Where in the World are Dave and Elizabeth?

 By Dave: Since we boarded on the 3rd, there have been many rumors and discussions about whether we would still go through the Red Sea as planned.   The cruise line has officially decided that it is too dangerous to stick to our original itinerary.  We will skip India, all of the Middle East including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Jordan (Petra), Greece, Turkey -- including Istanbul and Ephesus, Italy, Spain and Portugal (The Azores).  We are very disappointed to miss these destinations. Instead, we will be going to Male, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Mozambique, Durban and Cape Town, South Africa, Namibia, Ghana, Gambia, Cape Verde, and Puerto Rico.These are interesting places, but we had hoped to immerse ourselves in the ancient culture of places like Istanbul and Ephesus.  We had also arranged visits with members of our churches in places like Mumbai, Singapore, and Dubai.   We had discussed an African tour at a later date, but we might have chosen dif...

 Blog by Dave. Today, Elizabeth finally was released from Covid isolation.  A masked team disinfected the room since our stewards had not been able to enter the room for 4 days.She is still weak though, so she did not leave the ship. Bryan flew down to Puerto Vallarta on Monday, and we spent the day together today (Tuesday).  We gave him a tour of the ship, and then we ate lunch together af the Lido buffet. Then, he and I took a taxi to the boardwalk and walked around. Next stop Kona, Hawaii.   After 6 whole days at sea. The journey continues.  

Blog by Dave, Yesterday the 29th we were in port at Manzanillo, MX, which is the largest industrial port in the country. Elizabeth tested positive for Covid the day we left the Panama Canal so she was on Isolation protocol on the cruise ship until the 30th.  I tested negative so I was able to go into Manzanillo. I got a hair cut at a local barbership where no-one spoke English.  Then, I just walked around and took some pictures. That is about it for Manzanillo.  

 Greetings!   Yesterday, we were in Costa Rica, the land of Pura Vida.  Of course, that literally translates to Pure Life, but the expression is also used to mean the joys of simple living, thank you, excellent, a simple and unworried lifestyle, don't rush, don't worry, have a good day, etc.  We tendered to a marina and caught a bus that took us an hour down the Pan American highway to a nature reserve.  On the way, we passed through a plantation that grows African palms for oil.   At the preserve, we boarded a boat for a trip down a river to search for birds and other wildlife.  The river is the split between Costa Rica's rainforest and dry forest, so the terrain was a little different on each bank.   The river was full of crocodiles.  Someone on another boat was play-feeding one, causing it to jump up with snapping jaws.  Costa Rica is doing so much to preserve its wild life, including outlawing hunting. There's a partic...

 Blog By Dave: Today we crossed the Panama Canal.  We started at 6:30am in the morning and came out about 5pm in the afternoon.  The cruise company paid about $350K to cross the Panama Canal and to reserver their time slot. The Panama Canal consists of three locks on the Atlantic side and three locks on the Pacific side.  We first went through three locks that raised us up to the level of a large lake in the middle of Panama.  The final three locks lowered us down to the level of the Pacific Ocean.   I recommend you read about the engineering feat and the challenges they faced to build the canal in the early 1900s. Here are some pictures as we went through: The massive bridge over the entrance to the canal As we enter lock 1 the ship in front us is in lock 2. Ship on left is coming toward us. You can see the ship in front of us leave and the one coming toward us has been lowered and is moving out Finally we have been raised and we move into lock 2 We p...

 Bon nochi (Good evening or Good night). I hope your day was dushi dushi!  (dushi means really sweet but can also mean good, tasty or delicious, pleasant, sweetheart., beautiful.  If you say it twice, it's extra dushi). Curaçao has the loveliest language, Papiamentu, which is a blend of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, various African dialects, and the language of the Arawak or Papiamentu tribe.  It's the first language of all three of the Dutch ABC islands -- Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.  I say, why don't we all learn it?  It's fun.  The words are spelled exactly how they sound.  And, since so many cultures have added their piece to it, it’s sort of universal. Do you see the statue of the woman in the picture above.  There are statues like this in many places in Willemstad.  They are larger statues of the island's popular Chichi dolls.  Chichi is the term for the oldest sister in a family, who always plays an important ...

Yeterday, we visited lovely Grenada, aka The Spice Island.  We were in port with one other ship, a British P and O with a slightly younger demographic than our world tour.    Of course, we headed to the spice market, where local people and some tourists shop for spices, fresh produce, and this and that.  It is definitely a cook's paradise, and it would be a fun place to stay if you love the kitchen.  Grenada started growing and exporting nutmeg and mace in the late 1700's, and it is still one of the largest nutmeg producers in the world.  Now, it is also known for cinnamon, turmeric, cloves, cloves, bay leaves, pepper, ginger, and vanilla.    After we checked out town and the market, we took a water taxi to a popular beach.  A lovely British woman talked me through a moment where I was having trouble navigating open metal stairs over rocks that led to the dock. Is there anything so soothing as a motherly British tone?  It put me in ...