31 December 2007 New Years Eve Funchal, Madeira

31st December 2007 - New Years Eve Funchal, Madeira

Today we are in Madeira and are posting our last few blogs of 2007 plus the Ecuador blog which we forgot to do.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2008. We can't name everyone personally but here goes Happy New Year to -

Lucy and Dan, Ellie and James
Kate and Steve
Jenny and Andy
William and Tara
Mopsy and Popsy
Claire, Lee, Jamie and Millie
Mol and Jack
Trena, Keith and Family
Michael and Carolyn and Family
Hazel and Les
Val and Frank
Julie and Darren Jack and Katie
Sam and Kevin Thomas and Michael
Lucy, Jessica and Toby
Nic and Janet Ben, Josh and Jake
The Brights
The Beautiful People
Julie and Paul
All at Cricklade Road

Have a lovely evening. The next cruise is going ahead as an agreement has been reached with ABTA. We will continue to post our blogs and see you all in April.

Lots of love M & D xxx

24 December 2007 Christmas Eve Bridgetown, Barbados

Christmas Eve - Barbados

Well, it's not often we can say we were somewhere exotic twice in a year, but having been in Barbados in April, that is the case this year. In fact, as this was our third visit we've almost done it to death. Accordingly, we decided on a cool, relaxed morning in Bridgetown finishing Christmas shopping rather than trying to do any tours - and anyway, we'd done them all before (a bit blasé we know).

So, M & D walked as usual from the cruise terminal into town. This time D was not allowed to do the wholesale fish market, but since there were three other cruise ships in port already and one of the super cruisers arriving as we left MSVG, getting to the shops early was at a premium. We went in our usual route and finished on the boardwalk to the main bridge and nipped down Liverpool Lane into Cave and Richardson, Bridgetown's answer to Harrods. But actually, not a bad department store for a small Caribbean town; there are probably no small towns of this size in the UK with such a good store - but there again, apart from Alderly Edge, not such a high density of super-rich in such a small area either. We recalled this store because 5 years ago, we were amazed to be able to purchase a lens cover for M's then video machine when D had said no chance.

We got in the store by about 8.40, but did not get out until about 10.30 - so much for M not liking shopping. However, we did, more or less, complete the outstanding purchases we needed to make including some lovely local Christmas cards. One or two lucky folk will get one of these next year. On finishing at C&R we made for the cafe bar on the waterfront where we have partaken of a large glass of Barbados beer on previous occasions to repeat the exercise, meeting some friends on the way. Very relaxing sitting in front of super catamarans and pretending we were very rich! Having spent an hour doing nothing but chatting and drinking, we wandered around the Bridgetown sites briefly, revisiting the Cathedral and discovering real downtown Bridgetown where the locals were completing their Christmas shopping before we ambled back to the ship. A nice few hours - but Bridgetown is so pleasant.

Christmas Day - At Sea

Says it all, but we had a nice day -smoked Salmon and scrambled egg with Buck's Fizz for Breakfast and real fizz for noon. We had a formal dinner (turkey of course) in the evening and a Christmas show. Quite nice.

23 December 2007 - Caribbean Deck Party

23rd December 2007 - Caribbean Deck Party

After leaving St Lucia we were busy for an hour or so preparing our outfits for the party which went with a swing - mon! See pictures.

23 December 2007 Castries, St Lucia

23rd December 2007 - St Lucia

And so, to St Lucia, an island we last visited five years ago when we did the standard touristy things of the Pitons, Soufriere, the volcano and sulphur pools, botanic gardens and waterfalls. We felt neither the need nor the requirement to do this again and briefly toyed with the idea of doing our own thing. This can be very satisfying when all goes well, but a bit of a mistake when time is of the essence and knowledge and information at a premium. We also recalled that the cruise dock is a considerable way outside Castries and that we were arriving on a Sunday. In the Caribbean, this still amounts to most things being closed all day, but at the very least from late morning; and so it proved to be.

We arrived early morning a full day and two nights after quitting Aruba. We had quite forgotten how beautiful the approach to Castries harbour is. Narrow, and hilly on the south side and more yielding on the north, with the lower undulations giving way to the local airport. We docked at Pointe Seraphine cruise terminal which had the merit of commercial facilities and tourist information available to us even on a Sunday, but first we had our tour to do. We had toyed briefly with the idea of doing Pigeon Point National Park, but this is at Rodney Bay in the north west of the island amidst all the very touristy traffic and we really wanted to get away from all this. In fact, we were minded to get away from the relatively tame Caribbean coast and visit the more exiting and energetic Atlantic coast to the east; at least that was our comparative experience from having visited Barbados on our previous trip to the West Indies where we witnessed the crashing of the wild Atlantic and the meeting of the seas at North Point. So, it was off to the east coast and for a little more excitement we chose a mountain bike trip in the expectation that there would be fewer takers than average and with likely similar interests to ourselves and, if it doesn't sound too curmudgeonly, fewer folk with mobility challenges (is that the PC way to say it). This is not quite as it turned out.

There were about 20 of us to be bussed to the bike centre and we crossed the island in about half an hour or so. The east coast was certainly more rugged than the west as we expected and so to Dennery, the main settlement on the Atlantic coast, after crossing the fairly high mountain pass and watershed in the middle of the island. The views for the second part of the trip were exciting without ever quite reaching the category 'stunning'. We arrived at a standalone bungalow up a metalled road a couple of miles inland from the coast road at Dennery in the garden of which were located twenty of so mountain bikes. Being essentially a residential property, there was a long queue for the single lavatory available to guests before we selected our bikes. M & D, both availing themselves of the facilites, were at the back of the queue for choosing a bike and whilst M did OK, D did not and this was to have its toll later.

Whilst there were no walking sticks in view on this tour - we've never seen so many in one place as there are on the MSVG - there were plenty of folk making D appear quite 'snake-hipped' and plenty of others not in particularly good shape for what was to start as an undulating climb and become quite hilly before we went 'off road'. We did not even leave the grounds of the bungalow before one lady managed to steer herself into a storm drain and had to be rescued by both of our guides. Another managed about 400 yards along the road before she gave up the ghost, loaded her bike onto the bus which was following us and did the remainder of the trip on four wheels. Unsurprisingly, the group split into those who possessed a modicum of fitness, including M and even D along with one or two younger guests and the remaining dozen or so who were left a couple of hundred yards behind on each stretch. However, we did stop at regular intervals for an ecology update (rest!). The steeper sections were proving difficult for many including D who was obliged to do some walking. However, we hasten to add that this was because his bike had a broken front gear shift and when were advised to select the lowest gear for a particularly challenging section (the mountain of death!) this proved not to be an option for D who had to elevate his portly torso without the benefit of 'the lowest gear'; or at least try. No such problems for M who had quite a snazzy, fully- functional bike.

Next, to the 'off road' section of the tour which comprised a footpath track, not particularly wide, which meandered across the steep sided (by this time) river valley, crossing the stream four or five times in a stretch of about a mile or so. Biking on the metalled road was not such a problem as the highway was both smooth and wide. The path was a different matter, riddled with muddy sections; some tree roots; bamboo, side-free bridges and steep sections. We had separate instructions for this stretch which comprised, 'single file only and keep at least a bike's length gap from the person in front'. This was fine in theory, but D and M who were respectively 4 and 5 in the line were following a chap who was fine on the road and the flat, but who had real problems uphill, particularly on the path. Whereas we were minded to speed a downhill section to help take the following uphill stretch, he proceeded with caution down the hill and couldn't get up the slope. Accordingly, D would have to jam on his brakes and get of the bike, M do likewise in order to avoid a crash; as did everyone behind. Whilst M & D had a debate on the relative merits of being immediate behind this guy as compared with behind each other, at least we had the benefit of getting part-way up the following hill. By about position 9 in the line (the rest were miles behind) there was a serious risk of crashes from these emergency stops, particularly as the affected cyclists had usually only just started a downhill stretch and had to break approaching full speed. Needless to say, the culprit was oblivious to this and back on the road challenged furiously anyone who tried to overtake him on a flat section. His ultimate achievement was as we re-joined the road section when he stopped some 5 metres from the road on a particularly steep stretch of path, leaving everyone else to have to leg it up the full length of this really steep muddy section. It was both funnier and more frustrating than narrative can describe.
Eventually, we reached the top of the ride and left our bikes to walk down to the 'waterfall'. 'Unfortunately', it was explained by our guides, 'it has not rained for a few days' so the waterfall was reduced to a trickle, 'but you should have seen it the day before yesterday'! I guess we should. This was also where we were to have swum, but with the water reduced to about a metre deep in a smallish pool M & D gave it a miss. We returned to the bikes to ride downhill for a mile or so to the 'Love Shack', which turned out to be a rather rickety old shack serving food and local beer. We availed ourselves of the latter which was quite good. The bikes were then put on a trailer and we were bussed back to Castries and the boat.

We took a quick lunch and did a brief shop for the West Indies night deck party (Rasta Hats) before we took a cab to a nearby beach, the Wharf, located in the direction of Rodney Bay, but just a couple of miles past the airport. The Wharf turned out to be a rather OK beachside cafe bar so we had a swim in the Caribbean for an hour and another large beer at the Wharf before our taxi whisked us back to Pointe Seraphine and the MSVG at about 5.30. All in all, a good day - and we needed one. We departed early evening for Barbados.

21 December 2007 Aruba, Dutch Antilles

21st December 2007, Aruba

Late again, but this stop was more remarkable for what preceded our arrival. At about 3pm, when we should already have been ashore, but delayed because of our very late departure from the Panama canal an 'important message' was relayed over the tannoy, presumably before we learned the news by telephone and bush telegraph once we were within mobile calling distance at Aruba. The important message was to tell us that Travelscope had gone into Administration, but there was, understandably, no more information at that time. It explained the delay at Panama and why the Cruise Director was tetchy. Needless to say, this was a serious blow to staff who had lost their jobs and, apparently, only knew themselves at noon, and to passengers who were not to know what was in store. Hence, the stop at Aruba was not only significantly for-shortened, it was somewhat muted as well.

We arrived about 4.30pm and shot off to post what amounted to nearly three weeks of blogs - minus Guayaquil which we overlooked. Unsurprisingly, this took almost an hour. We used the remainder of the time to scan the Travelscope web site to see what they had posted of their own demise. We walked the sea front at Oranjestad, visited a couple of malls for the T shirt and spent the final hour or so before our departure in the (typically Dutch) pub drinking jugs of lager - as did most of our fellow travellers.

Some folk liked the place, but all the development was very modern in a kitsch, mock-Dutch/Amsterdam Disney style which did little for us, with rococo Dutch gable fronts supported by breeze block and painted a tasteful pastel pink. Not really our style, but there was lots of money about, exemplified by the presence of all the flash Paris/Milan/New York clothing shops etc. Not really our scene, but fine for an effortless, classy beach holiday for the typical moneyed American tourist.

12 December 2007 Guayaquil, Ecuador

December 12th 2007, Guayaquil, Ecuador

This one is out of sequence as we forgot to do one for our stop in Ecuador.

A bit of a disaster, our first visit to Ecuador. After 9 days at sea from Nuka Hiva we were looking forward to our trip to Quito and seeing the high Andes. However, we had been warned that we'd be arriving late which, in fact, turned out to be incorrect and we arrived maybe 10 minutes behind schedule at most. The tour though had already been re-jigged and we were not to take our aircraft until noon - or so they said - but with it getting dark at 6pm we were not over impressed. In the event, it made no difference as we were told that Quito airport was shut owing to fog. (We were to find out later that this is a far from unusual event). We were told the airport re-opened at 10.30 and we would be given a quick bus tour of Guayaquil on the way to the airport for a rescheduled 1 o'clock flight. No such luck! The flight became 1.30pm and by the time it was up on the departures board it was re-scheduled again for a 2.20pm take off. Since it's 45 minutes to Quito before disembarkation etc, it hardly seemed worth the £200 each we had paid for the trip and we took advantage of the offer to cancel, even though we had our boarding cards. About 40 of us quit but 26 pressed on, despite being given no assurances as to the likely weather for the 8.15pm return flight in the dark and whether or not the ship would wait if the return was delayed - we had a scheduled passage through the Panama canal and we figured the captain would not wait. (This was a correct assessment).

We returned to Guayaquil and had a whole 2hrs before the last shuttle bus back to the ship (which docked at the container port about 10 miles out of town). However, after we were on the return trip we learned that there would be a later bus at 6pm. All too late to take advantage of - and much too early anyway for 'last shuttle', given that we were not required back on board until 11.30pm. Having said that, we got a good trip back and were taken down the street where the locals bought their New Years puppets - a bit like bonfire night, they buy papier mache figures to burn at the New Year, some as large as 2-3 metres high. Before that, we had done a quick tour of the waterfront which was much more enjoyable than we expected, but we were carrying all the jumpers/cardigans and gear for a trip round Quito at 2,800 metres and 10 degrees C - not really appropriate for walking around Guayaquil at sea level and 25 degrees C!
In the event, Quito airport was shut by fog for the return trip and our fellow trippers were bussed an hour and a half to a military airport to catch a charter flight back to Guayaquil. They arrived on back board at 11.50 pm, 20 minutes after 'last on board' time and literally 10 minutes before sailing; in the event immigration procedures meant we left 15 minutes late. Whilst this was going on and we were back on board ship we learned that the captain would, indeed, have left them - he was not willing to lose his Panama canal slot and the Travelscope staff had provisionally booked hotels and checked flights to Panama City for 'Plan B'. Hence being cautious but responsible, we missed our trip to 'middle earth' but those who were 'gung ho and stuff the consequences' got some sort of an adrenalin trip as well. Maybe there's a lesson to learn here. Furthermore, we are quite likely to lose our £200 anyway owing to Travelscope going bust (of which more later).

Not a good day - or not as good as it should have been given it was one of the few occasions when we were on shore theoretically for more than 12 hours.

21 December Looks Like Its All Over!

21st December 2007

We are currently on route to Aruba and an announcement has just come over the public address system that Travelscope Holidays went into Administration yesterday. Currently we have no more information as to what will happen for the rest of this cruise and understand that the ship's owners are in discussion with ABTA regarding the completion of this trip and the next world cruise.

You may see us sooner than expected!! This may also explain why we stayed so long in Panama yesterday.

20 December 2007 - Transit the Panama Canal

20th December 2007 - Transit the Panama Canal

Arrived off Balboa at the south eastern (Pacific) end of the canal at 5.45am and saw Panama city through the lightening dawn with its surprisingly large number of pencil-thin sky scrapers. Apparently, Panama is a major international banking centre as well as running the world's largest mercantile fleet. Since it was said to be second after Switzerland we suspect this means for 'dodgy' private accounts. We can't see how it could rival London and New York as a financial centre. Nevertheless, it was impressive; as was the Panama canal, the main agenda item of the day. We'll spare the details as the important elements can be seen from the photos.
On entering the canal we passed under the mightily impressive trans-American highway bridge hundreds of feet above us. (It is ironic that the only break in this highway running from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego is a mere few miles to the east in the jungles of the Panama/Columbia border - kidnap territory.)

Although the canal is two-way, it seems it is managed by convoy as we only passed a Pacific headed vessel for the first time at sea level on the Atlantic side. After the bridge we passed the docks and trans-shipment station at Balboa, seemingly at the end of a convoy, with a Philippine tanker and German container vessels in front of us. Few folk will know that a significant percentage of goods, particularly container goods, do not cross the isthmus by ship through the canal but are trans-shipped onto the highly efficient electric railway that runs parallel to the canal and are loaded and unloaded at each end in Balboa and Cristobel ports. However, most goes by ship and we learned that a major parametric consideration in the design of ships is the 'Panamax' specification which defines the maximum length, width and 'tropical fresh-water' (TFD) draft of ships that can transit the canal. (For the record this is 294.13m x 32.31m drawing 12.04m TFW). This allows for 0.6m each side (under 2ft) for passing through the locks or 2% of width each side.

The ships' crews do not control their passage through the canal, but merely carry out the instructions of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) which provides pilots, 'cable crew' and 'mules' to execute the transit. The first lock, Miraflores, shortly after Balboa lifted us two of the three flights required to raise level by the 26m, the height above sea level of the central stretch through the cut and Lake Gaton. It's an amazing site to see the cable crew throwing lines to their colleagues in row boats as we approach each lock. In turn, these guys row to the shore and have the lines connected to steel cables which are then drawn onto the ship and fastened. Each is connected shore-side to a two way electric train which both pulls us through the lock and balances the ship's width through the lock. The mules run on tracks the full length of the double lock, two tracks in the middle and one on each side. Staff cross the canal across the lock gates when closed. MSVG only needed 4 mules: one each for bow/stern port/starboard (oh yes we're nautical now) but the Leverkusen Express and the High Trader in front of us each needed 8 mules apiece. After transiting the two-flight Miraflores locks behind the Philippine tanker we entered the narrow Miraflores Lake for one mile before arriving at Pedro Miguel lock, a single run that completes the 26m rise. This time, we were switched lanes and went through behind the German container ship. And, so into the Gaillard (or Culebra) cut for a few miles and under the second high-level crossing built in 2002 the Centenary bridge, a super slim cable stay suspension bridge, even higher over the canal. See the pics; its amazing to think de Lesseps thought he could build a canal at sea-level when you see the cut. The fact he spent 20 years trying from 1882 (unsuccessfully) shows this wasn't for the best, but although his failure was to do with flooding and earth collapses for the most part, loss of navvies to malaria was equally serious. By the time the US took over in 1903, Malaria was understood and partially licked.
Anyway, back to the cut which runs for 12.6kms and takes the canal over the Pacific/Atlantic watershed. This section is completely fresh water and the height is cleverly maintained by a dammed feeder lake which manages water levels during the dry season. Entering at the end of the cut and the start of Lake Gatun, any excess water during the rainy season is despatched over a spillway in the lake and into the Caribbean (Atlantic). This is necessary because the Alhajuela feeder lake requires its own spillway into Lake Gatun. All very clever. We travelled in procession across Lake Gatun behind the Bremen and Manilla registered freighters to the Gatun locks, a single 'two-way' triple run which takes the boats down (or up) the full 26m in three easy stages - and takes the best part of a couple of hours to do so, particularly if you are running in convoy and have to wait for chambers to be vacated and water levels adjusted. Again, we were behind the Leverkus Express which was full Panamax spec, allowing the High Trader to steal a march on it in the starboard flight. (Whilst very large, HT was not quite as big as LE which required much manipulation by the mules). We should note that the mules' rail track is a cog railway powered by third line and these cogs are really needed when the mules change a level, running up and down at gradients of at least 30% (see pic).

After we completed Gatun locks all the fun was over. We passed a London registered container vessel coming the other way, seemingly going to China with some goods but also for more cheap imports to the US or European markets. We also saw a stretch of the 18 miles of canal de Lesseps completed before abandoning his project which was an altogether more modest affair than the canal completed by the Americans. And so to Cristobel and a supposed short re-fuelling stop that took 8 hours - almost as long as it took to tansit the canal.

17 December 2007 King Neptune Deck Party

17th December 2007 King Neptune Deck Party

At approximately 3.45 pm this afternoon we crossed the equator for the second time this trip. It is traditional to celebrate this with a Line Crossing Ceremony (we did not do this the first time we crossed as it was the middle of the night). The ceremony of crossing the line is an initiation rite in the Royal Navy, US Navy, and other navies which commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the equator. Originally the tradition was created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nicknamed (trusty) SHELLBACKS, often referred to as Sons of Neptune, those who have not are nicknamed (slimy) POLLYWOGS. "King Neptune and his Court" (usually including his first assistant Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite and often various dignitaries, who are all represented by the highest ranking seaman) officiate at the ceremony during which the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly disgusting ordeals, largely for the entertainment of the Shellbacks. (We were safe from any threat of being collared for this as we were already Shellbacks by virtue of having crossed the equator twice in March this year on our Amazon trip). Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his new status.

In the 19th century and earlier, the line-crossing ceremony was quite a brutal event, often involving beating pollywogs with boards and wet ropes and sometimes throwing the victims over the side of the ship, dragging the pollywog in the surf from the stern. In more than one instance, sailors were reported to have been killed while participating in a crossing the line ceremony. Our deck party was not quite so brutal but some really disgusting things were done to our fellow passengers. See photos which include our friend Mandy and Dr Death and his nurses. Also included are pictures of King Neptune and his Queen who dish out the punishments to our Pollywogs. The pirates were responsible for dragging the victims to kneel before Neptune. The pirate shown is a guy called Warren who is actually an entertainer who is 'bent as a nine bob note' and who looks deceptively macho in the picture. His stubble is makeup - he is actually a ginge with very fair skinned!!

Note, D has had a hair cut. You could assume this was for his previous initiation into the Legion Estranger (Foreign Legion), but actually, it had more to do with 'cheap haircut day' on the 15th.

14 December 2007 - French Night

14th December 2007 - French Night

Tonight the theme was French. We got into the spirit of things again and dressed up with M going as a French Maid and D going as a Foreign Legion soldier. Our friends Donald and Jackie and Mandy and Keith took part too (see pics). All the food on the menu was French, the show was called Pigalle following on with the French theme. The evening was great fun.

11 December 2007 - Black & White Night and Gala Buffet

Tuesday 11th December 2007 - Black & White Night and Gala Buffet

Tonight we had a formal dinner where everyone was dressed in Black and White. This was followed by a show called Colour Concerto which was excellent. After the show there was a gala buffet where the chefs showed off their various skills (see pics). The fish is made out of melon - not sure what the swans were made of but everything was edible. We couldn't eat another thing as we had only just finished our evening meal but enjoyed looking.

7 December 2007 - Nuka Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

7th December 2007 - Nuka Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

Arrived at the Marqueses islands after 2 days at sea; the last destination of Gauguin and Brell and perfectly understandably - although the girls are a bit big!

Were disappointed on arrival to sea another cruise liner, the Paul Gauguin (appropriately enough) had arrived before us as we knew there would be limited taxi/car/boat hire possibilities and no tours on offer and this proved to be the case. On disembarking by tender we arrived to discover no transport available of any sort; at least in the morning. So we immediately reserved a vehicle for pm, but being a captive audience had to take a driver, but she turned out trumps - the daughter of the owner.

So, we spent the morning reviewing Taohae, the 'capital' if that's not putting it too strongly. There was a craft centre, grazing horses - plenty of these on the island - and a couple of churches. More interestingly, and in the tradition of Easter island, the earlier Polynesian civilisation had produced a raft of stone carved men. Fortunately for us, these statues - which had gone to rack and ruin - had been collected into one place near the Catholic 'cathedral' and were all on display. Called tiki and between a metre and two metres high, these were really quite marvellous. We wandered around for the morning before picking up our 'tour guide'.
We had a comfortable 4WD as the island had limited paved roads. The terrain was wild with Taohae being located in an extinct volcanic crater within a second volcanic crater. No atolls here. To get to Taipivai, the next village, we had to drive out of the crater to the ridge and motor over the other side. This provided most impressive views of both the capital on our departure and Taipivai and its bay on out approach. Even in the Pacific, this small settlement of mainly coconut farmers had its own football pitch. We dropped down into Taipivai and called in at the church and saw a number of tethered horses in the valley bottom. It was then over to the hamlet of Houmi which was at the head of a side bay in this deeply indented coastline. We took a swim in the sea from the sandy beach and, a few local women apart who were supporting a local crafts stall, we had the place to ourselves.

Our chauffeuse then drove us back towards Taohae and took a small detour on the route to Terre Deserte where the airport is located to show us a belvedere with even more spectacular views of the capital from the rim of the inner volcan. We were able to look back across the plateau to see the rim of the mighty outer volcano before returning to the boat jetty. From there we took the tender back to the boat. A pleasant, if expensive, day; 3 hours in the car cost the four of us £80, but tht's French Polynesia for you. Absolutely beautiful, but full metropolitan France prices.

5 December 2007 - Pirate Deck Party

5th December 2007 - Pirate Deck Party

Tonight we had to dress up as pirates for a deck party (see pictures of us and Donald and Jackie who share our table for dinner). A good time was had by all.