South America & beyond

Day 87 - 26 August - Manta, Ecuador
We awake to find ourselves back in the South Pacific, which we left 86 days ago, but is our last body of water back to home.  Manta is the major tuna processing port, with huge boats unloading frozen fish continously.  An overcast morning and we arrived (apparently) about 5.00am, as there are a number getting off for overland excursions, such as Machu Picchu, who have a 3 hour drive to the airport.  We had a more leisurely morning, although as usual on a port day the MDR closes at 9.00.

Unloading tuna

We planned to take the ship's shuttle into town and generally wander around, as last time we were here we went to Monticristi for Panama hats etc.  Back to today's visit, there were 2 free shuttles,  1 to downtown & 1 to the port terminal.  From what we'd been told, it seemed more logical to go straight into town - so did most of the ship.  We waited for over an hour before being able to board the bus - and ended up at the craft market, even further away from town.  Vivian was not happy.

3 minutes walking around the market was enough, but having established that it was only 10 minutes from the port gates (why did we wait for the shuttle?), we walked.  Yes, it was only 10 minutes to the Pacifico Mall, a new mall just 5 minutes from the ship.  I had forgotten (or didn't know) that Manta had been devastated by a 7.2 earthquake in 2016, after our last visit.  So the mall and a few surrounding hotels have been rebuilt, while many other buildings remain desolate.

Across to the beach - ship top right

Walked the mall (as does everyone else on a Sunday morning), had coffee & cake and walked some more.  Left the mall and crossed the road - which is a life changing/challenging event, as I have no idea why they waste money on painting pedestrian crossings!  On the other side is the beach area and this was really humming, not only on the beach,  but all the restaurants, bars & stalls.  Far more intriguing than the craft market.  We ended up having lunch & a couple of beers before returning to the ship.   The food was very good & large beers just $2 each.  Wow.

Day 88 - 27 August - at sea
Although we are just below the equator, it is remarkably cool - just 19° and overcast.  

Day 89 - 28 August - Lima
Cloudy & chilly morning as we continue to sail southwards.   We are due to berth in Callao, the port about 10 miles from Lima.  Once again the temperature is supposed to be 19° but it feels colder.  We are doing Lima on our own and will be taking the free shuttle into town this afternoon.  We have the rest of today and all of tomorrow,  as we don't sail out until 11.00pm on Wednesday. 

Callao is a huge port - the largest in South America, so there are compulsory free shuttles to both the port gate and to the Real Plaza Salaverry Mall,  which is about 10km from our berth.  Now at this port it is not recommended to simply go to the gate as there is nothing there, and it is an undesirable area.  The mall option at least gets us part way into Lima, although not the central part, a good starting point for a taxi.

Learning from our call at Manta, we went down early to get our shuttle tickets (#143/4) and were delighted that they called the first 80 (2 buses) almost straight away.  The next group of 80 were then called within a couple of minutes and we were off the ship before 12.00!  

That was good - until we went to board the bus and we were stopped by the bus Co-ordinator,  as the first 4 buses were full.  How could this be?  Simple.  *Some* of our passengers do not think that rules and conventions apply to them, so they got off the ship (without shuttle tickets) to visit the portside local market.  When they saw a queue of passengers getting on a bus they just joined in!  As there were over a dozen of us held back, that shows it wasn't an isolated instance.

Not to worry, bus #5 was also there and in the end all the buses reached the mall at the same time.  Although it was only 10km, the journey took almost an hour!  Traffic is appalling,  but more on that later.  I must say that the shuttle coordination was fantastic and they had 12 buses running until 10.00pm (& again tomorrow).  When we alighted at the mall we were of course accosted by various touts and drivers, but we'd already been advised to walk through the mall to the taxi rank on the other side.

This proved a slight challenge, as the first driver wanted USD20 each, when we'd been told the going rate (for rich cruise ship tourists) was USD20 per taxi!  Oh yes, about a half or less for locals.   We were approached by a driver who agreed the USD20 and we went with him in his "taxi".  He was no more a proper taxi driver than I am, but given the state of all the taxis, who would know?

Our destination was Miraflores, an upmarket area on the coast just south of Callao.  Although only some 5kms away, it still took around half an hour.  Just to prove that our driver was not a real taxi, he did not stop at the taxi rank, nor indeed along the road, but drove into a car parking building!  When I gave him his $20 he protested and waved his car park ticket, saying $10 more.  Hah, did he think that I had not seen the entry sign saying "10 min gratious" (or similar).   Just walked away........

Looking south from mall

Minaflores area is full of hotels and is really impressive, and although mainly an outdoor shopping mall, it is constructed below the road and built into the cliffs.  All the high end shops were here and we wandered around and admired the views over the ocean, as well as paragliders soaring above and around.   Although it was 3.00ish, it was time for lunch, so we picked a lovely restuarant with these great views.  It was helpful that they had both an English menu and that many spoke good english. I had a traditional chicken curry with quail eggs & Vivian had club sandwiches. 

Yum

After a walk along the promanade (well, the pathway above the cliffs anyway), it was time to head back to the mall and the ship.  Forgot to mention that it was cold - very cold.  Foolishly I was dressed in shorts & t shirt,  whereas the locals had longs, woollies and jackets!  Got a real taxi back this time and enjoyed the joys of Lima traffic.  We very nearly got wiped out by a truck carrying LPG cylinders,  apart from other instances.

Perhaps we too could solve Auckland's transport problems by simply removing all traffic lights, stop & give way signs, pedestrian crossings, and actually all road rules.  Merging 3 or 4 lanes, or cutting across 3 or 4 lanes requires nerves of steel & thumb on the horn constantly.  It seemed to work in Lima and surprisingly we saw no accidents or incidents - a true miracle.  

Time to change the tyres!

Day 90 - 29 August - Lima

I dressed more appropriately today, having retrieved some winter clothes from under the bed. We did the shuttle thing again and you would not believe it, but we were once again stopped at the bus, but this time they found an additional 5 seats - still leaving 8 or 9 behind.  When we reached the mall this time we got a taxi to downtown Lima.  One of our objectives was to watch the changing of the guard at noon.  We had around an hour to spend and went for a coffee.

That was not as easy as you think.  Firstly there are very few cafes or eateries in the Plaza Mayor (Town Square) area and secondly coffee just came as sachets in takeaway cups.  Eventually we found a cafe behind the  Government Palace.  They didn't speak english & we didn't speak Spanish.  Coffee came as hot water in cups & a small decanter of brewed coffee.  We tried asking for milk, to no avail.  

Eventually, after demonstrating "milking" along came hot watery milk, to which we added the coffee.  It was cold, but enough was enough,  or so we thought.   Ooops, they don't take US dollars, or Mastercard.   After much shrugging etc. they took about double the cost in USD - $4, which didn't matter and at least we got to use the loos.

Not a huge crowd at the changing of the guard, so managed to get a front row view.  Unfortunately the view is across the footpath & through the fence, so a bit obstructed.  We enjoyed the band and the parading around with lots of goose stepping.   There was an intense police presence with riot squad, bomb squad and even a water cannon or two to be seen.  We later found out that it is a public holiday tomorrow and a huge parade is being held there.

Just adjacent is the Cathedral, so we did a visit to that as well as the Archbishop's Palace & religious art museum.  We were entitled to a guide, but after listening to her for about 10 minutes, it was clearly going to be a long, tiring time, so we skipped ahead and saw all we wanted.  

After passing some "dubious" local eateries, we ended up at the Parque de la Muralia - a park by the old city walls - which have been recently excavated.  As with Miraflores, there was a restuarant under the park,  which looked very upmarket.  Only problem was no english.  However we persevered and I had the local duck & Vivian a chicken dish (perhaps Pollo was the only word I recognised).  As an enticement, I was entitled to a free Pisco Sour - the local drink.  Interesting, but funnily mine was in a small cup, whereas I noted that people at the adjacent table (incidentally Cruise Director's staff) had ones 2 or 3 times larger.  Another aside - they were the only people from the ship we saw all day!

Shanty town on hill in distance.

Old wall in foreground

More yum

After a walk around the Wall, we went back to the Plaza in the hope of getting a taxi.  Darn, the Plaza is once again blocked off by Police & army.  We were however able to enter and walk through, although I gather that later in the afternoon it was closed altogether.  So where to find a taxi I pondered?  Just as we approached the far corner, a taxi coordinator called out "you want a taxi to Real Plaza Salverry Mall?  I have 2 safe taxi for you".  So much for not looking like a tourist Hutch!  It was all kosher, and was the official yellow taxi.  The drive back to the mall took only half as long (but twice as scary) as it had this morning.  

Simple intersection

Local housing around the port

We thought that we'd take a little time to explore the mall and went up the escalators to the upper floors.  What a revelation.   Once again all the well known high end brands and all very clean.  Picked up a couple of bottles of cheeky reds (which I see came through at around NZ$7.50 each) and said goodbye to Lima.  We didn't stay up until sailaway and frankly I neither heard nor felt us depart.

Day 91 - 30 August - at sea
Apart from a bit of a sleep in, it was a bit annoying to find that for some reason we are having a Thursday "brunch", so no food until after 10.30.  We decided to have our morning coffee first & met up with Margit and Jim for a debrief on Lima.  Still cold, cloudy and a bit bumpy outside, so seating at a premuim.  First grumble (actually second after my dislike of brunch,  Princess style) is that most of the seating is taken up by people reading, knitting, internetting & even sleeping.  Anything apart from having a coffee and moving on.   We ended up outside the Wheelhouse and helpfully Mike, our server brought coffee down to us.

After coffee it was time to go to the MDR for their "international brunch" - no such thing, just an excuse to roll 2 mealtimes into 1 without providing any service and to turn the dining room into the Horizon buffet.  As is pretty obvious, I actually object to this and the food was average to say the least and the usual overfilled plates and wastage was evident.  I resisted eating in protest. 

And yes, tonight is yet another Formal.  By mid afternoon the photographers have taken over and blocked off half the atruim along with their intrusive lighting and closing of stairways for their formal photographs, which rarely occur.  I have noticed it far worse this cruise and it seems that the passengers have no rights and the whole cruise is for the benefit of add-on sales.  Now don't get me started on the Fine Art Auctions! 

The only good news of the day is that we should be leaving this cold climate behind after tomorrow, so fingers crossed.  What we have been experiencing is the Humboldt current, which is a flow of cold  water running up the west coast of South America (complete opposite to the Gulf Stream we enjoyed on the eastern coast of America & up to Iceland).  Anyway, this current brings lots of marine life & plankton up to the surface and enhances sea life.  So yeah, I'll put up with a bit of a chill to save the fishes etc.....

Day 92 - 31 August - at sea
Can hardly believe it, but today (Friday) marks 3 months since we set sail from Auckland.  Two more weeks across the Pacific and it will all be over.  Unfortunately,  if this grey & "bumpy" weather continues I won't be sorry to be back home.  On a positive note however, as mentioned yesterday, I hope that the Captain is correct about the weather improving.  

I am pleased to report that this afternoon the sky has cleared a little and we can see some sun, however the sea is still lumpy and it remains cold.  I fear that the shorts will be in hiding for another day or two.