Feb 14 last posting for awhile

Since it takes lots of internet time to post pictures.... I will be putting most of them from this point forward on Sam's blog site. I may just add additional information, stories, etc. on this site. But there will be few pictures.

We get off the ship for a couple of days starting at 8 a.m. tomorrow. The big excursion to Machu Picchu. Hope to have at least one awesome picture to prove we were there.

Feb 9 - Guatemala

After a late arrival at the Port of Quetzal in Guatemala and mass confusion while getting off the ship, we rode a bus to the city of Antigua. Along the way we saw three volcanoes. One was dormant, the other two were active. There were banana and sugar cane fields along the way. We stopped in a little village of San Antonio Aguas Calientes to see a textile cooperative. Here is a picture of a taxi that was used locally.

Duane and Karen in front of the church in San Antonio. Hope that you can see some of the hillside in the background. The people cultivated, by hand, plots of land all the way up the side of the hill.

 

Antigua, Guatemala used to be the capital of the country. After several earthquakes throughout the years, the people were tired of rebuilding the town. So they abandoned it and established their capital in Guatemala City. Some of the older people wanted to go back to Antigua as they had been born and raised there.  The city is a national historical treasure and there are restrictions on new buildings in the town center. At one time there were 30-40 churches in the town. The earthquake ruins of many of those churches are still visible. We are lunch at an old building that had been a convent. It was restored, in part, and is now used as a hotel and restaurant as well as a historical site. The next two pictures are from an area I think was originally the chapel in the convent. You can see that the partially crumbled wall, has been filled in with glass. All the original wooden doors are still in place below the windows.

The chimes in this picture are to alert inhabitants of an earthquake. They were massive. My guess is 30-40 foot top to bottom.

I had more pictures that I wanted to share from this excursion, but the internet connection, although it says it is excellent, has been very slow.

Feb 8 Huatuco, Mexico

Port of Huatulco, Mexico. We went white water rafting (level 1) today. It was a very scenic river. Rapids were fun but not challenging. There were many species of birds. Pictures from the excursion are on the other camera. Not sure how that I can transfer them from the camera to the laptop.

2013-02-06 Dolphins and sunset

From our balcony, we spotted a couple pods of dolphins swimming near the ship. I’m not sure how well they can be seen in this photo that I am posting, but there are probably 10-12 in the picture.  We saw whales yesterday and some sea-turtles as well.

We had a window seat in the dining room tonight and enjoyed this sunset.

It was formal night on the ship. This is as “dressed up” as we will be on the cruise.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Here are a couple of pictures of the entrance to the harbor area in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

 

Feb 3, getting to the ship

2013-02-03

We’ve been visiting with the couple on the left. They are from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada.  The luggage on the two carts in front of them is what they brought for the cruise. We only brought the bags on the right. Wonder if we forgot anything!?!

Beginning of the adventure

2013-2-2

Our bags are packed and we are ready to begin our South America adventure.  The flights were basically on time and went smoothly. Duane thought the Dallas to LA leg seemed really long. We have one night in LA before getting on the ship. Travel days wear us out! Slept well, looking forward to getting on the ship.