ARUBA - FT. LAUDERDALE - THE END

ARUBA - Pop. Just over 100,000.  Only 20 miles long and 69 sq. miles.  Dutch

Windy, hot and humid.  We were joined in port by 2 Royal Caribbean ships so the town was busy.  Jewelry stores fill the streets and we walked through some to take advantage of their air conditioning.  Beaches, of course,  are the big attraction during the day and casinos are the draw for night.

There was a deck party on Thursday night but it got ruined by rain and wind.

The rest of the days were at sea so the usual went on.  There were matinee performances, the pop choir sang, boat builders showed off their creations, the drummers drummed at the pool, etc.

Pictures - our dedicated wait staff for dinner and breakfast

DAYS 54- 56 CARTAGENA & SEA DAYS

We had 2 days at sea including 1 for the Panama Canal transit.  They finally have the new lane open.  It's a faster transit if you use the new canal but we didn't hear how the lanes are determined.  It costs $437,000 for our ship to use the canal which works out to $134. per person.  They are also building a new bridge at the Eastern end of the canal but It's missing 3 sections and won't be finished for at least 2 years.

CARTAGENA - Pop. around 1 million.  Currency - Colombian peso but US $ widely accepted.  Spanish.  Due to it's proximity to the equator,  there are no seasons and the average temp is 82 with a few rainy months.

We did the hop on hop off bus for a tour of the city.  There was a 90 minute guided walking tour of the old city which we didn't do but we went around twice and got off part way around the second time.  There were a lot of people from the ship using this sightseeing transportation and they ended up using a boat to take us back to the ship.  From all accounts, Cartagena is a safe city.  It is also a major producer of emeralds.  They certainly have a lot of condos and they are almost always white.  Hotel rooms average $250/night but you can stay a month or more in a condo for around $1000/month.  Wages are in the area of $300/month.

Pictures - 1 the fortress at the old city Cartagena
                 2  beach condos in the new city

PUNTARENAS, COSTA RICA & SEA DAY - DAYS 52 & 53

FRIDAY - A quiet day at sea.  There was another "crossing the equator" ceremony.  What a difference the Captain makes!  The Captain and several of his upper staff all took part and jumped into the pool during the southern crossing. This time the top staff member taking part was the Entertainment Director.  We haven't even seen and seldom heard from this Captain and he's been on board for over 2 weeks.

PUNTARENAS  - Pop. 14,000.  Currency - Costa Rican Colon but US $ widely accepted.  Costa Rica was the first Central American country to export coffee and bananas.

Puntarenas has a collection of businesses, primarily for the locals. All the tours were long as the port is quite a distance from the rain forests, volcanoes, coffee plantations and the capital city of San Jose. We chose to walk down the pier and go to the beach.  It was not as clean a beach as we're used to and it was mostly locals. There was the usual setup of tents with souvenirs.

Holland America Westerdam was moored next to us.  It's about the same size as the Island Princess and is on a 15 day cruise from San Diego through the Panama Canal to Ft. Lauderdale.

Again, no pictures as we saw nothing remarkable and it will be dark as we sail away.

GUAYAQUIL & MANTA, ECUADOR

GUAYAQUIL - The port is situated on a tidal river and a decision was made to cancel this stop due to the depth of the port and the tides during the time we'd be visiting. As a result we'll spend overnight in Manta, our next stop and the only one we'll make in Ecuador.  Guayaquil is the gateway to the Galapagos  Islands so we've been here but only at the airport.

MANTA - 60 miles south of the equator. Pop. 218,000, climate - 90, US $.  Ecuador is about the size of the UK.  No one was allowed to walk on the port so shuttles took us to the port gate.

This is a fishing port -  shrimp, lobster, sea bass, tuna, oysters, crab.  Several tuna boats were in port when we arrived.  Not sure how long they spend at sea but it took most of the day to unload their catch using cranes and huge nets to move the fish to big trucks for delivery.

In the afternoon we walked left at the port gate along the waterfront until we came to an artisan market with a lot of local handicrafts.  I've been surprised at the heavy sweaters that are available.  Don't know if this is due to the abundance of llamas and alpacas in Peru and Ecuador or, despite being close to the equator, it gets chilly in their winter.

Montecristi, a short drive from Manta, is the home of the panama hat.  There are knock-offs which would cost around $25. but the real deal will run around $250.

There were beaches on both sides of the port.  We didn't stop at the beach but everyone said they were clean and the water was clear.  Pedestrians, as in other S. America countries, do not have the right of way and there didn't seem to be any traffic lights to cross the roads.

On our second day in port we wandered to the right of the port gate and found a huge shopping centre- there must have been 5 floors.  It was bright and very modern with the usual mix of stores including a large supermarket where we bought some local beer.  Those of you who really know Len will not be surprised at this but as we exited the mall what does he see but a $20. US bill on the ground and nobody around.

Picture - Manta

DAYS 47-49- SALAVERRY

SALAVERRY - Our last stop in Peru, sandwiched between 2 sea days.  The weather word of the day was FOG.  We arrived near Salaverry around 6:30 am and the ship was finally tied up and passengers started to disembark at 8:30 when the fog lifted enough to see the port.  By the time we left at 5 pm the fog was back in full force.

The town of Salaverry was just outside the port gates but there was a shuttle to the city of Trujillo, about a 40 minute drive depending on traffic.  It was pretty well built up all the way to Trujillo.  Until we got into the city the houses were really hovels.  They almost all had a substantial door but the roof was sometimes missing, sometimes a tarp, sometimes a thin tin. In the city the roof was almost always red tile.  There were tall walls (between 6 and 8 feet) surrounding almost everything- the old walls were made of brick, newer ones were cinder blocks.  Even the shopping centre we went by was surrounded by a tall wrought iron fence.  There was litter everywhere - not necessarily garbage but litter.  The cleanest places I saw were service stations - they were big and there was no litter to be seen.

The 2 days at sea were the usual mix of exercise, food and entertainment.  The lectures have not been very interesting and most of the movies have been old.  They did show The Shape of Water and I Tonya but both were late at night.  The ocean was very calm.

PICTURES - LIMA

1.  The main square
2.  The traffic

PICTURES - LIMA

1.  Len's favorite newsstand
2 & 3 -  Fountains
4.  Peruvian Folkloric show