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Cairo, Egypt

February 4th, 2019 . Posted in Egypt | Comments Off on Cairo, Egypt

February 1-2-3, 2019

After traveling for too many hours with a stop-over in Munich, Jeff and I arrived in Cairo Egypt Saturday night. We had two nights to adjust to a new time-zone before joining a Vantage tour group. Our reservation was waiting for us at the JW Marriott Hotel and we immediately collapsed in a large comfortable room.

Although most of Egypt is beige sand, the area around the hotel is green.  Here’s a view of the golf course from the balcony:

The next day, we relaxed and explored the grounds of the hotel.  There were indoor and outdoor swimming pools, play areas for families, tennis courts, several restaurants, and walking paths.

On Monday we wanted to leave the hotel complex and explore Cairo on our own.  We made arrangements with the Concierge to have a taxi take us to the Egyptian Museum, wait two hours, and bring us back to the hotel.  All this for only 450 Egyptian Pounds or $25.

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities is world famous for its extensive collection of ancient historical Egyptian artifacts.  We knew we were scheduled to return to the museum with our tour group, but we wanted to make sure to have plenty of time to see as much of the museum as we could on our own.

The central Atrium is a huge space filled with Egyptian statues and some of the oldest items in the museum, including the Narmer Palette.  The double sided engraved stone from the 1st Dynasty suggests the first union of Upper and Lower Egypt under one rule.  It dates from 3200 BC.

Me with Queen Nofret – approximately 1900BC:

Around the central Atrium are long corridors filled with antiquities and many side rooms with smaller objects.

The Museum has an overwhelming number of antiquities in its collection.  All of the ancient items were breathtakingly beautiful.  It was difficult to imagine that the artifacts were 3000 to 5000 years old.

The rest of our tour group arrived in the late afternoon and we enjoyed a welcome dinner at the hotel.  I had traveled to Arabia with many of the people and it was great fun to see everyone again.

 

Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

December 15th, 2018 . Posted in Cruising, Hawaii | Comments Off on Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

December 15, 2018

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The ship anchored in the bay off the Hawaiian island of Maui near the village of Lahaina.  We heard that ships couldn’t always stop here because cross-winds frequently make anchoring difficult and tenders have a hard time getting people ashore.  I guess we were lucky that the wind wasn’t very strong.

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After reading so many good things about the island of Maui, we were looking forward to seeing as much as we could in a few hours.  We signed up for an excursion called “Discover Maui’s Hidden Treasures.”

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We were a small group of a dozen people in a passenger van.  We drove up the coast and passed beautiful beaches along the shore.  Our first stop was a town called Makawao which was known as a farming and ranching community.  There were successful sugar cane and pineapple plantations in the region for decades.

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We stopped at a tiny museum which displayed a few historical artifacts.  Today, Makawao was a town of high-end boutiques, cafes, and restaurants.  We crossed the street to see a glassblower at work and his beautiful creations.

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Maui lived up to its reputation as a very beautiful island. It looked like a wonderful place to live, but real estate is very expensive.  We had a picnic lunch on the grounds of the former Baldwin estate.

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O’okipa, which means ‘hospitality’ in Hawaiian, was another gorgeous beach with huge rolling surf.

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Green sea turtles on the beach:

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We visited a state park that paid tribute to the immigrant groups that originally settled in Hawaii.

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Our last stop was Kumu Farms that grew a huge variety of produce, including sweet Maui golden pineapples:

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We returned to Lahaina early enough to walk around town.  The tree in the photo below is a huge Indian Banyan tree.  It covered the entire space behind the Lahaina museum.

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Lahaina was a tourist town with souvenir shops, restaurants, bars, jewelry stores, and an outlet mall.  There were a few historical buildings:

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We were lucky to have such a lovely warm sunny day so we stopped at a ‘Shave Ice’ shop to celebrate our last cruise port of this trip.  Tonight the ship leaves Hawaii and we have five sea days to reach Los Angeles, California.  It’s been a fabulous adventure and in a week we’ll be home.

Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

December 14th, 2018 . Posted in Cruising, Hawaii | Comments Off on Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Friday – December 14, 2018   Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Our Cruise Director, Jorge, announced that the forward deck would be open as the ship cruised into Honolulu Harbor allowing passengers to see the sunrise over Diamond Head.  So we set our alarms for 5:30 and were out on the bow by 6:30.  Unfortunately, the Amsterdam had crept into the harbor in darkness and was tied up at the dock by the time we got there.  While we waited for the sun, we looked out at the midnight-blue sky and the city lights.

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We watched the stars gradually dim and the sky brightened:

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When we began this Pacific adventure in September, our first port of call was Honolulu.  We had walked around and explored the city and Waikiki Beach.  Now that we were back in Honolulu, we wanted to see more of the island of Oahu so we went on an excursion that took us out of the city and drove around the island.  The first stop was Byodo-in Temple:

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Visitors are invited to ring the Sacred Bell before entering the temple.  “The unique tones of the bell clears the mind of negativity, imparts deep peace and brings happiness, blessings and a long life.”  We took turns ringing the bell.

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Byodo-In Temple is a replica of a thousand year old Japanese temple.  This one was built in 1968 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. Byodo-In Temple houses the Amida statue – the Buddha of Western Paradise.

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After the temple, we drove to a shop to taste Kona coffee and macadamia nuts:

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On the way to lunch, we passed several beaches and gorgeous lookouts.  Kualoa Park:

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Sunset Beach: surfing finals are held here:

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We stopped for lunch at Tsue’s Farm in Haleiwa. They also rent kayaks and paddle boards by the hour.

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We had delicious fresh “garlic & butter shrimp with white rice.”  The shrimp were cooked to perfection BUT not peeled!  So it was a sticky messy hands-on operation!  But DELICIOUS!

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We ate outdoors at picnic tables and fortunately Tsue’s provided outdoor sinks to wash our hands after a messy lunch.  Then we had “Shave Ice” for lunch.  I love the Christmas decorations and snow flakes on the Shave Ice stand!!

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I missed having Shave Ice the last time we were in Hawaii, so this was a real treat!!  I had coconut, pineapple, & root beer flavors on shave ice.  Dee-lish!  Jeff had coconut, pineapple & lime.   I highly recommend Shave Ice.  Very refreshing on a hot day.

Our last stop was the Dole Pineapple Plantation which is really a tourist shop than sells pineapple souvenirs and pineapple ice cream.  The major pineapple growers moved to Thailand several years ago because of cheaper labor costs.  There are very few pineapple fields left in Hawaii.

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Our driver/guide Keith drove us back to Honolulu some time in the afternoon.  We had a very pleasant time seeing the island of Oahu.  The Amsterdam was scheduled to stay in port until 11:00 tonight, so we had plenty of time to enjoy Honolulu.  We took a taxi to Waikiki Beach to watch the sunset and have dinner.

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People were still swimming in calm waters and one young man practiced surfing on small waves.

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We walked out to the end of a concrete jetty to look around.  Diamond Head is an extinct volcano and provides a good background for photos.

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We had dinner in a Tiki bar/restaurant which our taxi driver recommended, overlooking the beach.

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Later back on the ship, we saw a performance of Hawaiian singers and dancers.  Great Fun!!

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Five Days at Sea in the South Pacific

December 13th, 2018 . Posted in Cruising | Comments Off on Five Days at Sea in the South Pacific

Thursday – December 13, 2018

The M.S. Amsterdam sailed away from Pago Pago, American Samoa as the sun set over the mountains.  I watched as the assisting tugboat tooted a few farewell blasts on its horn and then returned to the safety of the harbor.  Our cruise ship continued out into the open waters of the South Pacific Ocean.  In five days we would reach our next port of Honolulu, Hawaii.  So we hunkered down and kept busy and relaxed and were entertained for five whole days and nights at sea.

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A team of Hawaiian cultural ambassadors were on board to teach us about Hawaiian traditions.  We had lessons on how to tie a pareo/sarong for men and women:

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They’re very popular and worn everywhere.  Also a pareo is quite practical.

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Captain Fred Eversen gave an interesting and informative talk about the ship and what makes it work safely and efficiently.  He’s been captain of the Amsterdam since 2008.

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There were lectures about the history of the South Pacific and where and how the people arrived on the islands.  We also heard about the English explorer Captain Cook and the other European voyagers who claimed the islands for their respective countries.

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We had a Hawaiian language class.  This is “Merry Christmas.”  Mele Kalikimaka!!

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And there’s the ever-present Pacific Ocean:

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King Neptune came on board when we crossed the Equator and presided over the ceremony of the first crossing of the “pollywogs.”  The “pollywogs” had to ‘kiss the fish’ and be “slimed” before being pushed into the “drink.”

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Later that day, King Neptune, aka Jorge Alvarez – Cruise Director, led our Trivia Game:

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We kept track of the days with the daily changing carpet in the elevators:

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One day the kitchen staff poured out bags of fresh coconuts.  Two strong young men chopped off the top of the coconuts with big machetes.  Another man put in a straw and we drank cool refreshing coconut milk.  What fun!

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There were different movies every day and many activities which we weren’t interested in (games, arts & crafts, etc) and good entertainment every night.

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I took this photo from our 6th floor balcony on a particularly rough day as the ship rolled onto a wave:

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There were also calm mornings to enjoy a leisurely breakfast:

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Two December 8ths/Crossing the International Date Line

December 8th, 2018 . Posted in Cruising, Samoa | Comments Off on Two December 8ths/Crossing the International Date Line

The First Saturday –  December 8, 2018 – Apia, Western Samoa

Apia, the capital of Samoa, is on the western side of the International Date Line so when we cross the imaginary line tonight, we’ll have another December 8th.  The Amsterdam was at the dock early in the morning and passengers were getting off by eight o’clock.  Jeff and I commented that we still felt the ship rolling although it was tied to the pier.

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Half an hour later, Captain Eversen’s voice came over the ship’s loudspeaker telling us that a strong wind was pushing the ship off the dock.  For safety reasons, he said the ship had to leave the pier immediately.  There were about fifty passengers still on land and tenders would pick them up and bring them to the ship.  We watched from the balcony as the ship’s thrusters were engaged and the ship slowly moved sideways.

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The Amsterdam crept away from the dock and motored into the bay and then we sat there all morning waiting for marooned passengers.  We learned later that two of the lines on the dock had snapped before we pulled away.

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As the ship waited in the harbor, I went on the top deck and took a few pictures of Apia.  I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t explore Apia, but relieved that we weren’t stranded on the island.

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After several hours, a tugboat appeared and guided the ship out through the narrow inlet.  It wasn’t a deep water port like Pago Pago and the reef was very close to the channel.  Captain Eversen said we would take a “scenic route” around the big Samoan island and arrive at Pago Pago, American Samoa early “tomorrow” – our second December 8th.

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The weather was hot and sticky and very windy; rain clouds gathered on the horizon all day.  Later there was a heavy tropical downpour.

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The Second Saturday – December 8, 2018  Pago Pago, American Samoa

By early morning the Amsterdam arrived in the capital city.  By the way, it’s pronounced “Pango Pango.”  The dock was lined with shipping containers and looked a lot like the last two ports.  Jeff went ashore in Pago Pago to do a little shopping.  He got back to the ship just in time to avoid a torrential downpour.

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Polynesian men wear wrap “skirts” of different fabrics and colorful patterns.  The ’skirt’ was part of the uniform on the security guard in the photo below.

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The dining rooms and Lido Buffet were decorated with red, white, and blue lights and streamers because American Samoa was the first American port we entered.  It looked like a Fourth of July celebration.

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We left Pago Pago harbor in the evening as the sun set and rain clouds swept over the hills.  The port of Pago Pago is a very well protected deep water harbor.

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Having two December eights was weird, but might be fun if it was your birthday and you could have two birthdays!  The ship cruised out into the vast South Pacific Ocean.  We had five sea days ahead of us to reach the Hawaiian Islands.  So we hunkered down and hoped for calm seas and lots of shipboard activities.

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