Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

I have had to add the commentary late, as the internet connection at sea over the last week has been diabolical!!

Cabo San Lucas was a most interesting place - very friendly, some great scenery and excellent food.

We had a dinner the night before arriving in Cabo San Lucas for some old goat's 64th birthday - very entertaining.

The rock formations around the bay are very much like the coast west of Melbourne - see the arch.

We also managed to get up to Todos Santos - which is the home of the Hotel California in the Eagles hit song. Unfortunately the Eagles were not playing at the venue and the song wasn't even on the playlist in the restaurant. Nevertheless, it was a very scenic drive and we had a great lunch - so everything was not a total loss.

Saw many, many whales around the area - both arriving and leaving Cabo San Lucas.

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

Well it had to happen! After 32 days of cruising we finally missed a port due to weather.

These views are the closest we got to Nicaragua so we will have to wait for another opportunity to see what we missed.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

We visited Puntarenas in Costa Rica - not to be confused with Punta Arenas in Chile. It was a true Central American country, with very scenic countryside and varied geography. In one day we went from dry tropical rainforest to cloud forest to tropical scenery.



Our trip was mainly to see an active volcano crater, however all we saw was misty rain and cloud. The flowers and wildlife were very interesting and colourful however - so it was not a total disappointment.



This was a local church that was manufactured in Portugal from steel and cast iron and sent to Costa Rica to be assembled.



We also visited the factory where they still make the local ox-carts and decorate them in very bright colours - all hand painted and the factory is powered totally by a water wheel.



This was the view when we sailed out of port after a very good day visit - well worth the stop!

Manta, Ecuador

We overnighted in Lima but did not go ashore as we had toured around the city during the Machu Picchu excursion. On the night before departing there was a very good concert with a Peruvian folk group - very colourful costumes and great music.



Our next port of call was Manta, in Ecuador. Not much can be said about the town, as it is very basic and only just starting to promote tourism. The main claim to fame is that a village outside of Manta - Montecristi - is the true source of Panama hats, which are really Ecuadorean hats!



These young guys were very enterprising - setting up an impromptu performance to entertain the busloads of tourists.



There were some nice views from the ship of the port and harbour, which has a very large fishing fleet.

Valparaiso/Coquimbo/La Serena

Valparaiso is the harbour for Santiago, which was about 2 hours inland. The city is very hilly, with lots of colourful houses.



Our first port of call on the Grand Princess was Coquimbo/La Serena, which was a somewhat uninspiring area.

The local museum did have a very large mussel which was about 90 million years old, so it was not much good for eating.




There is apparently a reason why all the fishing boats are yellow - something to do with sailors going to the wrong homes and the wives not being able to tell whose boat was whose. Not sure why the wrecked ship was still in the harbour?

Cusco and Sacsayhuaman

After Machu Picchu we returned to Cusco and took an alternative route which gave us a great outlook over the Sacred Valley.



The night we were in Cusco was a full moon and this was the view over the old city.

 

The next day we visited the site of the old Inca Sun Temple, on which the Spanish erected a church. Much of the old stonework remains and was used for the foundations of the church. As it was the most sacred place in the Inca capital, the stonework is unbelievably good.



We also visited Sacsayhuaman, which was a fortification overlooking Cusco. The block we are standing in front of is approx. 120 tonnes!!



We good some good views over Cusco before departing for the airport to fly back to Lima and Santiago. Just check out how close to the houses the airport runway is!