k - Acapulco and the Cliff Divers

Last night we were both very tired and I think I had the earliest night
yet - lights out by 10.30pm! Maybe it had something to do with the
margarita's ? It was probably a combination of those, the rocking night
before and a long day in Hautalco....... And so we woke up a tad more
rested this morning.... early, but rested. I just love being up on the
top deck when coming into port - its a whole adventure in of itself. So
with the sun rising and Acapulco waking up, we eased into the bay - and
then turned around and went in backwards! We glided past some
incredible scenery, watching the night lights slowly flickering out as
the sun lit the sky and Acapulco showed us her colors. The hills are
filled with houses all painted different colors, on the left of the bay
are the 'normal' size housing and on the right the hills were splattered
with huge, sprawling homes of the rich and famous. On this side, right
at the top of the tallest hill, stands a huge cross - towering way about
everything - very impressive. I much preferred the older part. And
yes, we came in backwards. As the ropes landed on the jetty, the
traffic was already picking up and we could hear the city starting to
roar. And it did all day long.

We headed off the boat to find our tour guide - and ended up on a mini
bus with only five of us. One guy was from Croatia, but lived in
California but did not speak English well at all - he smiled a lot. The
other couple had done this cruise before, done Acapulco before and were
not impressed by anything at all. They had words with the tour guide
really early on which really did not help matters. From the start we
all felt that the guide was.......well, otherwise occupied. He was slow
and sort of rude and short and so on...but there was no need to be rude
to him.

Anyway - first we headed to the Pacific side to the Flamingo Hotel where
some famous films were made, Elvis and Rambo and ...... well, I bet you
all know better than I do who made their movies there - Tarzan maybe?
Evidently I was not listening too well, but then the "rich and famous"
never really impressed me at all. But that hotel was all pink, with
coconut hulls hanging everywhere, the most incredible views of the ocean
and the cliffs........ no wonder it was a popular place.

And then, after being left there for too long by the guide, which
further irritated the 'been there done that' couple, and totally put the
Croatian into a flap, we left there and headed to the shopping part of
the tour - all jewelry that none of us were interested in, but the guide
had to take us there for a while. Unfortunately the guide left us there
too long again which did not help the vibe at all. Soon after we all
mutinously stood together at the mini bus, we headed to the other side
of town - right to that cross that is way up on the hill towering over
the rich and famous people and places. But first we passed the beaches
- all along the main drag where everyone and their brothers went to
visit, seeing as it is one of the busiest weeks in Acapulco! The
traffic is incredible....... no, replace that word with 'ridiculous'. I
would never drive here. It's not quite as bad as Ecuador, but still
totally crazy. Cars squeak through openings that I did not think a
bicycle could get through. The beaches looked good but were thickly
packed even by 9.30am. For a good many miles there are no buildings
along the beach - it is free to everyone and no building is allowed
along this stretch - and then the hotels start and the ocean is lost to
view apart from little slits between buildings.

And so up we went, up yet another steep road with incredible views. The
guide, Larry, kept on talking and asking questions and no one answered
and I was in the front seat - or was that 'the hot seat'. I just could
not let his questions go unanswered, or sit silently as he tried to get
the group moving, and there we a good few times when it seemed easier to
walk up that road than to keep the conversation going in that van. But
the views were amazing - there is a tall ship in port too - she is sleek
and white and looked stunning this evening with all her lights lit up
all the way up those masts. The houses on this end of town seem to be
built with money itself. One guy build a house, sold it a short while
later...... the guy that bought it loved the house so much that he had
it demolished - only to rebuild it exactly as it was - just so that he
could say he built his own dream house. Now THAT should be an illegal
waste of money! This area is being built as the "diamond class' of
everything - this is way above the 5 star class hotel. One place here
is famous for honeymooners and each room has its own indoor swimming
pool, as well as an outside one.

Anyway - the place where we were headed to is called the Chapel of Peace
and it consists of that huge cross thats on the top of the hill and a
Chapel and masauleum - dont know how to spell that...... It was
privately owned by the parents of two boys who died at the same time in
some or other of the wars of the country. They vowed to build something
in honor of their sons - and they did. The view from there is beautiful
and it really is beautifully peaceful and quiet. The Chapel is stark in
its plain-ness, but its soothing, with a very light and airy feel -
along with ......well, everyone went quiet as they walked in there. And
there is a statue of two hands - the boys' hands - a huge statue.

After that, we headed back down again to the Fuerto de San Diego - a
fortress that was right opposite where the ship lay waiting for us. By
now the 'btdt' couple was almost mutinous and the Croatian disappeared
at every turn, absolutely irritating the peace out of poor Larry who was
by now at his wits end. We had an afternoon tour to meet up with and
Larry kept on saying that 'all going well, we will make it in time'.
Well, that sort of played on Frank and my nerves too, and we were all
really ready to leave the fort and get back . And Larry made that
happen too. Frankly, the tour was not the best by a long way, but I
really felt sorry for Larry when, at the very end and after the other
three had stalked off, he asked us if we thought he did an ok job
because he felt a 'vibe from de odder peeple". Poor man - we just did
not have the heart to tell him that we hoped he had better days, or at
least a night job......so we told him that he was fine, gave him a tip,
told him not to worry about the others and trotted off to meet the other
tour.

I thought I had booked the boat ride to see the cliff divers. Not. I
looked at the tickets and read "City tour and Cliff Divers". Oh heck oh
heck - another city tour?? But after being greeted by the new guide we
hopped on the much bigger bus and headed out again - straight back to
the shop we were nearly held a mutiny on poor Larry.... Sigh. But this
time we headed to the Cliff Divers first.

Oh boy were they just amazing. There you have cliffs of about 160 foot
tall with these young men standing on the sides and top getting ready to
dive off. They only have a narrow strip of water to dive into and when
they start their dive they cannot even see the water - they have to push
off hard from where they stand to hit the water - but not too hard or
they will hit the other cliff on the other side! I am going to try to
put a photo in with this email to show you what I mean. Anyway, as we
found a place to get the best view, these young men, about eight of
them, scrambled up and down the cliff, stretched, waved and got
themselves ready for yet another show. On the very top of where they
dive from are two little places for them to pray before taking the
leap... and they all use those tiny chapels.

And then it was time for them to jump........... oh boy. They pray
first, then go to the dive spot, stretch again, wave and then turn and
look at the water, watching the waves, timing the waves... They have to
jump exactly at the right time when the water is at its deepest of
around 24 foot. Not much at all. Then up go the arms, head down and
the slow and graceful arc starts. All of us watching held our breath as
they jump, one by one, hitting the water and then clamoring back up that
wall. 5 jumped from about 120 feet up the cliff face, then two jumped
together, sailing down gracefully together and the last one jumped from
the top - a height of around 150 foot up...... What an incredible jump
that was - it went on forever and was over in just a couple of seconds.
So beautiful. So insane.

These guys train from around 13 years old and the divers of today were
all between 18 and 25 years old. Right after watching the cliff divers,
there was a show of some dancers in some very beautiful costumes. I
stood up on a balcony and got some really good photos of them and their
shadows...... They were all very beautiful, very lithe and very fit -
the guys very handsome and well built and the ladies just perfect. But
my mind was still on the cliff divers....... and then we got to meet
them too - there they stood, still dripping wet from another successful
jump. They are so young! Quite amazing.....but I guess those are the
years to do something as crazy as this. They have become so successful
that they apparently have unionized! They get paid ok, after about 5
years of training, but really need any tips, so we gladly obliged.

Then off to see the rest of the city - again. But this guide was fun
and funny and we did see a good many other things too..... We stopped at
view points that we were not able to earlier in the day and although
much of the time after the cliff divers was spend on the bus with only
short breaks - our feet were happy and we really enjoyed it. We had met
up with another couple we have seen many times on board - Nina and Hal.
She clicks away just about like I do and just 'gets' why i take photos
of crazy things. Both Hal and Frank just quietly shook their heads as
we got chatting. We were going to meet up tonight, but that did not work
out - maybe sometime tomorrow :)

And so we got back to the ship about an hour before sailing time. We
were really hungry as we had missed lunch because of the combination of
tours - only snacking on guavas and jerky/biltong. As good as they both
were, it was just not enough...... so we hustled ourselves on board,
grabbed a beer and headed up to eat and then to stand on deck as we left
port - again at sunset. This time we had a really big crowd of wavers
and for some reason it choked me up just watching those flashes going
off, the enthusiasm of the waving, listening to the yelling and the
goodbye's - just lovely. Some smaller boats came closer to yell and
wave goodbye and for a good long while after we were off the jetty, we
could see camera flashes popping. The lights of Acapulco glistened like
gems almost all around us as we headed out to sea - really pretty.

Its late again now, and its been a really good day. I can hear that
lovely bow wave crashing and the ship has almost a wobble in it tonight
- not quite a shudder like the other night, but getting closer it
seems. Time to close today..... Tomorrow, Wednesday, we have a day at
sea - lovely time to rest up. The next stop is Puerto Vallarta where we
go way up into the mountains again to the mining town of San
Sebastian... This is a town that was originally settled in 1605 and
still has the original cobbled streets...... more about it later. This
chapter has become a book all in itself...... till next time

Love and light
Annie

Dolphins - small photo

And here is one of those dolphins the other day...... I have to make
them small in order to send, but will have the bigger photos online soon
after we get home again
x

Cliff diver Photo

Hi - here is a one photograph of a Cliff Diver.... Here he has just
pushed off from the cliff and is about to head down..
x

k - Acapulco and the Cliff divers.

Last night we were both very tired and I think I had the earliest night
yet - lights out by 10.30pm! Maybe it had something to do with the
margarita's ? It was probably a combination of those, the rocking night
before and a long day in Hautalco....... And so we woke up a tad more
rested this morning.... early, but rested. I just love being up on the
top deck when coming into port - its a whole adventure in of itself. So
with the sun rising and Acapulco waking up, we eased into the bay - and
then turned around and went in backwards! We glided past some
incredible scenery, watching the night lights slowly flickering out as
the sun lit the sky and Acapulco showed us her colors. The hills are
filled with houses all painted different colors, on the left of the bay
are the 'normal' size housing and on the right the hills were splattered
with huge, sprawling homes of the rich and famous. On this side, right
at the top of the tallest hill, stands a huge cross - towering way about
everything - very impressive. I much preferred the older part. And
yes, we came in backwards. As the ropes landed on the jetty, the
traffic was already picking up and we could hear the city starting to
roar. And it did all day long.

We headed off the boat to find our tour guide - and ended up on a mini
bus with only five of us. One guy was from Croatia, but lived in
California but did not speak English well at all - he smiled a lot. The
other couple had done this cruise before, done Acapulco before and were
not impressed by anything at all. They had words with the tour guide
really early on which really did not help matters. From the start we
all felt that the guide was.......well, otherwise occupied. He was slow
and sort of rude and short and so on...but there was no need to be rude
to him.

Anyway - first we headed to the Pacific side to the Flamingo Hotel where
some famous films were made, Elvis and Rambo and ...... well, I bet you
all know better than I do who made their movies there - Tarzan maybe?
Evidently I was not listening too well, but then the "rich and famous"
never really impressed me at all. But that hotel was all pink, with
coconut hulls hanging everywhere, the most incredible views of the ocean
and the cliffs........ no wonder it was a popular place.

And then, after being left there for too long by the guide, which
further irritated the 'been there done that' couple, and totally put the
Croatian into a flap, we left there and headed to the shopping part of
the tour - all jewelry that none of us were interested in, but the guide
had to take us there for a while. Unfortunately the guide left us there
too long again which did not help the vibe at all. Soon after we all
mutinously stood together at the mini bus, we headed to the other side
of town - right to that cross that is way up on the hill towering over
the rich and famous people and places. But first we passed the beaches
- all along the main drag where everyone and their brothers went to
visit, seeing as it is one of the busiest weeks in Acapulco! The
traffic is incredible....... no, replace that word with 'ridiculous'. I
would never drive here. It's not quite as bad as Ecuador, but still
totally crazy. Cars squeak through openings that I did not think a
bicycle could get through. The beaches looked good but were thickly
packed even by 9.30am. For a good many miles there are no buildings
along the beach - it is free to everyone and no building is allowed
along this stretch - and then the hotels start and the ocean is lost to
view apart from little slits between buildings.

And so up we went, up yet another steep road with incredible views. The
guide, Larry, kept on talking and asking questions and no one answered
and I was in the front seat - or was that 'the hot seat'. I just could
not let his questions go unanswered, or sit silently as he tried to get
the group moving, and there we a good few times when it seemed easier to
walk up that road than to keep the conversation going in that van. But
the views were amazing - there is a tall ship in port too - she is sleek
and white and looked stunning this evening with all her lights lit up
all the way up those masts. The houses on this end of town seem to be
built with money itself. One guy build a house, sold it a short while
later...... the guy that bought it loved the house so much that he had
it demolished - only to rebuild it exactly as it was - just so that he
could say he built his own dream house. Now THAT should be an illegal
waste of money! This area is being built as the "diamond class' of
everything - this is way above the 5 star class hotel. One place here
is famous for honeymooners and each room has its own indoor swimming
pool, as well as an outside one.

Anyway - the place where we were headed to is called the Chapel of Peace
and it consists of that huge cross thats on the top of the hill and a
Chapel and masauleum - dont know how to spell that...... It was
privately owned by the parents of two boys who died at the same time in
some or other of the wars of the country. They vowed to build something
in honor of their sons - and they did. The view from there is beautiful
and it really is beautifully peaceful and quiet. The Chapel is stark in
its plain-ness, but its soothing, with a very light and airy feel -
along with ......well, everyone went quiet as they walked in there. And
there is a statue of two hands - the boys' hands - a huge statue.

After that, we headed back down again to the Fuerto de San Diego - a
fortress that was right opposite where the ship lay waiting for us. By
now the 'btdt' couple was almost mutinous and the Croatian disappeared
at every turn, absolutely irritating the peace out of poor Larry who was
by now at his wits end. We had an afternoon tour to meet up with and
Larry kept on saying that 'all going well, we will make it in time'.
Well, that sort of played on Frank and my nerves too, and we were all
really ready to leave the fort and get back . And Larry made that
happen too. Frankly, the tour was not the best by a long way, but I
really felt sorry for Larry when, at the very end and after the other
three had stalked off, he asked us if we thought he did an ok job
because he felt a 'vibe from de odder peeple". Poor man - we just did
not have the heart to tell him that we hoped he had better days, or at
least a night job......so we told him that he was fine, gave him a tip,
told him not to worry about the others and trotted off to meet the other
tour.

I thought I had booked the boat ride to see the cliff divers. Not. I
looked at the tickets and read "City tour and Cliff Divers". Oh heck oh
heck - another city tour?? But after being greeted by the new guide we
hopped on the much bigger bus and headed out again - straight back to
the shop we were nearly held a mutiny on poor Larry.... Sigh. But this
time we headed to the Cliff Divers first.

Oh boy were they just amazing. There you have cliffs of about 160 foot
tall with these young men standing on the sides and top getting ready to
dive off. They only have a narrow strip of water to dive into and when
they start their dive they cannot even see the water - they have to push
off hard from where they stand to hit the water - but not too hard or
they will hit the other cliff on the other side! I am going to try to
put a photo in with this email to show you what I mean. Anyway, as we
found a place to get the best view, these young men, about eight of
them, scrambled up and down the cliff, stretched, waved and got
themselves ready for yet another show. On the very top of where they
dive from are two little places for them to pray before taking the
leap... and they all use those tiny chapels.

And then it was time for them to jump........... oh boy. They pray
first, then go to the dive spot, stretch again, wave and then turn and
look at the water, watching the waves, timing the waves... They have to
jump exactly at the right time when the water is at its deepest of
around 24 foot. Not much at all. Then up go the arms, head down and
the slow and graceful arc starts. All of us watching held our breath as
they jump, one by one, hitting the water and then clamoring back up that
wall. 5 jumped from about 120 feet up the cliff face, then two jumped
together, sailing down gracefully together and the last one jumped from
the top - a height of around 150 foot up...... What an incredible jump
that was - it went on forever and was over in just a couple of seconds.
So beautiful. So insane.

These guys train from around 13 years old and the divers of today were
all between 18 and 25 years old. Right after watching the cliff divers,
there was a show of some dancers in some very beautiful costumes. I
stood up on a balcony and got some really good photos of them and their
shadows...... They were all very beautiful, very lithe and very fit -
the guys very handsome and well built and the ladies just perfect. But
my mind was still on the cliff divers....... and then we got to meet
them too - there they stood, still dripping wet from another successful
jump. They are so young! Quite amazing.....but I guess those are the
years to do something as crazy as this. They have become so successful
that they apparently have unionized! They get paid ok, after about 5
years of training, but really need any tips, so we gladly obliged.

Then off to see the rest of the city - again. But this guide was fun
and funny and we did see a good many other things too..... We stopped at
view points that we were not able to earlier in the day and although
much of the time after the cliff divers was spend on the bus with only
short breaks - our feet were happy and we really enjoyed it. We had met
up with another couple we have seen many times on board - Nina and Hal.
She clicks away just about like I do and just 'gets' why i take photos
of crazy things. Both Hal and Frank just quietly shook their heads as
we got chatting. We were going to meet up tonight, but that did not work
out - maybe sometime tomorrow :)

And so we got back to the ship about an hour before sailing time. We
were really hungry as we had missed lunch because of the combination of
tours - only snacking on guavas and jerky/biltong. As good as they both
were, it was just not enough...... so we hustled ourselves on board,
grabbed a beer and headed up to eat and then to stand on deck as we left
port - again at sunset. This time we had a really big crowd of wavers
and for some reason it choked me up just watching those flashes going
off, the enthusiasm of the waving, listening to the yelling and the
goodbye's - just lovely. Some smaller boats came closer to yell and
wave goodbye and for a good long while after we were off the jetty, we
could see camera flashes popping. The lights of Acapulco glistened like
gems almost all around us as we headed out to sea - really pretty.

Its late again now, and its been a really good day. I can hear that
lovely bow wave crashing and the ship has almost a wobble in it tonight
- not quite a shudder like the other night, but getting closer it
seems. Time to close today..... Tomorrow, Wednesday, we have a day at
sea - lovely time to rest up. The next stop is Puerto Vallarta where we
go way up into the mountains again to the mining town of San
Sebastian... This is a town that was originally settled in 1605 and
still has the original cobbled streets...... more about it later. This
chapter has become a book all in itself...... till next time

Love and light
Annie

--
http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com
PHOTOS:http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs

j - Huatulco, Mexico and the Oaxaca Villages

Oh boy was last night something else!! From soon after dark the wind
kept building, the waves got perkier and white caps became cooks hats
all over the ocean. When I was typing my email up last night, I was
sitting in the bet with my foot hooked around the edge of the mattress
and the other one spread out to help balance me. We had to move a few
things off the table and onto the ground and scrapped any idea of going
out on the balcony - the spray was pounding the windows of the sliding
door. From around midnight to just before sunrise, the ship shuddered,
pounded into the waves, took more than just spray way up on the decks,
even as high as we are on deck 6. There are glass dividers between the
decks on each cabin and it seemed as if they were just ready to break
loose and fly, it was almost impossible to open the doors and, well we
really were not keen to do that. As I lay in bed I could see the white
foam flushing up on our balcony and feel the deep shuddering on the
ship... it felt as if I were back on a little 60 foot sailboat pounding
through the waves. No one slept very well at all and this morning there
were many very bleary eyes around. When we went up on deck everything
was coated, literally, with a layer of salt - the decks were white with
it, the railings sticky and rough from it - everywhere.

Anyway - we were up at around 6.30am again, but it took us a tad longer
to get ready this morning. And then up on deck we went. The internet
had been down for just over a day already and apparently most of the tv
stations were too. The coast line of(pronounced wah-tul-co) Huatulco,
Mexico greeted us on the top deck - a hazy coastline that stretched for
miles. I really do enjoy coming into a port - its like unwrapping a
gift in many ways. So there we were, standing on the top deck with the
sun freshly risen and a whole new adventure ahead of us. There was no
one to greet us on the pier - but after a few minutes we could see a few
people running towards the ship, ready to catch the huge big blue ropes
to tie us up. And so our day got started. We grabbed a quick bite for
breakfast and headed out.

At first they could not clock me off the ship - my sea pass had smudged
it barcode, but she did it manually and let me off.... I had to get it
replaced after we got back on. We met up with the group going up to the
mountains with us and were soon happily chatting away with numerous
people. Its as if we share a little snippet of our lives, hear a rag of
theirs and a gentle tie is formed. Nothing permanent, but something
good nevertheless. We were shown to a minivan - eight of us in the
group with one tour guide who really was very good. We took a drive to
the top of a hill that gave us the most glorious view of the bay, the
marina, town and our ship.... A really stunning view. And then he told
us some history. A mere 20 years ago, the marina was a fresh water
lake, supplied by a river that ran off the mountains.... the locals
fished and hunted and it was a tough life, but the land was theirs. Then
one of the presidents decided to make this his project, a tourist
attraction like Cancun.... but it never really took off that much at
all. But in the process, all the people had to give up their land,
their space and their lifestyle. Many of them moved away and started
little villages a few miles away, but it was not the same. Our guide
was one of those that moved away and once he grew up, he saw the
opportunity in becoming a guide over trying to fish and farm through
life. There is a lot of studying to do on many fronts in order to
become a guide, but one that we have found the most important is
passion. A passion for their country and their job. Oscar had it!

After the view point, we headed to a little town...... ok, I could go
and look up the name of the town and tell you, but......... thats not
going to happen. Suffice to say that it is in Oaxaca, Huatulco, Mexico,
it had the word 'Cruz' in it somewhere. Maybe I will come across some
names while I type........ dont think so though. Anyway - we headed to
this little town and its market place..... of course I spied guavas and
as soon as we could get out of the van, we broke away from the group and
headed to buy some of them.......... ooooooooooh were they goooood!
Most people looked at us as if we were mad..... firstly they did not
know what guava's are (tropical fruit) and secondly, they were horrified
that we were eating fruit from Mexico! We would be Montazuma's Revenge,
they said.... (tummy issues, to say the least), but we had had no
problems in Baja or in South America before. Hopefully its the same this
time - but those quavas were worth even that :)

The fruit in the market was just beautiful - huge fruit, natural colors
and the taste was just perfect. They sold all sorts of stuff there
although it was not a huge market by any means. One of the ladies on
the tour with us wanted me to see the 'animals' and dragged me off to
take pictures of the butcher cleaning off a cow....There were little
bright eyed, barefoot kids running around with happy smiles on their
faces and Mama's and Papa's working hard at trying to make a few pennies.

And on we went to some or other official place where we saw beautiful
wall paintings and heard a bit of the history of the town. Mostly the
smaller towns are build around and sustained by, coffee. The coffee
grows on very steep mountainside and not neatly in rows on even ground
at all. The berries, when they are red and ripe, are hand picked and
then walked down the mountain to the collection points. It's really a
very hard life and we could tell it in the faces of the people in both
the little towns we visited. And then up a long steep narrow winding
road into the Cloud Forest of the Sierra Madre Mountains and anotehr
Oaxaca village called Pluma Hidalgo. The climb up the mountain we quite
interesting - in a few places there was nothing but a hole on the edge,
no barricades or anything at all - be everyone got around safely.
Hairpin bends, one after the other and the views were incredible. And
all of a sudden, there we were, in town. There was a huge tent,
festooned with hundreds of white balloons, pretty things and we started
hearing what we first thought were gunshots but turned out to be
fireworks being sent off in celebration of the wedding that was
happening. Big pinwheels had been made out of reeds, weeds and leaves
and the fire crackers attached to them and then fired off - they sure
made a noise as well as a lot of smoke. The roads in this town were
very very narrow and the town was FULL up with everyone attending the
wedding. The town square was at the top of the town. Literally. Every
road from that center statue, went down, very steeply down. There was
one road only that went up from there and I am not sure what vehicle
would be able to make it to the top. A very strange place. Of course
we could not go into the huge Catholic church with the wedding going on,
and apparently its very beautiful inside.

We did walk around a little, but just were not too keen to go down those
roads - it seemed almost as if everything could just fall off the
mountain at any time, as if its perched on the top of an incredible
mountain, which it is. Many people bought coffee and we wandered around
the different shops looking to see what they were offering. There are
no toy stores, no chocolate or candy stores, but every now and again
there is a dusty box with a toy tractor or baby doll in its pink finery,
just waiting to be dusted off and loved. Life up there is so absolutely
basic and yet we saw no unhappy children, no screaming, shouting,
disrespectful children...... They all had a twinkle in their eyes and a
ready wave with a glorious smile to match.

The hour drive down the mountain was interesting.... the guy drove
fairly fast and I just refused to look at the road at all. This time my
seat was on the outside of the road - lovely views, but oh so close to
the edge many many times. But I had a bag full of guavas and was happy :)

Because our visit to the Church on the mountain was cut short, our guide
took us to the Catholic Cathedral of the Virgin of Guadaloupe. There is
the most beautiful roof painting of the Virgin - it takes up almost the
whole length of the church roof. There were a good many other
paintings, but that one really kept the main attention. Yup, plenty
photos :) The Church benches were lovely solid, dark wood, standing
like every attentive soldiers in precisely spaced rows and they all
gleamed from the care they had been given. People dotted the benches,
gently singing or praying or just sitting there....it was really very
peaceful. Unfortunately by now we were running out of time and we moved
on all too soon. We went shopping before boarding again, then dropped
goodies and headed to the beach to get my feet in the water. lovely! We
found a seaside bar and ordered a margarita - good golly what an
absolutely un-utterably horrible drink that was! We drank it simply
because it was $6.50 each and the view was good.... The people
watching is fabulous :) We wandered around some more - down some
narrow streets and into some less tourist shops - its always nice to see
the less crowded places. And then it was time to head to the ship
again. Its kind of strange, there sits the Constellation, taking up the
horizon, filling the town with its presence and people and it seems so
casual to wander slowly back on board. There is always a band or
something playing as we walk the length of the ship and then we are
handed a juice to drink and a facecloth wet with ice water and little
blocks of ice. As our first foot hits the gangplank, we have some
disinfectant squirted into our hands and we quickly rub it in before
having to put everything we are carrying through the scanners again.
People wander up to the ship, barely making it before the 'all aboard'
time, which is usually about 30 minutes before we leave the dock. It
seems so casual and there really is no fuss or bother at all.

We headed out of Hautulco at sunset with the sky a lovely light pink -
just beautiful. We had to reverse off the jetty and all the way out to
sea, before the captain turned us around on a dime/tickie and off we
went again. There were many people yelling and waving and hundreds of
flashes going off as we left - its a really nice feeling to see so many
people saying goodbye . We decided to cancel out the bad margarita with
a good one out on deck under the night sky. We were both very tired and
I could not even finish writing this email. The internet finally
started working again as well, we heard - but I was just trying to
remember everything of the day.

It was another good one

Acapulco tomorrow. Double tours - its going to be a long day. :)

love and light
Annie

--
http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com
PHOTOS:http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs

i - Two Sea Days.....

Two days at sea............ and we are forced to kick back and
relax...... its nice in a way, but oh so difficult to do. Yesterday we
woke up quite late, but this morning we were both up and showered and
ready for breakfast by 8.30am! Strange.

Yesterday we slothed around the top deck, the lounge one deck below, the
shady deck on level 4, the food and beer courts and the balcony, and
ended the day at the show for the day. It was very very well done, only
an hour, but really good. Yes, I got lots of photos of that too.

There was not much sea life at all yesterday, but today we have seen
about 7 turtles and many dolphins and other fish - both big and long and
thin. The weather is just beautiful, almost too hot - definitely too
hot for us to lay out in. Many people are out on deck in the glaring
sun all day long, and they vary in shades of red -from light pink to a
deep fried brown. One lady was almost white from a very thick layer of
sunscreen all over her - even on her lips and eyelids, over her very
very bronzed body. Her husband lay just out of reach. I am constantly
amazed at how people dress in public. The walking track on the top deck
is filled with serious walkers at times, I guess I really should do that
too - but this is a vacation, so any serious exercising will wait till
we get home again. Maybe we will also get laid up in a snowstorm for a
few days - the weather on the east coast looks horrible, and then we can
delay that a bit longer.

The Christmas music has stopped playing and even though the Christmas
trees still dot the halls everywhere, there is a different feel on board
now. Every time we leave the cabin, someone comes in and straightens it
all up again, we get new ice and they make sure we have a few beers in
the fridge... We are going to have to buy an extra suitcase to bring
home some of the things we have bought - and we still have 4 more stops
along the way and then San Diego!

The food on board is delicious........we change between eating at the
main restaurant and just picking our food from the almost constant
buffet. I really love the big chunks of fruit they have and the milk
and the bread is just beyond fair. There is everything from huge roasts
of any kind all the way to hot dogs.

Tomorrow we will be in Huatulco Mexico. We have a trip by bus up into
the Sierra Madre Mountains and a visit to two of the little towns up
there - it sounds like a wonderful day waiting. We are going to be
ready to see something other than the ship for a change... I have this
feeling that we are going to wish for these "there is nothing to do"
days once we are home again!

Oh wow, what a wonder filled end to the day we had! After typing the
above and seeing as Frank was enjoying the quiet of the cabin and
snoozing, I decided to walk around up on deck again to see what I could
see... Within three minutes of getting up there, we saw some dolphin
come around the bow of the boat, churning up the waters. And then more
and more and more!! There must have been at least a couple of hundred
of them and they were putting on one incredible display - the white
water of their splashes everywhere and those sleek black bodies arcing
through the air! I got a gooood many photos and have just looked at
them and cannot wait to get some printed out - they came out
beautifully! Oh it was lovely..... I stood with Gypsy pointed at them
happily doing her job and looked at them with my real eye.. Everyone
was almost breathless watching them - it was really a beautiful
experience. After wards another turtle plodded on by followed a string
of birds flying in a straight stripe along the waves. Each time they
got to the top of a wave, the sun lit them all up into brilliant white
sparkles as they cruised on to the next wave.

A little while after that I called down to the cabin and asked Frank if
he wanted to meet "the lady of his dreams" on the top deck for a
drink...Well, sheesh, those elevators must have worked at super speed
and we sat happily on the very front of the top deck people watching,
ocean watching and just enjoying. Soon it was time for the sun to set,
so we tootled over to the other side of the ship - yup, the Port
side.... and were given yet another beautiful sunset. The gold sun-road
glittered all the way across the water, to be met by the whitewater from
the bow wave. As they met, the tips of the waves were all painted with
a thin gold line.

Time for dinner and a show - roast, baked potatoes, veggies and
something that was very delicious, very chocolaty and rounded off the
meal very well. Then it was time to head to the Celebrity Theater for a
show of singing, band playing and a comedian again.... oh, and that
crushed ice margarita :)

And the wind and waves have picked up beautifully! We are pitching and
rolling and rocking so much that I think I will give up my lone nightly
walk on the top deck.......but not the quiet minutes on our own balcony,
well maybe that too - its very very windy out there. When we looked out
over the balcony just a few minutes ago, we first took our glasses off -
don't want to lose those now... its lovely, everything is creaking and
groaning, squeaking and the ship gives a huge shudder with almost every
wave she meets up with - love it!

And so today was in a good many ways a perfect ending to two days at
sea... and I know we will both sleep very well with this rocking.......

Love and light
Annie

--
http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com
PHOTOS:http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs

h - The Panama Canal - what a lovely day!

After a very very long and hot day, I am on the balcony again, with the
ocean all to myself once more....

Just before 5am - yes, 5am!, I woke up and immediately saw lights all
around us outside. Frank was already in the shower and I quickly
grabbed Gypsy and headed outside. We really could save some time by
dragging the mattress outside!.. There I was met by a gazillion gold,
white, green and red lights everywhere I looked. It looked as if
someone has sprinkled my world with gems and made them all sparkle.
Just beautiful. As the sun slowly stuck its head above the horizon, we
could see the shapes of the ships that owned those lights....... and boy
were we surrounded. Right as I first grabbed the camera, Frank pointed
outside with big eyes as a container ship filled our view - totally! I
was absolutely surprised at how incredibly close we were. The crew were
yelling Felis Navidad over to us and I swear that one big swell would
have had us connected! No one seemed unduly worried, but no ship came
near as close to us after that either.

Anyway - there we were, plugging along at a fair clip, totally
surrounded by ships and boats of all sizes and shapes, the sun rising
and its not even a decent time of the day by far yet. But, off we half
ran to the top deck and....yes, we clicked away happily for the rest of
the day, for a total of 1397 photos for the day! Yup.... At one point
I tried to count the ships milling around but they all kept moving and
we agreed that it was lots more than we would have been comfortable with
in any other setting..

We got to the first lock a whole lot earlier than originally thought -
there were 42 boats/ships passing through the canal today and we lined
up right behind a huge yellow tanker. Its very strange to see a huge
ship 85 foot higher than we are and that view really put it all in
proportion for us The first of the locks is the Gutan Locks. This is a
series of three different locks that takes us up to 85 feet about
Caribbean Sea level and basically over the Continental Divide and its
mountains. We fitted very snugly into the lock - one foot space on each
side and about two feet open at the rear, with her bows kissing the
front gates. It was tight. The mechanical mules tied up to us with
huge lines to make sure we did not swing side to side - they are not
strong enough to pull this ship at all, and we entered the lock under
Constellation Power. The locks are really huge, I mean the whole
support structure and everything around it. After locking up to the
third level, it was a short way to the Gutan Lake where many of the
cruise ships turn around and go back to Florida. We were really glad to
be able to go on forward...... I would have been terribly inquisitive
about the rest of the lock if we had not. Did you know that the ocean
is higher on the Pacific side than on the Caribbean side of the Panama
Canal? If I remember correctly there is about 17 foot difference. Also,
we noticed that the water is blue on the Caribbean side and green on the
Pacific... I am going to check that out closer tomorrow.

All along the sides is forest, thick dense incredibly green forest. We
could hear bird calls and I think I heard the howler monkeys at one
point, but wont bet my bottom dollar on that one. The water is still
very high from the recent flooding and closing of the Canal and the
water is very muddy, a medium, murky, swirling brown..

And so we happily tootled along the fairly wide Canal, me walking from
one side of the ship to the other and bow to stern trying not to miss a
thing.... that was all but impossible. The Canal is dotted with
islands, lighthouses and all sorts of things to see, not a dull moment
at all. Through the Gutan Lakes we went, under the Millenium Bridge
which is a road used by the locals to cross over the Canal. Its
huuuuge! Getting pictures often entailed leaning waaaay over the
railings trying to snap photos that did not include peoples hands or
hats they were dangling over the side. I always had one foot entwined
in the railings - just in case.

There is an area that they had to blast huge amounts of the mountain
away and the ships still go through there single file to prevent
accidents. Its commonly known as "the Cut" and also has two much more
official names that I will have to look up again. I would not be
comfortable if there was another ship coming towards us in that narrow
section. This is a hugely impressive project and just fantastic to
see. We also saw quite a bit of the construction for the new set of
locks for even bigger ships. As we watched a dredger do its job, it
occurred to me that we had literally just seen history in the
making..... the new construction. One day there will be old photos of
this too and people will wonder about how it was done.. Watching this
reminded me of some road construction we saw being done in Costa Rica -
the guys were using wheel barrows and spades to build the road! And
here they had the very best of everything - quite amazing. This whole
project is going to be mind blowing by the time its done, its already
totally fascinating.

The second set of locks was.....well, it was only one lock with a drop
of around 30 foot. I spotted the live cam there and waved to anyone who
was watching.....remember that link I sent you? Yeah, I know, should
have sent it again. That lock did not take too long to go through but
what was interesting was watching the ship in the lock right next to us,
how they got all connected to the mules and were pulled or guided in,
made to slow down and stop before crashing through the gates in the
front. Its just brilliantly orchestrated.

And then the third set of locks was right there and we could also see
the Bridge of the Americas...... This bridge is just beautiful and it
literally joins the north and south American Continents. Its also a
part of the Pan American Highway that runs from Alaska to way down south
in South America. We have been on it in various places both in North
America and South America - and now we have been under it as well. The
final lock set when smoothly and also gave us plenty time to enjoy the
incredible skyline of Panama City. Well first, as we passed through the
last lock, there was the Canal Tourist building, all four stories of it,
almost filled with people watching us go through the lock. Apparently
its quite a thing to get to see a cruise ship go by and there was much
waving, yelling, of good wishes flying both ways. I wonder how many
photos there are of us picturizing them while they picturized us :)
The flashing of cameras was almost continuous - generally a lovely
moment that made both sides happy.

So now we were on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal and I was almost
disappointed - we had got through about and hour and a half faster than
anticipated, but that was probably good too. My arms and face are bright
red, I did not stop for breakfast and had only an apple and half a
banana and Gypsy and Nomad (Franks camera) were bursting at the seams.
Frank spent much more time in the shade, but I was too busy trying to
make sure I captured every possible thing. The Canal is really
beautiful with the greenery, the quiet as we slowly snaked our way south
through it and it kept us up and awake all day long.

The cost for this cruise ship to pass through the Panama Canal is just
under $290 000,00. Yup , you read that right.... The price is based on
how many passengers the ship can carry -not how many are actually on
board. The container ships are also rated like that - on how many
containers they can carry, not how many they actually have.... so all
the ships seem to be as full and loaded as possible.

After soaking up the Bridge of the Americas, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the
Panama City skyline, we headed into the bay and all the other ships just
seemed to melt away.... Suddenly the ocean was ours again. It was
almost silvery and difficult to discern where the horizon was - it all
sort of melted into a gentle blur. By now I was starting to come down
from all the excitement and my feet were killing me after standing all
day long in the hot sunshine. So we headed home to a shower and then to
try to connect with the kids while they were all together for Christmas
Eve. No luck at all really. Earlier today I had discovered that we
cannot connect to Skype from the ship and had a little pity party of
about 10 minutes. Actually, I was really sad - I was so looking forward
to seeing them all! Anyway - we did have brief contact over Yahoo mail
talk thingy and managed to get happy wishes flying both ways..... Made
me smile again.

So off to dinner, more pics of a lovely sunset and then back to the
cabin to put my feet up with a cuppa coffee for a while. We sat on the
balcony jsut watching the sky - it is so clear tonight with the stars
just hanging in there like diamonds floating around. There is a lovely
breeze and the sound of the bow wave.......well, it put Frank to sleep.
I had words tumbling around in my mind all day trying to describe the
awe and beauty of what we had seen so I carried a glass of wine out here
on the balcony and am sitting here in a little cocoon of darkness
absolutely loving the down time.

There are a good many shows on all around the ship tonight, and I might
pop in to one or two of them when I go and send this, but maybe not.
Today was a day filled with people, every time we turned, there was
somebody bumping into one, all jostling for the best possible place, the
best possible view. Even when they opened up the Helipad so that we
could stand up there - well, it was so full up that I came back down
again. So its really nice to just sit and be quiet and not hear a
single voice. Its been about an hour now of voiceless time - beautiful :)

The people watching was prime time today! Some people came on deck this
morning at 5am in ball gowns - seriously!...... and there they stood
next to those that chose to view the Panama Canal in their bath robes -
also serious! We had a good few 'little black dresses' on deck too,
which always had a following of menfolk behind them wherever they
walked. Today the kids on board were a lot roudier than the other days,
music blaring from a good few places and the smaller kids playing hide
and seek in one of the dining rooms..... I think someone put a stop to
that because it did not last too long but I also think that the kids are
getting cabin fever and they have all been fantastic so far.

I just noticed a beautiful orange moon and tried to get photos of it
too, but Gypsy did not want to wake up properly. Ah well. She will be
all ready again in the morning, like I will. This is about the quietest
Christmas Eve we have had but its good. The day has been wonder filled
and interesting and fascinating and it was lovely chatting to everyone
on board.

There are many South Africans on board, but one newbie. Her 6 month
contract just started with this trip and all her luggage got lost! Her
mom had packed her a good amount of biltong (beef jerky) and she is
hoping that its vacuum packed or all of it will be rotten by now. She
is already home sick and we were talking about out favorite places in
Cape Town and her little baby blues were just overflowing with tears. I
had made some beef jerky, vacuum packed it and brought a few bags along
with us and it was great to be able to part with some and make her day.

And so we are now about to turn and head north again... we have two days
at sea and then we stop at Puerto Something or other.... I don't
remember which place we stop at first, but its somewhere in Mexico. I
will let you know next time.

Ok - that's enough rambling for a Christmas Eve.............It's time to
grab more ice and enjoy the moonlight...

Here's wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and may the new year bring
all things in good proportion........ along with oodles of love, light
and laughter.

Annie

http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com
PHOTOS: http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs

g - Limon, Costa Rica

When I look to my right there is a total pitch blackness....... not even
a pinprick of light pierces the night.... To the left are the fast
receding red, green, white and gold lights of Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
It looks like a huge cross all lit up on the top of a hill, standing
alone in the darkness and creating its own path of light across the
water right to my balcony floor.. The bow wave is creating a bright
white wake and a beautiful sloosh sloosh sound and the lights from the
cabins create almost an eerie light on the water surrounding the hull.
The black is solid and the lights over Limon have created an orange glow
in the clouds over the town. It almost makes me cry to be able to see
all this - its just beautiful! We stood on the balcony, glass of wine
in hand feeling very very thankful, grateful and blessed.

When we went into Cartegena on Tuesday, we came away feeling as if we
had a 'hamburger day' - not the 'gormet meal day' we expected. We
still left happy, satisfied and amazed at much of what we saw, but
still. But today - oh today was the gormet meal day, with desert, and
cherries and ice cream all piled up really high!

Oh - we had great success last night with the rolled up towel in front
of the door that allowed the balcony door to stay open all night long -
just glorious! Two things happen without that towel there - the
temperature gets very cold in the cabin and a continuous whistling sound
pierces the air continuously as the cold air sneaks under that door.
Every now and again I would wake up, smell the sea air, hear the bow
wave and gently float back to sleep with a huge smile on my face and in
my heart. Oh boy - I am getting soppy! We were both awake at around
5am this morning, ready to watch us come into Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
The sunset was watered down by the clouds, but when I first got on deck
there was not a single soul out there! No one in the corridor, elevator
or on the deck - quite weird for a minute - but totally wonderful. I
watched as the sun's rays poked holes in the clouds and created bright
silvery sunlight puddles on the ocean surface. Limon got closer and
closer and I found
myself breathing deeply. I never thought I would say it or think it -
but I just love these so called third world countries....... They smell
good, the fruit is just amazing and people smile and make eye contact.
Everyone seems to use common sense in huge dollops and there are very
very few signs telling people not to do stupid things like jump into the
water or something.

(Going to watch a show - back later ) Oh the show was hilarious! It
was comedy and I laughed till I cried and almost could not breathe - lovely.

And so we oh-so-gently nestled up against the pier here in Costa Rica..
the huge blue ropes dragged by about three big men and dropped over the
...... oh the name has gone! That big solid thing they tie the ropes
to! And out came the cattle gates to try to make sure that people like
me wont walk the wrong way and take photos of the jetty from a different
angle.... It works mostly. It does not take us long to get off the
ship - we have to clock in and out with our 'sea pass', that credit card
thingy they issued us with at Fort Lauderdale. Wow, that feels like a
lifetime ago already! But in just a few minutes we were walking up the
jetty and were met with a huge, totally rediculous parrot waiting to
pose for a picture with us.... yes, we did. And yes, we now have that
one too.

So we find our tour group, join the line and head for the bus, the
Constellation (commonly known as "the Connie") hovering on our right
side looking very elegant indeed. We hopped on the bus and off we
went.... around town for a few minutes and then we headed up to Veragua
Rainforest. Those roads were just glorious - a few people were
complaining that the road was rough, but it was just a narrow dirt road
full of potholes and we did not miss any of them - nothing much wrong
with it by Costa Rican standards..... I really do enjoy driving through
the countryside like that - makes it a slower ride and we are able to
see more and if it had been a good road.

The countryside is incredibly green and lush and there are so many
different types of flowers all over the place, toucans in the trees,
small little houses with kids tumbling out of them waving with
everything they have at us. We even got shown 'the finger' by one
little boy of about 8 years old - he looked as if he really enjoyed that
:) The fences are all growing - anything stuck in the ground either
grows or has something on it that grows. Huge dead trees just filled
with bromelia plants is a common and weird sight. We crossed over some
'religeous bridges' - those are ones that you pray to get to the other
side - they are only just big enough for the bus to go over.

The driver was great in spotting interesting things and stopped at the
top of many hills so that we could fill our cameras. The guide on the
bus was really good and kept us interested with all his information.
Soon we turned off onto an even worse road and then we were there -
Veragua Rainforest. This is a privately owned project that aims to
educate as many as possible, kids especially, to the benefits of keeping
wildlife and the forests thriving. It is also privately funded and
totally by Costa Ricans. What a beautiful place it is. The forests are
thick and filled with everything one can imagine in a forest... huge
towering trees, vines of all types and sizes, greens of every shade,
little red and green and brown frogs - I got some lovely photos of the
tiny red frog with black spots - apparently very poisonous.

There are butterflies flitting everywhere and they have the most
gorgeous bright colors, the plants and flowers pop through the thick
foliage, showing off their colors and everything is damp and its humid
in the forest. Just recently a butterfly that had been thought to be
extinct for over 100 years, was rediscovered. Some of the butterflies
are just indescribably beautiful. Unfortunately we saw more of them
mounted on pins than out in the forest... much easier to get a
photograph of them this way though.

After seeing some frogs and toads, snakes and insects we headed for the
sky tram. It seats 8 at a time and took us down to the waterfall......
well, it took us a good way down and then we had a mere 250 steps to
climb -each way. But it was SO worth it! The water thundered over the
rocks, draping itself in all directions as it headed further down the
mountain. Lovely. Then back up those steps we went. We did have a
good break while the mama of a 6 year old took a minute or three pulling
out a huge ant from her daughter's foot. Little Mia screamed blue
murder and was very tired after that scare. Apparently it stings like
heck to be bitten by them. We saw a good solid string of army ants
marching their way across the forest floor, we saw huge huge trees and
owls and oropendula birds, more frogs and absolutely stunning scenery.
The weather was perfect, around 77 degrees and it did not rain a drop
while we were out.

And then we headed back to the ship and we got to see what was on the
other side of the road. When we go in those big buses, I hate just
seeing one side of everything and feel much better after seeing it all :)

Instead of going back to the ship, we headed to the nearby park and some
regular shops..... most of them turned out to be tourist shops but we
did find some interesting things. One guy was begging and when Frank
gave him some money, in coins, he hobbled after us and gave them back
saying that he did not want them. Oh did we laugh.... I guess beggars
can be choosers. We wandered around the shops for a while and then
noticed that the rain was coming our way, so we headed back home again.
Its a really amazing feeling walking up to the ship, and then all the
way down her length, with people hanging over thier balconies yelling
hello and watching it all going on.

Each time we get back on board, everything goes through security again
and we are given a cold soda or water, welcomed back with smiles and
given some more hand sanitizer. No one is complaining - we want
everyone healthy as possible on board. And so we found ourselves
unpacking all the treasures of the day. I really did enjoy the shopping
spree. We are going to have to throw away some clothes to get it all
home! My main find of the day was a very long legged, very rediculous
giraffe, covered with designs and dots.. She is just beautiful.

Gypsy (camera) performed beautifully and filled herself up with almost
800 photos and some video too. Frank did a pretty good job too with
around 150 photos - he takes way too many of me from behind!! Gonna
have to talk to him about that :)

Back in the cabin, we sat on deck with a glass of wine, watching us
leave Costa Rica again.... The boat moves so slowly and its almost
impossible to tell that we are on the go again - well apart from right
now - we are rocking and rolling beautifully! Everyone is walking as if
they are looped..... weaving dramatically from side to side and
clutching at whatever or whoever is closest. We grabbed a seat at the
casino for a few minutes, but came away empty handed, literally. Ah
well. Its raining, which put a damper on our plans of an upper deck
walk, so we sat and had a bit of curry and a samoosa..... and a beer.

I have just been outside and its solid black out there, wind howling,
ship pitching. I had to take my glasses off for fear of losing them
overboard. Now that would not be a good thing at all. We now even have
a shuddering happening which is really nice - makes this feel like an
adventure. Maybe we will be able to leave the door open again tonight.

Today really was a good one - I have this 'aaaaaaaah' feeling about it
all, a smile on my face and happily tired.

Tomorrow morning, Friday, we will be at the entrance channel to the
Panama Canal at 6.30am... so its up early for everyone. The pilot will
board the ship at that time and we should be going through the Gatun
Locks - three stages, between then and 8am. Then through the lakes and
canal and into the other locks - not sure what time. I am going to try
to make contact with my three totally wonderful kids via skype at around
5pm their time. Oh I hope we can get the connection! It wont be for
long, but long enough to wish them all happy Christmas!

And........... here's wishing all of you a really great Christmas and a
wish that 2011 is your best year yet.. only to be outdone by all the
rest of them just waiting to happen.

I never thought that I would enjoy a cruise, but after the first two
days of feeling antsy and finding our way around here, we love it! Even
the full days at sea - its lovely, relaxing and I think we might just
have a problem getting motivated to start working again when we get home!

A lovely, wonderful, rich in experiences day......

love and light
Annie

http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com
PHOTOS: http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs

f - On the way to Costa Rica again

After a wonderful wonderful end to last night, sitting in the very back of the boat, listening to some lovely music and really loving the moon road over the water, we headed back to the cabin to end the night watching the bow wave and the blackness over the ocean.  And it was pitch black with only a dot of light every now and again that showed a passing ship.  The wind was gently blowing and it was totally balmy and absolutely peaceful out there.

I so wanted to sleep with the balcony door open, but when its open, cold, air-conditioned air screams in under the door, whistling as it wiggles its way in.  So although it was fabulous outside, we started to freeze inside.  So we closed the door but leave the curtains drawn all the way back and I can still see the ocean swishing by as I lay my head down.  This morning I discovered that if I simply put a towel in front of the door, all is back to normal, so tonight we will try again.

So after breakfast, up we headed to the top deck where a thick red line circles the deck and is always dotted with people trying desperately to work off the pounds we all put on at each meal.  It's the start to another day just filled to the brim with people watching.  What a selection there is here... all types of all sorts of people.  On the very very top deck, right in the bows of the boat, up a separate set of steps is the topless bathing area and its hilarious to see some of the youngsters sneaking up there and coming down with very rosy cheeks just a minute or two later......  They all try to look totally cool, but we just look at their mouths and that smile is just waiting to break loose.  And not a day has gone by that we have not seen this..... Can you tell where one of my favorite places on the ship is??  No no - not up those stairs!  Definitely near the bottom though. :)

Food is everywhere, as are drinks and soda's.  And its all way too good.  The bread is killing me and I have developed a liking of Brie Cheese smeared on a fresh multi grain bread roll. Oh dear.  I have promised to swear off all things chocolate, all bread (except my home made whole wheat) and all ice cream till end of April, but only once we get home!  We are taking the stairs most times - yup even all the way up to the 11th floor....... well, we do live on the 6th floor, but still.  Its something.

One set of elevators is glass all around and its just lovely to ride, which we do about once a day just to get the effect of falling into the water........ It screams downward and the water rushes upward and it looks as if it will never stop in time -just lovely!  We always hope that no one has pressed the button and that we get a 'free ride' all the way down.  When you get into the elevators - yes, yes, I know - just finished telling how we use the stairs and now all these elevator stories......... anyway, as you step into the elevator, a mechanical voice says 'going down'.. Well really!  They could have picked a different way of saying that on a ship, don't you think?

Around 10.30am we went to a talk about the Panama Canal... it was really interesting.  We will go in at around 7am on Friday and about an hour later we get to the first lock -  I think they are the Gutan Locks.  All in all we will be taken up to 85 feet above sea level to go over the Continental Divide, and then back down through more locks on the other side.  I was really hoping to remember all the names so that I could write them here, but...... well.  I do remember that the Canal is the number one modern made made wonder of the world, that it was finished 2 years ahead of schedule and cost a huge amount of money.  The French has first shot at building it, but apparently they royally messed up on it and the USA took over from there.   The lock we will be going through is the same length as this ship and only one foot wider.  We will be attached to mechanical mule so that the ship does not hit the sides - really close all around, I would say.  It will take all day to get through the Canal and at the end is The Bridge of The Americas which is part of the PanAmerican Highway that runs from Alaska to South America. We have been on part of this road in a number of different places, Peru and Ecuador as well.  So many interesting things to learn.

After the talk, we decided to play bingo....... yup, bingo.  We paid way too much for the tickets, spent a slow and funny hour in a darkened auditorium checking numbers that were huge on the screen, won nothing, but were allowed to keep our pens!  Whoo hoooo.  So for better luck we headed to the casino...... our luck stayed the same. ( Kate, there was a few of those machines that we played and I took a pic just for you!  Made me laugh after our second $10 went into it and nothing came out).

Off to lunch out on deck again, wandered around the deck, came back home to sort out stuff for tomorrow, made sure we changed our watch back one hour for Costa Rica and so that we will not miss our tour tomorrow morning!  We were way too full for dinner, so we gave that a skip, walking a few rounds on the red road on the top deck and then headed off for the show of the night.... It was not really what we were in the mood for, although he had a great voice - Riggens, was his name and apparently he has sung for the White House too, but.. well, we headed back up to get some outside time again. The wind has picked up and the white caps dot the water everywhere around - no storms yet.  We are sort of hoping for  a storm, but only when we are at sea and definitely not on Friday while going through the Canal.

Tomorrow we are heading back into the Rain Forest of Costa Rica.... I really am excited and the camera is all ready to roll again.  And she now has a name!  "Gypsy".........I loved the suggestion, Bea, as well as your reasoning  :)    We also changed one of the tours we had booked - one for Cabo San Lucas - now we will get to go in the glass almost-submarine and also have plenty time to walk around by ourselves and maybe even have time for a long beach walk.  We also booked two additional tours in Acapulco - one to see the Cliff Divers - more about them later, and another that willt ake us to see a good few of the old town of Acapulco. So now we are all set and I swear Gypsey is smiling bigger than that sloth of yesterday!  I meant to attach a photo of us hugging  yesterday, but forgot, so here it is now.

Time to call it a day, get some rest for tomorrow and test my 'open door' theory.

love, light and laughter
Annie



http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com

PHOTOS:  http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs

Cartegena, Colombia

We hopped out of bed early this morning right after the wake up call....
I wanted to be on deck when we docked in Colombia and it was time to see
a sunrise too.... so I happily got up and found myself waking up while
looking at myself in the mirror in the elevator on the way to the top
deck... oh hell, I had my top on inside out!! Instinct said to rip it
off, turn it around and pop it back on. Thank goodness I dont always
listen to the voices in my head! :) I would have been caught out
topless in the elevator - not a position I would like to be in. So I
just tucked the label into my jeans and enjoyed the morning.

Colombia is totally different from what I expected........ I should have
learned by now not to have expectations, good or bad. At first there
were little islands, but nothing that looked very inviting and then some
buildings appeared on them and then I went to the other side of the
ship,and Bingo! There they were - tall tall buildings, kissing the
clouds and packed tighter than sardines in a tin can. The beach is a
very thin strip lining all this and in the middle of all this, there sat
a huge three master tall ship. There is a floating buoy in the middle
of the bay with a statue of the Virgin on it...... I dont think its the
Virgin Mary - but one of the others. This place is full of them. And
kids. I heard this evening while on deck that its a statue of the Lady
of Guadaloupe, and a baby.

Anyway - the sun came up, casting her path to my feet on the top deck
and the camera was almost smiling as she clicked away happily. I really
should name the thing..... any suggestions? And so we slowly headed to
the jetty that was our home for the day - it is right next to a huge
shipping container dispatch place, most of the containers are red with
"Hamburg Sud" stenciled boldly all over them. I really do wonder at
what is in them all.

After getting a camera full of photos, I headed back down to meet Frank
on the balcony of our suite where he was enjoying the view much more
gently. We headed off for a quick breakfast and then down to get our
feet on solid ground for the day. We had a tour booked through the Old
City of Cartegena, the dungeons and also a Cathedral or two.

Looking over the deck we saw probably 30 buses waiting for passengers to
cart them off to different places of Cartegena. We hopped into the
first and off we went. I loved the old city - narrow streets, balconies
overflowing with mulitcolor bouganvilla and a non stop bustle of people,
and the colors everywhere - just beautiful. The doors are something
that really grab my attention too - they are huge, solid wood and have
smaller doors for normal use. They are very beautiful and each one is
different - yes, the camera clicked happily. The roads were littered
with people trying to make some money - and of course a ship full of
money carrying tourists is not an opportunity to miss. And they
didn't. At one point it got very irritating, we could not walk without
being blocked by someone selling something - they shove it right up into
your face and keep on, no matter how much you say no. Then I
remembered, dont say no, dont look at them, dont respond in any way. Do
you know how hard that is?? It feels plain rude and wrong, but we would
still be there if we did not revert to this. A really nice thing here
is when we made eye contact with the locals, the ones not selling
anything, they always smiled and waved if we were in the bus - that was
nice.

Anyway - we watched a young man do the most incredible painting on a
mirror in about 4 minutes flat!! And then we bought it. It was totally
amazing to see how he turned some dabs of paint into my painting in such
a short time. And on we went with two of his paintings beautifully
wrapped with about five feet of tape holding the paper over them. We
walked through the center courtyard and tried to fit the beautiful old
buildings and church spires and ......well, everything, into my camera.
Into the Cathedral we went and as I just got started with taking photos,
I noticed that everyone was gone! Way too little time was given in all
the places we visited. What a pity. We saw the dungeons which are now
all shops that the cruise lines drop the passengers off at to shop.
There is SO much to see here and it was sad that we were mostly just
taken to shopping places. We did stop for an incredible display of
street dancing - those young boys hopped and flipped and balanced in
ways I never even thought of. All traffic stops for the shop - even the
police cars and they just carried on until done - and then the hat was
passed around. Oh, this was funny. While we were walking along there
were two statues that looked like solid black metal. They were perched
on top of , well, I dont know how to describe it, but it was a thing
about two foot high, made of concrete and rounded on the top - the kind
of thing that often has chains between them to keep traffic out or
walkers in. Anyway, there are the two statues up on there - and boy
were they beautiful - the work gone into making those was exquisite -
they were incredibly life like..... and yes, I happily clicked away,
getting a great angle against the white building behind them. And then
I nearly fell over flat - THEY MOVED! and yes, pointed to the
collection hats on the ground. I was laughing so much that I was crying
and Frank popped a tip in the hats - and back the were to statues. I
have to admit to turning around the check and see if that really did
happen ;)

We did see the Inquisition place, the Cathedral, the Monastary and some
other places. The Old City is surrounded by an old old old wall that
took ages to build. This is right on the coast line and another wall,
much smaller, had to be built to keep the sea water out of the town. In
many places, they obviously did not succeed. The Old CIty is very very
different from the new Cartegena - no cars are allowed in there, only
horse drawn carriages and buses - pity about the buses. We were wanting
to take a horse drawn tour as well, but they would not have got us back
to the ship on time. Ah well.

At the second place we were dropped off to shop, Frank and I escaped!
We headed on down the road, around the corner, up a steep incline and
had a beautiful view of the city, the ocean and also the bay. It was
good to be away from the others, even though our group was small and
nice people, but we were not into shopping much at all and enjoyed the
views. There are all sorts of old buildings sticking way up into the
skyline, contrasting starkly with the new skyscrapers that seem to be
taking over everywhere.

And then I got to hold a three toed sloth!! Yup - a sloth and me :) He
wrapped his arms around my shoulders and waist and clung on tight and
tucked his head up under my chin. I do mean tight! His very hard, very
strong, ivory colored claws digging into me, but not enough to make me
want to let him go quite yet. He was soft and snuggly and seemed to
have a permanent smile on his face. He was only five years old.....
what a treat that was!

We went to the Fort of San Felipe de Barajas, a 17th century building
that is just incredible...... it has tunnels and stairs and lookout
places and so many little nooks and crannies to explore. Its huge too
and is purely used as a tourist attraction these days. Nothing is sold
inside there, so it was a blessed escape from the street vendors. The
San Pedro Claver church was really lovely too and I think the guide said
that San Pedro himself was laying in that glass encasement on the alter,
but I will have to read up to make sure. It did look like it, but......

We did find some knick knacks that we will be bringing home and about
800 photos too.....

My favorite of the day was those beautiful doors, balconies, narrow
streets and that sloth!! He was so loopy....

At 5pm we left Cartegena, Colombia......... with a loud toot toot, she
pushed away from the dock, no tugs helping at all, turned around and we
headed out to sea. The horn blasting was just lovely! I missed it when
we left Ft Lauderdale.. It took about an hour to get from the jetty to
open ocean again and the sun was setting and the photos were beautiful!
The other boats, smaller day cruises etc, all honked their horns,
yelled and waved. It was a very festive mood on deck - and the weather
was perfect.

So off to dinner we went - casual again tonight. We have a booked
seating at 6pm, but that is in a more snazzy setting... Not formal, just
no shorts allowed..... so we prefer to go to the casual food bar that
really has many more choices. We do go and join our dinner partners
every second evening though, but often find that the ones we chat to at
the casual section are much easier to chat to. After dinner we headed
out to the back deck with a beer and watched the full moon rise, casting
her silver slivery road all the way to our table......... the multicolor
glittering lights of Cartegena fading into the distance. Just perfect.

Tonight we are heading up to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. This is one
place we did not get to visit when we were in Costa Rica earlier this
year and if I remember correctly, we have a treetop adventure in the
rain forest waiting for us there. The weather is still perfect so we
will be sleeping with the door to the balcony open - we are swinging and
swaying a bit more tonight which is just perfect and that bow wave
sounds like sleep.

And I hugged and held a freaking SLOTH!

love and light
Annie

--
http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com
PHOTOS:http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs

.....Our back yard.....

The moon has a beautiful glittering road that stretches all the way to
our balcony suite. I think it's just magical how, no matter where one
stands, the moon road leads right to your feet.... lovely. The stars
are bright and glittering and the ocean rushes by at least six stories
below my feet. Our cabin is right in the bows of the boat where the
wake is first born before heading down the length of the ship, so we
have this constant roaring of water which is just lovely. Makes us use
the bathroom often too :)

Earlier we spotted what we thought were little birds..... I thought is
strange that they were this far out but Frank took a closer look and
discovered that they are flying fish....... they come in groups, always
off the bow and fly for a good while before diving straight into a wave,
sometimes just skimming through the very tip of a whitecap and on to the
next one - and then they are gone. Yes, I tried catching them with the
camera - but that did not work, not with the boat and the fish
moving.... but I did give it a good few, no - a good many, tries .

Right now its pitch dark outside, the moon's road is just beautiful and
way in the distance on the horizon, I can see a ship. Other than that -
nothing. Its glorious! There is a tv channel that tells us where we
are and we are about to head between Cuba and Haiti - I might just go to
the top deck to see what I can see.

This morning feels so long ago already...... after breakfast we went to
the auditorium to listen to a talk on the different tours one can take
in the ports we will be stopping at... and I am happy with what I picked
:) Then we walked through the casino, the shopping area and found some
more favorite places to sit and and enjoy the people watching and the
ocean. In the one restaurant there are big round glass holes in the
floor and we can see the ocean going by about 8 stories down..... This
part of the boat hangs out over the water and the views are just
wonderful from all angles.

One one of our walks around the lower deck, an elderly gentleman asked
whether we would like our photo taken together.... that was sweet of
him. And after wards we got chatting. He has been on many many cruises,
but was not enjoying this one much at all. His name was also Frank and
he had lost his wife just a few years ago..... And he told us this
story - after she closed her eyes, he says, and after the cremation, he
took her ashes out East and though some carbon process had her ashes
turned into a diamond... He now wears the diamond in a ring on his
finger and has the ring set so that it is impossible to get it off. She
was his dancing partner through 60 years of marriage and we could tell
that he was lost without her. Recently he had found a letter from her
in a drawer at home that said that he was to keep cruising - and so he
was. But we could tell that it was not the same. I hope we meet up
with him again sometime.

Every time we leave the room, someone goes in and straightens up after
us..... wow, I could get used to this! We have a little fridge stocked
with all sorts of drinks, but had them changed out for some beers - we
are too easy to please sometimes. Its lovely sitting on the balcony at
the end of a day, beer in hand and just relaxing.

The water was turquoise blue today - see? I can still spell after a few
glasses of wine! :) We have spent a good amount of time just watching
the water. The ship does not move much at all, well apart from forward,
of course! But there is just a gentle swaying and every now and again
we can feel that she dug into a wave a bit harder. I love the motion,
the gentle sway and every now and again, even the bow wave stops and
everything goes quiet - just amazing.... that quiet moment always makes
me smile. Waves are only around 3 foot now, but the spray still reaches
the balcony and my computer screen is dotted with seawater. It's
probably not the greatest idea to sit out here and type - but is just so
incredible. I can see no one, just the stars and the moon, can hear
nothing other than the ocean breaking against the bows and smell only
the ocean spray (ok and the wine in my glass). I feel absolutely alone
and its not a bad feeling at all......just measured the smile on my face
- its great! Every now and again I put the computer down and lean look
out over the balcony into the darkness....... oh boy, how fortunate I
am! The white caps dot the darkness for miles around - its a different
kind of silence - not quiet at all, but peaceful. Different.

The food on board is good, and everywhere, and all the time. Tonight
was "fancy dress" night - no, not costumes - but tuxedo's, dresses and
heels. Well, we don't own any of those, so we headed out to the back
deck to the casual eatery and filled up there and enjoyed a really good
margarita too. I really love the wake from the propellers that stretch
for miles behind the ship like roads into the past. We have no birds out
here and I missed seeing them wheeling around the back as the do closer
to shore - but that did not take away from the enjoyment at all. Most
people were inside, squished into their fancies while we sat barefoot on
the back deck feeling really spoiled and really really happy.

There is almost any type of food here and its all really good - trying
to stay under 100 words here, Esther :). The different breads are
wonderful, and my downfall too....... but we are walking a lot during
the day. Deck 10 has a walking path all marked out and is in the open
air which is just great and more often than not, we climb the stairs
from floor to floor. There is so much to see and we are just starting
to figure out the layout of the ship.... I am sure there are places we
have not yet discovered.

Anyway - time to stop for the day - tomorrow is another whole day at sea
and then .....what day is it now? The day after tomorrow we will be in
Cartegena Colombia - pronounced Cart - a - heina. But more about that
later.

ok - just got back from the top deck. I went for a walk and to listen
to some of the music playing. Oh it was glorious! Its almost deserted
up there.

love and light
Annie

And now its today - Monday the 20th, according to my computer..... and
its almost over already. We had another absolutely amazing day weather
wise, with slightly bigger swells. It is funny when walking down a
corridor and the person in front of us is slightly self conscious and
then the boat sways and theeere they go, gently sliding from one side to
the other. When we were waiting this evening for the dinner room to
open, it was weird seeing all the heads swishing slowly back and
forth... No one looked green, so all was fine. Apparently the last
cruise about 3 weeks ago, had some 12 foot waves that put a good few
people in their cabins, very unhappily heaving, for the day :(

Today we learned to be still. We spent the day savoring our back yard -
its huge and goes on for miles in all directions almost un-endingly. :)
After a late breakfast, a sit on the balcony, our walk around and
discovery of even more new places on the ship, we found ourselves
following the food smells again. Somehow almost 5 hours had passed by
already - so we gave in and had some delicious salads and stuff as we
ploughed happily through the Caribbean Sea. I like knowing where I am
and the tv really helps...... we could see that after leaving Fort
Lauderdale, we headed south through the Florida Straights, past Bermuda,
between Cuba and Haiti, then past Jamaica and right now we are closing
in on Colombia. We should dock at around 7am, but I think we might get
there earlier by the looks of it.

We have our tickets, passports and are ready to spend the day on solid
ground again. One of the guys at out table at dinner time knows
Cartegena well and says its lovely. My camera is rearing to go, all
charged and all.

Tonight we went to see the Cabaret show - it was really great fun. Greg
Bonham was the guy that entertained and he was good! He has a new song
out, "I am here to love" and it about moved me to tears.... so when I
get home, please remind me to download it! We really did have fun
singing along and yes, I got photos. One of the ladies he got to sing
and dance along with him, was from Tennessee too, and after the show I
told her to contact me to get the photos I took of her up there. It was
fun. There is a show on every night - and one even later - but to start
something at 11pm is a bit late - even for me.

We have met a few South Africans on board. Generally everyone is
friendly and people watching is something else. There are very few kids
on the ship and I think they are really well entertained and kept out of
the general population. When we do see them, they are very well
mannered mostly, so no problems there at all. One guy was telling us
that they had a screaming kid on a 4 hour flight - I think I would have
stuck gum in my ears if that was me!

Ok - so its very late, it was another lovely lovely day - the ship is
gently swaying and I need to get sleep for another lovely long day in
Cart-a-heina tomorrow.

Hey everyone - send happy, relaxing thoughts to Steven, Lisa and Laura
who are keeping our shop running while we are out here having fun! This
is amazing - and our back yard is beautiful!

love and light and much laughter too
Annie

--
http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com
PHOTOS: http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs

c - Day One on the Constellation

The black sky is almost clear now, the moon is shining bright and we are
plowing through the waves somewhere between Miami and Bermuda - what a
feeling!

Strangely, I did not even dream of missing the boat last night. After a
slow start to the day we packed the bags again - how come do the bags
feel heavier already? And then we sat and waited for the time to go
by..... and it did, quicker than I thought. We grabbed a taxi from the
airport - a 10 minute drive for $14, but hey - that's what it takes :)
As we crossed over the inter-coastal waterways, there she was - the
Celebrity Constellation!! And my gut churned and I was in love! She is
sleek and neat, not as tall or block looking as the other cruise ships
all around. She has style and her brightly colored life boats dot her
sides, measuring her length from bow to stern. And best of all? There
was a room waiting just for us!

After making sure we had our passports, the taxi driver left us standing
in a group of people all looking as if they knew what to do.... and they
did. Soon our luggage was wheeled away from us - me sort of nervous of
letting my laptop and all my camera parts, not the main camera's
though!, head off into the bowels of the workings of 'the system'. I
knew they were all going to be scanned for stuff that we were not
allowed to take on board, and hoped that the bottles of wine made it
through ok. And we were shown where to go to book in. All I had were
two pieces of paper with bar codes printed on them and our names.... it
was hard to believe that we were going to be allowed onto this vessel
with just those papers, and our passports, of course. The process did
not take long and soon we found ourselves standing in front of the
counter with a woman looking at me, then at my passport and then at my
Green Card/Permanent Resident Card........ and she said. "you have
definitely had a good few different hairstyles.... you should go back to
*this* one." she says, pointing at a photo of me taken 9 years ago, 15
pounds lighter and with no gray hair. Well, hell.... sure lady - find
me the flippen magic wand and I will go back! I think. But only if its
only the hair that changes.... :)

Before we got onto the boat we were posed in front of a huge poster,
told to smile and click went the camera. We thought it was some
security thing... but no - it was our 'boarding photo'. Why did no one
tell me that? Sigh... I would at least have tried to look like I was
already having fun... ah well. Again. And on we went following the
people walking in front of us. It was not crowded at all and everything
was very calm and relaxed with many smiling faces everywhere. We were
each issued with a credit card size piece of plastic that will serve as
the key to our door and its also to be used to buy anything on the ship
as well as to clock in and out of the ship when we go on shore
excursions. I bet it could be quite an issue if we lose it. After a
short walk through one of those things you walk through to get on an
airplane, there we were..... on board finally!

We were met with many more smiling faces and champagne being offered at
every angle.... Just looking around brought back memories of when I was
a very small child and my aunt was going on a cruise, we all walked into
the boat with her on a red carpet, to be met by a total sensory
overload. I remember being wide eyed and very excited way back then,
and this was similar to the feeling of seeing all this now. We have
been on much smaller ships in the Amazon Jungle and at the Galapagos
Islands, but neither of those boats was anything like this in size nor
in opulence. There are Christmas trees everywhere, hugs snowflakes and
other decorations everywhere... Its not as glitzy and shiny as I thought
it would be and we spent a good while just walking around soaking it all
in. Champagne done, we headed to the elevator to check out our
cabin..... but first found a place with ice cream, coffee and other
snacks and just had to try them out. Then we found the upper deck and
another deck, a bar with great beers..... it took us a while to get to
the cabin :)

The balcony is much bigger than I thought it would be and its already
one of my favorite places.. The room is small, but absolutely fine - we
don't plan to spend much time inside at all. There are huge mirrors 3
feet away from the bottom of the bed and.......well, I just saw myself
and notice that I really should get some sleep! (and yes, I found myself
trying to find my 'thin face' for future photos) The mirrors make the
room look and feel much bigger than what it is. In the bathroom they
have those little bottles of shampoo and conditioner and so on, and I
wondered why they put out so much - until I realized that there was only
half of what I thought there was - the brilliantly clean mirror ...well,
you know. There is a tv, fridge and plenty cupboard space and a couch
and little table too. So its very comfy in here.

After finding where we would be living for the next two weeks, and not
yet having our luggage brought up, we headed out to explore a bit more.
Oh, this is going to take a while to get it all figured out. I get
myself totally lost in a heartbeat, and Frank takes half a heartbeat to
get turned around too...and then just when I think we are in for yet
another mile of walking, we find something interesting and it does not
matter that we are lost - there is only so far one can go on this boat.
Just finding the restaurant tonight was an adventure in itself!
There are shops, a spa, theater, dance floors.........ach, so much,
probably everything.... and I know we have not seen it all at all. Our
cabin is almost right at the front of the ship which is great, we get to
feel the rocking and rolling as we head out... every now and again there
is a little jerk or pitch - we love it! Looking out over the balcony a
few minutes ago (again - I am like a kid in a candy store with that
balcony!), I can see the shining white wake all the way down the length
of the boat - lovely! The moon is bright and high in the sky and the
stars are shining brightly as well. It's a tad cool outside but if I
stand just a foot back from the railing, its beautifully balmy. But
wait, before we got here, we first had to leave the dockside. We were
supposed to leave at 5pm, but some people had their flights delayed and
the captain waited for them. This put us in the back of the line to get
out of here and 6 other cruise ships left before us.... It was lovely
watching them, all lined with people on the decks like tiny little
dolls, slowly turning around, catching the beautiful sunset red and
heading out to sea with no hassles at all. There are little boats all
around with blue flashing lights that stop all other traffic when one of
the ships leave port - they run around like matadors dodging the bows of
these ships as they dash across to the other side to tell yet another
little boat to stop.

We laughed...... yesterday we were looking slack-jawed at all the huge
boats as we cruised the intercoastal waterways in our cheapo taxi.....
tonight as we were leaving port, there was one of those huge, expensive
boats having to wait on us to pass on by...... only yesterday that boat
looked huge, today it lost that all - it was just a tiny thing from way
up on our deck. What a view we had from the deck. We could see the
ocean, the white beaches one one side, airplanes flying in in a constant
stream almost overhead, and the lights of Ft Lauderdale blinking on as
the sun set. Just lovely. It had rained a really good rain for about
an hour before and of course everything was wet and giving beautiful
reflections in all my photos. Yes, I took a few. Unfortunately it was
already dark by the time we left the port, but it was beautiful with all
the flickering lights of the early dark lining the city and beaches.
People in the hotel right at the port entrance, yelled and whistled and
waved as we went out - the modern day equivalent of throwing streamers,
I guess :)

And so we headed out to sea, the ocean dotted all over with the other
ships that had left before us, all brightly lit up by thousands of lights.

I bought internet access, but cannot get it in the cabin, which is a
good thing, I recon, and the closest place to get it, is about 3 miles
down the ship! Well, ok, maybe not three miles, but we are just a few
doors from the bows and the internet cafe is aaaaalll the way at the
back end. There are other places on board to get connected, but hey - I
will send and check emails once a day at least. That's plenty.

It's SO good to feel the boat moving and I am about to head out onto the
balcony again... or maybe I will get an early night and be ready for a
full day at sea tomorrow. This is good.. this is really good. We
decided on an early night tonight and tomorrow we will join in on the
doings of the boat..... and there is a lot to choose from.

So, for now - till next time
love and light
Annie

--
http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com
PHOTOS: http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs