minutes, we must buy a package which is then charged to our account; later, our account is credited the same amount. So far there are no charges for my WiFi (I don’t expect that luck will last long; they’re just behind in charging me.
But we do love getting info about what’s happening back home so we hope you’ll keep us in mind for news of yourselves and others.
Internet use: one thing I did learn is to empty your Junk e-mail and your Trash or deleted box before you log out. Otherwise, each time you try to access your email, you are eating up time with the contents of those two boxes as well. Next thing you know, I’ll put out a sign for internet consulting. There is no internet staff here. There is a couple who teach computer classes but they are not really responsible to manage the internet café. So we are many of us limping along helping each other.
DINNER TONITE: We were gay and doing fine until one of the men got annoyed about something very inconsequential. We were surprised as his episodes so far had been quick, quiet and brief. We were all a little taken aback by this current outburst and all diverted our gaze so he wouldn’t feel encouraged. Ed finally tried to talk him down which worked after a while. Later when he returned to the issue, we all ignored him. So, we know now that we have our own little alerts to be aware of. As always the staff handled it beautifully.
TONITE’S ENTERTAINMENT: This is the young man who was a magician and comic. I wasn’t terribly impressed with our first exposure to him but to be honest, magic doesn’t hold my interest much unless it’s a Magic Castle experience.
The Cabaret Lounge is decorated up with a Pirate’s theme and most of the staff is in pirate costumes. There will be a costume contest for passengers too. We had enough luggage without trying to pack for the theme nights too. But it would have been fun.
UH OH DEPARTMENT: I see that the drink of the day for the Canal transit is the Caipirinha, the national drink of Brazil. It is wonderful and I enjoy it as much as anyone but I think I’ll keep this little bit of news from Ed. Hee hee
WHY DO THEY BOTHER DEPARTMENT: We passed the casino tonight and there was some Halloween music, so naturally I went over the check it out. A woman is sitting in front of what is still called a slot machine. The little icons are rolling around. But she doesn’t touch it at all as it tells you “7 more plays”, “6 more plays”, and so on. You don’t do a thing except pay your initial money. Ed said they might as well mail the check in and do something interesting. Someone commented earlier today that the casino is not used that much on this cruise…at least so far.
OUR EXERCISE REGIMEN or lack of same DEPARTMENT: I don’t know about Ed, but so far I have kept to my commitment to only take the stairs, except when I’m carrying the laptop (this shouldn’t happen much now that I’ve found “hot spots” closer to our cabin. Thank goodness for the WiFi finder I got at Fry’s before we left), when it’s going from the 5th floor to the 9th or 10th, and when I have heels on and am concerned about balance. So that’s my confession for this blog.
THE RIDE: This ship is so smooth as it glides across the seas. I feel more comfortable in this little ship than I did in the huge Diamond Princess. Some of the swells today had to be 4-8’ and it just rolls along nicely. The tenders are also very stable and roll easily with the waves. They have little indentations in the seats on these tenders so you’ll know where to place your behind. Presumably that’s supposed to ensure that 4 folks are on each seat and not 2 or 3 as some folks try.
WEATHER: There were threatening clouds all day today and the seas where up and down as well. The humidity is up and we notice it. The temp mid-day is uncomfortable. The sun, however, is hot and wicked. After all, we are used to smog interfering with the rays. There isn’t anything but tropical blue skies on the open sea.
WHEELCHAIRS: on previous cruises you see a lot of these little scooters like the Amigo for folks with limited mobility. I think I’ve only seen one of those on this cruise but there are several folks in wheelchairs that have family to push them around. In the elevator I saw something new and one person said they thought you got it from the ship. It is a motor with a steering wheel. It connects to the wheel chair via a long tongue but it works just like the amigo set up. Pretty clever actually.
HUMIDITY PROBLEMS: I couldn’t get many photos while we were going through the Gatun locks this morning because of the humidity. When you take any device, camera or binoculars for instance, out onto the deck, the humidity fogs up the lenses so you can’t see. It takes a while for things to clear up.
GOING THROUGH THE FIRST LOCKS: We were actually early to the locks based on what the newspaper told us. Well before seven we woke and were aware that there was a pilot ship alongside. It is funny how you become attuned to the rhythms of the ship. I knew this when I awoke without looking outside to double check. There are 3 locks on the Caribbean side. They each elevate the ship 28.5 ft in 8 min. There’s so much to tell about this process but it really is impressive. Our lock was shared with a good sized yacht; I wonder how much it cost them to transit.
No pumps are used; this is totally done by water from Gatun Lake gravity fed to each lower lock. The tides are different on either side. On the Caribbean side they are modest. I don’t recall the exact amount but let’s say 4-6’. On the Pacific side it is 18’ more or less. You can imagine what a difference that makes in adjusting for the ships going through the locks.
One lady said if you looked closely, you could see bullet holes in the building. I don’t know if this is true or not but the Canal is certainly a prime target for terrorists. It could potentially paralyze major commerce if it were non-operative for any length of time.
You can hear the sounds of the jungle on either side of the locks but you can’t see anything. They have men who clean up the trash (I presume dropped by the tourists transiting) so that the gators and other native life don’t eat them and become ill. The jungle nearby gets up to 200 inches of rain per year and without the rain forest and this rain, the Panama Canal would not be possible.
BREAKFAST: We went to the dining room today and Ed always has us join a table. No good deed shall go unpunished. The oaf and his wife were at the table along with a retired couple who live near the Shuttle Launch site in Florida. The Oaf was bloviating about how all the people on San Blas should be taken off or else shown how to live better. The retired couple and ourselves tried to argue for helping them preserve their native life style. The Oaf remarked they were “begging” for food. I saw none of that (nor did he by the way). What they do is sell their wares, mostly “molas” which show their tribal symbols (and modern symbols now) for money. Pictures also cost you $1 each to take. But they are not begging. However, we all did agree about the US tendency to support despots when it serves our purposes only to have them become the thorn in our side not much later.
CAFFEINE – or lack of same: Since Ed and I decided their prices on Diet Coke are highway robbery, and since there were no open stores in Grand Cayman, and certainly not San Blas, we’ve gone on a strike of sorts. Since Ed drinks coffee but I don’t, he’s been fine and I’ve been having caffeine headaches daily. The iced tea available just doesn’t cut it. For one thing, the available glasses are about 6 oz. So it has been a real struggle to have any energy during the day and often during the night time shows.
Thus it is that after we cleared the initial locks and were headed across Gatun Lake, Ed and I took a nap. What a miracle that was. We woke up just before 1 pm and went to the Buffet for a modest lunch.
SECOND LOCKS: Since we are now going down again, it is hard to see the difference from the angle of ship board. The sun is brutal not so much because of the ambient temperature and the humidity, but because it is near the equator and there is no smog or other filters between the sun and our skin. Hats help the head and neck, but arms are there to be burned.
It is so quiet traversing these locks. Everything is done quietly and smoothly. Again we are struck by how close the side of the ship is to the side of the lock. Barely enough room for one to reach down with your arm in between (no, I’m not suggesting that test.) The sky is blue and the clouds are magnificent.
When we were descending (31’), a Chinese container ship came into the lock next to us. It is enormous! I was taking photos of that ship while personnel on that ship were taking photos of me. then I heard a wolf whistle. Now I know they have serious visual problems. Or is it my UCLA sweat outfit?
Directly behind our ship, another container ship is coming into position. I remain amazed at how high they pile those containers on those ships.
There are two locks on this side (the Pacific side) and there is a small body of water in between these two locks.
I hope some of you have had a chance to see the ship’s web cam as we transited. Then you can see how lush the jungle is on either side and how crisp the white painted buildings look against the green of the foliage.
ILLNESSES: Again, we are stopped in the lock to off load a sick passenger. I guess this is the routine for each passenger ship here as this happened last time as well. The tugs (you know how I love those little ships) push the ship as far toward the disembarkation side so the exit is easiest. Clearly this is a frequent event as the equipment on the canal side to allow gurneys, wheelchairs, and pedestrians, is very commodious.
OUT OF THE CANAL: The old bridge which crossed the canal is still kept to use in case of emergency but the new Pan American bridge is a lovely new design that you can’t miss. We noted that most of the ships exiting the canal with us were empty. I can’t imagine the expense of transiting the Canal with an empty ship!
DINNER TODAY: The couple from Hawaii sent a message via our wait staff that they had eaten late and were too full to join us for dinner. We enjoyed a nice conversation with the other two couples. It is still difficult to hear but I suppose we’ll have to work with that; I’m sure we aren’t alone.
The dessert I had last night, banana fudge ice cream with chocolate sauce and nuts, wasn’t available tonight so I had my default fruit plate. I miss the ice cream but feel good that I didn’t have it. Ed even wanted it as it was especially good.
ENTERTAINMENT: Tonight’s entertainment is a pianist. The ship has an early performance before the late seating and then an 8:15 pm performance for those of us on early dinner. That is so much better than the late performances. This is a young man from the Royal Conservatory of Music in England (of course) and he is marvelous. He’s so young and somewhat nervous but a skilled classical pianist. He will make his debut at Carnegie Hall later this year.
GALAPAGOS: This tour has been filled for several months now with a long waiting list. Today one woman said her husband was too ill to go and so one slot was released. I guess the ship has gotten the maximum of accommodations for the passengers who are going. We leave the ship at 7:30 am on Jan. 17th; we rejoin the ship in Callao (Lima) on the afternoon of the 21st (or the 20th? I’m unclear). We’re planning on taking our roll aboard, backpacks and fanny packs. That should do just fine.
While we are off the trip on this tour, we will not be near computers (that I know of), so we’ll pick up after we get back on the ship.
INTERNET: I’m still trying to master the system for checking my email; uploading the blog is OK as long as we have satellite connections. In the internet café today there was a Dutch couple who asked me for help. Bless their hearts; even I was having trouble but they did manage to get the emails from their daughters and they were so excited. It was fun being with them and seeing how excited they were.
Interestingly, t e x t m e s s a g e s seem to be working very well when we are near a signal. This is true even when our cell phone itself won’t complete phone calls.

JANUARY 14, 2008 San Blas Island

WATCH US GO THROUGH PANAMA CANAL TOMORROW!

Port Talk: We did finally hear this on the TV last night and again the speaker is so enthusiastic and passionate about his topics; that alone persuades many people to go ashore even if they’ve been there before.
SS France: This was Dr. Webers’ topic today and as always, she holds her audience spellbound. And her ability to respond to almost any question with a quick, on target, answer is amazing.
Dinner: We are now comfortable with the table composition and we shifted some seats to give opportunities for new conversations one-on-one. We found out that Yvonne gets sea sick if she isn’t facing the direction of the ship’s path, so we’ll keep a seat open for her on that side of the table. Dave is a 23 yr veteran of the Navy; he and Twyla signed up for this cruise just before Christmas and drove several hundred miles to secure the necessary visas. The wait staff are very pleasant fellows; one fellow will be leaving us in Sydney to go home for vacation and see his wife and children.
Entertainment: The 8 dancers and singers did a great job with the theme of Dance. The program included Broadway worthy skits along with Flamenco and Irish dances. One skit had a woman dressed as a very heavy Brunhilde and the man as Thor in an enormous padded suit. Very funny.
Jan. 14: I got up after 9 and ate breakfast in the buffet before taking a tender to the island. It was the same island we visited last year on the 66 day cruise around So. Amer. This time I spied a health worker (Salud on his cap was a give-away; also he was wearing a khaki uniform and carrying a black bag) and asked him in my broken Spanish if there was a clinic on the island. He was gracious enough to take me there where I met the physician who spoke English. He took me around the clinic and introduced me to the two nurses there, one male and one female. They have a crude surgical area and a delivery room (this room and the pharmacy-the Panamanian government provides the medication) are the only air conditioned rooms I saw). There is a modest laboratory where basic blood work can be done.
One lady was getting an IV in the 3 bed “ward” and she agreed to have her photo taken and she gave me a big smile. There is much health education going on; they are still using the previous food pyramid but I smiled at that since I’ve never understood the current one. Lots of posters about breast feeding—which we saw everywhere. The doctor said some do want to bottlefed. There may have been a miscommunication but I understood him to say they have 300 deliveries a year at this clinic which serves numerous surrounding islands. Overall I’d say they are doing a yoeman’s job with scant resources. The MD stays here for 20 days after which another MD replaces him. I don’t know about the nurses. I felt guilty taking him away from the patients waiting in the reception area.
Technology: While the homes on this island are mud floor thatched huts, and dugout canoes are used for most transport, we are constantly astonished at the technology on these islands and other ‘primitive” areas. We saw a large satellite dish, portable laptop (at the clinic; not connected to wireless; MDs personal property), iPods, TVs, and heard radios all over the place. Cell phones are ubiquitos and some of the ship’s passengers were using theirs to speak with others; one lady seemed to be getting her lab results! There are handwritten signs everywhere and one for the movies was $5; This “Theatre” was a larger thatched hut and you had to bring your own chair it looked like. In one doorway, a woman and several children were watching a kids’ TV show on a TV in a large room; I’m guessing it was a 27” or larger.
So you do see the old with the new. Kids and women are in native dress, engaged in sewing and creating other items to sell. You see very few men and boys and then they are dressed in jeans and shirts and are selling shells or things made by the women.
There were some old, now unused, concrete bldgs but they were moldy and no longer used. The clinic is a cinder block affair and it is used.
As I was getting onto the tender to return to the ship, Ed was just coming off.
Lunch: I joined a table where some folks were traveling together and some were also new. One lady, apparently traveling with her delightful, probably a spry 80+, mother. The daughter was the loquacious one and it was often hard for others to join the monologue. This settled down after a while. Two brothers, probably around 60s and who looked very different, were traveling together and they were fun. Another couple from New Orleans finished out the table. We got around to the obnoxious table mate stories and some of them were quite fun. Apparently one couple has been table hopping each night because they haven’t liked the folks at any previous table. How much you want to bed those tables were relieved they didn’t return either!
The rest of our day: It is now 2:30p and Ed is reading a magazine and I will soon join him. We leave this area to go to the Panama Canal next.
WE BEGIN OUR TREK THROUGH THE PANAMA CANAL AT 7 AM TOMORROW AM (Don’t know if it’s still EST or CST). YOU CAN FOLLOW THE SHIP ON THE WEB CAM or ON THE PANAMA CANAL WEB CAM. We are traveling from East to West through the Canal and I believe we start at Colon. We’ll wave to you if we can.