Sorry that I didn’t complete this at the time.  No excuse!  I just didn’t get around to it.  I thought I had better get on it now since I will be leaving again…..for Rome and a very exciting cruise in the Mediterranean, this weekend.

The last two ports were Nassau, the place I had loved so much when I had gone in 1969 and 70, and Miami.  OMG, that was so long ago.  I was really quite disappointed for sure.  It was brutally hot and humid and there was I think, 4 ships with passengers numbering well over 4000 each and a couple that had 650+…..and that wasn’t counting their crews. Too many for one place like Nassau.  It really isn’t a very big place.  The residents that were connected to the tourist trade, were out in full force, hawking tours and jewels.  It was overwhelming.  And I didn’t get the opportunity to do the one thing I wanted to do while there…..go snorkeling.  That experience or lack of, made me realize that if I wanted to do something in particular, that I had better pre-book it.  So I didn’t get to see anything except the downtown area.  I will say though, that the colour of the water there is like no other place.  OMG it is gorgeous!  Turquoise leaning toward green.

One of the ships in port was a NCL.  Huge …….with huge water-slides and Jungle Jim playground that hung out over the edge, on the top.  Do you think there was kids on that ship???  Our ship on the other hand, had NO children on it.  One other thing of note was on ours, the passengers were more physically active and not grossly overweight like I had seen in other cruises I have been on.

Next stop was Miami.  Since we had a few hours to kill before boarding our flight home, several of us did a hop on, hop off of Miami that included Coral Gables, Little Havana (which was nothing remarkable other than a open air place where the “natives” play dominos), the Miami City Hall (its a preserved Art Deco building) and the yacht club beside it.  We did not go by the beach area.  Not very exciting.  And it was cold……like 58 F.  Brrrrr on the top of the open-air bus.

Then it was the flight home….yuk!  I don’t mind flying.  I just wished it didn’t take so long.  So now I will be off on another adventure this weekend.  Yahoo!!!

March 20th, 2015….. still in the Amazon but heading to the Atlantic…. a sea day. 

Some facts:

The rainforest covers an area that includes parts of Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. 

The Amazon is second largest river in the world…. 6400 kms. or 4000 mi.   It is so very wide especially now that it is flooding. 

There are over 1100 tributaries of which 17 are over 1500 kms long. (I am sure the captain must be using a gps to make sure we are on the right “road”).

The Amazon is the home to the piranha ….  a deadly meat eating fish but according to one guide, they are not much interested  in humans for food.   They are not large but have nasty teeth and when they attack, it is a feeding frenzy. (I wanted to bring a preserved one home but didn’t know if we can bring things like that into Canada).

Anacondas lurk in the shallow waters of the rivers. I never saw one…. a bit disappointed in that. 

They also have boas in the jungle. Boas are constrictors but our guide told us they are poisonous for one month out of the year…. this month. Right….. nice!

The Amazon River’s source is Lago Villafro in the Andes Mts. of Peru. 

By the way the temperature usually is 28 to 31 C every day with the water being exactly the same temp  as the air.  So if you fell in the river or ocean you wouldn’t die from

hypothermia….. lol!  Something else would surely get you tho’.   The depth of the river at the mouth is at most 30 meters so you can understand why only the smaller ships like ours can go up it. 

Today once reaching the Atlantic again, the waters are rough. You should have seen us trying to line dance with the ship rocking and rolling. Also today, the ship had a Gala Tea with ice sculptures and elaborate carvings made from things like squashes and watermelon. Absolutely amazing!  And the little fancy sandwiches and desserts. Oh my!  Everyday there is high tea with fancy foods but today was extra special. Then it was off to happy hour. This was the first day with no 25% Brazilian tax so I splurged and bought a drink in one of the bars…… as did a whole lot of other people on board. Most of us have bought wine and other spirits on shore and brought on board. It’s allowed on Oceania. 

March 21st….Devils Island. Actually there are 3 islands of which the largest and where most prisoners were “housed” is Isle Royale and not Isle Diable. Together they are called the Salvation Islands….funny name for this absolutely beautiful trio of islands with such a terrible history. Here are some facts as told to me. There were over the course of time in that penitentiary, 70,000 prisoners with 50,000 escape attempts made. 50% of prisoners died within the  first year of arriving here from the heat, humidity, dysentery, cholera, malaria, etc…. never mind the very harsh treatment they had to endure. BTW the humidity was almost 100% so along with mid 80 F made the perspiration, literally constantly run down my face and into my eyes. 

March 22….at sea. 

March 23….Barbados is quite a beautiful island they drive on the “wrong” side of the road…… with many, many round-a-bouts. The land on the east side of the island which is on the Atlantic, is unstable and is prone to slides so they are not allowed to build on it. We were 7 in a taxi van today. Our first stop was to see the Harrison’s Caves. Beautiful!  I can’t remember all the fact but is something that I would recommend to see if you are ever here. I have many pictures. Then to Hunt’s Gardens. Oh wow!  If you know me you know how much I love gardens and plants.   It was absolutely fabulous. They had 7 acres but only 2 that were developed. It is so lush. It is amazing that it took only 2 years to grow like this. I took so many pictures of both these places. While there, I got to see a hummingbird nest with a couple of babies in it and a few flying around that were a shiny black with I am sure other fluorescent colours on them if they stayed in one place long enough to see.  The owner and developer was an old “white” man, whose ancestors had been indentured servants. We saw the only operational sugar wind mill circa 1727. Gorgeous!  Off to the beach (Atlantic side) beautiful and rugged. Funny the beach were covered with seaweed which we had seen lots of it floating out in the ocean. Our driver said that it more this year than they had ever seen. I wonder what is going on there. Global change maybe???  Off to a spot that overlooks the whole coastline.  Wow!  Then to a sugar plantation. Again…… Beautiful ……and old. They are in the production of rum….. very expensive rum but oh so very good!  Trust me. Then it was back towards the pier where some of the gals wanted to purchase chocolate from a factory. The owner, get this, is a young Barbadian Canadian born in Montreal. A drive and short stop to the waterfront/downtown area of Bridgetown. There a couple of bridges over what I think is salt water, a beautiful boardwalk. Yachts tied up all along this boardwalk. Lovely!  Some girls said they would have to come back here again. Some interesting facts and curious things as told to us by our driver. The 

Mangania tree is poisonous. No birds or animals go near them. There are lots of Mahogany trees.  65% of food needed here is grown here. I’m surprised. The bearded (vines) Ficus is where the name of Barbados comes from.  Saturday knockers are what Barbadians call Jehovah’s Witnesses. and the Parliament buildings is called the snake house.

March 24…. St. Bart’s. Oh wow!  Tres riche!!!!  The yachts in the harbour, the quaint, well-cared for buildings, the French influence, the Euro…. Oh my!  We all went a spectacular little beach appropriately called Shell Beach cuz it is just waaaay too expensive to shop. An absolutely gorgeous place though.  

Next stop, March 25… San Juan Puerto Rico. This is one place that was never really on my bucket list but I have to tell you I would love to come back here again. The gals I was with today and myself, just stayed in the “Old Town”section…. So did not get to see the rest of the island and what it had to offer. Climbing up to one of the two forts. The streets are extremely narrow, one way with parking on one side. There were traffic police on pretty much every corner…. Of course there were 6 cruise ships in port today. That could explain why traffic was so congested. The building reminded me of the old quarter in New Orleans with the wrought iron balconies (some Juliet’s), the street paved with brick shaped rock that looked like basalt. The prices here are really quite reasonable and they have some really nice merchandise. Back to the ships in port… One was an MSC with 4200+ passengers and only a crew of 1500. We have 650+ passengers and a crew of 400. Which do you think has the best service? There was also the Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam that was quite likely bigger than the MSC, a Disney ship

and another Oceania…. The Riviera at twice the capacity as this ship but their staterooms are much bigger and almost all are balcony suites. 

March 26….. At sea. 

March 27… The cruise is drawing to an end. The ports of call have been awesome.  It has been an enlightening experience that I have totally enjoyed. I will miss the crew.. they have been fabulous….. many calling me by name.  The entertainment even though it has to be a smaller production because of the ship’s size, has been first class. The ship itself is really quite lovely. The captain is a hoot…. very personable with a great sense of humour….approachable……gave us gals a tour of the bridge when we were in San Juan. Most of all, I will miss travelling with the gals. It has been like a bunch going for a “girls’ weekend” ……only longer.  Most of us did not know each other before but I am sure that many of us will remain friends at home. 

Today will be Nassau. We will not arrive for a few more hours but I am going to try to send this now and send another in a couple of days. 

Please excuse an typos and misuse of English language. I am doing this using my phone. 

The captain got us early to our first  stop on the 15th…..Santarem.  Thank goodness because we had a long tour booked. We walked around the town briefly (it was Sunday… all the stores were closed). There are so very many boats here. It is what life on the river is all about …. pretty much the only means of transportation other than in the towns. Went to see the pink dolphins that feed off the fish that are thrown from the fish market. Then to the town’s cathedral and a clothing museum in the private home of the 93 yr. old maker. Everything is made from natural fibres….. no cloth. She had parrots and macaws, etcetera. in backyard. On going back out, I missed a 3″ drop in the floor …..crashing onto my knees. Nothing broken but some bruising. Our guide showed us some strange small tree that I cannot remember the name of…. that has “fruit” about the size of a mini watermelon but hard as a rock. It is used in production of bowls. He then took us back to port where we were to catch a boat operated by Gil Serique… A well known ecological naturalist. Some of the tour had already left so we had to catch up with the others using a “speed” boat. That guide showed us the meeting of the Tapajos River with very muddy Amazon…. Very distinct. He also showed us  pink dolphins but they didn’t want to co-operate and show themselves very much. We proceeded until we caught up with the other bigger boat(s) in another tributary ….I would classify it as floodwaters like a bayou…. kind of swampy but definitely not stagnant. It was running. This is the rainy season so everything is flooding including the areas used to graze cattle in dry season.  We were told the river probably has another 2 metres to rise. Apparently the trees in order to survive, have to be able to withstand being submerged in up to 8 meters of water for up to 7 months. Anyway, the bigger boat was butted up to the river bank where everyone was looking up at a couple of sloths in the trees. From there we continued on near to a spot close to where we could all get to see the giant water lilies. Wow!!!!  Beautiful and huge. We also got into canoes for a paddle through a waterlogged jungle. Some saw toucans, others a another sloth hanging as well as a tiny porcupine high up in the trees. Then….. OMG we were all wondering if we were going to make it back to the ship before it left. But …..on the way back, the most beautiful sunset. By the way we were late….. By 1 minute. Phew!!

Next day, the 16th…  Boca de Valeria. This a tiny native village of about a hundred people but that many more come from the neighbouring areas. Here too, they live in houses that are built on stilts with no plumbing. The electricity was wires strung here there and wherever, had not been working for quite some time. Very primitive conditions. The kids were all over you grabbing and trying to hold your hand. I acquired one little boy….. gorgeous like Elvis, who lived elsewhere, was either taught English in school or went to an English school. He was a great little guide. I am sure all this touching, etc., is an attempt to get money (which is in a way,is teaching the kids to sell themselves). But….. They are so very poor it many be one of only a few ways to make some money. How many times do they have a cruise ship stop by for a visit …..with opportunities.  Some of the passengers and crew left supplies, including clothes and stuff for the school. The kids all showed off their pets… Lots of sloths, the cabydara 

(the world’s largest rodent…..tied up with a halter like the family’s pet dog), one boy with a small boa around his neck, baby monkeys and an older different kind of monkey, a baby black cayman (with a wire around his mouth), a tarantula, tiny parrots, and a toucan. There was also an alligator tied with rope and wire, to a board. Nice that they did that!  There were people, adults and kids dressed in costume. One my second trip in (by tender), I went ashore with a lady named Ruth. She and I took a half hour ride in one of their boats up and around the river… for $5US each.    We were on board with a father, grandfather and 4 yr old adorable little girl. She babble on and on like 4 yr olds do wherever. We had no idea what she was saying. That was an experience. Ropes knotted together were the steering “cables”.  Now this is really what they call the Amazon rainforest. Totally saturating rain, soggy red mud up to your ankles. I loved it. 

Tuesday, March 17th St. Patricks day. Today we only walked around the very large city of Manaus …… Famous for its opera house and once the richest city in the world at the time….. Because of the production of rubber. It is 1000 kilometres up the Amazon and the furthest point that we are travelling to. In the area …. The downtown area near the port, were blocks and blocks of pedestrian streets with shops and kiosks….. A real marketplace!  Prices were very inexpensive but who can shop when the temperature is near 90 with 100% humidity?  The perspiration was literally running down our faces. Good thing I wasn’t wearing any eye makeup. So very uncomfortable and exhausting.  While we were here in port, the pier was shared by a Seabourn ship. I chatted with a fellow that was a passenger on that ship. They had travelled from Santiago, Chile to Antarctica, around the southern tip of South America and up to Amazon. He was most impressed with the penguins and icebergs. He said it was not as cold there as it was in his home town in New York. 

Many boats on this river look like the paddle wheelers on the Mississippi…. but without the paddles. 

Today, the 18th, we are heading back down the river toward Parintins. Enroute, not sure if the ship was on autopilot or what but damn we got so close to shore then the ship made a hard turn to avoid hitting shore. I think someone was not paying attention ….. asleep at the wheel and had to make a quick correction. There was lots of discussion from the passengers later. One lady apparently fell. The captain said later that the ship leaned 3% to the port but I am inclined to think it was somewhere  more like 10%+.  On getting to Parintins, Gerry and I checked out all the handcrafts in the pier area….. lots of nice stuff. I purchased a beautiful blowgun and a gourd-like ornament that looked like an owl one way but a monkey the other way. Them we took a pedicab around town. By that time it was siesta time so everything was closed but whatever, we got a tour. 

Thursday the 19th…. We are arrived in Alter de Chao…. A lovely little town of about 2,000 not far from Santarem….. on the Tapajos River.   On the weekends the population triples.  It is supposed to have one of the best beaches in Brazil. It reminds one of a Caribbean island community. I think some of the gals would like to return… but not in the rainy season. The beach would then be exposed. They have cabanas on this spit/sandbar that runs to Ilha do Amor (Island of Love).  I did not check out this lovely little town but instead went on a Gil Serigue tour of a jungle forest. Unfortunately, like the last on we took with him, time ran short so we were in fear of not making it back to the ship in time. Makes one a little stressed. Part of the reason with this was that we had an hour and half drive each way to get there. We saw trees…. Huge ones some called Kapok also called buttress trees. The one we were introduced to was 700 yrs old.  It is very lite wood so is used for making coffins but not much else.  Also brazil nut trees…. extremely tall…. Besides the nuts it is used to land on in emergencies. (Ask me more about that if you are interested). There were cocoa trees and tiny fungi and huge beautiful flowers somewhat resembling a magnolia flower, on one tree. Sorry but I cannot remember the name of any of the plants/trees cuz their names are mainly in Portuguese.  On the return trip we visited Belterra…… Henry Ford’s town built during his involvement in the rubber boom in the 1930s. It resembles small town middle America. The sidewalks, the streets made with interlocking paving blocks, the houses painted green and white only (his mandated colours), the water system, the sirens indicating the beginning and end of each work day….all as it was built back then with no upkeep to any of it since. But as the guide indicated, its in better shape than modern day infrastructure in the much newer towns. 

Sunday, March 8^th, 2015. This morning we had not booked a tour so we (Adrienne and I) went ashort to the pier to see if we could book a tour…..a tour that included Corcovado, Christ the Redeemer and Sugsr Loaf Mountain. We found one on the pier at a reasonable price that also included seeing the beaches (praisas)…….Cococabana, Ipanema and Leblon…..we had seen them the day before so didn’t need to go back but it was included. We stopped at the Sambadrome, where the Carnival parade is held. The stands hold 72,000 people. We also stopped for a few minutes to see the Mario Filho Stadium where (1958-62) World Cup Soccer is/was held. We then proceeded to go to Corcovado (as far as I can gather, is the name of the mountain that the Christ statue is perched on. It is very, very high up so it takes one tour van, then you get out, get tickets, get in line, take another van, then walk up and up. OMG! When you get up to it, it is truely amazing. So humongous…..30 metres high. You just have no idea. The look on the face of Christ…..it almost brought tears to my eyes. It so difficult to get a good picture cuz it is so huge. And the view from there….amazing. Rio is so beautiful….and huge…….7 million people. Because we took a little longer than I guess we should have, our guide Marcia said we wouldn’t be able to make it to Sugar Loaf and get back to our ship by 4 (actually we needed to be back on board by 4:30 but you need to add a little time in case of problems. One does not want to have to fly to the next port at your own cost. When Marcia (said Massia) saw how important it was for me because that was one of 2 reasons we took this tour, she made it happen. The deal was that we had to run once we got to it…..us 2 only and her. The others (they were all from the other ship that was in port) just wanted to go to the beach and eat. At the last minute a woman on our tour that had mobility issues, decided she wanted to come too. Oh my, did that throw Marcia into a tizzy. Away we went. It wasn’t a great distance to Sugar Loaf but you have to get in line to purchase tickets for 2 gondola rides and then we had to run between first and second sections. The disabled lady decided that she only wanted to go to the the first level (a rise of 232 metres) and that she and her adult son would wait while we ran to the next gondola ride, at which point the gondola takes you another rise of 398 metres. We made it up…..again breathtaking views, took pictures, left after about 5 minutes, back down to meet the other two only to find that they were no where to be found. OMG, that poor girl Marcia was beside herself. She sent us with the driver to the pier then he had to come back for her and hopefully the other two and then go back for the remainder of the tour passengers to have them back to their ship by 5. She went above and beyond and Adrienne and I got to see all that we wanted. On that tour I had befriended the daughter of the disabled lady. She was from near Sao Paulo. Lovely, lovely person. We will be Facebook friends. She also invited me to come stay at her home. Nice!

We set sail, crossing under the longest span bridge in the southern hemisphere…..and then turning around and going back under it, then heading out of this beautifl, magnificent harbour with all those places that we had seen in the last day and a half……… from a different viewpoint. The Christ was lit a sort of a pick colour, the beaches and Sugar Loaf. Wow, wow, wow!!! And the sunset. Incredible!

The next 2 days were at sea. Finally we get to sleep in…….but not for long. I have been meeting Pamella for laps around the deck every morning as a way of keeping the weight gain down…… somewhat. The food….well what can I say. Beautiful and waaaaay too much. One evening we went up to the Horizons lounge, a sort of dico bar area that is used for many functions including high tea. I ordered a glass of red wine. I expected that it would not be cheap but I was not expecting US$17.88. Actually the wine itself was 12 something but a gratuity is automatically added PLUS a 25% Brazillian tax like HST, is added to everything we purchase, on ship or land. And we think we have it bad in Canada. Needless to say there will be NO purchases, alchohol or otherwise, until we get out of Brazillian waters. I overheard one clerk in the boutique say to a custommer ” If you like, we can hold this for you but will not charge it to your card until we are out of Brazillian waters”. There is always another route around things like this.

Day 5, March11, 2015…. we arrived in Recife, said Hecife. Portugese sound “r” like an “h”. Another humoungous city. None of us were expecting that. I would say hundreds of thousands of residential skyscrapers. I have never seen anything quite like this. Gerry, Margrit, Sylvia and I rented a taxi with driver for 3 + hours. He took us all to Olinda, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It really is quite something. I think the cathedral was built in 1580’s and the city was inhabited some time before. It is truly worth visiting. Washington, our guide drove us through the older part of down town (It is just somewhat run down and dirty) but not the same as what they call “Old Town” which we later visited. That was awesome as well. (It is very old but not like Olinda). That is where “Mile Zero” (the most eastern most point in South America) and where my phone decided it didn’t have anymore room for pictures so of course I didn’t get any. Our guide also took us by the beach…….a very long stretch. I don’t know how many miles long it is so I am going to guess at atleast 25miles. On the beach there are signs and flags to indicate there are sharks in the waters. There are times of ther year when it is worse and there are things and activities that bring them and cause them to attack. There were not any people in the water except one lonely fisherman casting out. Looking down the beach, again I was struck with how many highrises there are……massive numbers. FYI, Recife is known as the Venice of Brazil because there are over 50 bridges crossings

Now we have 2 days cruising the Atlantic Ocean and today, Friday the 13^th, we crossed the Equator. They “polliwogs” had to kiss the fish and then get christened with some green liquid stuff so that King Poseiden could go back to the sea and we would be allowed to proceed. Yuk! Sorry not for me. Gerry, Penny and Aurelea were brave and did it. Tomorrow the 14^th, we enter the Amazon River. Apparently we have to have permission to enter the Amazon.

• We (14 women belonging to the Women’s Travel Meetup ……… predominately from Victoria) arrived in Rio de Janeiro late….. at about 11am on Saturday morning. We had left Victoria Friday morning at 8am ish. FYI there is 5 time zones between Victoria and Rio.  Needless to say, most of us were exhausted  because sleeping on airplanes is not all that comfortable or productive. 

4 of us didn’t even get access to our stateroom before heading off on a tour…….. one that had been pre booked. It was to see and learn about the largest favela in Rio called Racinha. Befor going to the favala, we taxied to Cococabana Palace hotel across from the beach of same name.  That beach is 4 miles long, Ipanema & Leblom beaches are 2 miles each.  The beaches and all the scenery of the city are absolutely  stunningly beautiful. I can see why they call the harbour city one of the 7 wonders of the modern world. 

Our guide met us at the hotel then we all walked to a bus stop. We rode the local bus up up and up and up some more and around crazy corners. That in itself was thrilling. Finally at almost the top, we got off. Translated, favela mean slum.  People started to build shelters where they could sort of homestead on because they couldnt afford anything else.  They were shacks build of whatever material they could  find…… not necessarily safe. Eventually the government tore down those that were encroaching on the Tijuca National Forest and replaced them with apartments lower down at the beginning of the favela. The government also allowed more permanent structures like cement blocks, to be built. Since there is no more vacant land on the side of these hills to build on, if there is an empty roof, it is sold for yet another home to be built on top of. Hence it is very congested. This particular “town” has 300,000 residents. There are banks and lots and lots of thriving businesses and so so very many motorcycles. OMG this community is so “alive”.  The “cyclist” with vests are taxis.  Incidentally, they have helmets for their passengers.    There is only one main road in this community but 500 alleys (not for vehicular traffic.  The alleys are extremely steep and narrow. Our guide said it would not be a good idea for us to go wondering on our own. I absolutely agree.  We would surely get lost.  It is like a maze).  This “main” road is so twisted that if two buses meet on a corner, they have to stop AND one or both have to back up to make it possible for one to pass. And…. If there is a space between those buses for a moment, the motorcycles will scoot through the middle.  And everybody is honking  their horns to warn others they are coming around the corner.  Crazy!!!!   It must be the latin in

1. those people. For most of us, the higher up we live the greater the value.  Not here for if you have say a fridge delivered and you live on the 6th level, you are the one whose responsibility it is to take it up. No elevators. By the way the views are breathtaking. 

As I mentioned previously, Carol and I and sometimes her granddaughter, would go line dancing twice a week with the ladies from Quebec. We also walked atleast 5 kms everyday so except when the tide was in and we had to walk the beach that had a steep slope on it, my knees and hips got a bit of a work out and so they/I felt better. The heat probably helped. 

I have been a little remiss in posting….partly because I post to Facebook as well.  I am able to send pictures that way ….off my phone.  Anyway because I know a lot of people do not do Facebook, I thought I should bring the rest of you up to date with all that has been happening here.

Saturday January 31st, Max left Guayabitos for home in Victoria and back to work….poor girl!  She was here for 2 weeks.  I am pretty sure she had a good time.  It is a different sort of vacation place than the one I spent with my family on the other coast. This is the real Mexico.  A little rough around the edges to be sure.

From a post I made to Facebook later the day she left….”On the beach this morning, there was another loss of life….a nineteen year Mexican boy.  Sad!!!  Apparently most of the Mexican nationals that come here for vacation from the interior, don’t know how to swim.  There is a strong undertow here always and ……the red flag was up.”  The next day I read that there had been another, a 16 year old, that lost his life to drowning the day before.

Just as Max was leaving, the weather started to change….actually the last couple of days had been cloudy while she was here….warm but cloudy.  Carol H. had posted a picture that day that she took showing the temperature as being 91.2 F (33C, I think) as the high. But then the rains came and came and came…..4.5 inches in less than 4 days.  But now the sun is back out.  Yeah!!!

This morning I finally made it to line dancing….under a big palapa…….about 2 kms down the beach (and 2 kms back).  Carol H. and I were there along with about 20 others.  A lot of the ladies are from BC and a lot from Quebec.  That gals that teach are from Quebec.  There doesn’t seem to be any from the States.  Of course the American government scares the crap out of their citizens about how scary it is down here.  Not!!!  We walked again later…..the other way….probably another 3 kms.

If you do Facebook you can see the sunset pictures I posted tonight.  Beautiful!!! Sorry but cannot seem to be able to post them here.

Oh my God!!!  Max and I were walking the beach when she said “what’s with that boat”?  I looked ….. Not too far out from shore was one of the tour/fish boats with passengers on board. It was hard to tell if they were in trouble because the boat would disappear in between the roller waves (they were pretty high).  Anyway, I am not sure exactly how many were on board ……maybe 10 or 12. They were bailing and the young man skippering was waving to get attention of the people on the beach (as well as bailing). Then before long the boat turned turtle throwing everyone on board, into the ocean.  People were screaming as they went over and when they were in the water.  They seemed to all have life jackets on and the water is not cold so they wouldn’t suffer from hypothermia. Several guys from shore, grabbed boards and whatnot, swimming toward the boat. Before long… I’d say within 6-7 minutes there were other boats arriving to rescue everyone. We (the people on the beach) think that all the people were rescued and headed back with them in another boat, towards the other end of the beach. After that, many guys from the may boats, tried repeatedly, to right it. Finally they were successful and another boat towed them in towards Los Ayala. Oh my…. It certainly  created some very scary, terrifying minutes for us and I am sure, for the people that were expecting a lovely day out on the ocean…. Maybe to see whales or whatever.  Excitement in paradise. Today was not a boring day.

Maxine and I left Victoria at about 7 am this morning. I sure wished that I had not woken up at 12:30 am and remained that way for 2 hours. I finally drifted off only to have the alarm go off an hour later. I think that I will sleep tonight. Incidentally the flight was extremely bumpy but atleast the landing was a whole lot better than the last one I was on. Yeah!  I heard later from my son, that in Victoria on Sunday morning that the winds were so bad that it knocked out the power. Lucky they had a generator so that they could watch the game. Probably it was the same system that causes the rocky flight to SFO.

After going through customs in San Francisco & rechecking our checked baggage, we went in search of what gate we were to go to, then decided that this trip to the sun was ready to start cuz it must be 5 o’clock somewhere. Oh my….. $11US for a glass of wine, about 8 for a glass of draft and over 7 for 2 small bottles of water. Do you think those prices have anything to do with being a captive audience???

Arrived at PVR on time and with a smooth landing. Again yeah!!!  A poor overtired little boy screamed for 3 of the 3.5 hour flight. That was not so good.

Hector met us at the airport along with my friend Carol H’s granddaughter Jessica. I was totally shocked to see her there. I did not know beforehand that she was here. They together, waited another little while for Belinda (another friend) and friends, to arrive from Comox so Hector’s brother drove us in.  We are both staying at Villas Las Mariposas where my friend Linda B. is (and others will follow).

Sunday the 18th of January, Max and I started off down to the end of the beach.  Along the way, we ran into Belinda and Larry. By the time we got to the end of the beach, it was time for my first, “world famous” strawberry margarita at Alicia’s, this year. They are sooooo good.  Could be dangerous if having more than one.  We also stopped along the way, to meet Kathy, a lady friend of Lol and Dave’s from Princeton and Blythe, CA. Also checked to see if Derek and Sheldon were here this year from Creston, BC.   And they were. I have a story that goes with those 2 but it’s too long to go into here. Small world!  Later we went to see Jack and Donnie play at Marlenne’s. They were as usual, a great duo doing lots of country and some rock. Carol C…….we were thinking that you would be enjoying this.  We stayed for probably the best (back) ribs ever. Oh my!!!

Monday we trekked through the “residential zone” to the “Monday market” in Guayabitos. Did not buy anything there. From there we went in search of the carcineria (meat market), fruiteria (for veggies) and grocery store with alcohol. Remember we are on foot. We walked part way back on the street but then headed back down to the beach thinking it would be easier. Duh!!! Remember we are packing all this stuff. After unloading groceries at “home”, we ventured a little way to Marlenne’s to have quesadillas and micheladas and then went the other way on the beach…. through the river (it was almost non-existent….low tide) and along the beach on the other side. Then up along the malacon in La Penita. Wow…. Very nice! It was not here the last time I was here. Before I got here the last time (3 years ago), from the storms, sand and boats had washed half way up the streets into La Penita, so building this malacon, it was probably a preventative as well as an aesthetic measure. We stopped in at Hyndi y Hymes for a beer and to say hello to Patty and Jorge. Typically I am not memorable but Bob A. and Belinda were so they remembered Bob and said that Belinda had already been in.  We went by Bill and Roe’s but they we playing darts and Sergio was not at his office either. Then we trekked over the “Bridge of Life” (built by gringos I am told, to stop the pedestrian deaths on the highway). Then, to show Max the beautiful homes in the Residential Zone. Back to home part way on the beach. OMG were we done in by the time we got back. I wonder how many kms we actually walked?  We were on our feet pretty much all day. After a drink and some cut up veggies for dinner, it was sack time at about 8 am. I am getting my sleep for sure. It is so nice hearing the crashing waves all day and night, long.

Incidentally we saw the most beautiful, huge jelly fish I had ever seen, on our walk back from La Penita.  The centre was like a flower…. outlined in pink. If I can’t post the picture here, check FB. I know I can do that.

Today, Tuesday the 20th …… We have decided to take the day off.  Just going to sit on the beach and read and write this blog.  Linda came by and told us that we are invited to Lana and Donnie’s for dinner. That should be nice.  While sitting down in the beach…. Max got pooped on by one of the many murettes flying above. I hear that’s supposed to be a sign of good luck.

Will write more later.