A peaceful day on the high seas

Enjoying the roar of the wake

No dramas, just observations in today’s account. After our busy three days on land, it was rather nice to know we would be back at sea for a day. Last night we had a swifty prink at The Glass House and a lovely chat with the staff to find out what they’d been up to for the day, a simple meal in the main restaurant and then back ‘home’ for our viewing pleasure and a quiet evening.

In my infinite, pondering wisdom, I had given Nick some “technical” advice about how we could resolve the issue of no longer being able to view This Is Going To Hurt. There had been an acknowledgement that the Wi-Fi was faulty and at San Antonio it was going to be fixed. These technical conversations always start with “now you know I have the technical knowledge and prowess of a worm, but what about you try …” Even Nick was impressed by my thought process on how we could resolve this issue. All went quiet as he tapped away on his laptop, a bit of muttering, a bit of humming and hahing, then a most definite, no, my thought hadn’t worked. OK, let’s move on to another series and not fight the technology. So now our viewing pleasure is A Very English Scandal. The story surrounding Jeremy Thorpe.

This morning we woke to blue skies and the calmest of waters. Totally flat and calm, with not a ripple. My sort of cruising conditions. First stop was the destination talk from the ever-excitable Michelle for our stop in Fuerte Amador, Panama. We have an excellent trip booked for this port day, but to be fair, it really was hard choosing what to do, as all the trips look great. We did ponder that it would be brilliant if our lost day in Lima could be replaced by an extra day in Fuerte Amador. We’d certainly find stacks to do on an additional day there.

A quick breakfast, then a dash back to the theatre for the final talk with Forensic Scientist Tristram Elmhirst. Another really interesting talk focusing on arson and again he discussed a case we remembered from some years ago. He’s been a really engaging speaker, possibly because it’s a subject matter of interest to me and takes me back to my job in the 80s.

I don’t have the full fun facts details today, as Tristram’s talk finished at mid-day and we didn’t make it out of the theatre in time to hear all of it. However, two bits of information were that our water depth was the height of Kili (5895 metres/19341 feet). OK, so I could relate to that straight away. The other announcement was that the additional day to replace our lost day in Lima, would now be Manta, Ecuador. Grumble. Back to the drawing board for an additional day’s activity to keep us entertained there. There aren’t many excursions and the reason being that where we’re docking isn’t exactly endowed with tourist attractions. 

This afternoon, I had a lovely catch-up with my sister Becky. The Internet has been improved considerably, but still not good enough to have a video call, but audio is still more than acceptable. There’s a fair satellite delay, but we got the gist of each other’s conversation. 

During lunch, we were entertained by a large pod of dolphins. A brisk walk around the decks was called for after three days of slow walking and sightseeing. Tonight is ‘Celebration” night again, so I’ll have to see what swanky outfit takes my fancy. We’ve decided to dine in The Glass House as it’s that bit more civilised than the restaurant. We’re still being our usual antisocial selves and sticking to having our meals on our own. Maybe by day 64, I’ll beg to go on a table of 6 strangers, but I think it unlikely.     

We arrive in Arica tomorrow morning and have a full-on day’s excursion to Codpa village. Oh, in the hottest part of Chile, through the Atacama desert. I wonder if the lady with the high heels from yesterday will be on this tour?! Nick will report back.