Last Day at Sea

It's the last sea day - we are all packed and have already set the bags outside - all except the carry-off bag for tomorrow morning.  It's quite sad to have this adventure come to an end and know that reality is only a couple days away.  I'm sure going to miss having my coffee brought every morning on a tray, to say nothing about having my food cooked and my little house cleaned AND waking up each morning in a new place.
It's been a wonderful trip and we've met many new friends and renewed acquaintences with several that we've cruised with before. I'm sure the crew will have mixed feelings about the passengers of this cruise leaving- I'm sure it is a very demanding group. But, at least they didn't have a turnover day every 7 or 14 days.  I'm not sure how they survive turnovers.
I'll come back after we are home and post some final thoughts and perhaps a few more pictures.

Less than 1000 miles to go

I just looked at the information screen on the TV at is shows less than 1000 miles to Fort Lauderdale.  I'm not ready to go back to reality yet.  Another 3 or 4 months would be just about right.
We spent yesterday at Castries, St. Lucia.  It was a gorgeous day on a gorgeous island, but we didn't do much.  I had read about the great Saturday market in the city and decided to go there rather than do a tour around the island.... bad choice. It just wasn't an interesting market to take pictures. There was also a nice large craft market but I really do not need any more stuff. We spent the afternoon just watching the breeze blow through the palms until we sailed away at dinner time.

Today is th first of three sea days - the final leg of the cruise.  I started weeding out a lot of stuff today that seems to accumulate - maps, daily programs, etc. We will pack on the last sea day and I'd like to be ready then and not have to sort through it all at that time.  I hate packing... maybe the packing fairy will show up...

Iles Du Salut or Devil's Island, French Guiana – April 25

Iles Du Salut or Devil's Island, French Guiana – April 25

We had a perfect day for Devil's Island; flat seas, clear sky and hot and humid – about a million degrees and 2 million humidity or at least that's what it felt like. But it was really perfect. I've really been waiting for this port because of the monkeys. I do like seeing the ruins of the old French prison – very haunting. The book/movie Papillon was based on this location. It isn't too far from the mainland of French Guiana, but they didn't fear escapes because if they didn't drown, the sharks would surely get them.

There is a hotel/restaurant located here but it's quite basic – it is located at the top of the island and makes a nice stop for a cold drink while you are hiking around. It takes about an hour to walk at a casual pace around the whole island. The tropical vegetation is so thick that you have to stay on the established pathways.

I had stashed a bag of cookies for our visit here (having picked up that trick on our last visit) to temp the monkeys. It worked beautifully! We were probably about a quarter of the way around the island when we found the first ones – these were little ones with cute yellow hands and feet and little white circles around their eyes (I don't know the species – I'll have to check when I get home). They loved the little cookie pieces and most weren't shy. I was so busy playing with them (feeding) that I didn't get many pics – but Jim got this great shot of one that appears to be helping me take pictures. The real story is that I had a cookie in my hand and then squatted down to get a couple pics and this little guy knew the cookie was there. He came over to me and climbed up my leg, across my back and down my arm. I didn't want to move so I wouldn't scare him so I barely saw him until he grabbed the cookie from inside my hand and jumped down. I told him he was a pig, but he just smiled back and ran off. Having given out about half the cookie supply we headed off to find the other monkeys.

 

We found them, Hooded Capuchins, just a little further along the path near the cemetery. At first there were just a couple, but once the cookies came out there were probably a couple dozen including several babies. We had such fun with them and I did get quite a few pictures here. When the cookies were almost gone we headed off down the path to the hotel area for one of those cold drinks... Jim had a beer but I decided a cold bottle of water sounded better as it was only about 10:00 and a beer would just make me sleepy. After resting a bit in the outdoor restaurant area we headed back down the same pathway we'd used to come up so I could see my monkeys once more. We did find the Capuchins but my little yellow-hand friends had disappeared. I'm sure glad we went early! After returning to the tender dock area we decided to walk around the other end of the island just to kill a little more time. It was hotter there as there weren't nearly as many trees – when it seemed like we were at the halfway point again, we turned back to the tenders and returned to the nice air-conditioned ship and a shower. This really made a great almost-end for the world cruise for me – we do have one more port in St. Lucia before it is over, but I have really been looking forward to a return to Devil's Island.

Our departure was delayed by almost 3 hours by a problem with closing one of the tender bays, but it was finally resolved and we were on our way about 6:30. The delay means that we will have to scoot along a bit faster to reach St Lucia on time – we are really moving along at almost 20 knots.

Belem, Brazil – April 23

Belem, Brazil – April 23

Sunrise over the Amazon

When I woke up this morning I noticed that the light coming through the crack in the curtains looked pink – so I decided to check it out. The sky was just beginning to show some pink color of sunrise. Jim ordered our coffee and we sat out on the balcony drinking coffee and watched the colors change for a good half hour. We were into the mouth of the Amazon heading to Belem.

Local ferry used as tender

We have to anchor quite a way downriver from Belem because of the size of the ship. Large local tenders take people to shore – a ride of about 20 minutes – and then it is a good hour by bus to Belem. That adds up to a total of more than 3 hours in transport time back and forth so we decided to skip it. (We did the full Amazon to Manaus on the S America Grand Voyage just three years ago)

We spent the morning reading and watching the local boats going by and will probably do much the same this afternoon. The people that went ashore today have been lucky – the temperature is relatively cool and (so far) we haven't had any rain.

I was looking at pictures and realized I'd never posted this picture of the dolphins that I took as we were circling Ascension Island last week. It looks very different than the view outside today – the Amazon is very brown – not the pretty blue of the sea.

Fortaleza, Brazil – April 21

Fortaleza, Brazil – April 21

We were an hour late docking at Fortaleza – the port pilot was late getting out to our ship and since oe is required we putted around in circles outside the dock area for an hour. Finally we docked and then it was another hour until we were cleared and they opened the gangway. We decided to ride the shuttle into town since it was going to a different location than on our last time here. It was about a 20 minute ride to the Old Jail Arts and Crafts center. It is a cute idea; each shop was set up in one of the old cells, but it was truly 'tourist stuff' and very over-priced. We walked around for about 20 minutes and since they ship had stressed that this was not a city to go walking around (fairly dangerous) we decided to head back to the ship.

The location we went to on our last time here was to the Central Market. The market is large – three stories but not quite good enough for us to take a taxi there this time. It's a huge city, but doesn't seem to have a lot to offer except beautiful beaches and they are supposed to be a bit dangerous for tourists so passengers were warned not to go on their own.

After returning to the ship, we had lunch and spent some time reading – even Jim couldn't read outside on the balcony this time as the sun was hitting our side of the ship and the temp was about 95 degrees. The humidity was fairly low at about 68%, but that didn't help. Way too hot for me!

We just finished dinner and after a very early sunset; about 5:30 the temperature has dropped considerably and it is comfortable outside now. We are seeing a number of oil drilling platforms off in the distance.

The onboard atmosphere is changing slightly as we get close to the end of our 115 day adventure. People are starting to talk about going home and the dreaded packing everything up. I decided to bite the big bullet and ship our two big bags rather than taking them with us on the plane. Since our first flight canceled and we now have to spend a night in Fort Lauderdale and fly home the next morning I didn't want to have to hassle with the big bags. It's not cheap, but I know it will be worth it – when you figure what this cruise costs why not spend a tiny bit more and go ship the stuff.  I'll try to add a couple pics to this post when the connection is a bit faster.

We'll be at sea tomorrow and then at Belem on Tuesday.

Ascension Island - April 17

We were unable to tender at Ascension Island on April because the swells were too bad at the tender docking area.  It was a bit of a disappointment but not too bad because there really isn't anything on the island.  It is a British Territory (same as St. Helena) and is mostly a military post.  NASA had a landing strip there for the Apollo program, but it was decommissioned in the early 1990's.
We are now (April 119) in the second of three sea days crossing the Atlantic to Brazil.  I'll post more when we have a better connection.

Jamestown, St. Helena island, British Overseas Territory – April 15

Jamestown, St. Helena island, British Overseas Territory – April 15

This was one of those unexpectedly great places. The island is volcanic but doesn't rise smoothly out of the sea – rather it is completely edged with cliffs with a few valleys. The coastal areas are dry and barren, but the high elevations in the center of the island are lush and green. It has a total population of about 6000 people; about 1500 live in or near Jamestown. Being a British territory, it has a very British feel and look – may of the buildings were built in the mid to late 1800's. The island is truly cut off from much of the world as there is no airport at all and the Royal Mail Ship is the only scheduled ship that stops there. The Royal Mail Ship was also anchored there the same day; it comes twice a month from Cape Town and twice a year makes the trip to London.

The island was used during WWI and WWII and many of the fortifications and gun emplacements can still be seen. It was originally a penal colony and the prisoners supplied the labor for much of the old buildings and walls. The real claim to fame is that this is where Napoleon was sent and where he died.

The town was full of local people who were very friendly and welcoming. We stopped at the St James church and were welcomed by a number of ladies with cookies and pastries and tea. It's a lovely church with a beautiful pipe organ – a lady was playing the organ for us. One of my first clues that this was not a common stop for cruise ships was that the church was holding a special service in the afternoon with the passengers invited to attend. In talking to one of the ladies there I asked how many passenger ships stop there – she said usually maybe on a year, but last year they had two.

We wandered around the town and stopped in a large cafe/restaurant and split a beer then wandered around some more. One of the big attractions is Jacob's Ladder – a 699 step stairway up the side of a steep hill – it could be used to reach the houses located up there, but now it's mostly an attraction since there are roadways and paths available that, although winding, would be much easier. I was amazed at how many people from our ship climbed the steps to get their certificate!

I specially enjoyed talking with a policeman about some of the history and the upcoming changes to the island – they are hoping to develop it more for tourism and an airport is being planned. The locals have very mixed feelings about it. While we were waiting for our tender to take us back to the ship we chatted with a local Customs Officer too – he was from London, but married a St. Helena local and they now live there. (isn't that a great police car?)

I wish we had gone ashore a little earlier, but they started running the tenders about 10:00 am and we let the big rush go through while we had some breakfast. By 11:00 when we went, the aft tender platform (only for 4 & 5 star Mariners, suites and President's passengers) was not crowded at all and we were on the tender quickly and taken to shore. We should have gotten a private car and done the tour of the island right then and then wandered around the town later – as it was, we didn't make the tour around the island and I've put that on my 'next-time list'.

The weather stayed beautiful all day and through our sail away and made for a gorgeous sunset. It's only about two more weeks and this adventure will end... I think we are all pushing that day away.

Walvis Bay, Namibia – April 11 & 12

Walvis Bay, Namibia – April 11 & 12

We should have booked a tour into the sand dunes and desert because there was nothing else to see or do here. There was a town, but I wouldn't call it quaint or even interesting and no interesting market area to browse through. We were docked here overnight so it was even more disappointing that we hadn't arranged some sort of a tour. Next time I'll know better.

Holland America is a sponsor of a children's center here. It started as an orphanage but has evolved into a educational and recreational for many needy children. A group of the children came onboard at noon and had lunch and tons of ice cream and then the choir did a performance for us at 2:00. These type of performances are really the highlights of the cruise. It made a lovely ending to a rather blah port.

We did see some fun 'critters' while we were here, in among the seagulls flying around the ship you would occasionally see flamingos. I'm not sure I've ever seen flamingos just flying around in the wild. These were a very light salmon color – they looked pretty ungainly flying with their long legs trailing behind. There were also some seals around the docks that kept us entertained and we went through a whole bunch of them maybe a mile off the dock. At first we thought they were dolphins as they were sort of leaping through the water but after looking closer they were seals. What is a bunch of seals called?

We are at sea today on the way to Jamestown, St. Helena.  Happy Birthday to me!

Cape Town, South Africa – April 7-9

Cape Town, South Africa – April 7-9

Our arrival in Cape Town was cloudy and rainy but it cleared later in the morning and we took the shuttle to the Waterfront area and wandered around for several hours stopping at several crafts markets. We had a great time looking at all the clothing, jewelry, wood carvings, jewelry and other crafts but I didn't see anything that had to follow me home – since we had already walked more than half way back to the ship we decided to continue walking instead of backtracking for the shuttle. While not terribly exciting, it was a very enjoyable day and we were back at the ship before another round of rain moved in. The picture of Cape Town was actually taken as we were departing; naturally we had beautiful weather for that.

The second day I was going to call Frontier airlines which had emailed to say our flight was canceled and we needed to call to reschedule – sadly it couldn't be done by computer. After screwing around for a long time with the new cell phone (with the international chip) and not being able to get a signal, I gave up and we came back to the ship. I ended up downloading Skype to the new computer I called Frontier using it and was able to reschedule – but now we are flying out the morning after we arrive in Fort Lauderdale so I also had to make a hotel reservation for that night. We decided to have a quick lunch and then head out for the city tour on the Hop on Hop off bus. By the time we finished lunch the black clouds were rolling back in and we decided to skip it. We ended up spending a quiet afternoon reading (no complaints!) My new friend next door had me over to her cabin to show me the beautiful glass beads she had gotten at a bead shop – I decided I had to go there the next day and we decided to 'dump the husbands' for a few hours and go together. We had a great time and I bought a bunch of lovely glass beads. Guess what – glass beads weigh a LOT … it was like toting home a large bag of rocks and we still have to get this stuff packed! The Jims (her husband is also a Jim) said they enjoyed the time without us so neither of us felt bad about going.

 

Although the ship wasn't due to leave until about 5:30 we had immigration procedures for leaving the country that started at 2:00 and then a lifeboat drill at 4:15, so the rest of the day was spent either relaxing or doing the mandatory stuff and then dinner. Just before we went to dinner we watched the Queen Mary 2 come into port. She is a beautiful big ship; she makes Amsterdam look quite small.

Today is a sea day and finally we have some bouncy seas – they actually started right after we left Cape Town. The swells (4 meter) and winds (force 8) are coming from behind us so our ride is surprisingly smooth considering the look of the sea and the amount of waves and whitecaps. This ship is perhaps the best we have ever been on as far as cutting through the sea smoothly; we have had very very little 'rock and roll' for the 3 months we have already been at sea.

Pinda Reserve – South Africa – April 2-4

Pinda Reserve – South Africa – April 2-4

Our room at Pinda Forest

This was our only overland adventure for this cruise and it took a big one off my bucket list! We left on Tuesday morning out of Matupo, Mozambique by plane to Durbin, South Africa. The flight was almost an hour late and then in Durbin, the bus was another hour late to start the drive back northward to the Pinda Forest Lodge – about a 3 hour drive. It was about 6:30 pm when we arrived so we were too late to start a game drive for that evening as planned – a bit disappointing, but we were all tired and it was nice to just settle in and have dinner. There were only 18 of us on the trip, including our ship escort, so it was a nice small group. 

The 'rooms' at Pinda Forest are scattered throughout the forest area surrounding the reception and dining areas and each room was nicely secluded. Gorgeous rooms – at home we'd call them cabins. They had glass walls with sliding doors all around so you had a great view – they did have heavy shades that could be pulled at night. There was also a large verandah with couches and a huge bathroom with a soaking tub and separate shower, double sinks, etc. OK... this place goes on my list of "must go back places".

After dinner we were escorted back to our room (you must have an escort after dark) and we spent a little time out on the verandah and then hit the bed – our wake up call would come early in the morning for our first game drive.

 

The phone rang at 5:00 and we hurriedly dressed and grabbed the camera bags just as security arrived to escort us to the restaurant – it was still dark. After a quick coffee and cookie, we headed off in our vehicles. Our driver/guide was Sam and I think we hit the jackpot with him, as we found almost all the animals and he had a great personality! The Range Rovers could hold 9 passengers in three seats but we only had 6 in each so it was very comfortable and everyone had a great view. The seats are slightly elevated from the front to the back so even in the back seat we had a great view and could shoot (cameras not guns) in all directions.

We were just a little way out when we saw our first group of impalas so we started getting very excited – almost too dark for pics, but we tried anyway. The sunrise was gorgeous and the morning stayed perfect for photography – slightly overcast so we didn't get the heavy shadows. The guides of the three vehicles stayed in radio contact so they could tell each other when and where they were finding the animals. We saw lots of impalas, a pride of lions, some rhinos, giraffes, wildebeest, cheetahs, elephant – more too, that I can't think of right now. We also saw a cape buffalo from the dining area at the lodge so we scored all of the Big Five. The elephant was a huge bull – he just stepped out of the bush right in front of the vehicle. We stopped and got some shots and then he continued across the path and went behind some bushes. Then he came out again and decided that he'd show who was boss and did a short charge at the back of the vehicle – great pics!! He snorted at us a couple times and then wandered off. My other favorite was the cheetahs – our second bunch of them included a mother and two babies. So beautiful and the babies were so cute.

After 3 hours we returned to the lodge for breakfast and lunch and some down time with a second drive scheduled for 3:30 in the afternoon. We took our camera bags back to the room and put the batteries on the charger and went back for breakfast. At our meeting on the ship before the trip, we had been told that the food would be buffet-style, but it turned out that we ordered from a short daily menu with just the right amount of choices to keep everyone happy and, of course, way too much food! The lodge had a wonderful infinity pool area that overlooked a game area but it was too cool to use it. Bummer, I had been looking forward to it.

After breakfast we headed back to the room hoping to see some of the monkeys that we had been told would be around the area. We sat our on the verandah for quite a while looking through the trees and saying "here monkey" - not one to be found after a while we went in – Jim to take a shower and I wanted to lie down on the bed and read a bit. We hadn't been inside 10 minutes when I looked up and there's a monkey looking back at me... he scampered up the tree and onto the roof. We kept watching and found a whole family of them. We tried going outside for better pics, but they would back up further away into the trees so we ended up shooting through the windows. We had great fun with them for a couple hours and then it was time to head back to the lodge for the afternoon drive.

By now it is very cloudy and starting to spit rain... we all loaded into the cars hoping for the best. The mission for the afternoon drive was to find the leopards. All three vehicles coordinated the search around the area where they frequented without much luck. We were slowed for a short while when we had a flat tire, but our guide and spotter changed it very quickly and we were off again. We did catch sight of one running off through the trees – I only saw his butt and tail (but I'm counting it!). By this time we were all wearing the canvas ponchos they provided but we were wet and cold and it was dark so we headed back to the lodge. We had a great dinner, passed on dessert and asked security to take us back to our room. Most people were staying at the lodge for some drinks, but we needed some time to kick-back. It was another early to bed night to be ready for the 5 am wake-up call hoping the rain would stop.

 

I woke up several times during the night and it was still raining... and it was raining when the phone rang in the morning. We got dressed, but I decided not to go another 3 hours in the cold rain in search of more cape buffalo didn't sound as good as just staying in the great room – Jim agreed so we both begged out. We walked over to the restaurant for coffee a little later and had coffee and a nice little plate of oatmeal/chocolate cookies. We were watching a monkey in a tree nearby through the opened doorway. I decided to move to a table outside outside so I could see him better... I tossed a bit of my cookie – he jumped down and grabbed it... and like a blazing streak ran through the room and grabbed the two cookies left on the plate and was out the door again before I even realized what he did. Jim spent the rest of the day laughing because the monkey was smarter than I was – he got my cookies! As it turned out the rain did stop, but our vehicle mates said we probably made the right decision as most of their drive was cold and wet – they did find more cape buffalo, but not nearly as many other animals as we saw on the morning drive the day before.

We packed up and after breakfast sadly boarded the bus for the trip back to Durbin and our return to the ship. Altogether it was a great trip – I can wish the weather would have been better, but we saw pretty much everything we wanted and you just can't control mother nature.

Nosy Be, Madagascar – March 31

Nosy Be, Madagascar – March 31

Well, this was definitely a port in which we should not have booked an excursion. It was beautiful as we arrived, a nice calm sea – perfect for tender operations and we were anchored about 10 minutes from the tender pier. As soon as the anchor dropped the ship was surrounded by dozens of little outrigger canoes with people wanting us to either buy stuff or throw soap or money – they stayed until the anchor was pulled up at about 4:30 in the afternoon. I'm not sure how you could buy anything from them because even the promenade deck (deck 3) is way above the water.

When we arrived in the Queens Lounge for our excursion, I about died – it was nearly full. What I had booked was supposed to be a 'limited' trip with a boat ride to a fishing village and and a visit to the lemur sanctuary on a charter boat. What we (all 280 of us) got was a long ride in a small boats to the island. There was a village, but all the people did was try to sell you junk and beg for money – Then a long difficult walk that we thought would end in the lemur sanctuary but ended with two young men with pet lemurs. For a dollar you could feed it it would sit on your shoulder.

When we finally got back to the boat I was really glad to shower and flop out in the cool cabin. Big disappointment! The ship has about 280 not-happy people right now.