the island of st. thomas. the us virgin islands and shopping mecca ofover the top stores, chuck had many rum punches and went crazy in the jewelery store much to the delight of me, and shannon and megan, only they don't know it yet...went out on a marvelous catamaran, sailing and snorkeling and island hopping, last stop before ft. lauderdale and home....we are looking forward to visiting rita and ginny and graeme in florida....2 restful sea days ahead and packing....hugs

well antiqua is a beautiful island, with lovely beaches and harbors, with tons of sailing ships and expensive boats in general...went on a big jeep all over the island and some off road...swam in the blue, warm water...overall a neat place....next st. john's...

Barbados

well after 3 days at sea, doing trivia, eating, playing bridge, more trivia, did i mention eating, seeing shows, movies under the stars,meeting lots of travelers......yikes...we arrived in barbados, a lovely island and port, along with 4 other cruise ships... we elected to go on a catamaran trip out to see green back turtles, fish and beaches..weather was good and trip out was fun...tomorrow is antigua ...love mom

salvador, brazil

well another day on shore in the city of salvador...couple of million people and not many english speaking people...went walking , up an elevator to the high gound with the old city and many churches...365 to be exact in the town...old an d beautiful...stumbled into a part of town that we probably shouldn't have but no incidents...hot and muggy so we didn't stay out long...cobblestone streets and wonderful costumes by the women and men....2 days at sea and then on to fortaleza, brazil... drills by the ship to day have been interesting to watch...man overboard and resetting the compass...still playing bridge and winning at trivia....hugs to all...

rio de janiero, brazil

well we arrived in rio on the last day of carnival after 2 days at sea...said goodbye to our first cruise friends, one bridge partner and 4 trivia partners, and we won the trivia contest onthe last day and each got a deck of cards....yeeehaww....spent the whole day in rio...tram to sugar loaf mountain..i only made it half way but i was proud of that scary, didn't see much as my eyes were closed the whole way...went up the cog train to christ the redeemer but had fog to contend with managed to get a few good picts too bad as the view is out of this world...went to ipanema and copacabana and saw hang gliders galore landing on a very wide beach...raining this evening but we are scheduled to leave tomorrow....carnival was over but the remnants were every where....next stop salvador, brazil...hugs

Well a couple of shore days in a row...the first port was buenas aries in argentina...we docked and took a bus to the reo deaplata river and boarded a boat and went all over the canals.crazy driving with no seeming speed limit so big boats creating wakes that were enormous and kayakers bobbing all over and beaches getting waves, it was wild but fun....then we came back and hired a cab for a city tour, between his poquito english and our limited spanish we did just fine...huge city but lovely parks and statues and flowers...weather perfecto....then back in the ship and off we go to uraguay and the city of montevideo, we had a city tour then off to a fabulous winery, where we ( i mean chuck) drank wine , as much as he could possibly drink, he bought 5 bottles, which i had to help him carry, and a bbq to die for...chicken,beef,sausage,pork, ribs, salads, vegetables...dessert...a feast. and a huge winery...then a walk into town to sober up...heehe...and now 2 days at sea to rest...sunny and warm from now on...little breezy but not to rough...

Well today was a good day, we were at Stanley, in the Falkland Islands...and spent the afternoon with the penquins following a hair raising 4 wheel drive across streams, mud, grass, huge ruts , mounds, ect......for about 30 minutes...between the mine fields still left from the 1982 event , which is what they call the invasion from argentina....The town has 2500 inhabitants and we had around 2000 passengers tender in for the day....cute little town walked it in about an hour...weather has been really unusually nice for us, cool but sunny.they have sheep ranches small ranches are about 35,000 acres...medium around 100,000 acres..saw cows that look like oreo cookies.....we now have 2 days at sea before arriving in buenas aries...trivia, bridge, eating (no kidding), musical shows, lectures, spa facials,

Ushuaia

The last couple of days have been loaded with spectacular scenery.We saw wonderful glaciers in the sound, went to a town of Ushuaia pronounced oo shy ya, took a train tothe end of the panamerican highway, also the end of the world..then we went to sea in the atlantic ocean came to cape horn went around the island entering the pacific ocean then back around the island to the atlantic ocean and now we are off to the Falkland islands to the town of Stanley...weather according to the crew has been exceptionally wonderful...chilly but sunny and calm seas..(thank you mother nature) no waves by cape horn, who knew....seen dolphins and birds...cape horn is a desolate looking place no trees and just a few people live there to man the lighthouse...meeting nice people at dinner and playing bridge in the afternoon of sea days...love you all...

punta arenas

arrived at the end of the earth this morning...tendered in to the town of about 120,000. We then took a bus to the fields/patagonia to see the penquins living there until they migrate, hiked about a mile ...small guys but up close and personal...have small mounds dug in the earth some quite a ways from the beach, which they waddle up to...this is the last big city until the south pole..leaving tonight for Ushuaia, but going around the horn before we get there...cold here, wind is chilled...very stark and barren looking land...will post picts later...

arrived on the ship/took off for the south of south america...3 days at sea rough seas, meeting new people from all over, will arrive at punta arenas, and the chiliean fiords, straits of magellaen, weather cool and mostly sunny...shows are good, music good, food good....hugs happy birthday to craig...

plane ride to chile/ santiago(the city)

arrived in santiago after 9 hours from atlanta..

however those of you who got to hear chuck groan about the long layover in atlanta will like this story...we got up inthe air from portland and about 45 minutes into the flight the attendant got on the p.a. system and asked if there was a doctor on board (you know that can't be good) turns out their was 1 dr. and 4 nurses...lady was in distress -heart...15 minutes later the pilot comes on we are diverting to denver, the confusion continues, much scrambling, we are in row 1 behind the cockpit front row seats...also the medical equip. is over our heads...met in denver by flashing lights, ambulance/fire trucks and 10 medical personnel board the plane and wisk her away and her friend..not is good shape at all...say a prayer....now a lady comes up with a electric breast pump to use to feed her little girl, the only plug in that works is under a base board but is has to be hand held so now we have a flight attendant laying on the floor with a lady and child under a blanket laying next to her using the pump...the pilots are trying to get in and out, the line to the bathroom is long as we can't get off..mechanics trying to replace all the medical equip that was used...serious stuff but still trying not to laugh oh my goodness..finally we are off to atlanta, everyone else on the plane on cell phones getting connecting flights changed before we take off...we however have no worries...ehehhe....got to atlanta airport calmly got off like nothing happened...went to the gate and started all over...

next day....

santiago, chile

went for a city tour today/ tidy city but huge over 6 million people...large park in center of city high in the mountain top, gardens, views, spectacular....new part of the city , very modern/ old part great buildings, earthquake damage was not visible but people were still shaken, they have frequent quakes and aftershocks...they still go crazy when it happens we heard...high buildings still being built, earthquake proof...yikes..nice hotel we are in..food has been good..chuck is drinking pisco sours...they actually know how to make ice tea...this afternoon went to a local craft fair/chuck was working hard at shopping see pict....chile is known for copper/a stone that looks like a flower/wool/ceramics/wood/ neat place...hugs

ready south america here we come!!

Feb 18th, Arrived at the embassy suites, after dinner with craig, megan and paige...said goodbye and arranged for a 4am wake up call...fly to atlanta then on to santiago, chile ...only 3 bags each including carry on..tmi..hugs carol