Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia, January 22, 2015

Ship in the harbor of Taiohae, Nuku Hiva

As I write this, it is January 23^rd and we are sailing between Nuku Hiva and Tahiti.  Our thoughts turn to two wonderful men who shared a birthday, one of whom we think of every day and miss dearly:  our dad was as devoted as a father could be and was a role model that we still strive to match;  the other was someone we are truly honored to be able to call “uncle”.  They were born 105 years ago today, and both have enriched our lives tremendously. 

Many people ask us how we tolerate so many days at sea when doing a long voyage like this.  We often wonder how we can fit in all the things that we enjoy doing as the days are packed with so many events that we have to pick and choose what we are going to do.  The days were filled with interesting lectures, a daily talk show that allows us insight into the lives of those working on the ship or the entertainers who share their talents with us, walking the deck, visiting with friends, playing trivia, singing in HAL Chorale (Paul and I), attending the evening shows, etc.  We were almost sorry to see the “relaxed” rhythm of daily life at sea come to an end when we arrived in Nuku Hiva.

One thing of particular interest happened one evening when Pam and Paul were on an elevator with two other ladies from Illinois.  Another couple got on, and some mention was made of the “Illinois Elevator”.  The lady who had just gotten on said, “That’s okay.  I was born in Illinois.”  So when Pam said they lived in New Lenox, the lady said, “That’s where I grew up!”  She had attended school in New Lenox and two years at Lincoln-Way before moving to Mesa, AZ.  Chuck got in on the conversation when he arrived in the Queen’s Lounge for the evening entertainment.  The lady said she would have graduated in 1962 had she stayed in NL, so Chuck wondered if she knew our cousin Joan.  When Chuck told me, my immediate reaction was that I wondered if she knew our cousin Ron!  I went to talk with her, and sure enough, she did remember Ron!  I also asked her about our friend Bobbie who still lives in New Lenox, but I couldn’t remember Bobbie’s maiden name!  For those family members and New Lenox friends, this lady’s maiden name was Barbara Beadles.  I wonder if this will ring a bell for anyone?

Despite enjoying our days at sea, our arrival at land after so many days of seeing nothing more than hundreds of flying fish was a welcome event!  This was our second time to Nuku Hiva, and we enjoyed it much more this time around! 

French Polynesia is an overseas possession of France consisting of 118 islands and atolls sprawled across 1245 miles.  It consists of five island groups (two of which we are visiting):  Society Islands, Marquesas Islands, Austral Islands,  Gambier Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago,   Papeete on the island of Tahiti is the capital. 

French Polynesia was one of the last places on Earth to be settled.  The great Polynesian migration began about 1500 BC, and the Marquesas Islands were the first to be settled.  Europeans arrived in 1521 when Magellan sighted land in the Gambier Archipelago.  The British arrived in 1767, and the French in 1868, both landing first in Tahiti. French Catholic missionaries came in 1834, and in1842 a French protectorate was established.  By 1889 all of the various island groups had become protectorates of France. 

After World War II, (during which many Polynesians served as part of France), the Polynesians were granted French citizenship and the islands’ status was changed to an overseas territory.  In 1877, French Polynesia was given partial autonomy, and by 2003, they had full autonomy.  The government is a parliamentary representative democracy with a multi-party system. 

Of the population of approximately 270,000, about 2/3 live on the island of Tahiti.  About 87% of the population was born in French Polynesia, with another 9% having been born in France.   French is the official language.  The main religion is Christianity (54% Protestant, 30% Catholic, the rest being other Christian groups).

Our visit took us to Nuku Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas Islands.  The Marquesas consist of about 15 islands, only six of which are inhabited.  Nuku Hiva is the largest of these islands and the second largest island in French Polynesia (behind only Tahiti).  It is believed that the first settlers of the Marquesas arrived from Samoa about 2000 years ago. 

Western Nuku Hiva has a steep but fairly regular coastline, while the north is indented by deep bays.  The center of the island is a high plateau covered by a tall grass prairie.  The population is now about 2600, though before the arrival of the Europeans, the estimated population was 50,000  to 100,000! 

At one time cannibalism was practiced by islanders when food supplies became scarce.  Two famous authors, Herman Melville and Robert Louis Stevenson, visited the island. Melville wrote his book Typee based upon his experiences in the Taipivai valley in eastern Nuku Hiva.  He was only there briefly, and most likely didn’t fall victim to the cannibals because his thin and emaciated body would not have been a good source of meat.

This was our second visit to Nuku Hiva, our first being back in the fall of 2009.  At that time no shore excursions were provided, so we were very pleased to find that there was one shore excursion available this time.  We booked it very early so we wouldn’t be shut out.

I was somewhat concerned because Nuku Hiva is  a tender port, and the last time we were here, the climb up six or seven steps hewn from the rock (and no railings) were pretty daunting.  With my back and knee issues, I didn’t want any issues that might later cause problems.  But the tendering was very easy, and the steps were five low-rise steps – very easy to maneuver. 

We had been told that the vehicles were privately owned and would accommodate four people.  We teamed up with Pam and Paul, and they and Chuck graciously allowed me to sit in the front seat.  Once  I did manage to get  in, I stayed put!  It was a very high step, and I had to use my bad knee to get in.  Fortunately, though the knee really ached, it didn’t seem to do any damage to the tendonitis.  I contented myself to the thought of enjoying the scenery when they got out and visited various sights. 

I was pleased to be able to practice my French with our driver, a delightful lady who knew some English and was very patient with my forgotten French grammar and vocabulary.  We got our ideas across to each other, and I did my best to translate for the others. 

We traveled in a caravan with about 16 other vehicles and at each stop one guide who was fluent in English gave descriptions.  I didn’t hear her because I stayed put.  But our driver did give me a good description of two of the places.  The first stop was the Catholic cathedral that had been built in 1975 to replace another cathedral which had been built in the 19^th Century.   The cathedral serves the Marquesas Islands and has a private school associated with it.  Unlike most of the rest of French Polynesia Marquesas is predominately Catholic. 

A second stop was made along the coast where one could see various icons in an open area.  Our driver explained that this was used for festivals.  The Marquesas has huge festival in December every four years.  The festival rotates between the various French Polynesian Islands, so it won’t be in Nuku Hiva for several more years.

As we headed inward and upward, we marveled at all the horses we saw tethered along the road.  Not realizing that we would see many more, we all snapped pictures of the first horse we saw.  Our driver said, “That’s my horse.”  She told us that it’s called a Marquesas horse.  We were amazed when we saw so many horses.  As we drove, we also passed several cows and some goats right near the road – quite a surprise for us!    

Toward the top, we made a stop that offered a beautiful panoramic view of the valley, the harbor, and the ship.  Apparently this was the valley which inspired Melville’s work.  After another panoramic view, we made a final stop where we could sample various yummy tropical fruits.  Breadfruit is a staple in the Marquesas.  We had always heard that breadfruit wasn’t very tasty, but they had fried slices into chips, and they really tasted good.  We also had a choice of coconut, papaya, mango, tapioca, and grapefruit.  The driver parked the van right next to the serving table and kept bringing me samples – especially the very tasty mango! 

As we headed back over the rugged terrain back to Taiohae, we plied our driver with many questions.  She told us about the industry in Nuku Hiva – mostly fishing and farming.  Coconuts and breadfruit are two of the major crops.  When she is not guiding tours (not that many ships come to Nuku Hiva), she works in the agriculture industry.  Her husband is a fisherman, catching mostly tuna and another kind of fish which I wasn’t able to translate.  Living way up the side of the hill overlooking Taiohae, she makes sure she takes time to appreciate the beautiful scenery.   She also pointed out a teak plantation and some young mahogany trees that would take years and years to grow into mature trees to be used for wood products. 

We so appreciated getting inland and seeing more than just the coast (though that in itself is breathtaking) of Nuku Hiva as we had done before.  We decided that it was the way to go – many people who had planned to find a beach and swim had to change their minds and refrain from swimming when the locals had the Cruise Director announce that Nuku Hiva is surrounded by shark-infested waters – something that our driver assured us was the truth.  I think we all appreciated getting into the interior of this small island paradise to see how the people live!

As we spend a day at sea on our way to Tahiti, I feel very fortunate.  This is our fourth time sailing the sapphire blue waters of the South Pacific – even though there is nothing to see but water, the ocean is a beautiful thing to watch!   … And it beats the temperatures in Chicago at this time of year!

                                                                             BT

P.S. For some reason, many times when we try to access our blog website, we get knocked offline.  As a result, blogs may not be posted at regular intervals.

Manta, Ecuador, January 13, 2015

Pig wandering in open range, Agua Blanca, Machalilla NP, Ecuador

On the day at sea between the Panama Canal and Manta, Ecuador, we had the opportunity to help Pam celebrate her birthday, topped off with the Indonesian birthday song, always a fun way to honor the birthdays of passengers.  We look forward to two more birthday celebrations while on the cruise.

We arrived in Manta, Ecuador early in the morning on the 13^th, having crossed the Equator just after midnight.  King Neptune didn’t bother us this time – he let us sleep through the night.  We probably won’t be so lucky the next time we cross the Equator!

Ecuador is named for its position on the Equator.  It was most likely settled by people who arrived by rafts either from Central America or from along the Amazon River.  Early settlers along the coast were most likely fishermen and hunters and gatherers, while those who inhabited the Amazon region were nomadic hunters and gatherers.  Sometime in the 15^th Century Incas took over the region, and when the Spanish arrived in the 16^th Century, many of the indigenous people died out.  Along with several other countries of northern South America, Ecuador became part of Gran Colombia after gaining independence from Spain in the 1820s, but Ecuador broke away in 1830.   Ecuador and Peru rivaled for the same land for about two centuries until 1998 when a boundary dispute was finally settled.  The country has an area of about 109,500 sqaure miles and a population of about 15.2 million people.  Ecuador is a democracy similar to ours with three branches of government – the legislative branch (not bicameral as we are), executive branch, and judicial branch.   

Manta, our Ecuadorean destination, is the 5^th largest city in Ecuador and its largest seaport.  Due to its excellent location, it has been in existence since pre-Columbian times.  The main industry is tuna fishing.  (Bumble Bee and Van Camp tuna comes from Ecuador.)  The last time we were here, we watched them unload thousands of pounds of tuna!   In addition to this it is also known for its chemical industry and of course tourism.   A nearby suburb, Montecristi, which we visited in 2013, is considered the “home” of the Panama hat.  The Panama hat got its name from Theodore Roosevelt, who was presented with an Ecuadorean hat while visiting the building site of the Panama Canal.  Since he got it in Panama, he dubbed it the Panama hat.  The name stuck despite the fact that the hat originates in Ecuador! 

The day was dismal, but at least there was no rain!  Chuck was off on a shore excursion, and I was on a mission to find water and/or pop that would cost us less than it does on the ship. 

Shortly after breakfast, I boarded the shuttle that would take me to the craft market.  Right across the street, I discovered a very small supermarket so I went there in hopes of finding what I was looking for.  The water and pop were quite reasonable by comparison with ship prices, so I came away with a 12-pack of pop and 3 water bottles – about all I could carry.  Proud of my purchase, I returned to the ship, only to discover that someone else had found a better deal at a nearby supermarket.  So after lunch I boarded a shuttle to the port entrance and hiked uphill to the supermarket, dragging my carryon bag behind me.  There I managed to get 15 more bottles of pop at a lower price. This time, I was able to drag it behind me, and the walk back was downhill!   Not a very exciting day in Ecuador, but at least I can mark it, ”Mission accomplished!”

                                                                                                            BT

Since, like the Grand Med, Barb is being selective about what shore excursions she feels she is able to handle, I did a second excursion independently. In Colombia, our friends Bob and Nancy did the same one I had elected, but that wasn’t the case today.  Pam and Paul did the most popular excursion for first time visitors to Manta (which went to Montecristi where Panama Hats are made) but we had done that in 2013.  I wanted to find something that took me further afield so I could see a little more of the country.  Ideally we would have taken an overnight excursion to the Galapagos Islands which many will recognize as a magnificent ecological site and home to many indigenous species of birds.  It is about 600 miles into the Pacific from Manta, but to travel there from the ship, one must access it by air. To help limit the number of people visiting the islands, prices are extremely high.

Thus I chose an excursion called Machalilla which took me on a two hour drive to one of Ecuador’s national parks not surprisingly called Machalilla National Park. As we drove out of Manta, our course took us south along the highway known as the Route to the Sun, but as Barb indicated, today was a very cloudy day which represented a contrast from our stop here two years ago. But our tour guide, Henry, explained that we are entering Ecuador’s wet season and rain can be expected at any time and often during this time offers rain on a daily basis. But as tourists, we didn’t need or want rain so had to be happy that it was just cloudy. Temps were a bit cool according to natives, topping at about 85 degrees.  We will take that as our daily newspaper shows a low of minus 1 Fahrenheit with snow in Chicago.  I don’t miss that at all but am sorry for friends in Chicago area and Western New York.

As we drove, our knowledgeable guide gave us an informative overview on Ecuador, some of which Barb described earlier.  By the way, Henry is so fluent in English that he has only the very slightest detectable accent which poses absolutely no difficulty in understanding.  For a comparative analysis, Ecuador is the size of the State of Colorado.  Of interest to Americans – and something that US travelers love – is that since about 2000, Ecuador uses the American dollar and pegs its rate at exactly the same as the US.  No need to determine what the American dollar is worth in the other country’s currency!  Wonderful! 

While substitute teaching at Lincoln-Way Central last school year, there was an Ecuadorian student that I had in several classes.  He had been interested in the fact that I had visited Ecuador in 2012 and would be returning in 2015.  Unfortunately I couldn’t remember his name, not that it would have done any good given the size of the country and the fact that I believe he lived in (near?) the capital of Quito, a few hundred miles from where I was visiting.

After a period of turmoil with so many presidential changes, Ecuador has a government which is supported by about 70% of the citizens.  The president was elected in 2007, easily won support for a constitution that would allow a four year term with right to one additional term.  He has proposed beneficial reforms that are popular with the people but will leave office in 2017.  Despite his popularity, most people feel it is best that after that length of time, a new president should take over.  One area he has taken a leadership role in is education. Ecuador had been notorious for poor educational quality with teachers’ unions having much influence in who was chosen as president, but the current president has insisted on testing teachers for competence.  They get three tries to pass the certification test and if after their third try, they can’t pass, they lose the license to teach.  Only 17% have been fully certified but the hope is that they will be an incentive to teachers.

He listed the top factors in the Ecuadorian economy, some of which comes as a surprise.  Top factor is oil, followed in order, bananas, tuna, shrimp, roses, tourism, and money from Ecuadorians living outside Ecuador.  While we drove, we saw dozens to hundreds of vultures circling in the air, sitting on telephone lines, or walking on the ground just waiting for their feast! We watched, unsuccessfully, for howler monkeys which often are found romping from treetop to treetop.

As we drove the Route to the Sun, we passed several villages along the Pacific coast we also went from a tropical dry forest to tropical rainforest and back to dry forest.  Most trees are deciduous and at this time of year, having completed the dry season, trees have lost leaves but are awaiting the budding of new leaves.  We observed numerous kapok trees with their white fluffy, cotton-like flowers, in bloom. Kapok is not in demand as much as it had been around the middle of the 20^th century because of the substitution of synthetics for the kapok.  We also saw brilliant orange/red acacia trees in bloom as we drove as well as bamboo trees and several homes constructed of bamboo.

Our first stop was at the Playa Los Frailes, within Machalilla, with its beautiful, long, sandy beach.  We had the opportunity to walk the beach and go for a swim if we wished.  Only one or two people took the opportunity for the swim but reported the water pleasantly warm.  The beach is in a semi­-circle between two cliffs. I walked the sandy beach as far as I could in one direction and began an ascent to a view point.  While the distance wasn’t too great, I decided that the walk to the top to see the view and then the return to the bus might make me late for the bus, so cut that walk short.  Walking in street shoes in the sand is rather slow.

The second, and longest, stop was at the main part of Machalilla National Park where we toured a small, two-room museum.  Henry told us that a villager would give descriptions in Spanish and he would translate.  He indicated that it was done that way to give residents a feeling of ownership of the area in which they lived as well as to give them a bit of positive income.  He didn’t say it, but I think Henry would have been competent enough to have led the museum portion of the tour.  We were in an area where an ancient civilization had flourished about 5,000 years ago.  Archeological ruins had been located during other modern excavation.  After seeing some ancient burial pots (quite different from our cemetery burials in coffins), the people must have put the remains of deceased into pots after bones of the dead were broken.

From this point, we took an optional walk of about an hour, across a dry riverbed that will have at least six feet of water rushing through it once the rainy system starts in earnest.  As we walked, we saw an abundance of birds, small reptile (mostly lizards) , and mammals along our path.  We were actually walking through an active farm but their version of farm animals had free range of the land outside the confines of the farm itself.  We watched for and saw several birds but most were too hidden by trees or too quick to fly away as we tried to focus our cameras for a decent photo.    We were treated to seeing two large black and white owls sitting in broad daylight on a branch on a tall tree.  They remained in place and were visible enough to take adequate photos.  Among other animals I noted were even more of the vultures, a small deer, donkeys, chickens and a proud puffed-up rooster, horses, sheep, a couple goats, and several black pigs with long black hair on their backs and a much sharper snout than our squealing pink pigs.

Following our interesting nature walk, we piled back onto the bus for a 15 minute drive to a nice hotel overlooking a pool and Pacific Ocean for our lunch served buffet style outdoors.  The meal was one of the better shore excursion meals despite the fact that they served seafood.  I passed on the fish, but did take a shrimp skewer as well as rice and a few other items.  The dessert was excellent with a slice of jelly roll, with a scoop of excellent vanilla ice cream, and fruit on the top.  Following the efficiently served lunch, we got back on the bus for our two hour drive back to the ship to get ready for our eight consecutive days at sea before we reach the first French Polynesian island of Nuka Hiva.  It will be our longest ever stretch without touching land, but the ship always has lots of fun activities to keep us busy.  The next blog post will probably come after January 22 when we make our second visit to Nuka Hiva (first since our first South Pacific crossing in 2009).

At dinner, we reconnected with Pam and Paul and Alice.  We had done three different tours and it was fun to compare comments and stats, some of which were different depending on what tour guide was quoted.  (Naturally mine was the best so I have taken his comments as gospel -- just kidding of course).  We will be back in touch after the 22^nd when we visit our next port.

Note:   Internet access has become difficult once we got well into the Pacific.  We tried without success to get online on Thursday, January 15 and have no idea when we will be able to gain a connection….   It is now Saturday and we will make another attempt.  We are now in the fourth of eight consecutive days at sea (the longest time without a port in our cruising history) and we are told we should receive a Pacific satellite that might allow a connection.  When we lost internet, we were on a South American satellite.  Yesterday the captain told us he had purposely zigzagged to try to pick up satellite connection but the ship funnels had been blocking connection. 

CT

The Panama Canal - January 11, 2015

First Gatun lock closing behind us before raising water level

It is amazing to think that centuries ago explorers had to travel all the way around the southern tip of South America to reach the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic.  Instead we now have the luxury of making the trip from the eastern side to the western side in less than a day!

At 48 miles in length, the Panama Canal connects the Atlantic Ocean, via the Caribbean Sea, with the Pacific Ocean.  The map shows that although we cross from East to West, the canal itself runs from the NW on the eastern side to the SE on the western side.  On our first trip through, I found this quite confusing until I had a visual!l

The locks at each end of the canal lift ships up 85 feet to the Gatun Lake.  At the time it was built, Gatun Lake was the largest man-made lake in the world, and the Gatun Dam was the largest dam in the world.  Currently the locks are 110 feet wide.  Chuck heard someone comment that the locks fill with more than 20 million gallons in eight minutes! 

A third wider lock is being built and is scheduled to open in 2016.  This set of locks will be approximately the size of four football fields!

The building of the canal was originally begun in 1881 and spearheaded by Ferdinand de Lesseps of France, who had earlier successfully built the Suez Canal.  It was his intent to build a sea-level canal in Panama, but engineering problems and high mortality due to disease caused him to abandon the project The building of the Panama Canal  was subsequently taken over several years later by the United States, who realized that it would make more sense to build a canal with locks.  Under the direction of the Corps of Engineers, the canal took about 10 years to build and was completed in 1914. The American Society of Civil Engineers considers the Panama Canal to be one of the seven wonders of the modern world. 

The trip through the Panama Canal was scheduled to take us approximately 12 hours.  We were supposed to begin the transit of the canal before sunrise.  We felt no urge to get up extremely early as we had enjoyed a magnificent crossing two years ago.  But we were up in time to watch the ship enter the Gatun Locks at about 7:30.  The process of going through the locks was amazingly quick.  Once through the locks, we joined many other ships (mostly cargo ships) in the Gatun Lake while we awaited the passage of the eastbound ships from the Pacific who were progressing through the Miraflores Locks, the Petro Miguel Locks and the Culebra Cut, which is the narrowest part of the canal.  (The Culebra Cut was excavated through rock and limestone of the Continental Divide.  So much material was excavated that as many as 63 pyramids the size of those in Egypt could be built!)

Finally we were given clearance to depart Gatun Lake and progress southward through the Culebra Cut, under the magnificent Centennial Bridge, arriving at Pedro Miguel locks in mid-afternoon.  The day was hot and humid (a far cry from the weather our friends at home are experiencing), so fewer and fewer people were out to marvel at the scenery as the day progressed.  I went back to the room to cool off, and when I went back out, I was surprised to learn that I’d totally missed the Pedro Miguel Locks!  Fast approaching was the end of our journey through the Panama Canal: the Miraflores Locks at the Pacific side of the canal.  In the distance we could see glimpses of Panama City, meaning that we were about to enter the Pacific Ocean. 

After dinner we found our official HAL certificates stating that we had passed through the Panama Canal.  These certificates serve as milestones in our travels.  They also contain a lot of information!   The Panama Canal certificate states that at one time there were about 1000 ships that passed through the canal each year; but that has risen to about 15,000 ships per year!  By using the canal, a ship traveling from New York to San Francisco can cut the mileage drastically:  to go around Cape Horn, the total distance would be about 14,000 miles, but by using the Panama Canal, one can cut that mileage to about 5,900 miles!  That’s quite a savings in time and fuel!  Because many ships are now at the maximum tonnage (called Panamax), it has truly become necessary to build that third lock that is scheduled to open next year.  This lock, at the cost of about $6.2 billion will about double the canal’s capacity!  Pretty amazing!

As we wave a final good-bye to the canal, we set off toward our last American port, Manta, Ecuador. 

On a personal note, I finally remembered to bring a “travel companion” with me!  Back in 1998 I found a pair of trolls tucked away in a store in Bergen, Norway.  They called out to me to bring them home and tuck them into my classroom.  Named Sven and Helga, they provided much amusement and entertainment for my students during my last several years of teaching.  Those who have gone to Norway know that trolls are real pranksters!  They create mischief of all kinds, but the blame falls upon the person who owns them!  My students’ responsibility was to make sure Sven and Helga didn’t cause too much chaos!  These two homely and unkepmt little beings became class mascots, and even when I was subbing, my former students would often ask me about Sven and Helga, whom I carried in my briefcase during my subbing days. 

Sven has seen better days so is at home resting.  However, Helga has decided to hop into my suitcase and accompany me on this Grand World Voyage.  She will periodically appear in my pictures throughout the trip – her first appearance being in the Panama Canal.

                                                                                                BT

San Blas Islands, Panama -- January 10, 2015

San Blas Islands, Panama

The Isthmus of Panama was formed about 3 million years ago when the land bridge between North America and South America finally closed.  While the origin of the name is disputed, most Panamanians accept the theory that Panama means abundance of fish, trees, and butterflies.  Panama has an area of 29,150 square miles and an approximate population of 3.4 million people. 

The southernmost country in Central America, the Republic of Panama was inhabited by several indigenous tribes before arrival of the Spanish in the 16^th Century.  After breaking from Spain in 1821, Panama became part of the Republic of Gran Colombia until 1903 when it seceded from the republic so that the US Army Corps of Engineers could build the Panama Canal.  The canal was completed in 1914.  In 1977 an agreement was signed with the USA to transfer the ownership of the canal to Panama by the end of the 20^th Century.  This transfer took place on the 31^st of December in 1999.

Panama has the second largest economy in Central America; most of its GDP comes from canal tolls. 

Although we had been through the Panama Canal in 2013 and going through the canal again follows, we had never set foot on Panamanian terrain so we were both looking forward to that.  Especially Barb wanted to do so as it would be her 100^th destination – a real achievement among travelers.  I achieved that goal late in the Grand Mediterranean cruise last spring, but it would be one more to add to my list. 

The San Blas Islands are an archipelago of about 378 islands, of which 49 are inhabited and they are located north of the Isthmus of Panama and east of the canal.  The islands are noted for tropical beauty and, interestingly, their lack of severe hurricanes in a part of the world where they tend to be common.  The indigenous people are the Kuna Indians who had occupied the isthmus until the Spanish conquests when the native peoples were driven away and moved to the nearby islands.  Most of the men speak Spanish but some women may not.  Most earn living through fishing and even hunting.

Our arrival was scheduled for noon, so sea day activities continued during the morning.   About 10 AM, our cruise director, Gene Young alerted us to the fact that very soon we would be passing the Thor Heyerdahl barque on our port side going the opposite direction.  Many of us ran to that side for the unusual photo op.

When we anchored off the island, we waited for those that were anxious to be among the first off and then we headed down to the tender platform.  We hit it right as a line was starting to move to go down the steps to the tender.  However when Barb got there, she noticed that the tender was pitching and rocking and slamming against the side of the ship.  As her turn came, she looked and saw the tender drop far below the platform and then come up with the wave.  At that point, she refused the arm of the helpful crew and said it was just too much of a risk after all she had been through during the past year.  When she came back up to the loading area, she said Henk Mensink, Hotel Director and Gene Young, Cruise Director were surprised and asked why she was back so soon.  She told them that after her broken back one year ago and her recent aggravation of the tendonitis in the knee, the attempt was just not worth it.  When she told them her reason, they concurred that it was the best decision.

So I boarded and took the approximately 15-minute journey to the island.  When I arrived, people were already lined up to make the return to the ship.  I walked along the pathway of hard dirt past rickety one story wooden building, many of which served as homes that none of us could imagine occupying.  Most were open to the air and the roofs were likewise made of branches.  Along the main dirt street which was for pedestrian use only (cars are impractical since the island is so tiny), women and children were seated outside with molas (cloth handcrafts) with many bright tropical designs for sale and hanging on buildings.  There were also tee shirts, many of which were hand made (and the lettering often proved they were handmade) and other local trinkets which they were hawking.  Women and children were wearing bright traditional costumes including brightly colored socks, dresses, and tops which often were mismatched.  Many of the women, including the elderly, had rings through their noses.  Somehow I have never found that improved a person’s looks but I must be way out of touch as it seemed to be quite the fashion here!

I walked to one end of the island, then came back and continued the main “road” to the other end of the island where I could spy the Amsterdam at anchor.  Along the walk, I spotted friends Bob and Nancy with whom I had done the shore excursion yesterday and our friend Alice, walking and, like everyone else, soaking up the local color.  All along the way were people with pretty much the same things for sale and all sitting outside waiting for the occasional shopper.  Once I ran into Jan and Dick, friends from Naperville, and Jan commented, “I know what they do for a living here!”  When I asked what prompted her to say she knew, she said “They make lots of babies!”  As I walked, many people were snapping photos.  When anyone wanted a picture of a specific person, the children would say “one dolla!”  A main income was dollars for photos.  Especially was the lady at a front door, smoking her pipe.  Lots of people wanted that picture!  There were the kids with tropical birds on their heads wanting their “one dolla” as well as kids holding a little kitten or bird and begging for money in return for a picture.

After having had my fill of San Blas Islands, I returned to the tender and the ship.  I’ve been in Panama now though I doubt that this is how most Panamanians earn their livings.

                                                                                                CT