Mar 24 - Traveling home - the end of the journey

Today is the last day of Sam’s journey. He went to LaGuardia airport in New York for a scheduled 10 a.m. flight. Sam checked in, went through security, and found the gate. The plane was loaded and waiting at the gate when the captain announced that due to a mechanical problem the flight was being cancelled. At that point, all the passengers (200+) had to get off the plane and go to customer service to try to find another plane. Sam was eventually scheduled to leave at 4 p.m. to go to Chicago. That plane left on time, without problems.

Once in Chicago, Sam tried to find another way to Cedar Rapids rather than being stand-by on the last flight out at 9:30 p.m. The representative at the service center said that there was no other way to fly today and that because of other cancellations today, there wasn’t even another option on Monday. He said it would be Tuesday before Sam would get home if he wasn’t able to get a seat on the 9:30 flight. Sam was very relieved when it was announced that there was room on the plane!

When Sam finally got home, he was surprised by welcome home greetings, streamers and balloons! Some of his young blog-followers decorated the living room.

This is the end of Sam’s South America adventure. He hopes that you enjoyed all the stories and pictures that he shared with you. He is also glad that there is still some “winter-weather” in Iowa even though the calendar says it is spring!!

Mar 23 New York, NY USA

The ship sailed into New York this morning. Sam saw the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline. It was early, before the sun was up, so Sam did not get in a picture with the statue. It is about 32 degrees this morning and the wind is blowing….. Sam loves it!!

Mar 20-22 Sea Days

Sam has been on the ship since leaving Antigua. The captain is taking the ship to New York. Sam is sailing in the Atlantic Ocean. Yesterday was a rough day. The captain had to sail around a storm (there was thunder and lightning!!). Last night was the worst since Sam left Los Angeles. The ship was rocking, rolling, things fell off the counter, and the wind was blowing. Today the captain reported that he was dealing with 60+ mph.  winds and 20 foot waves during the night!!  It is better today but the ship is still rocking. Waves look to be about 10-12 foot high. The sun is trying to break through the clouds.

In the morning the ship will be sailing into New York. Sam wants to be out of bed early enough to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. He is not sure if he will have time to see anything while he is in New York.

Mar 19 Antigua, West Indies

The ship was originally scheduled to be at sea today and stop at the island of Grand Cayman tomorrow. A few days ago, the captain notified everyone that there would be a change in our schedule because there was a problem in Grand Cayman and several cruise lines were cancelling stops at this time until the problem is resolved.

So he arranged that we would stop on the island of Antigua. Sam is excited because the excursion that he picked for today is riding an ATV!! There were only passengers that selected this excursion – it was a surprise to Sam that it wasn’t cancelled!  Sam really liked riding on the ATV. He got to sit in the front. The tour included riding on main roads, rocky paths, dirt paths, and country roads. There were a lot of bumps, dips, turns, ups and downs. Because this is the last part of the dry season, there was a lot of dust. Sam got really dirty!

On the way back to the ship, Sam had his picture taken with a steel drum band. He filled the sink with ice and water and then washed off all the dirt from the ATV ride.

 

Mar 18 Barbados, West Indies

Yeah! Today was a chance to get off the ship. Sam is on the island of Barbados in the West Indies. Bardados was a colony of Great Britain (England) until 1966 when it was given its independence. They are still part of the British Commonwealth. Barbados has the same temperature year-round (low 80’s mainly) even during the rainy season. It is not a volcanic island so there are no earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, there hasn’t been a hurricane hit the island since 1955. There are some really high-priced resort areas and a nice golf course. This is the island where Tiger Woods was married. One of the hotels was host to Oprah Winfrey and her show for a week.

Sam had his picture taken with a pirate that he saw in the terminal at the port.  

The excursion that Sam went on today was riding a Segway around the northern part of the island. Sam got to ride in the front of the Segway in the bag.  It was fun!

 

Barbados is surrounded by the Caribbean Ocean on the west and south and the Atlantic Ocean on the east and north. Sam liked seeing the Atlantic Ocean on the north coast.

 

There was another nice sunset today.   

 

Mar 15-17 Sea Days

There were three sea days in a row once the ship left Brazil. Sam crossed the equator again. This time he went from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. The temperatures near the equator were in the 90’s.

During sea days, Sam likes to watch the ocean water, the waves, the sun on the water, watching for flying fish, birds, and dolphins.  There are activities throughout the day all around the ship. Sam tried charades. He was part of the winning team! There is also a lot of food on the ship. Sam’s favorite thing is ice cream! He can have an ice cream cone or a dish of ice cream anytime of the day (or night!).

There was a lot of green on the ship on St Patrick's Day. Some of the passengers had costumes!

As the ship travels north, Sam’s portside cabin provides views of the sunset each night. Here is a sample of one during these sea days. 

 

Mar 14 - Fortaleza, Brazil

Today the ship was to dock in Fortaleza, Brazil. There was a problem, with the waves and wind. Another ship that had tried to dock pulled one of the dock anchors out of the pier as the ocean rocked the ship. The Splendor is bigger than that ship. The captain tried to get close to the pier, but the water kept raising and lowering and pulling him into and away from the pier.

Even though the captain decided that we would not stay in Fortaleza, there was a passenger that had fallen in their cabin and broke a hip. That person needed to be taken from the ship and taken to a hospital. As the crew prepared to get the passenger off the ship, there was an accident on the pier. One of the large ropes used to secure the ship to the dock (about 3” diameter) snapped and struck a dock worker. The ambulance that was waiting for our passenger had to take the injured worker to the hospital. The crew managed to get our passenger off the ship. The stretcher had to be put in the back of a pickup truck to wait for another ambulance to come to the pier.

Sam did see some of the town from the deck of the ship……….    

Mar 12 Recife, Brazil

It is hot again today. Sam is getting closer to the equator each day. Today the ship is in Recife, Brazil. Sam did not sign up for a tour off the ship. He decided to try getting off the ship and finding a taxicab that would take him around to some of the sights in Recife and also Olinda, Brazil.

The shuttle bus from the ship took Sam to a nearby tourist area where he was able to find a taxi that agreed to give him a ride for several hours.

Recife is one of the largest and most important cities on the northeastern coast of Brazil. The city was originally founded by Dutch colonizers. Its name is an allusion to the coral reefs that are present by the city’s shores. The many rivers, small islands and over 50 bridges found in Recife city center characterize its geography and give it the nickname of “Brazilian Venice”.

The Franciscan Convent of St Anthony is one of the city’s biggest attractions. The convent contains chapel built in 1588 that  is called the Golden Chapel. Sam was told that it is one of the most beautiful broque churches in Brazil. The altar is covered with gold engravings, there are paintings on the ceiling and an impressive amount of Portuguese-style tiled panels throughout the building.

 

Sam enjoyed the drive around the town of Olinda and the many colorful buildings and shopping areas. The other major cite he visited was the Casa da Cultura. It is a former prison that now holds multiple souvenir shops. Sam had his picture taken in one of the remaining jail cells!

              

Mar 11 Sea Day

Sam has been enjoying his days at sea especially since he has a balcony in his cabin. He has been able to see different animals in the water as the ship is sailing. So far he has seen whales, dolphins, flying fish, sea turtles, jelly fish, and lots and lots of birds.

The other day Sam mentioned where the passengers he has met lived. He would like to add to the list of the states, for his young blog-followers that want to keep track: Minnesota, Virginia, Georgia, Washington, Maine, North Carolina, Utah, Nevada, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Vermont, Colorado, Arkansas, Missouri, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. 

Mar 10 Salvador, Brazil

Another Brazilian port today, Salvador. Salvador was the first colonial capital of Brazil hundreds of years ago. They have had several since then including Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and currently Brazilia.  There are millions of people living in Salvador. There are two distinct parts of the city and communities (these are like suburbs in our country). The original, old part of the city was built on a hill overlooking the natural port. The buildings are old and there are many areas that would be considered slums in our country. The houses are made of whatever materials were available. They are built very close together and almost on top of each other. There are no streets through these areas only narrow sidewalks. Because most are built on hillsides, the sidewalks often are long, narrow stairways. Sam is not sure that he would like to live this way.

Other distinct part of the city is the new part, areas built within the last 100 years. There are many tall buildings, apartment houses, malls, shopping areas, etc. It is quite a contrast.

Sam’s tour today was to another town on the north coast, Praia do Forte. It is mainly a resort area that Brazilian people go to during the weekends or vacations. There are also accommodations for tourists. It is very commercial. Sam got to have lunch in a Brazilian restaurant. This one specialized in more fish dishes prepared the way the local people enjoy. There was also steak, Brazil is big into beef just like Argentina.

 

Along the coast where this town is built sea turtles come each year to lay their eggs. There are five different variety of sea turtles that are native to the area. As the town grew and more people came, the nests of the sea turtles were in danger. The eggs are laid in a hole the turtles dig in the sand. If the nests are disturbed or uncovered before they hatch, there wouldn’t be any little turtles. Sam visited the TAMAR Project that is trying to protect the sea turtles. He saw the protective fences that were placed around some of the nesting sites.

 

He also saw some of the little turtles in a pond.   

 

He saw some of the larger turtles that had been rescued. It is in Brazil to keep sea turtles as pets, but sometimes people do. And when they get too big or the people are tired of keeping them, the project will take them and try to introduce them back to the sea.

INSERT PICTURE

On the way back to Salvador, the bus stopped at the Garcia D’Avila Castle. It was built in the 1500’s. It is in ruins (no roof on most of the structure, some walls have crumbled, etc.) but very interesting. There were two floors and many, many rooms in the castle. It was situated on top of a hill. The views were spectacular and the breeze was very nice. With temperatures in the mid 90’s today, this site was very pleasant.

Once the bus was back in Salvador, Sam saw more of the city. There was a man-made lake that was created by the Dutch people that were some of the first European settlers in the area. In and around the lake were large sculptures that were dedicated to the people that came from Africa to settle in the area. Most of those people originally came as slaves but their descendants are now a large part of the culture of the city.

Mar 9 Sea Day

Sam has been enjoying his trip around South America. He is seeing many new things and meeting a lot of nice people from all over the world. Sam has met people from Canada (almost every province & territory), Australia, China, Poland, Germany, Ecuador, England, Turkey, Iceland, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, India, Mexico, Wales, and from across the USA from New York to California, Florida to Chino Valley, Arizona, Hawaii, Alaska, and Wisconsin to Texas. There have been as many as 3100 passengers on the ship!  Can Sam's younger blog-followers find the countries and states of his new friends on the map?

Sometimes people on the ship get grumpy, not Sam, he is happy to be going places! But he thinks it is funny what makes people upset....... running out of sheets of paper (the form) for trivia,  running our of popcorn, and this morning the head maitre'd had to calm a guest that was upset because the ship was out of bananas and raisins!

There is a lot of food on the ship. During trivia today, Sam learned that on a 7-day cruise this ship serves its passengers 20000 pounds of meat. They use 7200 plates for each meal. That's a lot of dishes to wash!!

Mar 8 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

There are a lot of things to see and do in Rio de Janeiro but the ship will only be here one day. Sam decided to see some of the most popular sites. 

The first thing will be going to the statue of Christ the Redeemer that is high on a mountain over-looking the city of Rio. To get to the top of the mountain, there is a train ride. It seems to go straight up!

Once he reaches the top, Sam wanted his picture taken with the statue in the back. It is really tall, about 100 feet and weighs about 160 tons!

Next the bus tour stopped at a Brazilian restaurant. At this restaurant you first go through a buffet line to pick your salad, vegetable, and side items. Then you sit at your table and the waiters come with a skewer that has some type of meat. If you want what he has on the skewer, he uses a big knife to cut off a portion for you. There are a lot of waiters walking around the dining room with many choices. You can have whatever you like. There was chicken, pork, and beef, pork beef ribs, ribeye, sirloin, and fillet, etc. It was really good!

 

When he came left the restaurant, Sam could see three people, way up high in the sky that were kite-gliding. They were higher than all the buildings! Sam did not think he would like to do anything like that, but he enjoyed watching.

On the way to the next activity, Sam saw beaches including Ipanema and Cocacabana. Most of the people at the beach were not in the water, just on the sand. There were several really neat sand sculptures. Sam wished that the bus would stop and let him spend some time at the beach!

The last activity on the tour was going to Sugar Loaf mountain. To get to the top of the mountain you ride cable cars. You ride on two separate cable cars to reach the top. The cars are big enough to hold 40 people. It was cloudy at the very top of the mountain and you couldn’t see very much. There weren’t clouds at the first level, top of the first mountain, so Sam took some pictures there. There were samples of the first cable cars that were used on the mountain.

Cable car:       

 

 

Old cable car:    

 

Rio from the mountain top:        

Mar 6 & 7 Sea Days

The weather is getting warmer since we went around Cape Horn and are traveling north again.  It will be in the 90s when he reaches Rio de Janeiro!! Sam spends a lot of time in the ice bucket, even during the day. He has seen reports of snow in Iowa and sometimes wishes he was there. Have any of Sam’s blog followers built a snowman, gone ice skating or sledding, made a snow fort, made snow angels, or had a snowball fight?

One of the things that Sam has been trying to collect at the countries he has visited are coins, the money used in the country. Sam would like to share with some of his young blog-followers if there is any interest.

Mar 5 - Buenos Aires, Argentina

Back to Argentina!  Actually, today Sam is just up the Rio de la Plata from Uruguay, on the south side, in the city of Buenos Aires. This is the capital of Argentina. Today Sam is on an excursion to the town of Tigre and the delta. The delta area is formed by several rivers that come together and feed into the Rio de la Plata. There are a lot of small islands in the river.  People that live on the islands do not have cars. They only have boats to get back and forth from the mainland. The islanders do not want to have roads and other “improvements” that might take away from the natural beauty of the area.

Sam rode on a boat around some of the islands as that he could see the houses. There were boats that were like a grocery store that went to the islanders, one was like a gas station, and one was a library. Many people that live in Buenos Aires and other parts of the mainland, have houses in the delta, on the islands for use on the weekends, or as vacation homes.

 

On the way back to the ship, the bus went through other areas surrounding Buenos Aires. One of the buildings Sam saw was an old English railroad station.

 

 

Mar 4 - Montevideo, Uruguay

Today, Sam is in the country of Uruguay. Sam is going to go with other passengers on a walk around the area near the port, maybe on a bus tour later. There are a lot of buses on the pier waiting to take passengers on tours!

 

 Along with the all of South America (except for Brazil) it had been part of the territory that Spain claimed. The Spanish weren’t too interested in this area at first because they didn’t find gold or silver only good pastureland.  When the Spanish became concerned about the Portuguese moving into the area from the territory that they claimed (now Brazil), they decided that they needed to establish a settlement in the area we know as Uruguay. The city of Montevideo is located across the Rio de la Plata from Argentina. This river is the widest river in the world, 220 km. at its widest. It is also short, only 400 km. long.

The weather in Montevideo is really nice (for people, not snowmen). They do have four defined seasons, but without the extremes. There is plenty of sun throughout the year and also 30” of rain throughout the year that is beneficial for the wine regions in the country. May get down to freezing, but it doesn’t snow. There are some really nice beaches in the area.  Uruguay has 660 km. of coastline.

Sam found out that gas for vehicles is really expensive in Uruguay, about $9/gal. Uruguay has to import cars, gas, and technology. Although they export technological services! He also heard that Elton John was expected to be in Montevideo tonight for a concert.

There was a lot of interesting architecture in the city. The building used by the Congress of Uruguay was an excellent example. There was a world-wide contest in 1903 for architects to turn in designs for the building. They had to use materials from Uruguay in the construction. An Italian architect won. The winning design had 52 different colors of marble and 17 different colors of granite.

There are a lot of statues in Montevideo (and many of the other cities and countries in South America). Sam decided to have his picture taken with one that was for a Spanish hero.

There was a bull-fighting ring built in Montevideo, but there was only one event held. After that, the president of the country banned bull-fighting. The arena is now used for other sporting events.

The current president of Uruguay apparently is not like most people in that level of authority. He was an ex-guerilla leader and had spent time in jail. He dresses sloppy and when speaking uses a lot of slang. His salary is $1700/month. He donates 90% of it to charity. He has income from a personal business as well. The president and others elected into political positions can only serve one term of office – 5 years.

Mar 3 - Sea Day

Sam was so excited about the penguins yesterday that he forgot to tell about the other animals that he saw. At the penguin rookery, a protected environmental area, other native animals can be seen as well. They have learned that they are safe when eating in the area. Sam saw many of the guanacos. They are about the size of deer, reddish in color with white markings. Sam also saw the rheas. They look like emus. Because the color of their feathers is similar to the color of the local bushes, sometimes they are referred to as “walking bushes”.  Then Sam the really big rabbit or Argentinian hare. It was probably 3 foot tall when sitting on its haunches. Like a small dog in size.

Today the ship is at sea all day. The waves are about 15 foot high. There is a lot of rocking…….. Sam likes going around the ship and watching passengers try to walk when the ship is moving like this! Funny!!

Tomorrow Sam will be in Uruguay.

Mer 2 - Puerto Madryn, Argentina

Sam was really excited after two more days at sea to have an excursion today. The original excursion had been cancelled because rains throughout the week had washed out some roads. So the excursion that Sam chose was to Punta Tombo and a penguin rookery! Even though there was going to be a long bus ride each way, Sam wanted to see penguins. At a couple of the other ports, there had been opportunities to see penguins. But Sam’s fellow passengers hadn’t been too excited about what they saw……not very many penguins.  Virginia at the excursion desk assured Sam that he would see penguins and even young penguins. She had an acquaintance that worked in the area who had assured her that there were many penguins in the area and that many of the young penguins were still shedding their baby down.

During the bus ride, Mabel, the guide, talked about the scenery, the early settlers, the animals that he would see besides the penguins, and the economy of the area. Puerto Madryn is in the Argentinian province of Chubut. Each region is named for the river that runs through it. The Chubut River starts in the west of Argentina at the base of the Andes mountains and flows east into the Atlantic Ocean. The river is the main source of water for all the towns in the region as well as irrigation for the crops that are grown. Usually this region is very dry, averaging 200 cm. of rainfall annually and very windy, 20-50 mph winds most days. Today there were clouds, but no rain. There had been rain the entire week before Sam arrived. The region received 40 cm. of rain. Since the land is not very permeable, there was standing water in a lot of places along the road. It has to evaporate, run off, or be drank by the animals in the area.

When Magellan and his explorers first came to this area, which is part of Patagonia, he found native people here that were very tall. Both the men and women were 6’and over. In the 1860’s the Argentinian country encouraged settlers from Europe. The people from Wales came to this part of Patagonia and have maintained a strong Welsh culture and community to this day.

Some of the native animals that Mabel told Sam he might see on the trip included guanacos that are a llama-like animal is part of the camel family; maras that are large hares (rabbits); rheas that are emu-like birds; small grey foxes; and armadillos. Sam was excited to try and see all of the animals.

Mabel said that 95% of the Chubut region is dedicated to sheep ranches. They raise sheep that provide wool know as merino wool. Each sheep produces wool of four different qualities depending on the part of the sheep the wool is grown. The sheep roam the large ranch all year and are brought to the farm for shearing once each year. The sheep eat grasses the greenery from native shrubs. The greens are very hard to chew and the teeth of the sheep are worn down in about five years of chewing on it. Then the sheep is used for food. As the bus was driving along the road, Sam saw a gaucho (Argentinian cowboy) moving the sheep from one part of the pasture to another. The ranches are big, about 1500 hectors.

Finally the bus arrived at the penguin rookery. This is an area that the penguins have used for many years to raise their families. The male penguins come to the area in late October or early November each year. They find the nest that they used the previous year and make necessary repairs. The next week the female penguins come ashore. They find their partner by their song, just like the movie “Happy Feet”! Each penguin has their own voice and each couple has their “song”. Once the eggs are laid, both the mother and father take turns caring for it. When the baby penguin hatches, the parents are really busy. One of them has to go to the sea each day to bring back food for the baby. Sometimes the nest is as far as one mile from the ocean. The penguins walk on land because they have to when raising their babies. But they are not really built for walking… their legs are short. Mabel said it can take a penguin up to four hours to walk one mile! Baby penguins cannot go swimming in the ocean until they have shed all of their baby feathers or down. Usually all the penguin babies are ready to swim by the end of March and the penguins are gone from the rookery until the next November. It has been estimated that there can be as many as 5-600,000 penguins at this site during the height of the season.

Sam was so excited about seeing the penguins, he wouldn’t stop to pose with the penguins, he just kept looking around. The penguins were everywhere! They were up on the distant hills, and down toward the ocean. They were nesting near the walking trail that Sam had to follow. Sometimes the penguins wanted to cross the trail. Sam would have to stop and wait for the penguin to walk from one side to the other.