Wednesday April 27th. 2011

Wednesday April 27th. 2011

Greetings land lubbers,

It's hard to believe that we have only one more port of call to go, then a North Easterly course will be set to bring us home. The joy of  the longer cruise for me is, it's easier to adjust to what has to be, and like all good things must come to an end.

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It doesn't hurt to already have another cruise booked either, and so although it will be difficult to say goodbye to new found friends, the blow is softened knowing we have a HAL Grand cruise to look forward to, come September.

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But I digress, we've barely left San Blas, home of the Kuna Indians, where women are "boss" and take care of the purse strings, where the local brew distilled from sugar cane is freely swigged by the whole village, kids n all. Where on the surface things appear to be primitive but peek behind the veneer and you'll see big screen TV's and all mod cons. And who knows, perhaps on the mainland a Mercedes and condominium await!

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It was very still when we arrived at our anchorage this morning, the kind of still that conjures up images of lazing away in hammocks, too hot and humid to move, or don much more than a pair of cut off's…In days of sail, these were the "doldrums" not a breath of wind to ripple a sail, too hot to think of anything cept, finding a spot of shade and waiting for things to happen.

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We didn't go ashore, the early tenders were being boarded eagerly by those who just had to check things out, and get their feet on mother earth. It was great to have the ship to ourselves along with others who'd visited here on more than one occasion. Soon the dug out canoes arrived with youngsters crying out for "money money money" They seemed to be less in numbers than  in years past, then I learned that nowadays days ships discourage the throwing of coins over the side for the locals to dive for. It used to be a big part of calling in San Blas but alas no more.

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Speaking with fellow pax, things were much the same here as in past decades, $s required to take picture of lady with monkey, boy with parrot or girl with iguana, etc. etc. etc. Cold beer was readily available, plus the embroidery that the Kuna women are so famous for. Other than that, it was the quaintness of the place which if you've not seen before is well worth a look. Pax struggled back on board looking bedraggled and wilted from their time ashore and showers were the order of the day.

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By early afternoon we were on our way and headed for Limon, Costa Rica our final POC. We have a tour booked there with Jennie & some of our CC friends tomorrow morning. The forward motion of the ship causes air to move and it feels good sticking my head over the rail letting my face feel it. Some thrive in this climate, we must have lived too long in the Great White North or something, I find it much easier to warm up than to cool down…

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Dorothy has gone with Volker and Jo to see tonight's show, I'm enjoying the quiet and coolness of our cabin. The clocks go back an hour to Mountain time tonight but we need to be up early for our tour in the morning so the hour gained will come in handy.

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I'm going on the balcony to soak up some moon shine, (no not the drink) but moon and stars, I like the night sky where there's no city lights to spoil the effect and what better place to experience it than aboard a ship upon the sea.!

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Buena notte.

Tony

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Sorry but after 15 minutes of watching the satellite icon go round and around using up minutes with nothing to show for it, I logged off and will include this with Thursday's posting :)

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THURSDAY APRIL 28th. 2011.

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We were up before the alarm this morning and after a quick breakfast went ashore to meet Oscar, our tour guide for the day. Only Jennie, Peter, Dorothy and I were going on this trip, Bruce stayed aboard with Cathi, who was not feeling too well.

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It was hot and sticky, not a breath of air, and with "natural" air conditioning it was fine as long as the van was moving. As soon as it stopped we were drenched. After showing us the down town area, it was off to look at the variety of fruit growing in and around Limon. Papaya, mangos, coconuts, bananas, pineapples, cocoa beans and  cashew nuts to name some of them.

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We saw a dog with 14 pups, and a pet sloth, before boarding a motorized punt for a lazy cruise down a canal where we observed sloth's, bats, and many colorful birds along the banks, but no crocodiles. We were now knackered and couldn't wait to get back to the comfort of the ship. Dorothy wanted to shop, I wanted a shower so we went our separate ways. I've now had two showers but still feel  hot and bothered, the Sloth has it right in my book, "why move if you don't have to" and if you do, do it .. S L O W L Y !

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Ohhhh, that was a lovely snooze and though I need another shower I feel human again. I'll not venture out now until we move away from the quay, breezes are hard to come by today. Dorothy was not impressed with the local merchandise, and came back to the ship with most of  the money she'd taken ashore :)

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At 5.30pm it's all aboard, at 6.00pm we sail, setting a North, North Easterly course for the 1296 nautical mile voyage to our final destination, Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale and the end of another fabulous cruise.

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I hope you've enjoyed tagging along, I'm not sure how much more I'll be blogging.

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Best wishes to everyone.

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Tony

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My apologies but there's been satellite problems for the past few days, let's see if I can get this away now...