Lima & Manta, Ecuador

Thursday, March 18th

We slept late today. Jack went off to a seminar on Mammals of the Pacific and then we met in the Lido for Brunch. There is norovirus on the ship and we are being very careful. The ship is also working hard. You can't walk near the food areas without a crew member spritzing your hands with sanitizer. We napped a little, walked a little and eventually we went for dinner. We arrived at the Dining room at just 6:00pm and we were seated at a table for two! After dinner we headed for the theater for the evening entertainment. Tonight was a French Canadian singer. At the first note, I knew it would be unmemorable, and I wasn't wrong. Jack is always a fan of any entertainment, so we stayed until the end....snore, snore!! Back to the room and to bed asap, as it is another early morning get up!

Friday, March 19th Lima, Peru We met up with our tour group and guide on the pier this morning, and before we began, we knew that this would be a fun day! Trish and Dave from the UK, Kathy and Bob from Jersey, Caroline and Joe from New York/Florida, our guide a driver and Jack and I. Driving through the streets of Lima is like driving through Rome! Today was a "free day" to drive in the city, which made it even worse. We were off about 7:45am and we headed straight through Lima to Pachacamac, a very ancient archaeological site in the desert. There were remains of pyramids from a era before the Inca. Thank God they drove us from one place to another, as it must have been 200°s there! Next to a private Gold Museum, which also had a large collection of weapons and other artifacts. Now on to another archaeological site in the city before we came to the main square of Miraflores for lunch. We enjoyed a free Pisco Sour and then some of the gang decided to have more Pisco! Our trip back to the ship was hilarious, even the locals were laughing along with us. Back at the ship we showered and raced off to dinner and then a Variety Show, which was pretty good.

Saturday, March 20th At Sea

Jack was up early for his recurring seminar, today Fire and Ice..Volcanoes and Glaciers. Again we meet for Brunch after the talk. At 1:30 we joined the throngs of cruisers for the Captain's Club Event. It was once a special luncheon, but today just some finger foods, tiny sandwiches, sushi, fruit k-bobs and crepe with ice cream. The drinks and champagne also flowed. There was some entertainment and also an acknowledgement to a family who had sailed 77 times and a couple who had sailed 72 times! After dinner we went to the show, Boogie Wonderland, a 70's thing, which was so-so!

Sunday, March 21st Manta, Ecuador

Up early again, we headed off for our first and only ship shore excursion (cattle coach). We chose our seats and settled in for a 2 hour drive from Manta, along the coast to Machalililla National Park. Immediately we could see that Ecuador was much nicer than Chile or Peru. Although it is still poor here, there is almost no graffiti and it appears much cleaner. It was very hot again today, closest to the equator, Arriving at the National Park, we were surprised to find that there was very little to see. I decided to stay behind, while the group trouped off through the bug-infested grasses, etc. So glad I did, as the rest were all sweaty, tired and unimpressed! Next we boarded the bus and headed for a beach. The beach was very clean and pretty. One could swim, but we had only 45 minutes. Most just sat on plastic chairs under tents, set up for the cruisers....quite bazaar! It was a race to the shower for us again, and then off to the Dining room. Too early again, we were seated at a table for two! After dinner, we passed on the Juggler and singer and went back to our room for some TV.

Monday, March 22nd At Sea

Jack is off to his seminar again this morning. We meet for Brunch and then raced off to the Emerald talk, hoping to win another coupon! No such luck!! They opened to Emerald collection and we waded through the crowd to get a look! Emeralds are expensive! Of course, I did find a small pendant that I couldn't live without. The $250 coupon helped some....I asked Stuart Chapwick, the gemologist, and he said it was a steal! Two other shop crew people also agreed, so I guess we did ok! Jack went to collect our passports, which were taken from us on embarkation. Now we are back to having to worry about where the passports are! After a short nap, we are ready to get dressed for dinner and the another early evening so that we can be up early and watch the entrance into the Panama Canal.