Sometimes things do happen on schedule!

Even in Panama!  Not often, but sometimes they do!

It’s raining in Boquete . . . all day . . .

But that’s pretty much according to schedule.  This is the rainy season, and October is usually the “worst” month.  Well, October and November, and sometimes December, but hey, the rain makes things green and makes the coffee grow.  And usually it doesn’t rain all the time . . . but sometimes . . . it’s been raining for two days.  But at least that’s on schedule . . .

And we’re picking coffee . . .

And that’s on schedule . . . well, maybe a little early . . . and we’ve been experimenting with removing the cherries ourselves, now that we have finally adjusted the machine that’s to help us.  I’ve found a motor, so that’s the next step.  Now, if we could only have some sun to get this stuff dry!   Fortunately I have good neighbors in Palmira who are willing to help out with this stuff.

The coffee cherries get dumped in the hopper and then pressed against the copper screen which pops out the coffee seeds or beans.  Then then need to be washed by hand to remove the sticky “honey” and then dried . . . hopefully in the sun.  In the commercial beneficios they are put in big revolving drums like a huge clothes dryer for about eight hours.  These are usually fired with dead wood or gas.

And I’m getting my lectures  . . . well, not “done”, but making progress . . .

I’ve been in India for a few days!  What a fascinating country!  I can’t wait to get there.  Not only do the cruises give me an excuse to travel, but they give me a reason to get caught up on all the stuff I missed learning about!  I consider myself an “educated man” [AB, MDiv, MBA, PhD] but there is so, so much I know nothing about.  Sometimes I think the older I get the less I know, and it’s not that I’m forgetting, it’s just that there’s so much to know.  When I was younger I used to think I knew all the answers, now I’m just struggling to figure out some of the questions!

With theology . . . I would have been a fantastic “boy preacher” with all the answers!  Now I struggle with the questions.  In life . . . I’m reminded of what a Facebook friend posted . . . “I like the characters in my life, I just wish I knew the plot.” 

I’ve given myself until November 10th to work on the world cruise on DAWN PRINCESS, then all that goes on hold, and I just focus on reviewing all the lectures I’ve already done that I’ll be using on the next series of voyages on the ROYAL PRINCESS, the Tri-Continent (Europe, Africa, South America) and the Amazon.  Then I start packing . . . you’ve worried about what to take on a two-week cruise, try four months!  Actually, you take a LOT less and just wear the same stuff over and over and over.  Formal wear is good . . . and easy . . . and doesn’t take any imagination, and nobody cares if it’s the same every night!  And with a couple of suits, where the slacks and jackets mix and match, and a bunch of different ties, and a few shirts . . . and free dry cleaning and laundry (that helps!) . . . you’ve got it made.

Also predictable . . . though not always on schedule . . .

A quake last night. We were sitting in front of the fire watching DVDs of “Gray’s Anatomy”, where doctors occassionally treat patients between episodes of sleeping with one another or sleeping with anyone who comes within 6″ of another, preferably breathing, human being. Anyhow, sitting there enjoying the wine and the fire, and the chair starts feeling like a massage chair, which it isn’t. 6.1 About 180 km South of David, where three tectonic plates come together. No big deal. The dogs stuck their heads up and looked around, the cactus plant waved around, but we didn’t want to miss a single moment of who-is-sleeping-with-whom, which is a little like having dinner in the crew staff “fishbowl” on the ZUIDERDAM.

This may not be a static image, but we will give it a try . . .

This one will give you an idea of the seismic activity off in the Pacific Ocean south of David . . .

Mastering The Pace

I am busy with a million things that have to be done before leaving for four months on the ROYAL PRINCESS in 34 days. I’ve finished all my lectures for ROYAL and am trying desperately to cover as much of the world as possible since, when I get back from ROYAL I have only a month before I do the world cruise on DAWN PRINCESS. So for the past few days I’ve been working on India, while trying to keep up with life on the farm in Palmira.

Just a year ago I was desperately trying to finish up construction of my house before leaving on the ZUIDERDAM. What’s wrong with me?? Here I am yet again having bit off more than I can possibly chew.

Anyway, while I’ve finished the lectures for ROYAL, I’m still doing some reading relevant to the cruise. This winter we I will be regularly visiting Devil’s Island, the site of the former French Penal Colony in Guiana, so I’ve been reading the books that have been written by former inmates of the French Penal Colony. There are three main books, each with a slightly different perspective depending on what things were like when that particular inmate was “in residence” and his personality.

The one I’m reading now is FLAG ON DEVIL’S ISLAND by Francis Lagrange. Lagrange is interesting because he was sentenced to the French Penal Colony for art forgery and counterfeiting. He was incredibly good at the art forgery business and one of his works eventually turned up in a respected museum and was eventually exposed as a forgery. He created the forgery so the original could be stolen from the museum and sold to a private collector in California and replaced on the museum wall with the forgery. The forged painting hung on the museum wall in Europe until the California collector’s original went up for auction and suddenly . . . viola, there were two! Lagrange is also interesting because he painted, with house paints and whatever materials he could lay his hands on, a crude artistic record of life in the penal colony. Eventually these paintings have made their way to the University of Missouri and are now available to be viewed online

When Lagrange first arrives in Guiana he is given some advice on how to adapt to life in the islands by an experienced con . . . “Adopt the colonial pace, my friend, and you’ll get along all right.”

When Lagrange asks, “The colonial pace?”, the man gives a description which describes not only the pace of life in Guiana, but the pace of life in most of Latin America.

“Never run if you can walk, never walk if you can stand, never stand if you can sit, never sit if you can lie down, and never do anything today you can put off until tomorrow.  That’s the colonial pace.  Master it and things won’t be so bad.”

Master it living in Panama and things won’t be so bad either.

Three Stooges Coffee

After yesterday, if we ever start producing our own brand of coffee, I think we should call it “Three Stooges Coffee.”

Alfonso, Sabino - my Gnobe Bugle Indian coworkers - and I were trying to process coffee cherries using our newly acquired, antique, hand operated depulping machine . . . in the pouring rain . . . what a mess.  Supposedly these machines when operated by hand should process 400 pounds of coffee cherries an hour.  What the machine does is tear off the husk of the coffee cherry leaving only the beans.  The beans then need to be washed to remove the sticky “honey” and dried, after which they rest for 6 to 9 months before having the parchment removed and then, at some point, being roasted. 

What should have taken us two hours has taken three days . . . of frustration.  But our goal was to experiment and to learn . . . and along with that came getting soaked, and smelling like rotting coffee husks.

Today is my day to start working on Darwin, Australia.  These 15 to 30 minute port talks take about two full work days to research and prepare . . . For the world cruise on DAWN PRINCESS I have 35 port talks to do, not counting 12 full-blown hour-long lectures which can take almost a week sometimes.  I leave for ROYAL PRINCESS in less than 40 days . . . then am home for a month . . . and then leave for the world cruise and need to have all this stuff done.  You’d think I’d have time on the ship to work on this stuff, but not so since it requires either a real library or fast Internet . . . neither of which is available at sea.

Times like these I wonder why I always bite off more than I can chew . . .

And it’s not just the cruise stuff . . . it’s also all the projects I’ve got going in Panama!  What ever happened to a nice, quiet, relaxing retirement laying in the hammock and reading?  But that’s me, and it always has been . . . so I guess I’m too old to change.  Maybe it’s inherited.  I remember going to visit my Dad in Altoona, Pennsylvania, shortly after he had retired and he was residing the house himself with aluminum siding.  I remember thinking that it was nuts for an “old man” to be taking on such a project.  “Like father, like son” I guess.

But the end result of all this is that while I don’t always get everything done . . . I do get a whole lot more accomplished than a lot of other folks.  But it is frustrating at times . . . and there are times, like now, when I wake up at 2 AM and lay in bed thinking of everything that “has” to be done . . . and finally say, “What the hell . . . ” and get up and start working on stuff.

Oh well, I guess there are worse illnesses!

Panama Dreamin’

I know that many of you who’ve stumbled on this blog over the past two years, and continue to read it regularly, so so with your own dreams of coming to Panama.   And in spite of my adventures . . . and misadventures . . . you’re still dreaming of retiring in paradise.  “Good on you mate!”  [I'm working on those Aussie expressions since most of the guests on the DAWN PRINCESS world cruise will be Aussies!]  The other night I had dinner with a couple who have just moved to Panama and told me that they had read my blog continually during their long struggle to sell their house and free up and move to Boquete.  So for all of you in that situation . . . I thought I’d share this picture with you . . . taken in our living room in Palmira.

  When I had finally sold enough real estate that they gave me a tiny little office, instead of just a desk out on “the floor”, and I was dreaming of Panama, I found this old cruise line poster of a toucan, with a ship in the Canal or on the Amazon . . . and the poster reflected everything I was dreaming about.  So I had it framed and put it on my office wall and dreamed about Panama while shuffling paperwork and working the phones. 

The dreamin’ works folks!  Here we are!

And with all the hassles, the biting off more than I can chew, and the challenges . . . AND FUN! . . . of producing “Three Stooges Coffee” . . . it IS paradise!

If you doubt it,  take a look at this picture of my driveway that I took yesterday morning . . .

 

Tomorrow, I promise . . . your emails and questions!

Tuscan Dinner, LA, Bali and Palmira

 

This has been a very hectic weekend, and I do apologize to all of you for missing a day of blogging!  Somehow I always manage to get too many projects going at once, even in retirement.  What ever happened to sitting around on the rocking chair doing nothing?  Well, I’d go nuts, so I suppose it is better to have too much going, than nothing.

I leave for the ROYAL PRINCESS for 4 months in 40 days.  All my presentations for that trip have been done for a while, but I need to get at least two thirds of my stuff done for the world cruise on DAWN PRINCESS.  I have only month’s vacation . . . translate: working time to prepare for the next cruise . . . when I get back from ROYAL, before I’m off on DAWN.  This weekend it was a port talk for Los Angeles . . . really a talk for Aussie’s about California, since there is absolutely nothing to do around Los Angeles Harbor.  You either take a shore excursion, or sit on deck and watch the seagulls poop!  Now I’m on to Bali!

Saturday night we attended Lauretta Bonfiglio’s Tuscan dinner at the Bistro, a little “gringo” restaurant in town. This is the second one of these we’ve attended. The first was great, so we anxiously awaited her Tuscan dinner and were not disappointed. 

I started off early chatting with friends and drinking three glasses of champagne.  I should have learned on cruise inaugurals . . . go easy on the pre-dinner champagne.

Since I’m deathly allergic to shrimp . . . not that I didn’t consume more of my fair share of the world’s shellfish before developing this allergy . . . I wrote off the appetizer, “Grilled Prawns with Tuscan White Beans” with a Placido Pino Pino Grigio 2008. I like Pino Grigio, so I drank my appetizer.  Nikki gave the prawns an unenthusiastic, “OK”, and she’s the shellfish fan.

The soup was fantastic!  “Summer Potato Soup with Tomatoes and Parsley Sauce” . . . chunky, hearty, and delicious.  The accompanying wine was “Banfi Fumaio”, probably my favorite wine of the night.  A fruity blending of Chardonnay and SauvignonBlanc. They kept pouring and I kept drinking.

Two of our table companions were a couple from San Diego whom I had met through this blog, but whom I had never met in person!  They were fun folks who had encountered great difficulty selling their California home, so in the struggle kept dreaming of Boquete and reading my blog!

Speaking of blogs, our friends Dave and Cora Kent were there, and Cora told me that she has started a blog . . . www.boquetegourmet.com . . . inspired by me!  “I figured if you can do it, anybody can do it!”  Hmmm . . . anyhow, it is a neat blog, so check it out.

The pasta as far as we were concerned was the hit of the evening . . . I think one of the best pastas I’ve ever tasted!  “Penne with Roasted Butternut Squash, Toasted Waltnuts, Brown Butter and Sage” . . . superb!  The wine Placido Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2007. 

The main course was “Pesto Fillet Mignon with Sun Dried Tomato Demi Glaze and Grilled Polenta Cake” . . . excellent, except the fillet was way overdone.  I realize with a group there are different preferences, but I think it would be safest to do a medium on the rare side, than to overcook the fillet.  The demi glaze was excellent, adding to, but not overpowering the other flavors.    The salad was “Grilled Eggplant Salad with Pine Nuts and Capers” and this being Boquete, you always need a “Plan B.”  Pine nuts it turned out were not available right now, so Lauretta substituted peanuts, but it worked.  Wine: “Banfi Centine 2006″

By this time I was remembering cruise ship inaugurals where the wine and conversation is flowing so quickly that you forget just how much you are drinking.  The trouble is I liked the desert wine, Banfi Brachetto Brachetto D’Acqui 2008, a delightful rose wine “made from Brachetto.  This extremely aromatic, complex and historical grape variety grows only in the area of Acqui Terme, in southern Piedmont.  The cold maceration of the grapes, followed by a soft pressing, allows the extraction of the typical intense aromas from the skins and gives the wine its characteristic light ruby red color.  Very pleasant and extremely elegant . . . berry flavors and a touch of almond and nutmeg.”  Translation: excellent!  I liked it and could still taste. 

The desert was “Chocolate Cherry Cassata” which Nikki was too stuffed to eat, so brought it home.  And this morning, as I write this, I’m eating her desert.  Goes great for breakfast!

Cost $35 per person, up from $25, but this time included tip.

Today is a day of continuing to work on the despulpadora machine . . . figuring out how best to depulp, wash, and dry our spectacular coffee.  Eventually we will be picking too much to do it all ourselves, but this is an experiment and we will see how it goes and where it leads.

Another Cruise Ship Based in Panama

Last year Royal Caribbean made the decision to homeport a cruise ship in Colon. THE ENCHANTMENT OF THE SEAS now sails from Colon every on an itinerary that includes Cartagena, Colombia; Santa Marta, Colombia; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao and Kralendijk, Bonaire. The 80,700 ton ENCHANTMENT was built in 1997 and carries 2.446 guests.

Originally it was thought that Europeans, put off by the hassle of US immigration and customs, and eager to avoid departing from South Florida,  would fill ENCHANTMENT. That, along with South Americans, equally disenchanted by the US “welcome” who would also come in droves. Enchanting scenario for RCCL. Well those folks all came, but so did the Panamanians! And I’m told about 70% of the occupancy has been Panamanians who managed to book space. It’s been a hit for Royal Caribbean, the only snag being that someone in Panama has started to question . . . if retired “Pensionados”, like me, by law get 25% of air flights leave from and returning to Panama (but what they don’t tell you is the deeply discounted fairs don’t qualify), then Panamanian “Pensionados”, including all of us gringos, should also get the discount off the cruise fare. So . . . we shall see. The ship is doing well and it is a great opportunity for North Americans to do a seven-day cruise on a neat itinerary, and then to do a pre or post cruise package in Panama.

As you might expect, Spanish is the primary language on board and English is the secondary language.

My prediction is that more cruise lines will see the advantage of home porting a ship in Panama.

And now an outfit called “Cuna de vida” ["abundance of fishes"] has brought a 58-foot yacht, chartered from Lindblad Expeditions, to Panama.  Named THE SEA VOYAGER, the yacht promises luxury cruises of the Pearl Islands for only 64 guests.   Using the Lindblad crew the ship offers a customized tour of the Pearl Islands, better known by most people as the site where some of the original “Survivor” TV reality shows were filmed.   Per person rates for a three-day cruise are $1,250 and $3,900 for a seven day cruise.

This versatile 175-foot mini cruise ship lodges 33 spacious cabins and 66 guests. It carries a fleet of Zodiacs, capable of launching at a moment’s notice to view wildlife and to make remote landings. Stable and easy-to-handle inflatable kayaks and a complete range of snorkeling gear are also onboard.

The glass-enclosed Lounge, with padded rattan furniture and full-service bar, can be opened to sea breezes or closed and air-conditioned. The Sun Deck is partially shaded with a canvas canopy, while the Observation Deck is wide open for observing scenery and wildlife. The fully air-conditioned Fitness Center is equipped with stationary bicycles, elliptical trainer and treadmills. Guest E-mail and books about the region are found in the Library.

The Dining Room offers a full range of meals in an informal setting. Breakfast is a casual buffet. Lunch is served on the Sun Deck or in the Lounge, and dinner in the Dining Room is a full-service menu with at least three selections, always one for vegetarians. Our chefs are always willing to assist with special dietary requests.

All Sea Voyager cabins are above the waterline with large picture windows. Each includes lower berths, private bathrooms, glass-enclosed showers, and vanities. Plenty of storage space is available in well-lighted closets, under-berth drawers and bedside tables. Each tastefully appointed cabin features individually controlled air-conditioning and cozy bedding.

Now, if we could just get MSC to bring in a ship . . . and maybe Princess could put the ROYAL PRINCESS here in 2011.

Don’t Stop The Carnival

I’ve been working on my port lecture for Trinidad, where we will be visiting every other week while I’m on ROYAL PRINCESS this winter. When most folks think of Trinidad, officially Trinidad & Tobabo, they think of calypso, steel drums, limbo and Carnival, which is a good thing, because all of these traditions of Caribbean culture come from Trinidad. Trinidad, like many islands in the Caribbean, bounced around between countries. Poor little Tobago bounced around more the most, changing hands more than 22 times! . . . “It’s Thursday, dear, time to put up the flag, but which flag is it today?”

Folks who expect every island to be a moviesque tropical paradise are always surprised at Trinidad. Yes, there are spectacular places like Maracas Beach.  And, for those of you on a cruise . . . just 45 minutes, and a $90US cab ride from the ship!

But Port-of-Spain is a bustling, capital city, a regional financial and business center. Trinidad has one of fastest growing economies in Caribbean with one of the highest growth rates and per capita incomes in Latin America. And it’s reflected in all the new high rise buildings and some spectacular architecture.

 The new National Academy for The Performing Arts will compete with the Sydney Opera House for stunning design and will contain a main performing venue seating 1,500.

Trinidad has a wonderful mix of peoples and cultures. About 40% of the population are Afro-Trinidadians, descendants from slaves on the English sugar plantations. When slavery was abolished, Trinidad brought in indentured servants, sometimes called “the new slavery” from India, and another 40% of the population are descendants from those Indians who worked the sugar plantations. The remaining 20% is a mix of English and other Europeans. So you have this great mix, Eastern religious traditions and curry from India, Carnival and African-based music, and crisp accents, cricket and a tradition-laden parliament from England.

One of the interesting surprises of Trinidadian architecture are “The Magnificent Seven” . . . seven, stunning “castles” build in Trinidad in 1904 by locals anxious to demonstrate that they had “arrived” and wanted to flaunt their wealth and prestige. All seven of these remain today in various states of preservation all standing on the same road where they have competed for attention for over 100 years.

The Archbishop of Trinidad decided that he, too, needed a place to lay his head, a place that reflected his own perception of his importance and prestige, so he built himself a palace with church funds. A few years later the Anglicans of the island decided that if the Catholic Archbishop had a mansion, that the Anglican Bishop deserved one too. All of which, of course, was essential to the mission of the church to the poor and needy and to win the world for Christ.

The French Are Driving Me Nuts!

I don’t know why, but it’s the French. When I go on the ROYAL PRINCESS were will be visiting two French islands (St Barts and Devil’s Island, and one more-or-less, now less, “French” island, St. Lucia. St. Lucia bounced back and forth between the French and the English . . . “What’s the flag-of-the-day, dear, are we French or English this week?” . . . I don’t know why but this particular lecture has been a whole lot of hassle! Maybe it’s just the French.

St. Barts brags that it has “more millionaires per square meter than any place else in the Caribbean”, and the big attraction for locals is to go to Nikki Beach and watch the rich and famous and Hollywood celebrities frolicking in the surf. Some arestunning, with bodies beautiful, but a lot, and certainly some of the most famous, the ones I would know . . . look just like you and I . . . sagging bellies and drooping swim suits. Doubt it? Just do a Google picture search on “celebrity St Barts” and see what you come up with. Tip: it’s more fun to do it with your safe search filter turned “off”! Anyway since Nikki Beach is the hot, sexy, horribly expensive place where the rich and famous go, I know that’s where the not-so-rich-and-famous guests from ROYAL PRINCESS will want to go. So, anticipating their need to gawk, I emailed the following to Nikki Beach . . .

And this is the response I got!

Well, what I emailed was more like this . . .

So, look for me with the beautiful people at Nikki Beach! Enough about the French and rich-and-famous . . .

Kudos to Panamanian Business!

I know I bitch sometimes about the way Panamanian retail does business, and what little sense of customer service I observe. Well, you need to balance my complaints against this . . .

Tony Orta is a fellow I met via this blog. We’ve emailed back and forth and he was coming to Panama, planning to be in Boquete last Sunday, and we were planning on having dinner together to chat about our experiences retiring to Panama. I got an email from him saying that he had to postpone his trip because his father had a heart attack. It turns out his father is 101 years old. And today Tony sent me this follow up . . .

Richard: In anticipation of the trip I was taking to Panama, which just recently had to be cancelled, I had made reservations in Hotels in Panama City, Boca Chica and Boquete. I had also made reservations on Air Panama, and with a car and driver in Chiriqui. I had also made appointments with lawyers in Panama and realtors in Boquete.

In order to facilitate my exit here in the US. I had likewise made reservations with the international airline, a driver to the airport here, and a hotel at the airport prior to departure.

Well, when I cancelled all of the above, explaining the reason for my cancellation being the illness of my father, ALL of the Panama based businesses agreed to cancel without a penalty or charge, and ALL of the businesses based in the US charged penalties and other charges.

There is something right about a culture that places the value of family above the policies of profit making. In every case, the Panamanian businesses sent their best wishes for the recovery of my family. Certainly not the case with the US based businesses. That is definitely a country I wish to live in. Interesting footnote to the culture of the country where you live. Tony Orta

The rose is for those Panamanian companies who did it right . . . and made a friend for Panama, and a customer who will be back, and will spread the word.

However, a lot of Panamanian companies and some individuals don’t do it right . . . which leads me to this quote from a gringo friend, who himself has lots of construction experience on big projects, and who is building a house here in Panama . . . and whose builder, having taken 80% of his money is asking for more money even although he’s only finished 60% of the job . . . sound familiar??

“Building in Panama is one giant Ponzi scheme!”

You got that right! Builders take their profit out up front and then . . . good luck!! Hopefully, if they have some integrity, they will take the money from the next project to finish your project, but if the worldwide economy slows, and if there isn’t another project flush with initial money coming down the pike . . . guess what? Last guy gets screwed royally!

Which is exactly what my builder did. Used my money to finish another gringo’s house . . . well, truth is he never actually “finished” . . . “finished” is a loosely used word in a contractoreese . . . bought himself a new truck . . . then conveniently, with 97% of my money [Yes, I was stupid! But I thought the guy was honest and wanted to help him, as well as get my house done!], only having completed 70% of the job. That’s when I told him to get his ass off my project. So, guess what . . . no warranty, not that a warranty actually means anything in Panama. So now when it turns out the plumber didn’t actually use any glue to hold the PVC pipes together, and the pipe underneath all that expensive tile in the guest bathroom has separated, and I have to hire a real plumber to rip everything up and fix it . . . my guy’s driving around in the new (dark green) Toyota truck he bought with my money . . . and some poor gringo, who is innocent and virgin in Panama, is about ready to get the shaft. You can’t talk to enough people, particularly gringos, and Panamanians, if you can find folks who aren’t related to the contractor you’re considering . . . before making a commitment.  My contractor did the same thing to the three gringo houses he built before me: I just didn’t talk to enough people.   He seemed like a nice guy.  My “gut feeling” told me he was honest.  Yeah, but isn’t that the case with every con man?   So you put it in the contract . . . so what? It doesn’t mean a thing! In the end the contractor will say, “So, sue me?” and you’ll find out that all of his assets are in his wife’s name. I may actually sue my guy. I know it will cost me more money, and in the end I will get nothing, but I will hopefully prevent others from being scammed by this guy. And, suddenly, there will be things like my contract and my suit that are public record, and you will be able to click on the thumbnail and read it all.

What about some builder’s association, or the licensing board, or the architect under whose license this guy worked . . . isn’t there any self-regulation? Remember, I told you that these guys are all related? Who is going to go against their brother-in-law?

So, piracy is alive and well in Boquete!

And lest you think I’m being too harsh . . .

 

Come aboard “The Love Boat”

Since a number of you have emailed me inquiring just what itineraries I would be doing this fall on ROYAL PRINCESS, where the ship would be going, when, and what I am planning to talk about, I thought I would share this with you.  The actual scheduling of lectures will be up to the cruise director and will depend on the needs of that particular day.  But here is the schedule, and my tentative talks.

ROYAL PRINCESS , November 28, 2009, “Passage to The Amazon” 21 days

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy - Taped for TV: Port Talk: Naples: History, Risk & Pizza”

Naples/Capri, Italy- Tapedfor TV: Port Talk: “Palermo: Forget The Godfather”

Palermo, Italy- Taped for TV: Port Talk: “Tunisia: Bargaining Paradise”

Tunis (La Goulette), Tunisia

At Sea – Lecture: “Age of Discovery” As populations and cities grew and demand for goods from Asia swelled, advances in cartography and navigation made it possible for explorers to leave the Mediterranean to search for new trade routes and in the process make amazing discoveries of what are now known as the Americas.

At Sea – Port Talk: Casablanca: Rick Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”

Casablanca (Marrakech), Morocco

At Sea – Lecture: “Rum & Sugar: The ‘Oil’ of The 17th Century” The history of sugar in the New World is a tale of lust, pirates and plantations, slaves and revolts. Not until oil was any single commodity so important for world trade.

At Sea – Lecture: “Slavery & The Triangle Trade” Building on a long tradition of slavery, “The Triangle Trade” was a complex world wide web of slavery, sugar, rum, and evil stretching from Senegal to Brazil and the Americas.

At Sea – Port Talk: “Adventure In Dakar”

Dakar, Senegal – Sail away from Bridge

At Sea – Port Talk: ”Cape Verde:Slaves & Whales” 

Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands

At Sea – Lecture: “The History of Piracy” Beyond “Pirates of The Caribbean”, what’s the real story? We’ll look at the development of piracy from ancient times, through the Middle Ages to the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean, right up to today’s headlines.

At Sea – Lecture: “Our Vanishing Rain Forest” A layperson’s guide to the rain forest: what they are, what they contain, why they are important, and why they are vanishing. Discover the consequences of “slash and burn” in Brazil and the Americas.

At Sea – Lecture: “Amazon River Adventure” The history and importance of the Amazon and what to expect and what to look for as we make our voyage up the Amazon.

At Sea- Port Talk Santarem: Meeting Place of Rivers And Ideas”

At Sea– Port Talk: “Manaus: Heart of The Amazon”

Santarem, Brazil

Boca da Valeria (Amazon River), Brazil – Sail Away & Scenic Cruising Narration from Bridge

Manaus, Brazil – Arrival & Scenic Cruising Narration from Bridge

Manaus, Brazil

This promises to be a fantastic trip!  I’ve done a similar itinerary several times on the ROTTERDAM with Holland America and it is one of my favorites!  So come along!!

Once we get to Manaus the ROYAL PRINCESS does a fantastic Christmas/New Year’s cruise leaving from Manaus December 19, 2009.  There is nothing like a holiday cruise!  The ships are decked out beautifully for Christmas and New Year’s on board a cruise is one fantastic party!

After the holidays  we start doing a series of  cruises between Fort Lauderdale and Manaus.   Here’s a typical itinerary (this way or reversed when leaving from Fort Lauderdale) . . .

ROYAL PRINCESS, 14 day Amazon cruises between Manaus and Fort Lauderdale, or reverse

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida – Taped for TV: “Let The Adventure Begin”

At Sea – Port Talk: “St Lucia & The French West Indies”

At Sea – Port Talks: “Trinidad &  St. Bart’s”

St. Barthelemy

St. Lucia

Trinidad, Trinidad & Tobago

At Sea – Port Talk: “Escape from Devil’s Island” and Lecture: “Coffee in Central & South America” A look at the history, consumption and growing of coffee in the Americas.

Devil’s Island, French Guiana (Isle Royale) - Lecture: “Our Vanishing Rain Forest” A layperson’s guide to the rain forest: what they are, what they contain, why they are important, and why they are vanishing. Discover the consequences of “slash and burn” in Brazil and the Americas and Arrival Narration from the Bridge

At Sea–  Port Talk: “Santarem: Meeting Place of Rivers And Ideas”

At Sea – Lecture: “Amazon River Adventure” The history and importance of the Amazon and what to expect and what to look for as we make our voyage up the Amazon.

Santarem, Brazil

Boca da Valeria (Amazon River), Brazil

Parintins, Brazil -Port Talk: “Manaus: Heart of The Amazon” – Arrival & Scenic Narration from the Bridge

Parintins, Brazil

Manaus, Brazil - Arrival & Scenic Narration from the Bridge

Manaus, Brazil

You can check it all out at www.Princess.com

So now you can see what has been keeping me busy!  This along with renovating a small casita on our finca where my brother will be living.

So, come along!

Princess?

Hello Richard, We were just informed that you have transferred to Princess Cruises. What ship are you now on and what’s the itinerary? Jane and I are always looking for new cruises and have yet to cruise on Princess. Also, your suggestion of Arabica  beans and grinding them fresh each day has been wonderful. How did we ever drink coffee any other way??

Looking forward to hearing from you. Please say hi to Nikki for us. Your Zuiderdam Friends, Bill and Jane Hotze

Hi guys! Nikki has been in the States for a month, visiting our kids and grandson. Comes back day after tomorrow. I’ve been busy rennovating a casita on our farm so we can move my brother from town up to the farm. He has diabetes and needs closer supervision.

This is a case of being in love with two sisters at the same time . . . sister cruise lines, that is, Princess and Holland America. In this case Princess asked first! I am joining the ROYAL PRINCESS in Rome November 28th doing a neat itinerary from Rome to Naples, Sicily, Tunisia, Morocco, Dakar, and then up the Amazon to Manaus. After that I’ll be on ROYAL PRINCESS doing 15 day cruises between Ft Lauderdale and Manaus until the end of April. I’m looking forward to a smaller ship … only 700 guests, fewer guests than we had crew on ZUIDERDAM. It should be fun! I’d love to see you guys again! I’m hoping Nikki will be on for the Christmas/New Year’s cruise.

Enjoy that fresh coffee!!

So, I thought some more of you might like to come along with me on ROYAL PRINCESS!

I have no idea of availability. I know there is a popular perception that since the world’s economy must be in a slump, cruise lines must be scrambling to fill up their ships. While that may be true on the “typical” 7-day Eastern or Western Caribbean on a mass market cruise line, it is definitely not true on the more exotic itineraries or the longer trips. Cruise lines that offer 100-plus-day world cruises are actually reporting increased demand. So here are the itineraries . . . check www.princess.com for the details.  The “Love Boat” is setting forth on another run . . . I know they don’t use that anymore, but since we were a top producer for Princess in the “Love Boat” days, Princess to me still equals, “The Love Boat”!

What’s nice about ROYAL PRINCESS is that with only 700 guests, it still feels like a cruise ship and not a resort hotel that got lost at sea, like CITY OF THE SEAS or MALL OF THE SEAS or whatever Royal Caribbean’s new giant ship is called. 

ROYAL PRINCESS, November 28th – Tri-Continent & Amazon – Rome to Manaus, Brazil, 21 days - I’ve done a similar itinerary several times on the ROTTERDAM and it is one of my favorite trips encompassing Europe, Africa, following the “Middle Passage” route of the slaves to Brazil . . . and this one goes up the Amazon!   Rome, Naples, Palermo, Tunis, Casablanca, Dakar, Mindelo, Santarem, Boca da Valeria and Manaus.

ROYAL PRINCESS, December through April – Caribbean/Amazon – 15 days between Manaus and Ft Lauderdale or reverse- including Manaus, Parintins, Boca da Valeria, Santarem, Devil’s Island, Trinidad, St Lucia, St Barts, Fort Lauderdale.

According to Princess, ROYAL PRINCESS “is a gem of a ship, providing a wonderful and intimate ambiance for visiting the world’s fascinating destinations. Onboard, you’ll delight in many of the trademark features you’ve come to know on other Princess cruise ships – ScholarShip@Sea® courses, fresh-water swimming pools, a casino, exciting nightspots and production shows. But she also boasts her own unique attributes, including fine wood paneling and leather armchairs, a library with over 4,000 titles – one of the best-stocked at sea – al fresco dining on deck and more. And three-quarters of her 355 staterooms offer the extraordinary vantage of your own balcony.” Carnival’s John Heald has described Princess small-ship cruising as like “a day aboard a 5-star country inn.”

Pompeii and Herculaneum

Yesterday I blogged about living on a volcano – Volcan Baru which dominates our landscape in Boquete – which has been popular with kids looking for material for instant school reports on volcanoes. Another blog I did was about some other famous eruptions and the ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum outside of Naples. I’ve visited both a couple of times, on MILLENNIUM, GALAXY and ROTTERDAM, and will be returning this fall on ROYAL PRINCESS.

Sunrise on the MILLENNIUM in Naples Harbor with Mt. Vesuvius looming over the city.

The greater Naples area lives under the threat of a future eruption of Vesuvius. According to experts, “The population density in some areas of high risk is 20,000 to 30,000 per square km. About 3 million people could be seriously affected by future eruptions.

In the first 15 minutes of a medium- to large-scale eruption an area with a 4 mile (7 km) radius of the volcano could be destroyed. About 1 million people live and work in this area. with over 1 million people coexisting with a live volcano. Like Volcan Baru, Vesuvius is a stratovolcano.” The thumbnail to the right is an Italian Air Force photo of the eruptions.

Herculaneum was buried under 75 feet (23 m) of ash deposited by a pyroclastic flow (volcanic fragments, crystals, ash, pumice, and glass shards) moving at speeds of 50 to 100 miles an hour. Herculaneum was a seaside resort town.

Pompeii was a commercial town. When Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. Pliny the Younger witnessed the event from 18 miles west of the volcano and later recorded the event describing earthquakes before the eruption, the event itself, and the after effects including the tsunami that followed. The term “plinian” is now used to describe volcanic eruptions that generate high-altitude eruption columns and blanket large areas with ash. It is estimated that at times during the eruption the column of ash was 20 miles (32 km) tall and almost a cubic mile of ash fell in less than a day.

Archaeologists were able to identify empty spaces in the ash while excavating Pompeii. By injected these spaces with plaster they were able to produce plaster castes of citizens of Pompeii as they died, mostly from volcanic gases.

If you check out my Book List you’ll find the name of the book you should read if you are interested in the Vesuvius eruption. This computer generated graphic gives an idea of what that day was like in Pompeii.

In the National Museum in Naples is the “Secret Room” – well, not so secret as thousands of cruise ship passengers cue up for a look inside. It is called the “Secret Room” because as many of the erotic treasures of Pompeii were excavated they were considered too risque for proper citizens to view and reserved for the titillation of museum curators. Even today children under 14 are not admitted without parental permission. It gets pretty explicit.

Here is a giant 3′ erection – an early street billboard pointing the way to a house of ill repute.

Like Mc Donald’s the brothel in Pompeii had a picture menu, so you could just indicate your preference by pointing to the menu.