Manta, Ecuador and King Neptune Ceremony
Manta, Ecuador and King Neptune Ceremony
The fish that must be kissed
Kissing the fish
Poliwogs
I haven't written much about sea days but we've developed a relaxing rhythm. Breakfast, either through room service or at the Lido, is followed by either the gym, a port talk, or bridge class. After lunch we sit out on the Seaview deck so Dan can smoke a cigar, we read (we're both on our 2nd book of the trip), go to the pool, or go see a movie. We've seen several interesting ones in the last week. After that we take a rest, then dress for dinner, go have a drink in the Ocean bar, then have dinner. We've met interesting people from Canada, the UK and throughout the US. I've seen most of the evening shows (singers, dancers, musicians and a comedian) and Dan enjoys playing craps in the casino. We're on day 10 and it's hard to believe we have 21 more days left. It's going by quickly.
Tuna boats off our ship
Our Thanksgiving was spent in Manta, Ecuador, called the tuna capitol of the world. Unfortunately I was hit with a bout of vertigo late Wednesday night and was down for the count all day Thursday so we didn't get off the ship. Dan took some photos of the city, the smallest one we've visited so far, so at least I was able to see something.
I slept most of the day, but we were able to see the Packers Lions game on our room TV so that was a plus. We had room service for our Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed turkey with all the trimmings. The day was not quite what I had hoped for but what can we do!
I woke up today feeling better so we went to the port talk on Lima, to the 5th session of beginner's bridge and to the King Neptune Ceremony. The King Neptune Ceremony is a tradition that recognizes those who are crossing the equator for the first time. Although we actually crossed the equator before arriving in Manta, today was when the ceremony took place. This tradition goes back many years (some say over 400) on ships and it takes poliwogs (first-timers) and puts them through a crazy ceremony where they are splashed with green and pink liquid then they kiss a fish. The ceremony is conducted by King Neptune. Queen Amphitrite, and Davy Jones. Once the poliwogs go through the ceremony, they are considered hardbacks, or worthy seafarers. It was quite the production! The pool had to be emptied afterwards to clean out all the junk that they splashed on everyone.
King Neptune, Queen Amphitrite and Davy Jones
I haven't written much about sea days but we've developed a relaxing rhythm. Breakfast, either through room service or at the Lido, is followed by either the gym, a port talk, or bridge class. After lunch we sit out on the Seaview deck so Dan can smoke a cigar, we read (we're both on our 2nd book of the trip), go to the pool, or go see a movie. We've seen several interesting ones in the last week. After that we take a rest, then dress for dinner, go have a drink in the Ocean bar, then have dinner. We've met interesting people from Canada, the UK and throughout the US. I've seen most of the evening shows (singers, dancers, musicians and a comedian) and Dan enjoys playing craps in the casino. We're on day 10 and it's hard to believe we have 21 more days left. It's going by quickly.
Our next stop is Lima, Peru. We arrive tomorrow afternoon around 4 and leave on Monday night so we'll have a good amount of time to see the sights. We have an evening excursion planned for Sunday night and will spend Monday on our own visiting the Miraflores section of the city.
Earlier today we were sitting on our verandah and I saw whales blowing water out of their spouts. We didn't see them breach but there were several nice glimpses of the water spouts. As we've headed south the temperatures have been dropping. Today is in the low 70s and very breezy. I needed my blanket when we were sitting on our verandah. We're not used to these cooler temperatures! And it will only get cooler as we get closer to Antartica!
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