Travelin' Road Show

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Tuesday May 27th Santa Cruz de la Tenerife.

Tuesday May 27th Santa Cruz de la Tenerife

Our marriage started here over 42 years ago

Not changed at all!!!

Volcano Mount Teide in the mist

Sand Art floor in Oratova

No organized tours for us today we were on a mission. We grabbed a cab and set off to Puerto de la Cruz. It felt like we were back in civilization, modern cars, paved not sandy roads and actual buildings without corrugated shacks. En route, we had a couple of scenic stops for photos and then on to the town of Oratova. We passed through the new town (took 45 seconds!) into the old town with its cobbled streets, narrow lane-ways, wrought iron balconies, stucco buildings and old world charm. We had the best Cafe con Leche at a small bar and then across the road we visited an artisan house which included some impressive lace-making. We purchased an Oratova valley wine. We drove through the Oratova valley, past vineyards and an amazing aqueduct, way above us high up in the valley.

OLE!!!!

Once upon a time....

Happy to come back to were we started

Arriving at the Las Aquilas hotel we had to take a breath. Yes it was in fact the Alta Vista where we honeymooned 42 1/2 years ago. There were many changes..it was now painted red not white, the dining room has moved, and the pool enlarged from a rectangle to be a free form infinity pool. But it was still our place, full of memories and emotions. Quite an amazing experience, to see it again after all these years. After spending some time wandering through the hotel reminiscing about the fun time we had there when we were just 19 and 25, we drove down into the town of Puerto de La Cruz. We walked around the seafront for and hour and half and had lunch, including the Tenerife salted potatoes and local beer, Cruzcampo. The half litre of Sangria went down well too.

Front of the 'Alta Vista' now Las aquilas

Black volcanic sand in Puerto de la Cruz

Our lunch spot.. la Bodega

A toast to us !!

Returning to Santa Cruz, we said goodbye to our taxi driver and walked round a local market with incredible fresh meats and vegetables. Chris told us later that the meat was half the price of Aussie meat. Alas, we couldn't bring it on board anyway. We wandered on, past the presidential palace (an eyesore) a vinoteca (More wine supplies) the old fishermans church, and the Church de la Conception. Found a small bar and had a Mahou beer. Back on board had a cappucino on the panorama deck and waited for the sail away, watching latecomers race to the ship for the 4.30 deadline. Soon as we set sail we broke open the champers we'd been keeping, and passed some over to our neighbours Wendy and Horst in the next cabin who were also watching the sail-away on their balcony.(coincidentally they were married on exact the same day we were!!) We had a nice dinner with Tracy and Chris and enjoyed the slightly funnier entertainment (Comedian/singer David Copperfield...not the famous one). Off for an earlier night after a lovely day.

Back in Santa Cruz interesting sculpture

Cheers !!!!

Santa Cruz - Large 'round' square.. HUH??

Back on board

Leaving Tenerife

Happy after a great day

Monday, May 26, 2014

Sun/Mon May 25/26 2014 - two more sea days

Sun/Mon May 25/26 2014 - two more sea days

Entertainment in the theatre

At our table on formal night

Strangely we are quite getting to quite like the sea days: time for reading, wandering the ship, a bit of gym, afternoon tea in the dining room or just quiet balcony and wine time. We tend not to participate in the many on board activities such as quizzes and games, crafts, dance classes etc that are organized during the day, as we revel in just hanging out and doing our own thing. Add in Captains Circle cocktail reception and a formal night to get all gussied up and the time goes quite quickly. Chance to see the entertainment and then discuss their performance in the bar with Chris and Tracey (our Australian dinner table companions) while listening to, (and laughing and joking with) Sammy, the singer/piano player. The evening entertainment for these two days were a performance by the resident singers and dancers, and a show with a singer/comedienne from Wales. She was a little cheesy and was probably quite a big hit in the 'working men's' club circuit in the 70's, but not our cup of tea.

Certainly we do enjoy meeting and chatting with people, and we are getting to know quite a few people well enough to just stop and chat when we see them around the ship. Quite the small community and most seem to be a neighbourly bunch. Over half the passengers are Princess Cruises elite members ( over 150 sea days with Princess) some with over a thousand days.

AHHHH---- sea days - our balcony

Our cabin #7121 aft

Sun shades out on Panorama buffet outside

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Saturday May 24th Mindelo, Cape Verde

Saturday May 24th Mindelo, Cape Verde

Interesting statue in town

Typical Mindelo street

Local vegetable market

Eels in the fish market

We docked at 8.00 am and wandered into town at a about 9.00. A beautiful sunny day with just enough breeze to stop us roasting. The walk into town was about 15 minutes. It is a very compact town and has a distinctly European flavour, (Portuguese) with small streets and delicious wafts of freshly baked bread. Wandering around enjoying the ambiance of the town we found old churches, markets and cobbled streets. We visited the fish market and saw many varieties of fish and shellfish that we didn't recognize, including big basins of huge muscles from conch shells. In a small park we found free WiFi and spent some time checking emails etc and a quick skype to our friends in UK who were online, but reception was too weak to actually hold a sensible conversation! Exchanged some US dollars at a hotel and used the money to buy some wine for our room. Grocery store had a neat system...put your bags in a locker at the front take your key and go shopping...then get your bag out as you leave the store. We re-boarded the ship and spent the rest of the afternoon sunning and reading and enjoying a cold beer.

These come out of huge conch shells

While we enjoyed our time in Mindelo, it is not a place we would consider going for a longer vacation. It is quite remote and there really are not too many things to see on the island. Having said that it was a pleasant port to visit, and it did feel much safer than the previous West African ports.

Conch -- waiting to be emptied

YUK!!!

In the fish market

The ship is constantly running out of many things and there is a distinctly mutinous atmosphere brewing as they continue to run out of wines, spinach, bok choy, prunes (oh no!!!! Disaster!!!) and there are no longer any decent beers (other than Guinness) on board! There are no sliced pears and we suspect that All Bran supplies are teetering on the endangered list!! There are many grumbly rumblings among the passengers (not just the result of too many prunes). To top it off... No entertainment in the theatre tonight other than a movie which is also scheduled for the stateroom TV tomorrow!

PLEASE!! I love fish!!!

Hanging out with a statue downtown

Famous navigator who came here

Great bas relief on wall of nightclub

This is the longest cruise that we have taken and on the smallest ship we have ever sailed on... There are advantages and disadvantages. The entertainment isn't as varied as on the bigger ships and the general population is a little older. However it also has a much more personal feel to it as you get to know the crew and many of the passengers better due to the length of cruise and the size of the ship. (Only 600+ passengers vs 2000+ on the bigger ships) and you get to ports the bigger ships cannot consider. We have been joined at our dinner table by an Australian couple and their daughter. We seem to always have a good laugh and thoroughly enjoy their company. They have cruised more than we have and are currently on a contract working in Shanghai for a few years, so we have lots to talk about and more than a few laughs along the way. Our next port of call after a couple of days at sea will be Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where we spent our honeymoon .... almost 43 years ago... Time flies when you are having fun!

Across the bay

Mindelo bay

Interesting column at port

Back at the port

Mindelo from shipside

Our beautiful ship

Last view of Mindelo

Leaving Mindelo, Cape Verde

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Thursday May 22nd, 2014 Dakar, Senegal

Thursday May 22nd, 2014 Dakar, Senegal

Derek and Pappy on the Ferry to Isle De Goree

Street on Isle De Goree

Note the Calabash... ha! we've see the trees!!

Church on Island.. visited by Pope Jean-Paul

After the three sea days we were just about ready for a port day. We had decided that the Princess tour packages are way overpriced and therefore determined to do Dakar "on our own". We walked to the nearby ferry and were joined by another couple, shortly after, "Pappy" a local and licensed tour guide latched on to us and we all got the ferry to Isle de Goree. This is a small island, 20 minutes ride from the harbour and was the staging post / prison for the slaves before boarding the ships for America. Originally developed by the Portugese, the island was a throw back in time. Apparently 1,500 people live on the island today and it has the preeminent boarding school for Senegal high school girls. In many respects although relatively civilized it is still very primitive, with outstanding architecture. and the horrific House of Slaves where we stood in the doorway that led to the boarding ramps to the boats...the point of no return.

Inside island church

Unusual Shell font

Poignant statue

Slave room.. holds 20 male slaves

Door through which slaves loaded

Door from water *on righthand side"

Back in harbour, the other couple bowed out, but we got Pappy to take us to Lac Rose. A saline lake from which they harvest salt which is exported to Mali. There we got a camel ride and rode from the lake over to the Atlantic Ocean, now they said it wouldn't be bumpy...they lied, but it did create a memorable experience. Getting on and off were quite spectacular events. Then we went over to a restaurant for lunch, sitting by a pool with a Gazelle beer. Had the best chips in years and a wonderful filet of a fish called thiof. (discovered later that it is an endangered species - sorry!) We then raced back in the taxi arriving at 4.30 and walked right into the folkloric drum and dancing show at the ships theatre. It was an incredible act, our ears were still throbbing an hour later. What an outstanding day of such different experiences and emotion. A great "do it on our own" day and it cost less than the cost of just a morning Princess tour.