cruising – Page 6 – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

Acapulco, Mexico and then a day at sea January 13 and 14

We arrived early in the morning at the port of Acapulco to foggy, hazy, smoggy skies. Getting from the ship through the gauntlet of hawkers was a bit daunting. Unlike Huatulco, there were no rules about keeping away from the tourists, and we were bombarded with people trying to take us somewhere or sell us something. It was overwhelming. We crossed the very busy main street to check out the Fort of San Diego, high above the bay. I was wishing that my iPhone could work in Mexico because it was hard to tell where the streets were leading.
We managed to follow the poorly drawn map through the main square, but the entertainment there was some kind of puppet show, and didn’t seem to have a Mexican theme at all. We checked out the Byzantine white church in the square.
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We then wandered up the steep streets to the area where the cliff divers jump. It cost several dollars just to stand and watch them, and the show wasn’t going to happen for hours. We walked along the cliffs, found a place to sit and enjoy the view, and tried to cool down a bit. Acapulco was very hot and smoggy and didn’t feel that great. After a bit of thinking, we decided that seeing the cliff divers wasn’t really worth the long wait for a few seconds of diving and we wound our way back down to the beach.

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It was lunch time and both of us thought that some good Mexican food would hit the spot. We walked and walked along that famous beach, and couldn’t find a single restaurant that was open. Finally, after some miles, we found a little open air place that was a fish restaurant, and instead of chips and salsa they gave us bread and salsa. geez. We did at least manage a good Pacifica beer. It was surprising that the beaches were empty and the restaurants closed. Not once while we were in any Mexican port did we hear the traditional mariachi bands that used to be everywhere in Mexico. I missed them a lot, remembering long days at Puerto Vallarta and the sound of the constant music.
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Hot and tired, we went back on board to nap, and managed to miss dinner again because we didn’t wake up in time. I found myself feeling grateful for one last lovely day at sea before our cruise was over. Later in the evening, as we reviewed our photos, we were amazed at how lovely Acapulco looked. The smog wasn’t evident, the sands looked lovely. It was a good lesson in tourism; photos can be very misleading!

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Saturday morning we woke to our usual gentle rocking sea, and planned another round of our normal sea day routines. Breakfast, walking, checking email, back to the pool deck for hot tub and swimming, then a good read. One of the nice things about gentle sea day cruising is the opportunity to converse with new people. While in the hot tub we met a very interesting woman from the Peace River Country in the Northwest Territories of Canada. She was a wheat farmer, an artist, and a teacher, and told us some delightful stories about her life, her husband, and her farm. The Peace River Country has always been a place I would like to see, so I especially enjoyed meeting her.

During the late morning we went up to the 11th deck to tan in the cooler breezes. Lunch at the Seaside cafe was a surprise with a great Mexican buffet, best Mexican food we found on the trip. Spent our afternoon in the Martini Bar playing cards and Mo won again! Back to our room for showers before our last formal night, and we had a ton of fun and laughed ourselves silly taking photos in the mirror of our “dress-up” selves.
More photos of our day in Acapulco are here.

A Sea Day and Huatulco, Mexico January 11 and 12

This morning we awakened at 2 am with very high seas. Even though I haven’t been sick at all on this trip, I thought maybe I should be prepared and put on half a prevention patch. I probably could have done without it, though, and by 7:30 I took it off. They just make me feel too strange. The waves were so high that they sloshed all the water out of the swimming pool! We went to the library and I picked up a couple of books, then decided to do our sunning in the morning before lunch so it wouldn’t be so blazingly hot. We tried lunch in the San Marcos restaurant for a change, but were seated at a huge table for 10 and it was so weird that we got up and left and went instead to our usual salad buffet at the Seaside.

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Another day of walking, checking email in the computer lab, playing cards in the Champagne Bar, and knitting. Lovely. After another evening walk we listened to some nice music as the sun set. We previously purchased an excursion for Huatulco that included another crocodile river trip, but decided to trade it for a snorkeling excursion. Neither of us particularly wanted to see more crocodiles, and we knew that good snorkeling might not be easy to find on our own. At first the excursion personnel said we would have to take our chances, but within an hour they sold our old tickets and sent new tickets to our cabin. Excellent service. After dinner we went to the casino, and decided to skip the theater show in favor of an early evening. Our stop in Huatulco was to be a short one, with the ship landing at noon and our snorkel excursion at 1 pm. We skipped breakfast because there was another big brunch planned for the day from 10 to 2. This time we knew what to expect, and how to decide what to eat and where to find it in the midst of all the extravagant offerings.

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The city of Huatulco is a perfect little port, perfect little town, perfect weather. It is situated near the older town of Santa Cruz on one of nine beach-ringed bays along 20 miles of pristine coastline. It is part of the Mexican government’s first eco-tourism resort, with an ecologically sensitive plan including strict building codes. Seventy percent of the area is held in ecological reserves to preserve the natural habitat. There was no sewage visible, no pollution going into the bay, and all the drinking water is distilled from sea water. Huatulco was the first port we visited that required a tender to go ashore, but the ride was short and interesting as we traveled into the coves and harbors of the main port. Everything seemed clean and fresh, including the air, with crystal blue skies. Mo and I both said we would enjoy spending some more extended time in the future.
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Our tour was via an open air bus/van and instead of just snorkeling, the guide took us to the lighthouse so that we could have a view of the Sierra Madre mountains in the east and the ocean. It was lovely, warm and windy. We then traveled to a small bay with an open air restaurant where we snorkeled with the guide. We saw some queen angel fish, Achilles tangs, blue damsels, and parrot fish, but again the fish weren’t anything as wonderful as what we saw in Kauai last year. The guide led the group into an underwater cave but I had no desire to do that so I just swam back on my own. It was nice to swim without a life vest or fins, and I really enjoyed the snorkeling and the clear water.
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After a beer at the beachside restaurant, we went shopping for some nice cotton dresses, and then headed back to the ship. We missed our formal dinner seating and instead had a great burger and fries at the poolside deck. Since a big tropical pool party was planned for 11 pm, we went back to our room for a nap. Our trusty alarm woke us in time to head up to the top deck for the party. The deck was decorated with trees, flowers, palm leaves, and a fabulous fruit buffet.

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We had a great time at the party, enjoying the good music

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and fresh fruit. I even joined in the obligatory Conga line, and had a great time dancing. The photo is blurry, I know, but I was dancing so fast, as the old saying goes, “As if No One Was Watching”. We didn’t get to sleep until after 2 AM.

More photos of Huatulco are here.

Another Sea Day and Costa Rica January 9 and 10

We wakened at 7am to the clear fresh skies of the Pacific Ocean and another peaceful day at sea. Up to the track to walk our morning mile, then down to the rear deck of the seaside cafe for an excellent breakfast. Spent some time in the computer lab checking email, went to the theater for an interesting talk on the plants and animals of the rain forest, and spent the afternoon sunning and swimming. Typical for a day at sea, and I barely remember the details. The day just completely fell into the rhythm of eating, walking, reading, knitting, and just sitting in the sun.

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After a peaceful night at sea, Sunday morning dawned, our day in Costa Rica! I looked forward so much to this part of the trip. Mo has been to Costa Rica before, but for me this was just a little taste of a country I hope to visit more in depth. We were in port by 7am, with the mountains misty and beautiful all around the bay. We landed at Puntarenas, a small beach town/fishing village on a peninsula on the western coast. The outing we chose stayed on the drier side of Costa Rica, in order to experience the more rural countryside instead of the hugely popular zip line/canopy tours in the rainforest. Costa Rica is a small country, just about the size of West Virginia but it has three mountain ranges and such an abundance of flora and fauna that almost one quarter of its total land is held as national parks or private reserves. Most Costa Ricans reside in the fertile agricultural plateau in the heart of the country, many near the capital city of San Jose. We traveled in the western part of the country, the dry side (with only 120 inches of rainfall).

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The day was lovely, with a long bumpy bus ride through small towns and villages, on rough dirt roads. We stopped at a small store and restaurant along the way for coffee and a visit with the wild macaws that live in the trees. Only partially wild, since they were happy to be hand fed by the tourists while we took their picture. Since it was Sunday, there were people around, hanging out on porches, sweeping floors, leaning on brooms and shovels, and watching us watch them.

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When we arrived at the Tempisque River, we boarded a long narrow wooden boat with our fellow tourists and the guide to see crocodiles and look for bird life. It was a bit scary, since the wind was high and the river was wild and muddy. The boat seemed entirely too small for the rough waves, especially with large crocodiles in the river! When something appeared on shore, silly tourists were all rushing to one side of the boat or the other, tipping it precariously in the wind and waves. I wasn’t at all sure that this boat was made for the number of people on it, especially dumb people, and especially in the wild winds!

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We enjoyed the ride in spite of the scares, hearing howler monkeys, gorgeous birds, a brilliant roseate spoonbill, huge iguanas, and a very big crocodile. After we landed on shore, we were herded into brightly painted oxcarts and hauled across the open countryside to an animal reserve. The cattle in Costa Rica, in this part at least, are all brahmas, beautiful soft faced cows and bulls, with muted colors. I think they were the prettiest cows I have ever seen. At the reserve, we saw many rescued animals, ocelots, monkeys, toucans, tapirs, peccaries, and some very huge crocodiles. Our lunch was typical Costa Rican food, beans and rice and wild tasting but good chicken.

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On the way back to the ship, we had hoped to shop for some Costa Rican coffee, but since it was Sunday, all the shops were closed. We arrived in Puntarenas at sunset for boarding our ship and sailing out of the harbor. Beautiful. I would truly love to spend some more time in this country. The day trips from a cruise ship are such a tiny taste of what is part of a magical, tropical country.

The rest of the photos of our day in Costa Rica are here.

Transiting the Panama Canal January 8

Waking up on Friday morning in the dark was exciting. We were entering the Panama Canal zone and beginning the transit that was the focus of our entire cruise. We could see the pilot boat coming alongside to escort us into the locks. (Thanks to several pre-transit lectures, we knew that it was a “pilot boat”.) The lights of Colon sparkled in the misty air as we dressed and headed up to the top decks to watch our entry. The weather was warm, cloudy, and humid, with a stiff warm breeze blowing from the east. We watched the sun come up through the palms of the tropical forest, shimmering on all the lush tropical leaves.

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The Panama Canal is truly one of the world’s great wonders. As an engineering achievement, it has few parallels. In its strategic location between two oceans, straddling two continents, it has changed forever the way the world manages trade. Most of us learned a bit about the canal during the mandatory 8th grade exposure to US History, and I even made a model of the locks for a science project. The learning faded considerably in the past half century, and I spent a few months reading about Teddy Roosevelt’s commitment to finishing what the French started. As a result of my research, I also read more about Teddy Roosevelt, and developed a real appreciation for his character, and his place in American History.

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The transit is fascinating and exciting, even for experienced cruisers. As we approached the canal in the morning light, the huge scale of the project is apparent. The man-made miracle of lifting a ship 87 feet into a tropical rain forest lake, and setting it gently back down in a new ocean is amazing. The beauty of the locks is in the simplicity of how they work. Water, provided by the abundant rainfall of Panama, and gravity, and of course, the engineers who figured this all out. The canal first opened in 1914 after many years of frustrating work, first attempted by the French beginning in 1880 and completed by the US. Many workers died from cholera, dysentery, malaria, and yellow fever. The loss of life was huge, with more than 20,000 people dying in just 10 years. During the transit we had the opportunity to learn the details of how the locks operate and some of the engineering difficulties that were overcome as the canal was built.

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Approaching from the Caribbean side, Mo and I stayed on deck until we passed through all three of the Gatun locks. We watched as the “mules” (huge engines that keep the ships between the walls of the locks) were attached by ropes to the ship. Another large cruise ship was going into the left side of the locks just before our ship, and we could watch as the locks were opened, closed, filled, and emptied, and watch the huge ship rising gently to the next level. After our third lock, we entered man-made Gatun Lake, at an elevation of 87 feet above sea level. Creating this lake was the only option for building the canal, because moving the massive volume of earth required to reach sea level was impossible. The water of the lake was brown and murky, and the islands left from what were once mountaintops are covered with thick vegetation and filled with birds. We watched for crocodiles, but didn’t see any. Finally, succumbing to the heat and humidity, we escaped to the air conditioned Edge of the World Bar to watch the rest of the crossing. We ate lunch inside and played cards in the Rendezvous. It was incredibly steamy outside, and we were grateful for someplace cool to hang out for the latter part of the day.

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A high point of the transit is the nine mile section called the Culebra Cut. This area presented the main engineering challenge throughout the entire 40 years of construction. The Cut crosses the continental divide, and even though the elevation is only some 400 feet or so, landslides were and still are a constant problem. On one occasion in 1907, 500,000 cubic yards of soil slipped back into the canal, burying miles of track and equipment.

As we approached the final Milleflores locks that would set us back down to sea level in the Pacific, we again went outside and down to the front of the ship on Deck 5. The ships officers opened the heliport that is usually closed to passengers while we transited so people could see the locks up close. After eight fascinating hours we emerged from the canal, cruised past Panama City, and entered the Pacific Ocean.

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There are now over a million people in this city, and huge skyscrapers emerge from flat land fill man made peninsulas. From some viewpoints, it looked as though they were emerging directly from the sea. Watching Panama City emerge from the ocean like a mirage was fascinating. As it receded into the distance and the air began to cool, we found deck chairs on the shady side of the ship and spent some perfect snooze time watching the skies and seas.

The Atlantic/Caribbean side of Panama seems much prettier than the Pacific side, but the Pacific ocean feels so incredibly familiar. The water isn’t as blue, but the air smells more fresh, like the ocean I am used to. Later, after dinner, we made it to see Perry Grant in Michael’s lounge. The show was usually so full we couldn’t even get into the lounge, and after seeing him it was obvious why he was so popular. He sang and played very old fashioned music and joked around a lot and was very very funny, very gay, and very out about it. We went to bed early , completely worn out after a long hot day, happy to be gently rocked to sleep in our cabin.

The rest of the photos are here.

Another Lovely Sea Day before our Panama Canal Transit January 7

Sea days are one of the great pleasures of this longer cruise. I love them. Time for deck walking, watching the sea, sunning on the upper decks, true relaxation.

On this day, the Constellation held the signature cruise midnight buffet at brunch! What a stellar idea! Who wants to eat all that food at midnight anyway. As we entered the dining room the array of food before us was mind boggling. There were the obligatory ice sculptures, many of them, and rows and rows of gorgeous food, fruits, carved watermelons, anything you could imagine to eat was available.

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The sushi was fresh and beautiful, and I saw people with huge plates of fresh prawns, fresh salmon,Bavarian waffles freshly made, and an omelet bar. I don’t think we even made it to the dessert table for this buffet with all the other amazing food to eat, but the chocolate waterfall looked impressive.

After eating our fill, we spent the afternoon sunning and swimming, and Mo managed to get a sunburn by falling asleep on her stomach in one of those great deck chairs.

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With all that great food for brunch, we decided to skip the formal dinner in the dining room and went instead to the Seaside for pizza and salad. That evening Diane Cousins from Wales finally made it and while she was OK, it certainly wasn’t deserving of all the prior buildup. After the theater show we visited the talent show in the Edge of the Earth disco bar, but it was a bit boring. There are not enough people with talent on this ship, or maybe it is an older crowd and no one wanted to stay up until the 10:45 starting time. Everything is scheduled so late at night that it’s hard to stay interested while waiting around for things to happen. After a little bit of entertainment, and a few laughs, we ambled off to bed to get a good night’s sleep.