22 January 2008 Manta, Ecuador

22nd January 2008 - Manta - Ecuador

A second, big-time disappointment in Ecuador. Yet again not because there was anything wrong with the destination, but because of misrepresentation and questionable practices on the part of our Ecuadorian agent. We had previously been advised that the trip to Montecristi - where Panama Hats are made - had to be rearranged because of social unrest. We had elected already not to do this trip because M thought it would be yet another "commercial opportunity" situation (and this did prove to be the case). We were also warned that Manta was not particularly safe but that our agent had managed to arrange a bus trip to a typical shopping mall. We did not want to forego this port having been messed about in Guayaquil last time around - so we bought tickets for the mall. On the bus the guide distributed maps of Manta to all the passengers. M asked in Spanish whether there were any internet facilities available at the mall and the guide replied that she "thought so".

The map of Manta showed that there was an international shopping complex 300 metres from the port gate, yet we were being taken 5 kilometres to the far suburbs of Manta to go to the shopping mall. Upon our arrival M enquired in Spanish of the information desk at the mall where the cyber cafe was told there wasn't one in the mall and we had to go back into town. This was irritating because we had passed one within 150 metres of the port gate. We dashed back and managed to catch the bus before its return journey but they would not let us off at the port gate and insisted we stayed on until we reached the ship - 2 km further. At the ship - and after complaining we were told to catch a shuttle bus to the port gate but by this time had wasted the best part of an hour and a half. However, the next four or five hours were enjoyable.

We went straight to the cyber cafe and M clocked up an hour for $1.00 US. We walked along the Cornish past the Manta Pisce Statue to the bank where there was no evidence of any danger or threats - in fact the port area was not the seedy red light district which is common in working ports but a smart middle class area. We retraced our steps and went to the local supermarket and shopping complex, passing a very smart 4 star hotel and olympic swimming pool on the way. We bought rum for $1.50 a litre, olives and sweets and ambled back down the hill past the hotel from where we could see a lovely beach - about which we had been told nothing even though it ran right up to the port - and a nice restaurant complex and Malecon (promenade). We ambled down to the Malecon and settled on the 4th or 5th restaurant down for lunch. All the diners were either middle class Ecuadorian holiday makers or local office workers and we ate local sea food with rice and escalope with chips and salad each with a pint of local beer and got change from $9.00. Apart from hastling from local hawkers this was a very pleasant experience for an hour our so and we looked straight across the beach to the Pacific Ocean. Both of us had lunch for less than half the price of the aborted bus trip to the shopping mall.

20 January 2008 Transit Panama Canal

20th January 2008 - Transit Panama Canal

This transition was pretty much like the previous one - except, of course, in reverse.
It took the whole day from our start on the Caribbean side at Cristobel through to Balboa on the Pacific side next to the capital Panama City. There were some differences, like 3 cruise ships coming through with us including Island Princess which was behind us for starters but we overtook. Otherwise, things were pretty much as before.

19 January 2008 Ikotpu Island, San Blas Islands, Panama

19 January 2008 - Ikotpu Island, San Blas Islands, Panama

Pretty much as expected on the basis of Rangiroa; this was to be our desert island dream and bbq. A very small island with only 2 buildings where we arrived about 8 in the morning. However, we were preceded by the local Canu Indians with their assorted wears, so the commercials were set up prior to our arrival.

We spent a pleasant few hours on a hired deck chair - a dollar apiece - in the breeze and under the shade of palms, taking care to avoid any coconut drops. In fact, one weighing about 5 kilos dropped about 10 metres from us, so it was a smart precaution. The weather was hot, the swimming was great and the bbq was fine. However, we could only do this once in a while. In some ways, negotiating the tiny San Blas archipelago was as interesting as any specific islands.

17 January 2008 - Kralendijke, Bonaire, Dutch Antilles

17th January 2008 - Kralendijke, Bonaire

After a day at sea Bonaire was welcome, but we had no particular high expectations of an island we were told was just salt pans and flamingos. In the event, it was to prove one of the better stops, at least in relation to expectation. The pseudo Dutch architecture in Kralendijk was not quite as phoney as it had been in Aruba and we had all the morning and much of the afternoon to explore. This time, we were able to rent a car - $US60 - for an off road jeep style car which was a good deal between four of us. The tourist office manager tried to talk us out of doing the national park as he said it would take too long. He was right, and we didn't see the salt pans in the south, but figured it was worth it.

We motored up the coast towards the north of the island and licked off with a sea water lagoon which was riddled with flamingos. We stopped off at a designated area and saw lots more birds and trillions of lizards amongst the cacti and scrub. It was not dissimilar to the Nevada desert and obviously very dry. We continued on to a small town, Rincon, and then drove about 5 miles to the Washington Slaagbi national park which cost us $US10 apiece to go into the park. We were given tags with emergency phone numbers and times when we had to be away from specific destinations if were not to be caught overnight in the park - no chance. We elected to do the short circuit, about 25kms, on the very rough dirt roads, said to take an hour and a half if we didn't stop. Whilst, for the most part these tracks were ok, in parts, they were so rutted we had to be careful to avoid taking the sump out, even with a high clearance vehicle. The drive was fine, starting off inland in dry hilly terrain. Again, trillions of lizards and lots of interesting birds.

After about 45 minutes, we arrived at the coast.

15 January 2008 Pointe-a- Pitre, Guadeloupe

15th January 2008 - Pointe-a- Pitre, Guadeloupe

Arrived early Tuesday to this French department in the Caribbean with a clear plan as to what to do, i.e. post blogs first, stock up on supplies and see what we could with the rest of the day, given we were leaving early evening.

The run in to Pa P was pleasant enough but we found one cruise ship already moored, but with sufficient area in the Cruise terminal to cause no bother. As in all the French territories, this was clean efficient and modern and gave straight out on to the compact central area. Found a cyber cafe quickly enough but although we knew there were different, additional letters on a French keyboard did not realise it was not 'qwerty', with 'a' on the top line and 'm' on the middle line plus a few more differences, including numerics and full stops in upper case. Slowed considerably the cyber work and we needed an hour but M managed to lock herself out of bank account!

After, went for an amble round town and thought about lunch out, but it was not cheap so we went back to the boat. On the way back discovered a joke shop (good for theme nights) and later a number of others. Tried to rent a car - they were remarkably cheap to rent - but there were none left. With another couple we took a cab for a tour - they all seem to be standard itineraries - which took us to a waterfall on Basses Terre and a beach on Grand Terre over a two and a half hour period, The waterfall was ok but nothing special, although the rain forest was. We went up a fairly high hill for good views of P a P and onwards along excellent dual carriageway roads we have probably paid for to a flash hotel complex - rooms over £100 per night - where we had a swim on a clean and pleasant beach before returning to town. More shopping at the joke shop and a couple of star buys for M - a linen dress for under a tenner and two black dresses for £2 apiece. Unfortunately, one will have to await some slimming before it can be worn. Finally, a quick shop at the supermarket for French wine at French prices and back to the boat.

The evening was spent at the regulation Caribbean Deck Party.

14 January 2008 St John's and English Harbour, Antigua

14th January 2008, St John's and English Harbour - Antigua

We had mixed feelings as we approached Antigua since we had not particularly enjoyed our visit there five years ago. However, it was New Year's Day on that visit and everything was closed and M was hoping to look up her friend Sprout with no locational information other than 'just ask for me in any bar, they all know me'.

D had been assisting in a navigation course delivered by a qualified yacht skipper and so was called to get up at 5.45am as we approached Antigua to shadow that navigation into port, a potentially tricky route with sandbanks, oil berths and a narrow channel to content with. M, of course, did not see the light of day until about 8.45am as we were docking. First we did a quick visit to the Cyber cafe (no time for blogs) to do some business and check emails before we started on the illusive search for Sprout. Having no success other than being told that if he fixed boats he'd be at Falmouth/English Harbour we had to find a way of getting there. Around the Cruise Terminal, we were hassled with lots of offers of very expensive cabs and tours (Nelsons Dockyard at English Harbour being US$80 - officially approved government rate). This was looking like the only port we had visited where 'do-it-yourself' tours were threatening to be more expensive that those laid on by the ship. Then we found a man who offered us an island tour for US$20 each which we said we'd take as it included English Harbour. We did a quick shop for the mandatory T shirt and bits for the Caribbean night which we took to the ship before reporting back for our 10.30 tour.

The first hour was excellent with a driver and tour guide as we wound our way across Antigua towards Falmouth/English harbour. The guide then said we'd climb a hill for a view of English harbour as it wasn't really worth the US$5 entrance fee to which our 4 fellow passengers readily agreed as this would 'give us more time at the rain forest and beach'. M complained she was being bounced into this as we really did want to see the dockyard and English harbour as well as try to find Sprout. To cut a long story short, and to keep M happy, the guide said he'd find Sprout. We called in 2 shipwrights premises before we found his workshop - which gave our fellow passengers a bit of a feel about how the other, top 2%, live. Unfortunately, it transpired Sprout had severely dislocated his ankle in a New Year's Eve yacht race and was signed off for a month. However, his staff agreed to take us to his home. So, we abandoned the tour, paid off the driver and thanked the guide and went our separate way. Mike phoned Sprout and said he had a 'special delivery' which would be arriving in 10 minutes and drove us up in what we later learned was Sprouts 4 wheel people carrier.

The rest of the day we spent at English Harbour, first at Cloggies Cafe - a rather flash eatery and then the Drop In, where the local In-Crowd hang out. We also learned much about Nelson's Dockyard - he was sent there for 2 years for being a naughty boy - which is no longer a naval dockyard but a museum and tourist attraction. As it so happens, the main part of Cloggies was a building from the dockyard complex, originally built in 16xx. Mike drove us down for a pre-prandial drink and Sprout joined us for lunch (after getting himself sorted) which M said was her best meal of the trip. It was certainly very nice and the owners a Dutch guy and his Nouvelle Caledonie/French wife - who speaks English with a slight Aussie accent were a focus of the local yacht set who passed through over lunch. A good meal, two bottles of wine and much conversation later, it appeared to be 4 o'clock, the time when the Drop Inn opens. Run by a gong time resident Austrian lady called Manni, and just 25m from Cloggies, we were the first customers, waiting for Sprout's partner, Anita - an Aussie - to arrive from work -she owns and runs a nursery school. By about 5pm the locals and local resident tourists were all calling in and the place became very busy. Anita arrived some time after 5pm and the place was animated in conversation as everybody knew everybody. Even we lost track of time and it was after 7 before we realised we needed to get sorted for crossing the island. Sprout ordered a cab for 8 when, unfortunately, we had to leave. It was a great 'catch-up' for Sprout and M and the only really boozy day we have done so far. Sprout had entertained us all day, despite being in a plaster and on crutches and insisted we accept his hospitality. He also ensured we paid the local's rate for the cab back to town which was only a third the tourist rate. A great day - Thanks Sprout.

8 January 2008 Ponta Delgada, Azores

8th January 2008, Ponta Delgada - Azores

Our first port of call on the second leg and a real delight. We didn't really understand why our Spanish neighbour, Maria, was eulogising about the Azores which we thought of as another collections volcanic rock in the Atlantic, but it's really quite amazing and in some ways similar to Madeira.

We went to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel, the largest island. Clearly volcanic, we could see the various cones, all at relatively low level from our approach. PD is a long settled town going back to the 1500s and characterised like many places in volcanic areas with much 'black and white' architecture, particularly for the volcanoes.

After docking, we took a tour (no Portuguese, relatively short stay) to the Ribeira Grande and the fire lake which, as it happened, was a wise decision. We first went around Ponta Delgarda on the dual carriageway by-pass (no doubt EU funded) and turned off to a small village where there was a pineapple plantation under glass. Given that the islands have an equitable climate, rather like the Canaries - but for all that, definitely not sub-tropical, it seemed strange given they could grow many crops that they were 'going Dutch' and growing hot weather fruit under glass. There were about a dozen or so huge green houses all with pineapples at various stages of development. The other disadvantage of growing pineapple is that even in the Caribbean its a twelve month hall for a single fruit which is followed by a need to propagate for the next crop. In the Azores it takes 24 months, so when you next purchase a £1 pineapple, think of all the effort that goes into it. Needless to say, though, there was a motive in taking us to this place which was to flog pineapple liqueur which M found too sweet and D found too early in the morning.

Afterwards we crossed the island at its narrowest point (about 12 kms) to the north coast. The scenery was most unusual and, perhaps, more like rural Britain than anywhere we have previously been to. The most British features were very green grassy fields, narrow, windy roads, dry stone walls enclosing smallish fields and many rural buildings and small settlements which could easily have been Cornwall or Wales. Quite odd. Over the ridge, we then went down to the only other town on Sao Miguel, Ribeira Grande (Big River). This was situated just inland from the mouth of the river and a steepish, incised valley and again was of a certain vintage with three or four old churches, an eight arch high road viaduct over the river and a neat municipal park and Tourist Information office down the sides of the valley. It was neatly clipped and manicured in the public areas but a little more sleazy in the back streets, but nonetheless authentic in a Portuguese sort of way. We liked the town and needless to say the man in the Tourist Office spoke perfect English. We Brits really are pathetic in our attempts to speak to any foreigner in their own language. We walked down the valley and under the arches to a very wild Atlantic Ocean with breakers about two metres high and much detritus washed up on the beach - most of it plastic these days. (Even between Phuket and Pinang on the last leg, twenty kms out to sea we were amazed at the incidence of plastic/polystyrene crap in the water even though it's illegal to dump plastic at sea).

After a half hour in Ribeira Grande was proceeded to climb one of the volcanoes in our small bus. Initially, it was still very British like. We wound our way up a wooded valley and the clue, as we passed a small car park, was the comment from our guide that at the end of a ten minute forest walk was a small waterfall and a pool with warm water that many visitors bathe in. Ten minutes up the valley all became apparent as the mountain positively steamed. There were geysers etc and a number of industrial establishments. These turned out to be the Azores thermal electricity company. We understand bores are made hundreds of metres into the mountain and the volcanic heat is used to generate electricity. About 40% of the islands requirement comes from this source. Most interesting. As we approached to top of the climb - and as we aid, not particularly high - we passed over the crater lip and got a magnificent view of the caldera and crater lake. The sun was shining strongly at an acute angle and the declination back to the south of the island was such that it appeared the water just ran over the crater lake and straight into the sea which was about 600 m below. This was an illusion as it was about 6 kms away. The cloud was closing in and as we climbed higher up the rim unfortunately we passed straight into the cloud and lost all views until we hit the top and came down the other side. This was scenically even more British, unbelievably green and small scale.

We returned to the ship via the suburbs of PG some of which had nice smallish beaches and hotels. The sand, though, was black. We got back and left early afternoon.