Life On Ship

Rather than cover our exquisite expeditions, this post will jump around, covering what life was like when we were not zipping on Zodiacs, snorkeling with sharks, scattering from sea lions, sighting seabirds, investigating iguanas, at peeping penguins, boggling at boobies, and tramping amongst tortoises.

(Editor’s Note: You don’t get extra money for using alliteration.  In fact, you should get less money.  Blogger: Um, I’m supposed to get paid for this?)

This is not a complaint.  Our cabin was very small.  But it didn’t really matter, because we didn’t spend much time in the cabin.  We didn’t get a bigger cabin because, well, they were all sold out.  Originally Carol and I had booked this trip for October 2021, but, you know, there was some world-altering pandemic that cancelled the trip.  I mentioned to Neil, and he said, “well, we’ve booked April.”  Hey, we’re just happy we did get to go, and having Neil, Mary, Bruce, and Nancy rounding out the six Chipmunks made the trip extra special, along with some new friends along the way.

This is a complaint.  The bathroom could not be smaller.  If you don’t want details, or you are my daugthers, skip to the next paragraph.  To use the toilet, I had to place one foot in the shower.  When showering, the shower curtain would invariably stick to my butt checks, so when I moved, water would go shooting out.  Oh well, it was only for a few days.

At the top, the Sun Deck was a great place to hang out.  Friday, the day we went to Sombrero Chino and Sullivan Bay, a BBQ Dinner was served up top.  It was a fun night, and then later we did star gazing, as expedition leader Carlos Romero used a fantastic laser pointer to highlight different constellations, including the Southern Cross (they needed to have CSNY’s “Southern Cross” playing on the speakers at that point).

But the Sun Deck was a nice place to watch the sun rise and set.  A few times I was there by myself.  Other times I would chat with folks such as Jorge and Terry while they were savoring their morning coffee.  

The back of the Upper Deck was also pretty sweet, as it had lounge chairs, hammocks, and was partially open air.  One night Carol and I stayed up, relaxing on the lounge chairs and talking.  Eventually we were joined by both Bruce and Andre and chatted with them late into the evening.

(Editor’s Note: “Late into the evening?  What was it, 10:30?”  Blogger: “No need to mock, in the words of Calvin and Hobbes, the days are just packed.”)

The Lounge is on the third floor, which is were we all gathered for briefings.  It had the added advantage of the bar, as well as a drinks station that included easy to get complimentary beer.  The ship’s bridge is at the front of the third floor.  Oddly, I only went to the bridge once.  In Antarctica and the Arctic I was a relatively regular visitor to the bridge. Not sure why I only went once, I suppose I wasn’t thinking about it much.

The second floor, which is the lowest floor guests could go (the lowest floor is for the crew and the running of the ship), had our cabin, as well as the dining room and guest reception.  The meals were good, except the couple of times when they weren’t.  I had a run on fish for lunch and dinner early in the voyage, so then I switched over to meat, such as chicken (one chicken meal was dry, one was plenty tasty), duck (rock hard), suckling pig (fabulous), and lamb (disappointing).

We enjoyed sitting with the various groups of people.  Partway through the trip the waiters set up a table for eight, which we called the Chipmunk 6 + Two, as Sanjiv and Meena joined us for each lunch and dinner.  At breakfast we sat at tables of six, often sitting with Charles and Sharilynn and maybe Bruce and Nancy.  Mealtimes were special times, full of conversation about the day, the activities, and the sharing of stories, often about travels.

As noted, Carol and I spent little time in our cabin, except for sleeping (including some naps).  As Lindblad always does, there were interesting programs, although I attended a limited number, just because I was either blogging, working, or napping.  I didn’t use the library or the gym, but there’s only so many things one can do in a day that is full of expeditions and eating.

The weather for the trip was perfect.  Ahead of time, the weather app indicated 100% chance of thunderstorm every day.  Every day.  We consoled ourselves by telling ourselves storms in the Galapagos don't last long, based on what we've read.  

Well, as it turns out, there was no rain at all -- barely any on the whole trip as well.  There were some sprinkles in Cusco for five minutes, and a pretty good rain while we were in the town of Machu Picchu, at the base of Machu Picchu (keeping the town name as Agua Caliente would have made more sense), but that was it for the entire trip.

I love the old Branch Rickey saying that "Luck is the residue of design," but sometimes, as this case with the weather on the trip, luck is just luck.  And we were lucky!