Pisco to Coquimbo

Sunday, December 24, 2023
Coquimbo, Callao, Peru
Dec. 21. Pisco, Peru. 77. Partly cloudy.
Last night George started coming down with probably what I had, so he slept in, while I went to Ballestas Island, purportedly the “Galapagos” of Peru, in search of a Blue Footed Booby. This area is also famous for two other things; Pisco brandy and the Lines of Nazca, an archeological phenomenon created 500bc-500ad. There are air excursions to view this fascinating area. Two deterrents; one the cost of $429pp and second it’s in small, small  planes piloted by god knows who! So the excursion to the Ballestas. We are docked at a commercial port on the other side of the bay from the town of Paracas. We bussed about 10 miles through the dessert on one side and bay on the other to a beautiful resort in Paracas where the 30 passages open air boats were docked to take us to Ballestas. Probably there were 6 busses/boats from our ship. The boat ride back across the bay by our ship was lovely, and on the mainland past the boat was a geoglyph, The Candelabra of Paracas.  It may be prehistoric, dating back to maybe 200bc, or maybe not.   The  boat ride across the ocean to the the islands was bumpy and the sea spray soaked us all! Fortunately I brought a warm, water resistant windbreaker. On the first island we saw lots of Pelican and small penguins as well as sea lions. We then motored to another island, all of us covered up under our wind breaker to see more sea lions and penguins. We all then  hunkered down under our  meager coverups for the ride home. All in all, we had good birding, but no Blue Footed Booby and maybe too much time with our heads under our jackets! Back at the ship, George was feeling up to at 2 Maggie lunch, which then required a long nap! We met for the 6pm Tree Lighting ceremony, along with caroling, before going to CR for dinner. George crashed after dinner, but I went to most of the show, a one gal act, pianist/singer. She was very good.
Dec. 22. At Sea. 65, cloudy and windy, but sea only 1-3 meters.
We lost an hour today and will loose another tomorrow, as Chili is 2 hours ahead of Peru. With the new time, we slept til almost 9!. We went to the first lecture , a very good one on an overview of the political and socio-economic status of South America. We had lunch by the pool,but it was too windy for our regular table. There are some kids on this leg! Maybe 6-8 of them. What are people thinking, bringing kids on a Regent Cruise? There is nothing for them to do on the ship, except maybe yell and scream in the pool, and for the most of this leg it will be too cool to be comfortable in the pool. After lunch, on to naps. I unpacked our cold weather suitcase, as although today is the first day of summer here, as we travel South it is getting noticeably cooler. Distinctive Voyages, the umbrella of our travel agency, has a host on board this leg. They hosted a private cocktail party at 5pm, which was followed by the Captains Reception at 6pm ( which we skipped) . It “formal optional” night, so everyone is just a bit more dressed up. We had dinner in CR, and George was still not up to par, so crashed immediately after dinner. I sipped a little champagne in the room, enough to motivate me to the casino, where I lost $10 in 10 minutes on the penny slots.
Dec. 23. At Sea. 60, cloudy.
George is feeling much better today. We went to CR for breakfast then to the lecture on the development of Democracy in Latin America in the 70’s-‘90ies. Very fascinating, by a very interesting and engaging lecturer. We went to the pool deck, where we now have declared ourselves to be snowbirds. We have a warm weather table and have now established our cold weather table! I wrapped up in a blanket until they got the heaters working. We had Bloody Mary’s, as a preview to lunch. Riddle of cruising: what is the most dangerous lunch? On the Arctic cruise, a 2 martini lunch in Copenhagen sent me on a fabulous shopping spree. Today, my 2 Bloody Mary lunch sent me to the spa for a fabulous makeover! ! George and his new wife “Lori” met L&O in the Observation Lounge for drinks, then dinner in La Sette Mari. It was packed, but we got our favorite table right next to the open kitchen, so we could watch the chefs preparing the food! We grabbed an after dinner drink and went to the show, a comedian/magician. I’m positive he was the same one as on the World Cruise.
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Comments

G
2023-12-24

Bummer you missed the Boopies…but what a fabulous experience. I am cut and pasting these and sending them to Jim to read, too. He may let George borrow his “I love Bobbie’s shirt he purchased in the Galapagos. 😜 Have a Merry Christmas my precious friend.

G
2023-12-24

PS I love your new “do”.

karenwirtzy
2023-12-24

You two look great! I also love the new hairdo! Sounds like a very interesting trip so far. How did the visa thing go?

Kimmypear
2023-12-24

Merry Christmas! Hope you are both feeling well and we’ll see you in the new year!

Anita and Anthony
2023-12-25

Hi Dad and Dori . We wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas. Trip looks amazing. Hope you have a fantastic time. We will talk when you get home .

Marcie
2023-12-25

We remember this part - great pics and very familiar. We have a very dismal Christmas Day here weatherwise. So whatever your weather it is better than home! So sorry George had to pick up the crud. Hope he will recover quickly. Love the new “do”!

2025-02-13

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