Two welcome days at sea have helped us acclimate to the ship, the schedules, and a little more room organizing. When/if we feel the room is presentable we will take photos.
I now feel I can get to anywhere I want to go on the ship without having to refer to the diagrams by the elevators. It is a small ship so it's not hard.
There is a naturalist on board, Nigel Marven, who gives absolute delightful lectures on birds, sharks, ugliest animals, etc and we've tried to hear all his talks since he won't be here for the entire trip. Another lecturer is Dr John Short, who has given really interesting talks on the geo-politics of North and South America. And of course, there are trivia games, bridge (sea days), fitness classes, basking by the pool, lots of entertainment by the musicians on board, movies ou your TV, you can do as much or as little as you would like.
Our Entertainment Director is Eric De Gay and he is terrific. As he says he is exactly 5 foot, 18" tall, and it is all talent.
An opening number.
And a closing one in heels and full regalia. He is leaving the ship tomorrow in Lima but will return in May. The next Entertainment Director has some big shoes to fill. Literally.
This morning we arrived in Salaverry Peru, the port city for Trujillo. We were docked between a huge ship which was dredging and a small fleet of fishing boats. Very industrial looking.
Today we had an excursion to the Chan Chan archeological site, just discovered in 1985. It is a civilization of the Chimu people who predate the Incas by several centuries. Because the guides were a little difficult to understand I need to research more facts about it. It is a UNESCO site. Luckily it was not terribly hot/humid bc it was a rather strenuous tour.
This is just a very small portion of the site. The guides (at least our guide) did not know what the "decorations" were for, what the rooms were used for, just that all the decorations are water based, waves, pelicans, fish nets, etc. And that the people did a lot of human and animal sacrificing!
The guides were also lamenting the fact that the tourists go South to Lima and they need more tourists in Trujillo. Having been to Lima I can understand why: the roads into Trujillo went through very poor neighborhoods with lots of garbage and trash visible. The main Plaza was gorgeous with very colorful houses surrounding it but that was pretty much it.
Back to the ship and we are off again to Lima with and arrival at noon tomorrow.
Tonight we are having a Destination Day with an Andes buffet on the pool deck and a performance by Andean dancers. However, we're hearing reports it's very windy on the deck so a decision has to be made: eat in and party outside or brave the elements and enjoy the whole experience.
Stay tuned.
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