We were warmly greeted at the port of Corinto by shy, pretty girls in native dress and a marimba band with guitar, güiro, a Latin merengue rasp-like percussion instrument, and guitarilla, a small guitar like a mandolin, playing for our pleasure and their hope of monetary offerings. With a population of about 16,000, the small…
Continue reading →Like it’s national bird and symbol of freedom, the dramatic and sacred Resplendent Quetzal, the mystical bird of the Mayans with its iridescent plumage, Guatemala has its own splendor. It has a wide diversity of landscape from humid highlands, tropical jungles, rainforests, volcano-guarded mountains and spectacular ancient ruins, all in a country about the size…
Continue reading →Huatulco is a tourist development in my favorite Mexican state of Oaxaca, where I spent several extended visits much earlier in my life. We docked at Santa Cruz Port, a favorite with the crew for it’s easy access to the beach of the same name, located right next to the pier with cafes and souvenir…
Continue reading →The sun was shining on “America’s Finest City”, as San Diego is fondly referred to, when we approached its port, as if the city was flaunting it’s own reputation for its glorious and mild year-round climate. San Diego is also ranked as the fifth best place to live in the United States, the fifth wealthiest…
Continue reading →With just 17 days until the end of our voyage, we are now on the last leg. So, it is with a lot of excitement, and a bit of melancholy, that I had been anticipating our dear friends (Tom, Charmaine, Jack, and Linda) joining the ship to cruise with us from L.A. to Miami, a…
Continue reading →When we visited Kauai many years ago, the “Garden Island”, I learned, was rich in the natural beauty of velvet chartreuse cliffs, jagged emerald green mountains, cascading waterfalls, deep, narrow valleys, and sheltered beaches, with much of it inaccessible by land. The few towns are situated on the coasts, separated by long, winding roads. We…
Continue reading →I remembered Lahaina fondly from years ago when Dean and I rented a condo on the beach in Maui for a week or so, and Lahaina then was a loose, carefree, hippie town with beer and seafood restaurants, galleries with local art, a quaint main street, and lots of t-shirt shops. It hasn’t changed too…
Continue reading →My father was an officer in WWII and trained in Hawaii. He never talked much about his military experience, but said he spent most of that time on a beach, in a pup tent, lacking any luxury, with no desire to return. My mom, on the other hand, always had Hawaii on her short, but…
Continue reading →I don’t know why, but I expected, after all the foreign ports we had approached by sea, that Hilo would look different….I guess more ‘merican (which, according to the urban dictionary, is a word that means “American”, but doesn’t require you to put your burger and fries down to use the shift button in order to…
Continue reading →“When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, You understand now why you came this way. ‘Cause the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small. But it’s as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day.” ~Stephen Stills, Richard Curtis, & Michael Curtis I cannot think of the Marquesas…
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