"Are you enjoying yourself?" asked our blonde tour guide who had dyed his short hair red. "My name is Dr. Phil. I will tell you." Dr. Phil droned on and on over an intercom that echoed as we chugged around the shores of Acapulco in a catamaran. We missed much of what he said. "How is my English?" he would ask. I think everyone thought he was gay but none of us were sure how gay, especially after he told us he had two teenage daughters who liked going to Starbucks.
Everyone enjoyed the classic Mexican buffet of tacos, guacomale, sour cream and fried beans, although it was only mid morning. I didn't see any plates go back unfinished. The tour also kept us in complimentary drinks of beer, pop and water. The drinks were especially welcome because the temperatures were in the mid nineties from the early morning on.
Home after home of the wealthy were pointed out. Oprah, Sylvester Stallone, Bill Gates. Before each owner was revealed Phil would play a trivia game with us. "You know this person? They are big and strong in the movies." He prolonged revealing the name so he could regale us with more stories. We reached the famous cliffs where the iconic divers have entertained tourists for 50 years. "A special show for you!" said Dr. Phil. Who knows, maybe it was. The boat moved in close, we watched some dives and the divers came aboard for photos and tips. Very cool to see these risk takers up close. The story came out that one month back, a diver had misjudged the waves and broken two fingers and a collarbone. The water is only nine feet deep so I'm not surprised.
"I enjoy my job! Are you having fun yet?" said our afternoon guide, Dr. Phil. My mother is even better a tour guide than me! Teachers and doctors and liars... I mean lawyers. It's my Chicago accent. I went to Chicago to study English. Can you understand me OK?"
We couldn't believe our luck. Of all the tour guides, we'd landed the same one for the afternoon. This time we moved around the city by bus, listening to the same jokes we'd heard all morning. When our red headed, blonde began the trivia questions about celebrities, Rick, who was sitting near the front, sang out the answers but Dr. Phil plowed on with the stories as if he hadn't heard. We finished at the divers again but this time we sat, watching from a famous hotel balcony high above the cliffs, while we slurped a free cocktail. Of the Acapulco divers, we can now say, "Been there done that!"
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
We Love Guatemala
Colour colour colour! We were delighted with the shops on the port especially set up for us. It was a cheerful and artfully set up place to be. We were whisked off to Antigua though for our tour, and I'll bet I wasn't the only one wishing we were staying closer to the ship. The bus ride was more than an hour which meant almost three hours sitting! As it turned out we were delighted to reboard just to enjoy the air-conditioning. The temperature hovered above 90º. We were constantly searching out shade.
Volcanoes were all around us during the journey. Our guide was a perky young English student called Selmi. She did her best to entertain us with a silly game of introducing ourselves. The farms along the route had sugar cane and coffee. We were surprised to see the shade trees that had been planted on the coffee plantations. The coffee plants need dappled sunlight.
La Antigua was full of sellers who bargained, "two for twenty, okay two for fifteen, okay what you pay? Beezness is beezness." You had to move quickly, and not look interested, which was difficult when we wanted to see it all. I was sad to hear the guide say that rural families had as many as twenty children in order to help the family earn more money. Kids don't go to school as they are required to do in Costa RIca. Yet, Guatemala was more prosperous than Nicaragua which seems politically unstable still.
Paul and Pat were almost taken in by a scam. We think they were after Pat's watch. Two attractive girls asked Pat to take their picture with their camera. Once done, they asked her to help with a school assignment where they took their photo with a watch, pretending to drop the watch in the fountain to illustrate waterproof. Of course, they would only pretend. "SCAM" I hissed as I came up to them. "Can you run faster than they can?" "no no not scam" claimed the girls, "you can hold the camera" Pat figured her watch was worth more than the camera, but was willing to sacrifice Paul's watch. The girls disappeared. We still wonder. Meanwhile, Dave had been taking a movie of it all from a distance.
On our return, we shopped and found a stand that opened a coconut for us, asked us to sip a bit, and replenished the space with rum. Three bucks! There's nothing like a bit of that with the heat of the tropics. We drank, chatted with friends from the ship, and then went back to the room to fondle the colourful treasures we'd bought before going to dinner and starting all over again.
Volcanoes were all around us during the journey. Our guide was a perky young English student called Selmi. She did her best to entertain us with a silly game of introducing ourselves. The farms along the route had sugar cane and coffee. We were surprised to see the shade trees that had been planted on the coffee plantations. The coffee plants need dappled sunlight.
La Antigua was full of sellers who bargained, "two for twenty, okay two for fifteen, okay what you pay? Beezness is beezness." You had to move quickly, and not look interested, which was difficult when we wanted to see it all. I was sad to hear the guide say that rural families had as many as twenty children in order to help the family earn more money. Kids don't go to school as they are required to do in Costa RIca. Yet, Guatemala was more prosperous than Nicaragua which seems politically unstable still.
Paul and Pat were almost taken in by a scam. We think they were after Pat's watch. Two attractive girls asked Pat to take their picture with their camera. Once done, they asked her to help with a school assignment where they took their photo with a watch, pretending to drop the watch in the fountain to illustrate waterproof. Of course, they would only pretend. "SCAM" I hissed as I came up to them. "Can you run faster than they can?" "no no not scam" claimed the girls, "you can hold the camera" Pat figured her watch was worth more than the camera, but was willing to sacrifice Paul's watch. The girls disappeared. We still wonder. Meanwhile, Dave had been taking a movie of it all from a distance.
On our return, we shopped and found a stand that opened a coconut for us, asked us to sip a bit, and replenished the space with rum. Three bucks! There's nothing like a bit of that with the heat of the tropics. We drank, chatted with friends from the ship, and then went back to the room to fondle the colourful treasures we'd bought before going to dinner and starting all over again.
Nicaragua Suffering
Several bus loads of passengers chose the one and a half hour trip to "Colonial Leone" in Nicaragua. It was very hot, probably more than 90º F. A bottle of water was handed to us as we boarded the bus. Eduardo, the guide immediately began his patter about the country's woes and things we passed. It was difficult not to compare what we were seeing to our trip in Costa Rica the day before. As the bus passed by farm after farm of ramshackle houses and villages with rusty corrugated roofs, it became apparent that Nicaragua was not enjoying the same prosperity as their neighbour. They'd been retarded by war and incompetent government. "We are catching up," Eduardo explained. "Many improvements have happened in the last five years. We are learning from the Costa Ricans how to attract tourists. You will see our beautiful country"
Volcanoes were all around us as we drove toward the five hundred year old town of Leone. Later we learned that one tour bus spotted smoke when the clouds lifted. The country side is the lush tropical green of bananas, sugar cane and palms. Hibiscus grows wild along with many other colourful flowers.
Our destination was somewhat disappointing. Eduardo lead us up a busy, crowded road into the square where hundreds of people, many of them school children in crisp uniforms, stood or sat socializing. Street vendors, selling whistles, fabric, belts, pottery and many other crafts landed on us like locusts in a corn patch. Loud music coming from a public address system made conversation difficult. The 550 year old cathedral off the central square is a concrete structure, once painted, but now dull gray, badly eroded and textured like worn sandpaper. Our group followed Eduardo into the cathedral where we discover a pack of workers have moved everything from the cavernous space into a disorderly pile while they slosh buckets of water across the floor with brooms. Our group climbed the very narrow stairway to gain views of the city from the roof. Later we spent our time people watching in a very noisy cafe while we drank the local "Victoria" beer with all the other sweating tourists.
Joan and I decided to buy some of the very attractive pottery that was for sale almost everywhere. We began negotiations on the street outside the cafe with a youth of about 16. All of us, including the boy, have sweat fountains on our foreheads. Traffic noise and jostling crowds are in our face. Joan was happy to pay $5 a pot, thinking we will be making a small contribution to the boy's wefare. He etched NICARAGUA and the date into the bottom of one pot with a special stylus and assured us, "Yes, I make them!" Later we become suspicious since other vendors claimed the same thing. On a street near the bus I found two colourful, wrinkled but delightful, old ladies who posed together for a dollar. They made my day!
Volcanoes were all around us as we drove toward the five hundred year old town of Leone. Later we learned that one tour bus spotted smoke when the clouds lifted. The country side is the lush tropical green of bananas, sugar cane and palms. Hibiscus grows wild along with many other colourful flowers.
Our destination was somewhat disappointing. Eduardo lead us up a busy, crowded road into the square where hundreds of people, many of them school children in crisp uniforms, stood or sat socializing. Street vendors, selling whistles, fabric, belts, pottery and many other crafts landed on us like locusts in a corn patch. Loud music coming from a public address system made conversation difficult. The 550 year old cathedral off the central square is a concrete structure, once painted, but now dull gray, badly eroded and textured like worn sandpaper. Our group followed Eduardo into the cathedral where we discover a pack of workers have moved everything from the cavernous space into a disorderly pile while they slosh buckets of water across the floor with brooms. Our group climbed the very narrow stairway to gain views of the city from the roof. Later we spent our time people watching in a very noisy cafe while we drank the local "Victoria" beer with all the other sweating tourists.
Joan and I decided to buy some of the very attractive pottery that was for sale almost everywhere. We began negotiations on the street outside the cafe with a youth of about 16. All of us, including the boy, have sweat fountains on our foreheads. Traffic noise and jostling crowds are in our face. Joan was happy to pay $5 a pot, thinking we will be making a small contribution to the boy's wefare. He etched NICARAGUA and the date into the bottom of one pot with a special stylus and assured us, "Yes, I make them!" Later we become suspicious since other vendors claimed the same thing. On a street near the bus I found two colourful, wrinkled but delightful, old ladies who posed together for a dollar. They made my day!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Music Nostalgia
A few days ago, on day 5 of this trip, a group called "Catch a Wave" played their first concert as the Beatles. We raved about them. I will check their website when the internet is more reliable. People loved hearing all the old tunes played by a group wearing wigs, costumes and moving like the original group.
Two nights ago they appeared on the pool deck as the Beach Boys. All reports said they were fantastic. Last night they were the headliners at the Vista Lounge. It was a trip through the 60s. All the number one hits choreographed with costumes, movement and names came at us in chronological order. Great fun!
Two nights ago they appeared on the pool deck as the Beach Boys. All reports said they were fantastic. Last night they were the headliners at the Vista Lounge. It was a trip through the 60s. All the number one hits choreographed with costumes, movement and names came at us in chronological order. Great fun!
Costa Rica Favourites
"My name is Max. Welcome! You are fortunate to be part of my group in bus 11." And so began our 8 hours in Costa Rica. Max was right! He was an exceptional guide, speaker and scholar. He had a degree in biology and environmental science. He took every opportunity to remind us of Costa Rica's fantastic environmental record and sing its praises for having 23% of its land protected. He also talked non-stop during the one hour bus ride each way about most facets of Costa Rican life. "You should be a politician." someone called out. "Aren't I smarter than that?" he retorted.
"First we will go to the very special Tarcoles River where I hope you will experience a wildlife overload so you will not expect too much on the aerial tram." It played out almost exactly as Max called it. The river was a banquet of wildlife, especially crocodiles. We saw macaws, egrets, kingfishers, and many other birds. The locals feed and play with the crocodiles so they don't kill kids and livestock, consequently our driver was able to jump onto a sandbar and coax a 10 foot crocodile to stand on its tail and hind legs to grab at a towel. Everyone clicked away in awe. "I think it's better that they feed these animals than kill them!" Max said. Fresh fruit was available after our hour and a half on the water. Needless to say eveyone was dripping wet from the 90º temperatures and happy to reboard the cool bus.
The second stop was a major development with restaurant and gift shop at the base of very steep jungle hill. It was swarming with tourists taking walks in a tropical garden, riding a gondola over the canopy or taking a zip line through the forest. We sweated through lunch and a lineup before boarding the gondola which slowly carried us up the hillside and back. Each car of 8 carried its own naturalist but animals were hard to spot. Most of the discussion was about plants. The walk through the garden was great. We were able to touch and smell many plants such as ginger and nutmeg. We also saw a poisonous frog and learned much about jungle snakes which were in terrariums along the route. Again we rejoiced when our sweating bodies boarded the bus.
"First we will go to the very special Tarcoles River where I hope you will experience a wildlife overload so you will not expect too much on the aerial tram." It played out almost exactly as Max called it. The river was a banquet of wildlife, especially crocodiles. We saw macaws, egrets, kingfishers, and many other birds. The locals feed and play with the crocodiles so they don't kill kids and livestock, consequently our driver was able to jump onto a sandbar and coax a 10 foot crocodile to stand on its tail and hind legs to grab at a towel. Everyone clicked away in awe. "I think it's better that they feed these animals than kill them!" Max said. Fresh fruit was available after our hour and a half on the water. Needless to say eveyone was dripping wet from the 90º temperatures and happy to reboard the cool bus.
The second stop was a major development with restaurant and gift shop at the base of very steep jungle hill. It was swarming with tourists taking walks in a tropical garden, riding a gondola over the canopy or taking a zip line through the forest. We sweated through lunch and a lineup before boarding the gondola which slowly carried us up the hillside and back. Each car of 8 carried its own naturalist but animals were hard to spot. Most of the discussion was about plants. The walk through the garden was great. We were able to touch and smell many plants such as ginger and nutmeg. We also saw a poisonous frog and learned much about jungle snakes which were in terrariums along the route. Again we rejoiced when our sweating bodies boarded the bus.
Corcovado National Park
It came as a compete surprise when the ship turned into the Golfo Dulce along the shores of Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. It was the same park I'd hiked in with Wayne five years ago. We'd seen monkeys and numerous birds. Glowing reports of the protected wildlife and biodiversity came over our PA. There was very little to see from the water. Great excitement arose when an odd shaped log passed by. We knew we shouldn't complain since the day was glorious and the views around quite spectacular.
Loving Columbia
Our guide, Claudia, in Cartegena, Columbia ran a guiding service that Joan found on the internet. She was great! She and her driver arrived by 7:30 am in a 7 passenger, air-conditioned van on the dock directly opposite the gangplank. It was a perfect pickup. The walk along the dock to the bus parking was about a kilometer, so getting picked up at the ship saved several minutes during our short, 5 hour port of call.
Our first stop after a drive across town, was the only hill in the entire city. A monastery was perched atop the hill with 360º views of Cartegena. We had our first of many run ins with street vendors selling cigars, T-shirts and watches. Claudia pointed out points where invading ships had tried to enter. The most stunning victory for the Spanish holding the fort in about 1741 was against an English armada of 186 ships. The Spanish guns managed to sink about a half of them before the Brits backed off. Later on the tour we saw a building that Sir Francis Drake took over as his headquarters in 1586 while he sacked the town. It had been the governor's residence. He found evidence there that suggested the governor had been forewarned by the Queen of Spain which angered him so much he burned the place down.
A jewelry shop specializing in Columbian emeralds, had a display of raw ores and a great video on prospecting and mining for emeralds. Of course we saw churches. What tour in South America doesn't? But is wasn't belaboured and the buildings were interesting. One had the remains, with skull very evident, of a famous Jesuit, Pedro Claver, who had aided slaves and became a saint.
I had my picture taken holding a sloth! Who knew sloths could be pets. He moved almost not at all and his hair wasn't soft like Blarney but rather coarse and stiff. He had that sleepy look that sloths get when they're anywhere.
We bought a mole at a small shop that was going out of business. Twelve dollars for a colourful 12X16 design that surely took someone many hours! We also had a cup of iced Columbian coffee that was more memorable than the royal wedding!
It was hot in Cartagena! Probably about 90º! Our walks were slow and short. The van was kept running and cool, and thankfully dropped us a few steps from the gangplank. Our overall impression of Cartagena was very positive. Eveyone of us was impressed with the city's cleanliness and level of energy. None of us could imagine driving there. Rules? What rules? Claudia was wonderful. Her price, at about $70 each, was slightly better than we coud have expected using the bus tours provided by the ship.
Our first stop after a drive across town, was the only hill in the entire city. A monastery was perched atop the hill with 360º views of Cartegena. We had our first of many run ins with street vendors selling cigars, T-shirts and watches. Claudia pointed out points where invading ships had tried to enter. The most stunning victory for the Spanish holding the fort in about 1741 was against an English armada of 186 ships. The Spanish guns managed to sink about a half of them before the Brits backed off. Later on the tour we saw a building that Sir Francis Drake took over as his headquarters in 1586 while he sacked the town. It had been the governor's residence. He found evidence there that suggested the governor had been forewarned by the Queen of Spain which angered him so much he burned the place down.
A jewelry shop specializing in Columbian emeralds, had a display of raw ores and a great video on prospecting and mining for emeralds. Of course we saw churches. What tour in South America doesn't? But is wasn't belaboured and the buildings were interesting. One had the remains, with skull very evident, of a famous Jesuit, Pedro Claver, who had aided slaves and became a saint.
I had my picture taken holding a sloth! Who knew sloths could be pets. He moved almost not at all and his hair wasn't soft like Blarney but rather coarse and stiff. He had that sleepy look that sloths get when they're anywhere.
We bought a mole at a small shop that was going out of business. Twelve dollars for a colourful 12X16 design that surely took someone many hours! We also had a cup of iced Columbian coffee that was more memorable than the royal wedding!
It was hot in Cartagena! Probably about 90º! Our walks were slow and short. The van was kept running and cool, and thankfully dropped us a few steps from the gangplank. Our overall impression of Cartagena was very positive. Eveyone of us was impressed with the city's cleanliness and level of energy. None of us could imagine driving there. Rules? What rules? Claudia was wonderful. Her price, at about $70 each, was slightly better than we coud have expected using the bus tours provided by the ship.
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