March 29 – Panama Canal

Today we went through the Panama Canal.  It is an artificial 77 km waterway that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a major conduit for North American trade. Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to 26 m above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 34 m wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger ships capable of handling more cargo.

This is a very busy maritime highway. Traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2012, for a total of 333.7 million tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal during its history.

We entered the canal system around six in the morning and entered the Caribbean Sea late in the afternoon. Due to the way the canal is located we actually ended up in the Caribbean west of the enter point on the west coast of Panama. It was a spectacular trip, one that we will remember for a long time.

We started our trip at the entrance to Balboa Harbour.  On the horizon you can see the impressive skyline of Panama City.  Because it was early in the morning and the mist had not yet burned off the skyline was really seen in silhouette.  You can tell that Panama is a very rich country. It probably has something to do with its tax free status.  

After about two kilometers we entered the Miraflores locks which allowed us to enter the artificial Miraflores Lake. The parallel locks can handle two ships independently. This set of locks raised the Infinity to a height of sixteen meters above sea level.  When a ship enters the locks it secured by ropes that are attached to eight locomotives that stabilize and tow the boat.  The ropes are delivered to the ship by a crew of men in row boats. 

The crowds on the boat's viewing decks were huge. In most places they were packed three or four people deep.  We decided to spend most of our time on our balcony.  

On the shore there was a three story building with viewing areas where people went to view the boats.  It was full of vacationers who waved and shouted “hola” to us.  People all along the shore were very friendly waving and greeting us, this included about ten inmates in a small prison about twenty kilometers north of Panama City.

Next we entered the Pedro Miguel Lock were the boat was raised another ten meters. From there we passed underneath the Centennial Bridge which marks the continental divide.

The shoreline is vary lush and green that you would associated with a tropical rainforest.  Other than the occasional depot there are no homes or cottages along the canal.

It seems we are racing a couple of ships through the locks,  One is Holland America's Zaamdam and the otther is a LPG cargo boat.  It has in very big letters on the captains deck "NO SMOKING".

Next we arrived at Gatum Lake.  This is an artificial lake formed by the building of the Gatun Dam. It allows vessels to advance fifteen kilometers across the isthmus. Gatum Lake is the summit of the canal system.  There were several large vessels queued up to enter the next set of locks.

Finally we went through the Gatum locks.  This is a three stage lock where the boats are lowered to the sea level.  You then pass the city of Colon Panama and a huge container harbor known as Limon Harbour. From here you pass a breakwater and enter the Caribbean Sea.  This was the farthest west that Columbus traveled in 1502.

Once we passed the breakwater at Colon, the water got very rough.  It wasn’t as bad as the time we entered the Pacific from the Beagle Channel but it still was bumpy.  There must have been some sea sickness as the dining room had many empty chairs.

The evening’s entertainment was an Irish flutist named Gary Arbuthnot.  It was a good show with lots of Celtic music.

There was no blog for yesterday because basically nothing of note happened.

March 27 – Manta Ecuador

As we cruised north the coast started to gradually change.  Instead of the bleak brown desert of northern Chile and Peru, we are now starting to see some green vegetation along the coast.

We arrived in the Ecuadorian port of Manta around noon hour.  Manta is about a hundred kilometers south of the equator.  This South American beach resort is the fifth largest city in Ecuador with a population a little over one hundred thousand people.  It is mainly known for the weaving of Panamanian hats.  Fishing is its primary industry though.  The catch is mainly tuna.

The temperature is getting uncomfortably hot. The sun seems to burn you within seconds of being exposed to it.  As we entered the port, the captain had opened up the heliport for people to get a good direct view of Manta as we approached the harbour.  But most people only lasted a few minutes on deck before retreating to the air conditioned inside.

There is not much going on in this port.  I took a bus trip into the city from the port and was delivered to a flea market.  Most of the items for sale had also been on sale in the ports of Peru and Chile.  

Mostly it consisted of brightly coloured scarves, knitted garments, knick knacks, leather goods, wood carvings and of course Panama hats. 

I did take a walk on a street removed from the flea market and was shocked at how much Ecuadorians pay from consumer electronics. A 40” 4K TV costs over $2,300 US.  That is at least three times as much as what we would pay in Best Buy. On the bright side you could buy a beer in the local store for twenty five cents.

In one of the parks there was a wonderful tree that a large number of vines that were growing out of its thick branches.  Unfortunately there was no sign that would tell me what type of tree it was.

In the evening I went to a show in the theatre by a singer named “Teacake.”  The highlight of her biography was that she had sung at a Houston Astro’s baseball game.  So my expectations were not high.  It turns out that she had a great voice and put on a very enjoyable show.

At 10:30 pm we crossed the equator and entered the northern hemisphere. Celebrity put on a quite a festive show on the pool deck that was attended by the majority of passengers.  The celebration of crossing the equator is an old maritime tradition. It started with King Neptune arriving and reading a proclamation from the captain.  This was followed by the traditional kissing of a fish and ended with a dance party.  It was fun to see the moon directly over our head.

March 26 – At Sea

Today was a lazy day at sea.  We are cruising north to Manta Ecuador and it is getting much hotter outside on the deck as we approach the Equator. I spent most of the day reading, relaxing in the hot tub, eating and drinking.  Unfortunately Marg has contracted some type of intestinal bug and is not feeling well.  She spent most the day in bed recovering.

Small Things Amuse Small Minds (Part Two) - I’ve determined that water draining out of the sink is controlled more by the motion of the boat than our position relative to the equator.  I thought if the boat was in the southern hemisphere that water would drain in a counter clockwise direction. But it now appears that if the boat is leaning to the port then water drains in a clockwise motion, but if the boat leans to the starboard the water appears to drain in a counter clockwise motion. This is upsetting because I was wondering what would happen to draining water when you are on the equator.

Scientific America Explanation :

Does water flowing down a drain spin in different directions depending on which hemisphere you're in?

The entertainment is a repeat from the previous half of the cruise.  This included the show called Star Factory, which I would have to say was one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen.

It was formal night in the dining room, or as it is now referred to as “Evening Chic” by the Celebrity Cruise Line.  I had Coq Au Vin again and it was delicious.  Somehow the dining room staff incorrectly thought it was somebody at our table’s birthday or anniversary.  So we had chocolate cake delivered to the table for dessert.

March 25 – Lima (Day 2)

We stayed in Lima overnight and won’t be leaving until late in the afternoon.  So we decided to take the Lima city tour.

Our first stop was in the city’s historical district which is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  In the Plaza de Armas we were able to view the Government Palace, City Hall, Lima’s Cathedral and the Arch Bishop’s house. The buildings are based on the architecture found in 16^th century Spain.

In the cathedral they were the celebrating Palm Sunday mass.  The church was full and there was a small crowd outside listening to the service over loud speakers. I was surprised by the number of rude people who were taking pictures of the church during the service.

We then visited the Church & Convent of San Francisco. It is one of the most important examples of colonial architecture in Peru.  The cloister was a wonderful restive place with blue tiled walls and a peaceful garden.  There was also an impressive library, which can still be used for research.

We then travelled through the city to the cliffs of Chorrillos overlooking the Pacific Ocean, that is several kilometers north of our port, to a park called El Parque del Amor. At the heart of the park is a sculpture entitled El Beso (The Kiss) by Peruvian artist Victor Delfín. It depicts two lovers locked in a romantic embrace.  The walkway is bordered with a barrier that was based on designs of the Spanish architect Guadi.

As we were returning to the boat, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the majority of Lima’s residents.  I have never seen such abject poverty. Peru has no social welfare.  Our guide told us that when someone is unemployed there are no social services to help them.  They must rely on the kindness of their family and neighbours. A popular social event is a “chicken party” where neighbours gather and help families in need.  Most houses are small ramshackle shacks.  Education is free but you need money to send your children to a private school, which results in families not being able climb the social ladder.

When we left the port, we were amazed at the number of huge cargo vessels waiting for a berth to become available.  There were at least a dozen boats that we could see, stretching out for many kilometers to the north.  Also just outside the breakwall was a sizeable fishing fleet.

For dinner Marg had Lamb Shanks and I had strip loin steak.  Both were very good.

The evening’s entertainment was a jazz pianist and arranger named Kym Purling.  It was the best show on the cruise so far. Marg thought he was “awesome.”  He was a Vietnam orphan, who was one of the first orphans from Vietnam adopted in Australia. At the age of four he was playing music by ear.  We could have listened to him for several hours and would not have been bored.

March 24 – Lima (Day 1)

We arrived in Lima Peru earlier this morning.  The weather has become very hot but fortunately there is a cool breeze blowing in off the Pacific Ocean.  The current that reaches Lima originates in Antarctica. The clash of the cool water and the warm air has caused quite a bit of fog around the port.

Lima is the capital of Peru and its largest city with a population of more than ten million people.  I thought the city would be on edge because the president of Peru stepped down earlier in the week and had been replaced.  There seems to be a lot of police around but we’ve been assured that the transition was very smooth.

In the morning we took a trip to the Pachacamac District.  Our guide was very outgoing. She told us that traffic in Lima was horrendous and that most drivers treat traffic lights and signs as mere suggestions.  She was right.

We visited the archaeological site of the Pachacamac Oracle, that was the most important religious center of indigenous people at the Peruvian coast in pre-Hispanic times starting from 200 AD until the Spanish invasion, lead by Francisco Pizarro, in 1533.  The site covered over 600 hectares of land.  and was the first stop on the main road that led from the Pacific Ocean to Cuzco in the highlands. The Ceremonial Center of Pachacamac was dedicated to the most important "god" at the Peruvian coast in pre-Hispanic times. Pachacamac was a powerful and feared god that was the creator of the world but on the other hand he was also the god of fire and earthquakes.

The first site that we visited was the Mamacona.  It was a structure for women who did not have any children. The women were a source of labour used for the production of textiles and ritual beverages. The building has been fully restored.

We then saw Old Temple of Pachacamac, which was the headquarters of the Shaman. This spiritual leader of the Wari was the main reason pilgrims stopped at this site to give him sacrifices and receive his blessing.

Next we saw the Painted Temple which was a pyramid shaped structure. Archaeologists discovered numerous beautiful ceramics and textiles showing the Wari influence.  These will be on display in the massive new Archaeological Museum being built near this site.

Finally we viewed from a distance the Temple of the Sun which dates from the Inca Empire. This huge pyramid is thirty thousand square meters in size.  Even though there is no concrete proof, some archaeologists believe that human sacrifices may have taken place at this the Temple. Sacrifices of women and children were found in an Inca cemetery within a portion of the structure. Burial goods found with the sacrifices point to the sacrifices originating from coastal societies conquered by the Incas.

We then travelled to the Hacienda Mamacona for a Peruvian cultural show.  Ordinarily these shows put me to sleep but this was great.  We were treated to a several national dances that we very flirtatious and energetic.  We ate a Peruvian lunch, which contained several tasty meat dishes and many side dishes.  Of course we were served Pisco Sours and local wines.

But the highlight was the Peruvian Paso horse.  These specially breed horse are derived from the Arabian horses that the Spanish brought with them.  But many generations of selective breeding has now resulted in a unique breed of horse.  It has a special gait that has only hoof hitting the ground at a time.  Most other horses have two hoofs hitting the ground at the same time.  The horse’s front leg makes a wide sweeping motion when walking.  It also has short pointed ears and a beautiful coat.  The star of the show was a six week old foal.

During the evening we went to a park and saw the “Circuito Magico del Agua”, which is a fountain and laser light show.  It was amazing.  We were watching the coloured fountains when suddenly as giant image of a leopard traveled across the water.  This was followed by an eagle, porpoise and a whale. This was followed by another set of coloured fountains that led to a montage of historical sites from Peru being displayed on the water.  The show only lasted about fifteen minutes but I will remember it for a long long time.

The rest of the park is filled with other coloured fountains, including a walkway where you are surrounding by water.

All in all it was a great day in Lima.

March 23 – Tombo Colorado

Today we landed in Peru at Puerto St. Martin.  There are several interesting excursions that we could have taken and we took one that was to a site of the ruins an Incan city called Tombo Colorado.

The port of St. Martin is really in the middle of nowhere. When you leave the port, you travel for thirty minutes before you encounter any sizable village.  Until then you are travelling in a desert with high sand dunes and no vegetation.

As you head east you start to see vineyards that grow the grape called Pisco.  They make a drink here called Pisco Sour which is one of those drinks that you either like or you can alone.  Marg likes it but I fall into the second group.  Depending on who is making it, a Pisco Sour can either be too sour or too sweet.

The main towns on our way to Tombo were Paracus and Pisco. Both these place are incredibly poor.  The majority of the houses that were visible from the road were square boxes made of sheet metal and roofs of ether tin or thatched vegetation. They don’t seem to have any developed commercial or entertainment area.  Despite the claim from our tour guide that only seven percent live in poverty, we are sure that number is a lot higher.

After about an hour on the bus we arrived in Tombo Colorado.  At the height of the Inca Empire this town had fifteen thousand citizens.  It was there to protect traders from the highlands on their way to the sea.

The first site you see is the town square and the sacrificial alter, where people were sacrificed, including children, to the Gods.  Our guide told us that it was consider a great honour to sacrifice your child.  There were also many holes or windows in the walls of the square where people would bring other offerings that would be used to honour their God.

The mayor’s house was a huge monstrosity of interconnecting rooms made from adobe clay.  It was quite easy to get lost in this maze of rooms.  There was one room where an aqueduct feed a shower.  It was not quite as elaborate as the Roman baths of Europe, but it is impressive none the less.

In the five hundred years since the decline of the Inca Empire these ruins have withstood earth quakes and robbers in fairly good shape.  Of course none of these buildings have roofs anymore and some of the walls are only partially standing, but you do have a good feel of how they lived.

Back at the boat there was a small flea market, with local vendors selling an assortment of souvenirs. There were obviously a lot of massed produced products, probably produced In China.  But some of the booths had unique articles.

This evening’s entertainment was a Russian violinist named Inna Tolstova. She put on a very energetic show but I must admit that the music selection sounded all the same.

For diner I had a ginger spiced chicken breast and Marg had braised veal.  Both were delicious but Marg had filled up on the appetizers and couldn’t finish the main course.

We switched time zones again and I can not properly sync my android calendar and the my windows calendar, even though they are both using the Google calendar..  I've given up and I'll just use my phone for calendar entries from now until we get into the Eastern Daylight Saving time zone.

March 22 - At Sea

We spent a lazy day at sea.  For most of the morning we spend it on the balcony reading and watching for whales. It was sunny with a warm temperature and a nice breeze.  We can’t think of a better way to spend the day.

During the afternoon we went to a seminar on food and wine tasting.  The sommelier was Eastern European and talked so quickly that it was hard to understand what he was saying most of the time. I think I was driving him crazy because my pallet wasn’t tasting or sensing what a so called educated pallet should taste.  But we did learn some interesting facts that should help us plan our meals and wine selections.

During the evening we went to see a musical comedy act by a performer named Sean O’Shea out of Vancouver.  Marg liked the show but I thought it was predictable, although I will give him high marks for his energy and comic timing.  All in all it was a nice way to spend an hour.

Last night we switched time zones.  Neither of my devices automatically switched to the proper time. Thank you Celebrity for not making your time server accurate. I use Google Calendar and I'm finding that Windows time zones and Android time zones for Google along with the incorrect network time zone are really messing up the alerts for future events.  I can get both devices to the proper time, although with different time zones, but they won't sync events with the proper time zone.  This means on the laptop the appointment have the correct time but on the Android phone it could be either 2 hours earlier or 1 hour earlier depending on the settings I use.  To top it off we switch time zones again tonight.

March 21 – Arica Chile

Today we are in the port of Arica Chile.  This port was an important trade center in this region dating back to prehistoric times. It was the sight of many battles between Chile and its neighbours Bolivia and Peru in the nineteenth century for control of this trade. It remains to this day an important destination for Bolivian trade.  It is also home to a large fleet of fishing vessels.

Arica is on the edge of the Atacama desert and is known as one of the driest places on earth.  They average less than 5 ml of rain a year.

Our excursion into the city and its surrounding district was an excellent educational trip.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. You could tell she was very proud of her hometown and its heritage.

We started by going up the Morro, which was a fort for the defense of the port.  Today it offers up a spectacular view of the city, its port and its marinas.

We then travelled east into the Azapa valley. This valley has a bit more rain and they grow a wide variety of vegetables and fruits.  Our guide told us that they actually can grow four crops of tomatoes a year. Here they have maintained many artifacts of the native cultures that have inhabited this valley for 10,000 years.

On a couple of the hills you can see geoglyphs, giant depictions of animals scratched into the mountain and assembled in stones. These were created some 2000 years ago and in addition to possessing ritual and symbolic significance, these geoglyphs also served as route markers for desert caravans.

We then stopped at the San Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum.  Here we got to view mummies from the Chinchrorro tribe.  These mummies are about 7600 years old. They predate the Egyptian mummies.  Our guide explained in great gory detail how the corpses were treated and preserved.  The Chichrorros mummified their stillborn in the belief that they were still alive and part of the family.

We then came back into the port where we visited a church that was designed and built by Gustave Eiffel.  Because this area is on the geographic area known as the “Ring of Fire” they have many earthquakes. One such earthquake and its associated tsunami destroyed this church shortly after it had opened.  It was rebuilt and has survived several quakes since then.

Our dining room experience has been a bit of drama since we started the second cruise.  Our first dining room companions were great.  We had a fantastic time with them every night.  The second group was a completely different story.  On the first night we meet three other couples. Mel and Ruth are a Jewish couple from Florida.  He is over ninety years old and just retired this year from a university where he taught dentistry.  We get along fine with them.

The other two couples were impatient, arrogant and rude and self-centered.  They treated the wait staff like scum and did nothing but complain.  They made it very plain to us that we were an annoyance. Every time I tried to engage in a conversation with them, they appeared to be pain.  At one point, out of the blue, one the idiots said that Canada was a stupid country for allowing French to be an official language.  Marg was very quick to reply that they also had two languages, English and Spanish.   At that point we both had decided to be moved to another table.

When we asked the maitre d’ to move he said he would look into it and let us know the next day.  It turned out that this group of jerks had also complained and they had been given a new seating assignment.  Unfortunately they have been moved to our old dining area and Renato and his team don’t deserve to have this grief.  So for us I guess you could say it is a case of all is well that ends well.

March 20 – At Sea

Today was another day at sea and nothing much happened.  This is not to say that there is nothing to do, this was our choice to just relax today.  I guess the highlight was watching some porpoises glide by our ship while we out on the balcony having our breakfast and reading our books. 

The weather has gotten warmer as we head north but surprisingly the pool area has not been overcrowded.  As evening approached you can see a massive storm on the northwester horizon, so I expect it may be a bouncy night ahead.

As this is our sixth day at sea out of the last eight days, I thought it might be appropriate to record what activities go on when a cruise liner is not in port.

Of course of equal importance to the travel destination is the food and alcohol service.  The Celebrity Infinity has a main dining room, six speciality restaurants, a buffet restaurant, a poolside BBQ stand, several coffee and dessert stops.  There are ten different bars scattered throughout the ship, including a massive dance bar.  The dress code for the main restaurants is what they call smart casual, except for special evenings where suits and evening dresses are generally worn.

On any given day there will be a wine tastings that is designed around different countries and wine regions.

To help you get rid of these excess pounds, there is a full gym, fitness classes, yoga classes, a pool with hot tubs, a running/walking track and a health spa, which specialises in alternative medicine. There is also a beauty salon on board.  There is a comprehensive medical facility onboard.  It even has a dialysis service available for the passengers who require it.

When in international waters the casino is operational.  During the day they quite often hold instructional seminars on the various games available in the casino.  They also have several slot and Texas Hold’em tournaments.

There are many musical acts onboard playing everything from chamber music to modern dance music.  At night they have themed music nights in the main disco.  At the martini bar they have what is called a “silent disco” where you wear headphones and dance your night away while people around you can’t hear the music you are dancing to.  It looks very strange if you don’t know what is going on.

During the day the theatre is used to hold seminars with guest speakers.  Today we attended a seminar by a comedian named Jeff Nease on the history of standup comedy.  Of course during the evening the theater has two stage shows.  There is an outside movie theatre that shows recently released movies.

Throughout the day you can find many seminars that talk about the alternative medicines and procedures that are available on board. These include such areas as acupuncture and chiropractic services.  Of course they want you to buy their products and services.

You can shop at the many speciality shops that have duty free watches, perfume, jewelry and designer clothes. There is also an art boutique onboard.  In an effort to sell their works, they sponsor art history seminars and hold auctions every couple of days. 

There is internet aboard the ship, but it ridiculous how expensive this service is.  It costs over $300 US for fourteen days. There is also an Apple store and an instructional lab where you can use the latest Apple hardware and learn how to use the various software from Apple.

At any given time you can find dance classes, bingo, x-box competitions, and trivia contests which is one of our favourite activities.

The TV service that is available in your stateroom is limited.  It consists of about six stations dedicated to the cruise and Celebrity Cruise Lines.  You also have MSNBC and FOX news, which is hilarious seeing how totally opposite their coverage of the same stories are from each other.  There is also the BBC World News and SKY News for the Europeans.  In addition there is also HGTV, the FOOD Network and two ESPN stations that are oriented to Latin American sports.  So there is no hockey coverage what so ever.

Each day there is a four page newspaper printed for the each of the passenger’s country.  Unfortunately it is usually about two days behind.

March 19 - At Sea : On our way to Arica

We left San Antonio Chile last night on our way to Arica in northern Chile.  It is a two day trip along the coast of Chile.  Unfortunately there is a heavy mist on the shore so we can only make out the faint outline of the coastal mountains.

For some reasons we were delayed for seven hours last night in San Antonio.  First they blamed the longshoremen for not loading the supplies on time.  Then they blamed the customs official for leaving his post before releasing the boat.  Finally this morning they blamed a failure of the life boat winching system.  All I know is that it will cause chaos when we arrive in Arica.

We met our new dining room companions.  We got along very well with Ruth and Mel an couple from Florida.  Mel is in his 90s and was a professor of dentistry up until this year and she has had multiple jobs.  They are very interesting to talk to, especially when it comes to talking about the health care systems in each of our countries.  They have a very strong interest in travelling and have been to both the Shaw festival in Niagara on the Lake and the Stratford Festival. 

We have no common interests with the other two couples.  They strike us as very materialistic and self centered.  They probably voted for Trump.  I told Marg if they bring up politics just say “Trump Who?”. That will piss them off.

They menu is beginning to repeat itself.  I guess this is to be expected when taking a back to back cruise.  We both have fallen in love with a Chilean wine variety know as Carmenere.  It is very inexpensive but quite delicious. The Carmenere grape is a wine grape variety originally planted in the region of Bordeaux, France, where it was used to produce deep red wines. Now rarely found in France because of a blight that hit the vineyards many years ago, the world's largest area planted with this variety is in Chile, with more than 8,800 hectares that are cultivated in the Central Valley.

The theatre was hosting a show which had a group of musicians who had performed on America Has Talent. We figured it would be boring and safe, so we decided to go the Martini Bar.  Marg has a drink to try out on our friend Heather Brunet.

March 18 – San Antonio Chile

Today was turnaround day for the cruise ship.  Passengers were leaving the cruise, new passengers were arriving and passengers on the back to back cruises were either staying onboard or going on excursions to vineyards or in our case Santiago, the capital of Chile.

Santiago is about an hour and half from the port of San Antonio.  During the bus ride to the capital we crossed the Colchaqua Valley, which is world famous for its white wines.  Most of the terrain is dry and rocky, except for the vineyards which are very lush and green.

Santiago is a beautifully city situated at the base on the Andes mountains.  Unfortunately this can sometimes caused severe smog problems but today the air was clear and fresh.  Because it is Sunday, traffic is at a minimum. I would suspect that this helped contribute to the air quality.

We started the tour off by visiting the historical section of Santiago. This area has most of the government buildings. The buildings are built in a classical European style and they would not be out of place in Paris or London.

In the court yard of the Constitution Palace, we were able to catch the daily changing of the guard.  It was a very impressive ceremony with plenty of military pomp.  

We walked past the Presidential Palace where our guide told us the battle that took place when the elected socialist president Savador Allende was overthrown by a military coup lead by General Pinochet and backed by the CIA.  The coup lead to the deaths of thousands of citizens for no other reason than their political beliefs. Eventually Pinochet was arrested and charged with crimes against humanity.

Savador Allende's last address to his people

We then had a nice lunch where got to taste a Pisco Sour.  This drink is very popular in Chile.  It has a taste very similar to a Margarita. 

We then travelled to an artisan market called Centro Artesanal Los Dominicos. There were some very attractive handicrafts but we didn’t buy anything.  One solid wood carving that did catch my eye was a penguin wine bottle holder.  It was beautiful but it cost 980,000 pesos or about $200.

Our guide was very informative and had a great sense of humour.  I suspect that a lot of his comments about the conditions of the working poor and the distribution of wealth were coloured by his socialist views.  One fact that stuck with me is that the average wage is about $400 US / month.  Towards the end of the excursion he did say that he supported a new political party which was a populist party with centralist fiscal policies.

March 17 – St Patrick’s Day At Sea

Today is St Patrick’s Day and there are some parties going on in the different bars but there is not a lot Celtic pride being shown onboard.  There was an Irish trivia contest in the afternoon but our team guessed at most of the answers with mixed results.

Tonight is the last night of the cruise around the southern tip of South America.  We’ll be pulling into San Antonio in the morning and it appears that maybe only half the ship or less is doing the back to back cruise that ends in Fort Lauderdale on April 2^nd.  That means that there will be mass confusions for the next couple of days while the new passengers get acclimatized to the boat.

Our dining table partners are leaving us in San Antonio.  We couldn’t have asked for better company had we personally selected them ourselves. Pat and Matt from Mexico Missouri, Ron and Coleen from Duncan British Columbia and Keith and Janet from northern England have made this trip memorable. They all have interesting life stories and we seemed to have many interests in common.  It made for very enjoyable conversations.  We’ve exchanged contact information and I hope we can maintain this friendship. 

Because we are switching rooms for the second half of the cruise, we had to pack up all our clothes and souvenirs.  Our current room steward, Douglas is taking responsibility for moving everything to the new room.  He has been great.  The room has always been immaculate.

I guess along with new dining room companions, we will have different table staff.  If they are as good as the crew we had for the first part of the cruise, I will be very happy.

March 16 – Puerto Montt Chile

After several days at sea, we are finally starting to see civilization again. We’ve pulled into the Esmeralda Channel on our way to the Puerto Montt Chile.  We are starting to see some small farms on the surrounding islands.  Also there have been several fishing vessels and a crab fisherman in the channel.

The weather has not yet turned warm.  I guess the prevailing weather systems must still originate in the Antarctic. The expected high temperature is about 12 degrees with the wind making it seem even colder. 

Celebrity has gone out of its way to compensation us for the ports that were missed due to the storm and the earlier medical emergency.  We are getting fifty dollars to be applied to our cabin’s on-board account and we will be refunded the equivalent of one whole day on the cruise on our credit card.  That should be about six hundred dollars.

Because Puerto Montt’s harbor is shallow, we have to take a tender boat to go ashore. As you can imagine after three straight days at sea, everyone wants to go ashore.  This combined with the fact that we were late getting into Puerto Montt has resulted in complete chaos.  Passengers who had not booked an excursion had to wait for about three hours before a tender was available.

The only good thing about Puerto Montt is that it leads to somewhere else. The town was built in the early twentieth century and most of the houses are in serious need of repair.  They are crammed together and infested with graffiti.

We booked an excursion to Vincinte Perez Rosales National Park.  Enroute we passed through a resort town call Puerto Vagas.  It is situated on Lake Lianquihuead and appears to have many fine hotels and restaurants. This area was settled by German immigrants and the architecture is very much in the style that you would see in southern Germany or Switzerland.

We continued north until we got to Vincinte Perez Rosales National Park.  As fate would have it when we arrived it started to pour rain. We did a short hike and came across the Petrohue River.  This river, at the foot of the Andes mountains, has an impressive set of rapids. 

Had it not been so cloudy we apparently would have had a spectacular view of a volcano.  Last year this volcano erupted and melted a portion of a glacier that resided along its eastern ridge.  The resulting landslide wiped out the main road to the park.  The road is now open but you can still see wide stretches where the vegetation has been demolished and new creeks have been formed.

Wouldn’t you know it.  As soon as we boarded the ship, the rain stopped and a gorgeous sunset appeared through the rapidly dissipating clouds.

For diner Marg had fish and chips and I had prime rib.   Both were very good.  Our wait staff has been excellent.  We have never lacked for anything and the service has been prompt and attentive.  Our wine glasses are never empty and the port is delivered to our table without us even asking.  All in all it has been a great dinning experience.