Gene and Jan's Long Trip Too

December 30th we arrived at our last port of call prior to returning to the USA.  Cabo San Lucas, Cabo as it is commonly known, is located at the tip of the 775-mile Baha California peninsula where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez.  It is one of Mexico's top destinations because of its long beaches, resorts, scuba diving and picturesque coast line. Entering the bay, we passed the iconic rock formation at the southern tip of the Baha California Peninsula.  The arch is locally known as 'El Arco.' T he Viking Sun anchored and the passengers tendered ashore.   Then we boarded an expedition boat and headed for open water looking for whales.  The caravan of outbound boat traffic indicated many other tourists in Cabo were also hoping to see whales. Every winter gray whales swim 5,000 miles from their feeding grounds in the Arctic to breed at Cabo.  Two hours into the tour  a whale surfaced nearby.  Gene was hoping for ...

Christmas Eve Jan and Gene enjoyed a scrumptious dinner with 8 friends at Manfredi's (Italian) restaurant on the ship.  After dinner a special dessert bar was set up in the atrium featuring everything chocolate!  Christmas was a sea day. In December, passengers who enjoyed singing were recruited and began rehearsing Christmas music.  Mid-day on Christmas, every passenger was invited to the atrium for a holiday sing-along. Both traditional and modern songs put everyone in a festive mood. Even the crew felt the spirit of Christmas. Young and old, the singing brought back memories of Christmas's past. The ship was decorated with gingerbread "cities".   And of course, Santa dropped in from the North Pole.

Christmas Eve we docked at Puntarenas, Costa Rica for the day.  With the weather a perfect 78°, sunny and not too humid, Jan decided to venture off the ship for her second time in 5 weeks.  We joined a two-hour tour to Esparza, a picturesque town founded in 1574 by the Spanish. The city square was alive with seasonal activities absent Santa, snow, and decorated Christmas trees that we would expect back in Michigan. Local dancers dressed in traditional consumes entertained us. Even the town's young girls swayed to the beat of the local music. And with a little encouragement, Jan joined the festivities! Happy Holidays to all back home!

Day 4 was spent traveling from Cusco, Peru to Manta, Equador where we rejoined our voyage on the Viking Sun.  The 14-hour journey involved one domestic flight, one international flight and finally a 5-hour bus ride across Equador! Midway on the bus trip we made a rest stop at Montecristi, Equador, home of the Panama hat industry.  As we arrived in town we were greeted by the 50-foot high Manabita weaver statue. How a hat is made:  First the straw is placed over a wooden mold where the process is started. Then the hat is held and pressed by a heavy wooden piece that goes between the weaver`s chest and the top of the hat. One by one the straws are intertwined to create the  hat.  The work on a single hat requires weeks or even months to complete.  The price of the hat depends on the thickness of the straw used.  A low-end hat (thick straw) sells for $30, a top-of-the-line sombrero (thin straw) goes for $500.  After four days of t...

Day 3 we visited Machupicchu, the 15th century Inca citadel located on an 8,000 foot mountain peak.  (It was time to test our bodies and see if they had acclimatized to the high altitude.) We awoke at 4:00 AM and traveled by bus to the Ollantaytambo train station where we boarded the PeruRail Vistadome for Aguas Calientas at the foot of Machupicchu. For 90 minutes, the train traveled next to the Urubamba River as it snaked its way along the bottom of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.    We passed through tunnels and between mountains towering to heights of 20,000 feet or more.  The scenery was incredible! At the train station we boarded buses for the 15-minute ride to the base of  the citadel.  (Another switchback road, but this one was paved.)   Once there our adventure on foot began.  Steps, more steps, more... Finally we reached a vista overlooking the massive "Royal Estate" built for the Incan emperor Pachacuti ...

Day two, our bodies continued to adjust to the high altitude.  By now my nagging headache is gone, but my body resisted moving at normal speed.  The itinerary for the day was a visit to a number of scenic and cultural locations. We headed to the Maras Salt Fields in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, our first stop of the day.  The 30-passenger buses labored for nearly an hour along narrow, unpaved trails, often hung on the side of a sheer cliff with a 1,000 foot drop on the other side.  I tightened my seat belt as my bus fishtailed along the wet "greasy" roadway and occasionally pass an oncoming vehicle.  Cresting 13,000 feet, I was amazed to see large scale farming on the plateau.  Crops included asparagus, potatoes (more than 3,000 varieties), rice, quinoa, corn and coffee.  Twenty-thousand (plus) feet peaks of the Andes provide a stunting backdrop. Tractors were seldom used here.  The donkey on the left is hauling a single...

On Tuesday, December 17th, Gene began a 4-day overland tour to the lost city of the Incas, Machupicchu.  Jan was scheduled to go but after suffering fractured ribs in Argentina wisely elected to remain on the ship.  The excursion began with a 6:00 AM flight from Lima, Peru to Cusco, Peru, high in the Andes at an altitude of 11,152 feet.   Cusco, today a city of nearly half-million residents, was once the capital of the Incan Empire.  Though the Empire only lasted about 100 years (during the 15th century), it dominated much of the west coast of South America and controlled a population of nearly 10-million persons.   To help our bodies acclimatize to the high altitude, we began exploring Cusco immediately upon arrival.  Our first stop was at the Convent of Santo Domingo.  After the Spanish defeated the Incas, they systematically dismantled every Inca temple and ceremonial center and built a Catholic Church upon the temple's foun...