Feb 22

 Feb 22

We have moved north to our second stop in Peru – Salaverry, a port city arriving late morning, and we were again in an industrial port near Trujillo, all squeezed in between the foothills of the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.  Trujillo has a population of 1.3 million and is known as the land of eternal summer.

We took an excursion to Chan Chan, about 45 minutes north along the coast on the Trans Continental Highway.  I must admit I had no idea what Chan Chan was, except that it was an archeological site.  Were we in for a surprise!  It is a 6,000-acre pre-Colombian city and archaeological site.  It was the seat of the ancient Chimú civilization before it fell to the Incas. The vast adobe complex has citadels, including the partially restored Tschudi Palace. It also encompasses temples, plazas, and cemeteries.  It is built from local clay and bricks but did not need a roof due to the very rare rain.  We spent 1-1/2 hours exploring the sight in the blazing sun, but were amazed by everything we saw, and it gave us a glimpse of life over a thousand years ago.

After touring the site, we visited the nearby museum, which explained everything [in Spanish only], but the exhibits were very interesting.

Back on the ship, we took time to cool off, watching port operations: loading coal onto one ship and unloading sand from another.  We have no idea why they are importing sand to this desert region.

As we sailed off into the sunset.

We had a reunion dinner with the new arrivals and our old shipmates Kevin and Margaret, plus Liz and Joe.  A very pleasant evening.

Feb 23  Seaday

Feb 24

Manta, Ecuador, just a few miles south of the equator.  Thankfully, the temperature was in the low 80’s as we headed to Montecristo, where the Panama Hats are made.  

The hats were made famous when Teddy Rosavelt wearing one during his highly publicized 1906 visit to the construction site of the Panama Canal.  His photo appeared in the New York Times, showcasing the stylish, lightweight, Ecuadorian-made straw hat as an ideal, fashionable accessory for tropical, warm-weather, or rugged travel.  It became known as a Panama Hat, but it is really an Ecuadorian Hat, or to be precise, a Montecristo Hat.

We traveled to Montecristo in an open-sided party bus, beautifully decorated and with music playing.  People along the route waved to us, as if to say, welcome, have a good time. 

When we arrived, we were given a detailed demonstration of how the hats are made and the three grades: Fine [90–120 WPI], very fine [200+/- WPI], and super fine [300+ WPI].  The fine hats take up to 50 hours to make, whereas the super fine hats can take over 200 hours, which is why the super fine hats sell for $2,000 and up.  Most of the hats sold in gift shops are cheaper reproductions, but they still look great, but are not of the same quality.

After the demonstration, we had plenty of time to wander the bustling main street, where souvenirs were surprisingly cheap, and we took advantage of it, shopping bag full, then returned to the ship, well pleased.  No, we did not buy a hat.  MY husband forgot to mention that I volunteered to demonstrate the fronds and also to help “iron” the hats.

Feb 25 Seaday

Feb 26

Costa Rica is a rugged, rainforest Central American country with coastlines on the Caribbean and Pacific.  We arrived in Puntarenas, on the Pacific side.  We have been here twice previously and took tours each time, so this trip we chose to explore the small port town alone on foot.

We were moored on a long pier, and it was a good ten-minute walk to dry land, a peninsula.  The beach was gorgeous, lined with palm trees, but it was HOT in the 90’s and HUMID. 

Dancers and a man on stilts greeted us as we left the ship.  We walked along the promenade, dodging from shade to shade as much as possible, stopping at the small popup venders.  Our destination was a lighthouse at the end of the peninsula, but after nearly an hour, it was still a long way off, so we went to one of the vendors and ordered the specialty dessert: fruit, slushy, with ice cream on top.  The vendor wiped off two chairs in the shade.  When they arrived, they looked great and were delicious.  Just what we needed.  When finished, the vendor told us we could stay as long as we wanted, and we did. 

As we sat and enjoyed the waterfront view, a couple of iguanas came out from nowhere and started fighting, then ran off.  Several birds were hovering around looking for scraps.  On past visits, we spent a lot of time looking for the critters, but here we just sat down, and they came out to entertain us.  What a treat.

We reluctantly left our seats and headed back, but took another break in two chairs under a tree facing the water.  Merry headed down to the water and paddled a little, but had to be careful coming back as the sand was scorching hot.  

We made it back to the pier and headed back along the unshaded walkway to our cool ship and collapsed on our bed to cool off before hitting the shower.

Feb 27

Today is a seaday.  On the original schedule, we were to visit Nicaragua, but it is currently under a Level 3: Reconsider Travel advisory from the U.S. Department of State due to arbitrary law enforcement, risk of wrongful detention, and limited, poor-quality healthcare. 

Feb 28

We arrived in Acajutla, El Salvador.  This is our first visit here, so we are interested in seeing what is here.  The country has a bad reputation for crime, as cruise ships have avoided it, but the military has joined forces with the police, and the country is now stable.  Ships have started visiting this year, and we are the fourth, with eight more scheduled later in the year.  We were assured it was safe to visit, but… we noticed that police escorted us everywhere we went, were very kind, and constantly took photos of the whole group.  This is probably why the groups were so small, about 20 in a group.  At one point, I (Merry) chose to go shopping alone, and a young couple asked me if I was shopping alone.  I replied ‘yes’ and that must be the reason they asked, tho it was very friendly and I did not feel any danger!!!  I was near a square full of people laughing and talking, and it was fine.

El Salvador is known as the land of Volcanos, 248 to be precise, and 36 have been active in the last ten years.  The currencies are Bitcoin/Crypto and the US dollar.  Everyone in the country was given a QR code account with a $300 balance to encourage adoption of the QR code as currency.  Wages are deposited into this account, and items can be purchased using the QR code at the merchant or by withdrawing US dollars in cash from an ATM for small purchases.  The main crops are sugar cane, coffee, rice, and beans.  Power comes from solar, wind, and geothermal. 

We took a tour to the historic city, Santa Ana, about 90 minutes into the interior of the country.  When we finally arrived, we first visited the National Theater of Santa Ana, a magnificent building from the early 1900’s that holds frequent concerts, many of which are only $1 for residents and $5 for visitors.  Bigger concerts charge much more.

Next, we visited the Cathedral of St Ana, another impressive building of the same era.  It holds a replica of the Shroud of Turin [we saw the original almost 40 years ago]. 

Afterwards, we had 30 minutes to explore the city center and its quaint small shops in the blazing heat [in the 90’s].  We all met up and returned to the bus for a delicious lunch at a local steakhouse.  It was nice and cool in the restaurant and very welcoming.

After lunch, we headed back towards the ship, stopping at a scenic overlook of a very large lake for quick photos,

Then back to finish out the trip just in time for the ship's deadline before casting off with a very impressive sendoff by a professional military band as we slipped away.  A lovely but hot visit.

In the evening, we were selected, along with 3 other world cruise couples, to have a private dinner with the Cruise Director and the Head of Housekeeping.  It turned out the cruise director was sick, so the assistant cruise director, Robby, and his wife, Cassey, the social host, stepped in.  We had the choice of anything from both the Polo Grill and Toscana menus in an elegant private dining room.  The conversation was fascinating, and the food was delicious.

Tune in next Sunday for the next post.