Getting ready for Christmas

Not much to do. Santa came to our house early. He sent us on the Panama cruise and brought us new bicycles. I was out on my walk when our resident ducks from the pond strolled by. When we were coming home from shopping, we saw this person dressed up trying to sell antler ears.

Final Sea Day to Los Angeles

We arrived at the dock in San Pedro after a fantastic cruise. We enjoyed our final sea day yesterday but it is cooler here than in the tropics. We still enjoyed the bands by the pool and Nelson our favorite waiter. We enjoyed our last sunset and even saw Santa and Mrs. Claus at dinner. I went to the Chocoholics Buffet at 10:30 and was amazed by the creations the chefs had done and the ice sculptures. It was delicious.
We cabbed to the airport and rented a car for $41.05 to drive back to the desert.

Los Cabos

Here we are at our last stop. We went ashore in the ship's tender which are the lifeboats and hold 80 people each. We caught a glass bottomed boat at the dock and went out to Lover's Beach at Land's End by the famed Los Arcos, a natural rock monument. There were far fewer fish and sea lions than we saw 20 years ago but it's still a very pretty area, right onto the Pacific Ocean. We walked all around the marina, stopped at the giggling Marlin, had a cervaza, saw the pelicans on the dock and some small marlins that had been caught. Tina's holding the iguana today.

Acupulco

We docked before the sun was up over the hills. This U shaped natural harbor faces south and is very large. We've seen the Cliff Divers and city tour, so we walked through the terminal with the parrots and went to Old Town. The traffic and pollution are incredible. At one point 5 cars are trying to get into 2 lanes all at once. The 17th century fort, Fuerte de San Diego, built in 1616 to protect Acapulco from Dutch and English pirates, including Sir Francis Drake, was right across the street from our ship. It's a classic 5 point fortress surrounded by a moat.

Huatulco

This town is named for it's 9 bays and they have beautiful beaches. We walked down the dock and spent the day under an umbrella on the the white sand beside the beautiful turquoise water. We shopped when the local Vendors came by, swam and walked along the beach finding shells. They were all different than I've seen before. There were local musicians on the dock and a pretty little church right by the water. There was a fellow with his huge iguana which you could pick up and take your picture.

Going up the Mexican Coast

Beautiful weather - are we ever spoiled - 85 degrees plus. I went to a Seminar today and learned self hypnosis for stress management and pain relief. I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in July and it is very incapacitating. I have the most trouble with my thumbs, wrists and hands. I'm game for anything that will help.
We celebrated happy hour today with the 'cheeseblock', really a cheese, cracker and grape tray that came with our wine from Suzanne and family. The meals are absolutely delightful. We've had chilled banana soup, pineapple and even a curried apple one. These are sweet and should be frozen for a mousse. There are 7 choices for appetizers, entrees and desserts. This is every housewife's dream. No cooking or cleaning for 14 days. As Hamish, our entertainment Director, would say, Whoo Hoo!!!

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

We arrived at 7 a.m. and we walked into the town and wandered the waterfront and checked out the beach Vendors, then stopped at a local restaurant. Later I went on a Jungle Crocodile Safari excursion. We passed watermelon and cantaloupe farms on the way. There is a 670 acre cooperative coffee farm owned by 23000 farmers, more than 60 % women. We were on the Rio Grande Tarcoles river which is on the Carara Biological Reserve, home to one of the largest crocodile populations in the world. We saw 10 crocodiles right beside our boat and the guide actually got out onto a mud bar in his bare feet and made the crocodile jump up like a dog to swallow raw chicken. I had my heart in my throat and made sure I kept my hands well inside the boat. There are also over 50 species of tropical birds and we saw herons, egrets, mangrove swallows, a scarlet macaw nesting, wood stork, a roseate spoonbill and many more. The others went zip lining over the jungle canopy and loved it.
Tonight's entertainment was a Hypnotist which was hilarious.