Sandra and David's Travel

Who said Banana's are yellow?

2011-05-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

In our constant discouvering of Costa Rica, we are still amazed about learning something new everyday. Not only are we learning about the beautiful birds, the amazing multiply species of frogs, and gorgious flowers everywhere you look, but have found out that not only are there yellow and green bananas but the most deliceous come in RED.

Living it! Loving It! Pura Vida.

David has the web-site ready and we are sending our the invites for our first tour June 25, 2011. take a look at www.costaballenatravel.com

Hope you can make it.

The thing about the Sunset

2011-03-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

Dave and I can not get tired of the beautiful Costa Rica sunset. After a day of business planning we watched the Sunset from the patio and are amazed by all that comes with it and it's amazing beauty. The birds are very excited about it to. A parrot decided he would take a couple of quick dips in the pool. Next the humming birds fluttered around all the flowers and trees and actually perched on the branches of the Cypress tree we have behind the house. I have never seen them still long enough. LOL The parakeets were chirping as if in unison and the parrots had squawked to let their presence be know. We didn't see the Toucan's tonight but normally they are not shy. The next site was a large blue butterfly flying by as if she had some place really important to go to.

Stay tuned! We have made important progress on our Spring Chicken Travel office in Costa Ballena, Costa Rica. We are almost there. Our tour director, Annie Drake and I visited with several Resorts and Villas in the area and we look forward to working with them for our groups and independent travelers.

Day around the office!

2011-03-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

Our Costa Rica, lifestyle is awesome. We have enjoyed working on our websites and posting on our blog. Catching up on things that need to be done and updated.
We arrived on the 24th of February and hit the ground running.
The house, the office, and the new business are all falling into place. This is a beautiful area of the country, and we look forward to showing it off to all of our friends, family and associates.
We have so far enjoyed a visit from Theresa, Kenny and Payton. We went swimming at the beach several times, a 40 waterfall, and went hiking at the National Park where we saw lots of monkeys and believe it or not a Slothe crossing the path. TOO CUTE!

Our next visit was from James and Carmen. We enjoyed tours of town, the neighborhood and enjoyed a great dinner with neighbors and our friend Annie. They are enjoying touring a few locations in Northern Panama and will return on Monday.
Days are going by fast. We can not get tired of our sunset views.

Be a fan of our Facebook Page: Spring Chicken Travel on Facebook

Sandra and David www.springchicken.

Costa Rica Travel

2011-03-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

David and I are enjoying setting up our new office in Southern Costa Rica. Yes, Spring Chicken Travel will have an agency here promoting Costa Ballena Travel. Stay tune for updates on tours and packages to our beautiful Coast of Whales.
This is the view from our Costa Rica office.

Texans Wonder Down Under 2009

2010-06-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Sydney and the Blue Mountains

for photo gallery and more details visit: Click Here

Sydney Tuesday Jan 27, and Friday Jan 29, 2009

We stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton across the street from the Aquarium and (we discovered later) one block from the marina where several fabulous restaurants lined the dock. After checking in we took a very interesting ten minute cab ride the one block to the marina. Why we took a cab we are still not sure. After exploring the harbor area and some investigating we decided on a harbor dinner cruise. We choose the Showboat a large beautiful Riverboat that could accommodate two hundred for dinner. We boarded at 7:00 pm and were seated near stage. They had a wonderful dance group and a great magician that came to the table. Dinner was very good and drinks were included. Naturally we tried to drink all the wine. Before dinner we move outside on the deck while we sailed under the Harbor Bridge. At night the bridge is beautiful all lit up with colored lights. We could see Opera House just a short distance from the bridge. I have posted pictures.

After the wonderful dinner we walked back to the hotel to get a good nights rest.

Early the next morning Robert our driver arrived in a beautiful new Mercedes limo and our wonderful tour of the Blue Mountains began. Robert chauffeured us around Sydney for two days and we never saw another limo. There were so many people looking at us we felt like celebrities.

Our first stop was the Featherdale Wildlife Park to see the Koalas, and Kangaroos. That was a blast. When we first walked in we realize they had much more than that. They had many exotic birds, reptiles, crocodiles, Tasmanian devils, wallabies, very large flying bats and the list goes on. All but one of the Koalas was asleep; he was so cute and looked us in the eye as he walked around. Willie was getting her picture with one of the sleeping bears when he woke up and acknowledged her. I was able to get a picture of them (see the posting). The wallabies and kangaroos were all over the place and we were able to feed and pet them. Some of the kangaroos had cute babies in their pouches that would peak out from time to time (more pictures). We spent a lot of time there but it was worth every minute.

Our next stop was a great cliff-top café, the Conservation Hut in the Blue Mountains. The view was great and lunch was too. We set outside on the deck and dined on sandwiches made on homemade wheat bread. This was the perfect place to charge our batteries and get ready for the next stop. Still in the Blue Mountains, Robert took us to Echo Point. We could see for miles and had the best view of the Three Sisters (yes we took more pictures). That’s were met Jeff an Aborigines horn player, what an interesting guy. He was scary looking but very friendly. We have a great picture with him.

Just a short distance down the road to Scenic World, WOW! we took the train down to the great coal mine trails and walked over to catch the cable car back. Everywhere you looked the views were unbelievable. We got into the limo for our ride back to the Sheraton in Sydney. Just before the Harbor Bridge, Robert stopped next to the Olympic Pool to view the Opera House and the city, what a day.

But it was not over yet, that night we took a short cab ride to Star City the local Casino. We had a not so great dinner there, but had lots of fun at the tables I won a little more than David lost.

The next morning Robert picked us up for a beach and city tour. I was amazed at the beautiful beaches and houses along the shoreline. One house was completely made of glass. We stopped at the world famous Harry’s Café de Wheels at the Finger Wharfs for a mouth watering chili dog. We had a toast to Jimmy in the limo knowing he would have loved the hot dogs and especially the beach. We stopped at the hotel to pick up luggage and arrived at the pier where the impressive Diamond Princess was waiting for us. She is a beautiful ship and we had a wonderful time getting to know her. That evening there was a fantastic sail away party on the back of the ship just outside of Woody, Willie, Mom, and Susan’s cabins. This was the 28^th of January back home so my Mom called home to wish Dad a happy Anniversary.

Next stop Melbourne where we will meet Marge and Rose our Aussie friends for our own personal city tour.

Melbourne and Tasmania: ( By the girls)

Melbourne: We loved meeting, Rose, Marge and Marge’s family. Marge and Rose are our Aussie friends that came to spend Thanksgiving with us. My Mom and I met Marge in England on a tour we took 5 years ago. Melbourne was having record heat but it did cool off a little the day we were there. While we were getting off the ship the cute immigration dogs came to sniff everyone’s bag to search for any smuggled food. Then we met our Aussie friends, We caught the talking tram around the city and went to the Observatory, which was 52 floors above the city. We could see everything from there. Then we proceeded to the casino. It was humongous, they had a mall attached with movie theaters, shops and restaurants. We did have a great lunch there. They only had 1 three card poker table. We lost Woody and Susan. Mom, Willie, Marge and Robert ending up finding us. It was quit an adventure. We set up a meeting place and met back at the sandwich shop later. Rose took Susie and Mom on a fast pace journey to shop for opals. We hated for the day to end with our friends but had to get back to the ship. It was wonderful meeting Marges’ family. They loved our accents especially Victoria, she giggled at all our sayings. Harry loved our 1 dollar bills. Victoria, was Marge and Robert’s 13 year old daughter and Harry is Marge and Robert’s 8 year old son. They are great kids.

They next day we arrived at Hobart, Tasmania. We went through the dog screening, and caught the shuttle to the visitor’s center. We had a hard time finding a van. But we got a number from a nice man and found Kevin the perfect driver, to take us on our 4 hour vineyard tour. Woody stayed onboard to watch the Super Bowl and forgot to write down the quarter ending scores. We could be big winners. Our first Vineyard was Morilla, It was very extravagant. The owner was the Wealthiest man in Tasmania, he was a card counter and ban from every casino around. He now owns the Winery and is building a big art Gallery next door. Susie saw him and figure it was him by the conversation he was having with the glass supplier about the imperfection in the bottles. His reputation was at stake. David loved the labels which we figured out later why. If you would like know why you ask later. They did have beer tasting Willie and Susie figure out that all dark beer is not bitter. “Mo Brew” They also figure out the they liked wine, they got caught up in the moment and bought 2 bottles. We will use them to celebrate on the 8^th for their 50^th Anniversary. While driving out of the vineyard we noticed 2 dogs running underneath the nets that covered the vineyards, a man let them in the opening at the end. We commented and wondered what they were doing.

Kevin droved us through the town of Richmond were they had the oldest jail and the oldest bridge in Australia. They also sent the problem children to this town for discipline. Now it is full of B & B’s. We did see the most unusual site. A lady was walking her pet goat on a leash. David got a great picture we will post when we get a chance. Our next stop was Puddleduck Vineyard. Mom read an article about how you will not forget the name of that wine. The owners were a husband and wife team. She came into storefront from the vineyard to give us our wine tasting. They had already sold out of the sparkling wine which was there most famous. They mostly sell to orders and have a great following, but can’t keep up with a commercial demand. At the counter Mom and Willie, spotted the Postcard with a picture of “Bazil” after asking the owner about the postcard they discovered He was the most famous wine dog in the country. He was interviewed and photographed for the big book “Wine Dogs”. We did ask about the dogs and found out that they go under the nets to scare the birds out that managed to get in. We did meet Bazil on our way out, but did not get his autograph. Our next stop was Meadowbrook Vineyard another exceptional winery. They also had a fabulous restaurant. She warned us before we ordered that the servings were appetizer size but if we wanted more we could order it. Willie had 2 oysters with sorbet, very tasty but she was glad that she ordered something with that especially being used to getting a dozen per order. They had the best bread you could put in your mouth. It was served with olive oil, butter and an olive relish. “To die for” Mom and I ordered the seared “yellowfin tuna” perfect size and cooked perfectly. Willie and Dave ordered the chicken pasticcio, another perfect dish with fig salsa. Susie had the safe spaghetti, it was different but also good. It seams that every dish has green peas. We had Kevin drop Mom, Suzie, and Willie off to go shopping and Dave and I went to the Casino to get a chip. We collect casino chips from around the world. When we get a million chips we will go back to each casino to cash them in. They did not have 3 card poker but I played roulette and black jack.

We are spending the afternoon in the pub working on our story. Tomorrow we will be on our scenic cruise through the Fjordland National Park and having a Champagne breakfast

Duneden New Zealand

Fjordland National Park

South Island New Zealand

February 5^th Thursday

We were told that the Fjordland can be cold and wet; but, it was a gorgeous day about 75 degrees and sunny. We have scene the fjords in Alaska with the Glaciers and they are beautiful, but these Fjordlands in New Zealand have cliffs straight up about 1500 feet covered with foliage and waterfalls that are absolutely breathtaking. We had a Champaign breakfast on Woody, Willies, Mom and Susan’s balconies and enjoyed the views from there. Afterwards, we stepped out the back door to the aft pool deck and enjoyed the afternoon in the sunshine. Everyone did get sunburned even though we were only there for a short while. We were told that the sunshine in New Zealand is the strongest in the world.

Later, we found a great table outside on deck 14. We had a great view of the fjords and played three card poker betting with sugar packets. It was a wonderful day.

We looked forward to New Zealand and it was not a disappointment.

We got off the ship and David found a great silver limo. After some negotiation we agreed on $ 40.00 each. We could have booked a lesser tour with 45 people in a bus for $ 90 US

Our driver’s name was Roy but he said everyone called him Parker. Apparently, there is a popular local TV show with a limo driver named Parker. In the show the driver is a rather good looking fellow and Roy like being called Parker. As we drove around, we had the same experience as ever where the ship stopped, we saw no other limos all day. And, we attracted a lot of attention. I’m beginning to like this.

Parker knows all the highlights and believe me some of the road were very high. Talk about breathtaking. Just stopping at the overlooks was an awesome sight to see. Parker took us to the steepest road in the world. His Limo did not have enough power to clime the steep hill so he drove up the hill backwards it felt a lot like being on a rollercoaster. The photos we have do not do this road justice it seamed like it was a 45 degree angle.

Our next stop was the railroad station. The atrium of the station was beautifully laid out with stain glass windows on each side with a train in the center and the mosaic tile in the center had a great layout of a train. Across from the train station was the beautiful courthouse building and the old prison next door. We could not help but notice how clean everything was and Dunedin was covered with many beautiful flowers. One flower we noticed in Australia and New Zealand was a beautiful large blue flower. Woody said it reminded him of a large Blue Bonnet. David said there were byroadiums it took everyone by surprise that David knew the name of flowers in New Zealand. As we drove on we noticed that according to David all the flowers we passed near the road are by-road-iums.

We drove to the Otaca University Campus and love the immaculate grounds and historical building.

Next we drove up to the top of the mountains overlooking the town to the Lancaster Castle. We did the ground and ballroom tour. Parker knows the castle well and gave us a great tour. Liquid Blue entertainers from the ship were there touring as well. They are a fun bunch and extremely entertaining. Last year David and I were on the Star Princess in South American when we first met them. It was great to see them gain. The castle had beautiful gardens and a great Inn to stay at when visiting. The stable accommodated backpackers and the motel had rooms with the most beautiful views. Each room had a different theme one of which was a wagon for a bed, and with walls painted like the sky. Another with all white linens, bedspread and décor I was thinking maybe the bridal suite. It would be the kind of place Dave and I would like to stay for a day or two. Parker suggested we wait at the castle entrance while he retrieved the limo to pick us up there. It was like a fairy tale as the carriage picked us up. I did not lose my shoe or anything.

Parker took us to a great restaurant for lunch Pumper Nickels for a wonderful fried Blue Cod. The view was fabulous and the food and wine were great. It was a family ran restaurant and the place mats were art from the local elementary kids. Mine was made by Conner Casey. It reminded me of Conner and Casey back home. It was another beautiful day with picture perfect weather.

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 10, 2009, 05:58 PM (UTC -5)

Wine Country Cruises

2009-10-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

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Queen Mary Cruise to Caribbean 08

2009-01-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

Southern Caribbean on the Queen Mary: December 9^th to 19^th 2008.

Dave and I were so excited about visiting several islands that we have not seen yet and enjoying the largest liner on the ocean. He earned the perfect cruise from the Cunard Academy and our flights were paid for by my travel bank. I am not a writer by any means and can not spell worth a darn but wanted to share our wonderful experience with my friends and family.

We arrived at the airport in Fort Lauderdale early and caught a cab to the ship. As we approached the pier there she was in all her glory, the beautiful Queen Mary II. I felt like royalty getting out of our taxi at the port. We were one of the first in line and got on the ship at noon. There was so much to see, the ship is huge, but we did figure by the time our 10 days were up we would know our way around. We went to our cabin and dropped bags our off and walked a little ways down our hallway to the terrace pool deck. We hung out there for the sail away. We took lots of photos with my new camera I got for Christmas.

Ship life: The ship is extremely prestigious and polished. We had an inside cabin for the 1^st time but it actually was not bad. One thing is, not knowing what time of day it was, we slept in several times. We found the King’s Pub for a great sandwich or shepherd’s pie. At night we had Karaoke, I managed to do a few tunes but could not get Dave up there for anything. He does not believe me when I tell him he does a great Johnny Cash. Dinner was very fancy, we ate in the dining room four times. Dave did wear his tux and looked very handsome to. We did have a travel agent’s meeting and met a couple of other agents. We each had a questionnaire we had to fill out by the end of the cruise. This really helped us get to know the ship. They have several things that set them apart from other cruise ships. They have a kennel, a museum with photos of famous people who have sailed on Cunard, and a planetarium. We did get internet in our cabin which made it nice to keep in touch with home. We visited the casino a couple of times, seen a planetarium presentation, listened to a couple of lectures, had a fantastic dinner at the Todd English restaurant, learned about Champaign, went to expo style wine tasting, met the Captain and Officers at the Officer’s Gala, and went to a movie on board. We had a couple of days a sea and all was great.

The islands: Our first stop was Curacao, It was clean and they had a great waterfront, with shopping and restaurants. The bridge across the water was for walkers only and moved out of the way for the ships to come through. We hired a driver Russell to take us around the island and saw hundreds of new houses being built. Many Americans are retiring in Curacao. Russell dropped us off at the water front and we had a snack at a waterfront restaurant and people watched.

Our second stop was Grenada. Grenada was a pleasant surprise. We hired a driver Louis to take us to the waterfall, rainforest, and highlights of the island. We stopped at a spice shop in the mountains and learned a lot about nutmeg and other local spices. The waterfall was beautiful, they had guys you could donate to, and they jumped off the cliff into the water. Our driver worked on a cruise ship for several years and ended up being the perfect guide. The damage was obvious from a Hurricane Emily

they had in 2005. The nutmeg tre

e

s were almost 80 percent lost. We visited the old Spanish fort and met Alice who had great information about the island and we could see for miles from there. The prison was just below

the fort and we were told about the rebels that killed the prime minister are still there, working in the fields. The rebels were funded by a few Russians living on the island. Cuban milita

ry had move onto the island and were going to dissolve their republic and make it Com

munist. A local politician called the United States and President Reagan sent the US Marine.

We decided to keep our driver on for a tour of the St. George's University, this was a nice part of the island. The campus is great the students have two private beaches and great dorms near the classrooms. On our way back to the ship we

stopped by the public beach and put our feet in

the Caribbean water. This is so far our favorite island.

Our next two stops we had been th

ere before; but, I especially was looking forward to St Lucia. At Barbados we went back to the Marina and had appetizer and a glass of wine on the deck of the same restaurant we went to last time. We hired a driver Nick from there to take us to a nearby beach. There was hardly anyone there so we set at the beach bar had a nice visit with the waitress and watched the sailboats go by and a couple of birds make a nest in the rafters. We had made arrangements with our driver

to come back and take us to the ship. N

o worries, just happy.

St Lucia, we did go to a resort beach and hung out. Some of the ships staff that we knew where there enjoying the resort’s beach and pool. We had a great lunch and a wonderful bottle of wine

with the ships crew.

St. Kitts, was a great island for shopping we walked around the port shops and bought a few souvenirs. We probably could have seen some beautiful sites we were getting a little tired after the other four stops in a row.

St Thomas, it was rainy and we hung out

at a pier sidewalk cafe and people watch. This was one of the days we slept in and got off of the ship late. The Caribbean can not be matched by its flavor and beauty.

This was a summary of our wonderful ex

perience on the Queen Mary, we would have loved to have had everyone with us. It was an experience of a lifetime. Please enjoy our stor

y and photos.

Next stop: The South Pacific, Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand.

Photos of Costa Rica

2008-05-06T13:30:00.001-07:00

Picture 1 David, Sandra, Susan, Carl, Jim and Vici Picture 2 Sandra, David and Alonso

Picture 1 David and Sandra Picture 2 Carl and Susan

Picture 1 Vici and Jim Picture 2 Sandra and David

Photos by Vici and Jim Willis

Our South American Adventure

2008-04-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

Dave and Sandra's Excellant Adventure

Sandra and David

Trip to CHILE
Day 1.
Traveling to Santiago; we traveled from Houston to Atlanta for a wonderful day at the Atlanta International Airport. We had an eight hour layover; however, we spent it in the Crown Club. I worked on the computer and David watched CNN and sampled the free wine. We left the club about 7:30pm to go grab dinner at TGI Fridays and on to the Gate for our flight. Well! Believe, it or not we had a delay. Which work out well for us because we were to arrive in Santiago at 7:30am and the room was not available till noon. We planned the trip this way for the free flight. With the delay our plane landed at 9:30am. The flight was great we got exit row seats lots of leg room and no one across from us. We both had a good night sleep and were refreshed when we arrived at Santiago airport at 9:45 am. Delta was very impressive, great customer service and equipment.
Customs in Santiago was quick and easy; however, we were ask to pay an entry fee of $ 120 each. We hired a van to take us to the hotel. Another couple in the van were from L. A. they were flying American and luckily did not get delay after American canceled 1300 flights that day. They are staying in Santiago for 4 nights and catching a NCL cruise. We stayed at the Radisson very nice and just a walk away to sidewalk restaurants, cafés and shops. We rested walked to a great café where no one spoke English that was fun. We had lunch it was great. I had a pizza with shrimp David had a chicken (pollo) sandwich with avocadoes and tomatoes. We shared it was great (don’t forget the wine). The city was very busy and it was interesting to watch the people. That evening we had a wonderful dinner at the hotel, great salad with Avocadoes, tomatoes and olive oil. After dinner we went back to the room, got a little work done on the computer; and, signed up for our internet phone service. Called home and a few friends for 1 cent a minute. This is a great phone service when traveling. Ask me about it. Then night night.

Day 2.
We woke up at 7:30 am and hurried to catch our Driver at 8:30. The hotel dropped the ball on our wake up call. We did well, getting packed and manage to have our great free breakfast. We meet our Driver Roberto (Spanish speaking only) and we were on our way. He knew we wanted to stop at the Vineyard and tour the Valapairso (an old fishing village on the west coast of Chile). He stopped at a Winery named Veramonte. This place was extremely impressive. We started our tour at 10:30 meanwhile we tried to interpret Roberto’s stories about the valley of Casablanca. I was able to understand that this valley has mostly white wine, hence the name Casablanca. After a wonderful tour, they treated us to cheese and wine tasting outside in a picnic area. Our host had just returned from Houston and was there presenting their wine to HEB and Costco. We left the winery and headed toward Valparaiso. Roberto pointed out the Presidential buildings. In town he stopped at many of the highlights and picture sites. We could see the ship from everywhere (we were sailing Princesse one of our favorite cruise lines). He drove us over to the beach town of Vina del Mar. He dropped us at a fabulous Chilean restaurant in a hillside castle overlooking the ocean. Some of the best food and Chilean Wine we have ever had. Then he drove around Del Mar for the interesting sites then on to the ship. We drove up and checked in no lines and took a bus over the ship. All aboard, the Star Princess is a beauty, a lot like the Sapphire and the Crown. We got into our great ocean view cabin and settled in. Went to the welcome aboard show and saw a great band in another theater. They played our favorite music we will probablygo see them again.

Day 3.
The ship docked at 7:00am at Coquimbo Chile, a wonderful fishing village just 250 mile north of Valparaiso. We did not have an excursion planned and decided to sleep in. We got off the ship about noon and just walked to the nearby harbor. They were a few souvenir booths but most impressively was the fish market. Every kind of fish you can think of fresh off the boats. Dave and I did stop and have a snack of queso in a pie shell with a diet coke. We walked along the harbor which was a park like setting and watched the seals play around all the fishing boats. Wonderful day around the small city of Coquimbo, and we went back to the ship to spend the evening at the parties they had planned onboard.

Travel to Peru
2 Days at Sea
Day 4:
After reading the Princess Patter we knew that the lecturer would be a great one. John Maxtone-Graham was lecturing on his book “The Only Way to Cross” a history about Atlantic crossings between South Hampton to New York in the 19th century. Very interesting information delivered by an extraordinary story teller. We had a wonderful day by the pool and a great formal dinner we had chosen anytime dinner, its great! show up at anytime. You choose to sit with others or a table for two. We sat with 2 couples not together but both from the Vancouver area Tony and Bonnie and the other couple Carl and Susan. We seamed to hit it off well. They may join us for Australia.

Day 5
Knowing that Mr. Graham would have another great lecture this morning we prepared ourselves to be their early get a good seat. He spoke this morning on “Titanic Survivors” He is such a great story teller we felt like we had actually known Violet Jessop a room steward who had survive the titanic. She had also Violet had served on the Titanic when it hit an iceberg. And the Lusitania
when she was torpedoed by the German Submarine Boat.
Later we did go to the theater for the singer Vincent Talarico. He is kind of a cross between a Richard Simmons look and Neil Diamond (he had a great voice but not a good dancer). His clothes were flashy and he had some fake looking tan. Then we were onto Peru.

Day 6:
We awoke to the view of the desert outside our window. The bus ride was 30 minutes to El Chaco a great fishing village. We walked around a little looked at the boats. I found a great necklace and earrings from a local family. We went back to the ship to enjoy the day around the pool and then went to the sanctuary spa and enjoyed a room to ourselves.

That night we chose to dine at the Sterling Steakhouse, great food and wine a $ 15 surcharge but well worth it.

Day 7.
We arrived at our next port of call Calleo, Peru (For Lima) We are here for 2 nights. The port is very busy. They are loading coal onto a ship at the end of the pier and across from our ship is the fright ships loading Hamburg Containers. For safety reasons we were not able to walk around the pier area so we had to catch a shuttle to a great area of Lima called Miraflores an hour ride, it wasn’t really that far, just lots of traffic. We finally arrived at the JW Marriott in Miraflores Just a crossed the street from the famous high cliffs of Lima overlooking the ocean and a wonderful Galleria Mall. We ate a quick bite at KFC and went back to the ship. We decided that we would enjoy the sanctuary again. A few more people were there today one of the couples happened to be Susan and Carl. They will be going with us on the Costa Rica tour with Alonso (a driver that works out of Costa Rica we have used him with customers before but it's the first time we have had a chance to meet him). We went back to the dining room tonight and meet another Canadian couple and a young lady from Boston. We went back to hear the band Liquid Blue. Dave and I have discovered that we like Cosmopolitans they go down really nice. So shortly after the band took a break we called it a night.

Day 8:
After an overnight at Calleo, we slept in and had a late breakfast on deck 14 (buffet) I always feel like cattle when at the buffet. We did walk to the shops that are at the ship on the pier in the safety area. We watch the coal ship pull away. Down on the pier the workers were sweeping away the mess and it was clean as a hospital floor. We have been watching a couple of great movies. Miss Potter and Rumor Has It. We have appointments at the spa at 5:00 and look forward to another day at sea tomorrow.

Trip to Ecuador and Panama

Day 9
The day at sea started out with the same basic schedule, of coarse we caught the lecture about cruising and crossing. Mr. Maxtone-Grahamn is very interesting and must have spent most of his life at sea, studying or talking about it.
Day 10
Ecuador, the country on the equator. We heard lots of warnings about going off on your own, eating or drinking the local food or water; but, we do prefer to have are own driver and going at our own pace. We research the cruise line tours and decided we would hire a driver to take us to Montecristi, a nearby mountain village that made Panama Hats. We ran into “The Sisters” ladies we met at dinner and hired a cab together for $50 he drove us to Montecristi, and waited on us at the town square so we could look around visit the church and shop. We did stop at a hat shop first and Dave and I bought our original Panama Hats from Ecuador. Afterwards we went to an Overlook and headed back to the ship. On the way he stopped at the Playa where they were building boats. Beautiful workmanship (wooden fishing boats). We went back to the ship and enjoyed an afternoon of relaxing and watching old Movies “Pride and Prejudice”. Tonight’s show was a hilarious comedian Lenny Winslow a writer from the Benny Hill series. He was the type to use the audience for his humor and low and behold he called David to the stage along with 3 other guys. He started with David asking “What is your Name” “Where are you from” and Of coarse Dave answer all the questions then the question comes out “What do you do for a living?” Much to my surprise Dave answers “a male striper” the audience and the comedian could not quit laughing. David become famous after tonight everywhere we go people recognize him.

Day 10
Day at Sea today is not a typical day at sea. We had a celebration of crossing the equator. It was very funny and at the lecture this morning we found out about the customs of the celebration and we never going to admit it if we were what you call a pollywog. The area was very crowded we found a great place on the top deck with a view and a place to set on the steps. They did pick a two passengers and two crew members for the Crossing ceremony and the show began. King Triton was comedian Lenny and the Captain and cruise director became a big part of the show. The pollywogs did get smeared with food and beverages but did not get thrown into the pool. That was saved for the captain and cruise director. This evening was the magician from Lake Charles he was very good and Dave and I always set on the 3rd or 4th row. He called Susan up one of our new found friends for the floating in mid air routine. WOW amazing.

Day 11

Panama City, Panama. David and I wanted to see Panama City we have been to Panama two times and never made it to Panama City. We researched the list of excursions the ship had to offer and decided that we should see the old city (antique), new city and the place where Captain Morgan destroyed the city many years ago. We tendered in and found a cab just outside the mall area. He did everything we ask for and more. We loved the old town it reminded us of the French quarter in New Orleans. Our driver Martin took us up to the Presidents Mansion. Not just everyone could get through the guards to get there but he managed. Afterwards, we sat at a sidewalk café and enjoyed the plaza area. Today the school kids were protesting the conditions of the schools but they could only get so close to the Presidents Mansion. The local media was there so I am sure the President knows what is going on. We did see the wonderful sites of Panama City and headed back to the ship. At the tender loading pier we had lunch at a restaurant that overlooked the marina “lots of Money in these yachts” Great food and interesting scenery. We went back to the ship, rested, and went to see the Whytes at the Theater. They were 2 brothers from England who did a great Beatles show wonderful singers.
Afterwards at Karaoke, I did manage to sign up for a few tunes and found that I was 1 of 3 singers the whole night and the only female.

Day 12
A typical day at sea, relaxing and seeing the lectures and shows.

Trip to Costa Rica and Huatulco Mexico

Day 13

We have looked forward to Costa Rica the whole cruise. We ended up with six on our excursion. Alonso was our driver the same one that Scotty, Lisa, Annie, John, Brenda, George, Dale and Colleen used when they went to Costa Rica. We got off the ship and down the pier about 8:15 Alonso was there waiting. We had Susan and Carl from Vancouver and Vicky and Jim from San Diego with us.
Alonso headed to Manuel Antonio Park. We stopped at several sites along the way; one was to see the crocodiles, another to see a cliff restaurant made from an airplane, and a beer and wine stop. We arrived at the park; a beautiful area. We walked down a long path through the jungle about ½ miles long just a few feet off the beach. The jungle formed a natural canopy with many beautiful very busy multi colored birds overhead and several iguana under feet. On our journey we saw an unusual red legged crab. We arrived at an area with much activities; a closer look revealed, several white faced monkeys playing in the canopy. Our guide called them love monkeys, it is easy to see why. They loved to touch and groom each other The entry fee was $7.00 each but WOW! Susan, Carl, Vicky and I went in the water it was wonderful. The temperature was just right. We were not able to stay long but it was very refreshing. We walked back out of the park where the shops were with lots of the local souvenirs. I got a great turquoise bathing suit cover. Back in the van and we were off to the restaurant on the cliff. Alonzo had a great place picked out for lunch and the view was remarkable.
We stopped on the way back on Los Suenos to see the resort and marina. It is very nice. They had a great golf course and hundreds of beautiful yachts in the marina.

Day 14:
Days at sea seam to be for catching up on things, but emails and internet are extremely slow and some things are not going through. The food is great and We sat in on a Lenny talk about Benny Hill he really made Benny hill seam a lot different than we imagined.

Day 15:
Huatulco Mexico was in a beautiful cove just south of Acapulco. We pulled in with turtles and dolphins. The water was not quite the Caribbean but gorgeous. Dave and I decided just to walk around the port and found a great beachside restaurant to spend the afternoon. I swam in the wonderful ocean and enjoyed the wonderful day. We sat near the Princess singers and dancers boy did I fit in with my 2 piece suit. I guess it did not matter we had lots of South Americans and Europeans on board. One older lady at the table next to us proceeded to change into her bathing suit right there in front of God and everybody. After enjoying some great chips and guacamole we walked back to the ship. We walked around the deck checking out the different views. This is one of the most beautiful ports. We spent our last evening packing and watching national treasure on TV. We have an 11:35 am flight and our customs and immigration time was at 7:15 am. I hate to go and can’t believe its over, but we are homesick.

Day 16
We are setting at the Acapulco Airport waiting on our flight to Mexico City. Another interesting day at airports. It will be especially interesting to spend 3 hours at the Mexico City Airport. Aero Mexico had a great lounge area it helped with the wait time and the flight home started out a little bumpy but we arrived ontime. It’s good to be back home and we look forward to sharing our wonderful experience with our friends and family.
Thank you for sharing our great vacation. See you soon.

David and Sandra

Travel to Peru

2008-04-18T06:53:00.001-07:00

Trip to Chile

2008-04-12T12:07:00.001-07:00