From thunderstorms to mangrove swamps

Quiet day at sea sailing along the coast of Costa Rica!  Fantastic thunder storm in the early morning with a light show.  Sounded like thunder in a tin can-strange.  Formal evening tonight-Friday.  Tomorrow we tour a mangrove swamp and see the wildlife. 

On Saturday we experienced a wonderful adventure in the mangrove forest and enjoyed a train ride through the countryside of Costa Rica.  We saw scarlet macaws, boas, crocodiles, and green quetzals.  Roak was amazed by the beautiful brahma cattle and the cowboys who tend to them.  We were so happy to see orchids growing in the wild as epiphytes-attached to trees in a symbiotic relationship.  Also saw termite nests (the size of basketballs) in trees, clearing the forest detritus.  Like Aruba, Costa Rica deserves a return visit.  

Today (Sunday) we visited Corinto Nicaragua.  Not a must see!

Horseflies the size of hummingbirds

Today we traversed the Panama Canal.  What a wonderful experience.  

We talked about Peter using a rock to wash laundry and ward off crocodiles but decided it best to use the laundry service.  Hot and humid the whole day!  

Early in the morning we saw parrots leaving their roosts to find breakfast and some of them roosted on the ship’s guy wires for awhile!  

Then the horse flies came and chewed everyone up.  Horseflies: definition: the size of hummingbirds with 4’ teeth, gently removing whole parts of you. Now we are in the Pacific Ocean and are on our way through central America!  

Aruba! Aruba! Aruba!

Roak has been speaking Indonesian for the last few days and all of staff are having as much fun as he is.  I am able to get a copy of the daily Dutch newspaper produced on board ship so I am keeping up with my studies that way.  

Today we spent the day on the beautiful island of Aruba!  What a quaint place.  Buildings the colour of pastel candies and just a cute!  It was the Queen’s birthday yesterday and the town remained festooned with flags, banners and flower displays.   

Visited Queen Wilhelmina Park where we saw a touching memorial to Anne Frank.  Saw lots of small doves and lizards, so Roak got his animal “fix” too. The weather was sunny, hot and humid.  Quite a change from Ft Lauderdale.  Tot ziens!

On our way to Aruba!

We had a great trip to Ft Lauderdale where we met up with our travel group.  Everything went smoothly and we have already met some nice people.

Roak has been studying Indonesian and has been speaking with the dining room staff who are totally enthralled with his ability and keep talking to him in Indonesian whenever they see him. 

We are currently 90 miles off the coast of Cuba on our way to Aruba.  

Vancouver Orchid Society Show 2012

We had a great time with our sales table and we WON, best in class for our Phal/Dtps Sogo Vivien variegated.

Last day in Hawaiian paradise.

Day 17
Breakfast on the lanai.  Walked to the Hilton Hawaiian village.  Window shopped.  Found a minature orchid the size of a pea.  Beautiful.

Day 18
Spending the day with Bart and Ronette driving around the island.  Sunning and sight seeing.  Leave here tonight at 10 PM home tomorrow morning 6:30 AM.

What a WONDERFUL AND RELAXING TRIP!

Beautiful weather.

Day 15
Enjoying the dedicated elevator that takes us to our penthouse.  Partial views of the ocean, beachfront, mountains and pool.  Breakfast on the beach with Bart and Ronette.  Then a visit to the koi and turtle pond and the US army museum at Fort De Russy.

Day 16
Breakfast on the beach watching ships, surfers and parrots.  At noon, martinis at the Hyatt overlooking Waikiki Beach.  Lunch at Sr Frogs.  Dinner at the Outrigger.