Around the World. Week 6 Wrap Up

I feel as if I just posted Week 5! Where did the last 7 days go?! Although, as I re-read this for final editing, the Penguin excursion seemed much further back than just a week. Time is weird.

Schedule

• Day 36 / February 10: Punta Arenas, Chile

• Day 37 / February 11: At Sea

• Day 38 / February 12: At Sea

• Day 39 / February 13: Puerto Montt, Chile

• Day 40 / February 14: At Sea

• Day 41 / February 15: Valparaiso, Chile

• Day 42 / February 16: Coquimbo, Chile

Day 36

The long awaited Penguin day!

As odd as it seems, even as we were nearing the island, I still didn’t believe that we were actually about to see the Penguins. Given that we missed them a few years back at the Falkland Islands and again just a few days ago, I was absolutely certain that the boat we were on from the mainland to the island would break down or sink, resulting in me not actually getting to see them in their natural habitat. Thankfully, the boat did make it to shore and I was the first one off! I did not push others out of the way, I promise, but apparently had made an impression on one of the guides who ensured that I followed him to start the line.

Once on land, there was a waddle of penguins! Right there in front of us!

(Side note: I googled what a group of penguins is called and it is literally called a waddle when they are on land! A group of penguins is called a waddle when on land, a raft when in the water, and a colony or rookery when nesting. Who knew?! Well, I guess Google knew that.)

The number one rule was we were not allowed to touch the penguins or take them home. The guides were very clear, multiple times, that we needed to stay at least 6 feet away and the penguins had the right-of-way if they wanted to cross the path. In addition to the penguins, there were various other species of birds, which I cannot name other than seagulls. Again, we were not allowed to take any of them home nor collect any feathers as souvenirs from any of the birds on the island. This was repeated often enough that I got the feeling that it has happened frequently in the past.

Once we were all off the boat, they split us into groups to walk around the island with the requirements to stay within the roped areas to protect the natural habitat and nests. Photo opportunities were endless! In addition to the penguins, there was also a lighthouse! With landscape photography, I usually try not to get any manmade objects in the frame, unless there is a lighthouse. Then, I only focus on the lighthouse.

The experience itself felt a bit rushed, but mostly because we only had an hour to circle the path. When I am on a tour, I tend to start out near the front and end up in the very end. Here, not only did I start at the beginning with the very first group but ended up being one of the last back on the boat with the last group. Whoops. The guides were very kind to ensure that I didn’t end up staying on the island and missing the ride back to the mainland!

In the end, I was very excited and happy to see the penguins waddle. However, this may have been a one and done experience for me in that I wouldn’t go out of my way in the future to prioritize penguins over other excursions. Luckily, they didn’t smell since it was cold and windy on the island, but ultimately, it was much like seeing them in the zoo, just with a lighthouse in the background.

Once back in Punta Arenas, I bought my port magnet and headed back to the ship.

The evening was like many others - dinner with the other solo travelers that closed the Grand Dining Room and since I had already seen the production show, I just went to my room to watch the scenery outside my cabin.

Day 37

Much needed sea day sleep in! Okay, not really sleep in as I’m still waking up at ridiculously early hours, but more resting than the past two days, which was needed after the tumble on the stairs a few days prior.

What motivated me to get out of bed today was the promise of a Cooking Demonstration with the Master Chef Olivier Desaintmartin and Senior Executive Chef Frederic Camonin where they prepared salmon four (4) ways. Will I ever make what they showed us? Probably not, but never say never! I did learn a bit though in that quick hour about how to prepare salmon, especially when serving “raw”, which included a lot of salt and sugar! Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try any of their creations, but Chef did mention that those dishes may be served at the Terrace Grill (buffet) in the coming days.

After the demonstration, I actually gave my own little class! Again, those of you know have known me for a while are likely not shocked at all to hear that I gained permission from the onboard digital team and coordinated instructing a class on how to make those Recap Videos that I continuously post after each port. From the initial feedback, it went well and hopefully we’ll start seeing more videos from other Around the World Cruisers!

The afternoon was busier than usual! A few ports ago, I made a new friend and agreed to sharing a bottle of wine one sea day, so yesterday, we were finally able to connect. She brought local Uruguayan cheese and jam, and her sister, to share with my wine.

After the unofficial tea time, I headed upstairs for the Oceania Club cocktail party. I got there a little late, so ended up in the back, chatting with the entertainment team. It’s sad that they are all disembarking in the coming weeks. I asked them to please let the new team know that they will need to look my way at least once in their performances so I can continue to practice my photography.

The rest of the evening went like normal - dinner at Toscana’s (Italian) followed by listening to David at the piano. One new thing is that since we’re headed North now, I get to see the sunsets from my balcony now!

Day 38

I slept in, but my kind of sleeping in, which included a load of laundry and playing games on my phone. We were at sea again if you couldn’t tell by that intro. What I’ve noticed about the sea days on Oceania is they just seem slower paced than on Norwegian cruises. Although, as I write that, I’m struggling to explain the difference in that activities on both are very similar; trivia, mini golf, speakers, etc. Maybe it’s just with the bigger ships, there are more people doing more things, so it just seems faster paced. Either way, I used the time to catch up on resting.

For lunch, I was invited to dine with someone who recently retired from Oceania family. While I’m not 100% sure about his official title, he was very involved in design of the fleet and global itineraries. (Post edit note: Turns out he was one of the two original founders of Oceania Cruise line, so very much a big deal!) He and his partner own a winery in California now and spend their free time traveling. It was nice to network and chat about different projects we’ve worked on.

Dinner was supposed to be at Red Ginger, but I rescheduled it as the captain had announced we’d be entering a fjord and might see whales around that time. Literally napping until the time we were supposed to enter the fjord, I headed to the back of the ship to watch for any whale spouts. I saw none. At all. From about 5:30pm to 9:30pm. I watched, but alas, the whales won that round of hide & seek. However, the sunset was fantastic! A giant cloud moved in just as the sun was going down to create a dramatic variety of hues not only in the sky, but reflected in the waters as well.

I missed the evening entertainment since I was glued to the sunset show.

Day 39

Anchoring in Puerto Montt without an excursion meant that I was going to have another lazy morning to wait for open tendering, which is where those of us with no plans can easily get on the smaller boat to get to shore. Since this port is fairly small, highlights including seafood markets and restaurants, I figured getting to shore at mid-morning would be better than early morning anyway to let the little shops open.

At shore around 10am, the dockside tables were not quite yet ready for the day, so I walked along the boardwalk towards the very large mall. I didn’t take a photo and I’m not even sure a photo could do it justice, as this mall was over 5 levels high, spanning two city blocks, and it seemed like they were still building upwards. My plan was to head all the way to the top, working my way down. Guess what was at the very top?! An arcade!! Yes, I know it’s not a Dave & Busters, but they had basketball and claw machines, so it was close enough. The basketball game was actually pretty difficult because there were only two balls, so my rapid fire method didn’t work so great. However, my claw game skills are still on point! One of the machines had a little whale keychain, so I decided that could make up for missing any actual sightings the night prior. With all of the points that I received from my meager basketball skills, I got a little truck with a dinosaur riding on the back. Please don’t ask me about my reasoning for choosing that specific prize other than I just liked it.

Once I depleted my points, it was time to start wandering the mall, still hoping to find the perfect pair of dress shoes. Well, I found them! But they still didn’t have my size… so I’m still on the hunt. I’m starting to think that this will become my primary mission in San Diego. No other stores really spoke to me, so it was time to go find lunch.

Google had indicated that a Seafood Stew was the meal of choice in this area, but I decided to tempt fate and go find a back alley restaurant. Skipping past all the fancy, clean, touristy places near the main street, I somehow wandered upon a fish market that had a little kitchen attached. While I swear my Spanish has gotten better in the past month, it took a lot of pointing and Google Translate to order and pay for this specific meal. The meal itself was interesting and I’m not 100% sure I know what was in it. There was definitely a few types of fish, some muscles, some clams, likely octopus or squid, and something else that I actually liked but have absolutely no idea how to describe it or what it was. The broth was very flavorful as well, so after I picked out all my favorite bits, I drank most of the liquid. With my lunch mission complete, I started back towards the port, stopping at little shops along the way, now that they were opened, and was able to collect my magnet for this stop.

Evening activities were per usual - Dinner at Red Ginger (asian fusion) followed by the multi-instrument musician.

Day 40

Happy Valentine’s Day! Given that there are over twenty (20) solo travelers on this segment, Casey (the Social Hostess) coordinated a breakfast for us, including table decorations and heart origamis for everyone. It was super sweet and thoughtful of her to organize that event!

Following breakfast, there was another Chef’s Demo. This time, Chef Fredric was joined by the Pasta Chef from Toscana and a Pastry Chef. Someone described them as the Three Stooges and I cannot agree more. Each of them prepared two dishes, but did so as the others were also preparing their dishes, sharing a very small space on stage. They were full of practical jokes, including giving the Pastry Chef hard-boiled eggs instead of regular fresh eggs (reaction shown below). I’m not sure I actually learned anything about how to prepare those recipes, but it was a really funny experience.

I’ve been trying to think of a project I can work on to keep my mind engaged so that I don’t end up spending all the days just reading and lounging. Although, while I type that, it really doesn’t sound that bad…

The project I decided to work on today was figuring out how to display all the Waters of the World videos that I had started to collect. I had a fairly specific vision of how I wanted them to transition as we moved around the world, so I went to work figuring out which software program was best to do that. Spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to make it work in iMovie, I ended up diverting to Keynote (Apple’s version of PowerPoint). Now, I’ve done some creative things in PowerPoint before, but Keynote is still new to me. Although, it took me a long while (like a few hours) to figure out how to get the program to transition the videos, I did finally figure out how to make it work! Not only is it relatively easy to update with each new port, but it moves like I had imagined from the start. The only downside is the transitions are still a little clunky, but overall, I’m really proud of how it turned out.

Before we knew Casey was planning a Solo breakfast, two of the solo ladies made reservations  for us all to have dinner together for “Galentine’s Day,” so we all dined together for the second time that day at the same table.

The Entertainment Crew threw a Valentine’s Blue Horizon Party at night. The singers performed with the Production Orchestra and the dance floor was PACKED! Likely shocking news for those of you who have known me for a while, but I am a dancing maniac at these parties. At the very first one, I had decided to leave my apprehensions at the door and just enjoy the moments. Since then, I just go full out, dancing with whoever and to whatever songs. Given that tonight was Valentine’s specific and I was not there with anyone specific, I brought back the awkward Jr High style slow dance and asked Carson (Cruise Director), Andrew (Dancer), and David (Piano Player) to join me, one at a time, obviously. Thankfully, I’ve outgrown the Jr High shyness, having a blast getting to chat with them for those few minutes.

Day 41

There are a few excursions that I have been really looking forward to and today was one of those. Valparaiso, Chile is known for having a colorful and creative spirit. As such, I signed up to get to tour three different art galleries, meeting the artists at each. Going into this day, I assumed we’d go to the studios where the artists work, but it turned out that two of them work from their homes.

First stop was Gonzalo Ilabaca, who primarily paints oils on canvas. He was one of the artists whose house was a showcase in itself with each space on the walls and ceilings covered with his artwork. When asked how often he paints, he replied, “Every day, but Sunday.” As this day was a Sunday, he wasn’t painting, but giving us a tour instead. He explained that he took three different year-long trips to various places in the world and during these trips, he painted what he saw and who he met. My favorite of his pieces were those from Mexico, likely because my favorite color is red and those pieces showcased significant variations of red. Other subjects that I found interesting was a family in India and a Bar in Valparaiso. He also painted a whole car to try to sell to Madonna! Apparently she never replied. As we were leaving, I noticed that he had some objects encased in epoxy, so I asked him to explain the significance of it as throughout the tour, his passion for life’s meaning, purpose, and intention was apparent and inspiring. To him, these four objects represented “Desire,” “Will,” “Memories,” and “Starvation.” I’m not quite sure Starvation translated correctly as it took a few tries to figure out what he was trying to communicate.

Next stop was at a gallery with Herna Freiberg. She and her husband, Jorge Martinez Garcia, share the space, with her focus being on mixed media and his on etching. Herna explained the etching process, showing us the various tools and materials used to create the pieces. She didn’t spend much time on her process, instead showing us the final pieces. What I appreciated most about this visit was learning about how the different base metals (aluminum, copper, bronze, or steel) reacts differently with the etching process and that while they create many copies from one etching, each are of the same quality. Once they have created as many as planned, they destroy the original etching.

Last gallery was at another house. This time, with Edwin Rojas, who also used oil on canvas, focusing on magical realities. His works recently won him a national competition and is showcased in galleries around the world. The pieces reminded me a bit of Salvador Dali with distortions of every day objects. Part of what he does in each of his pieces is to include theater-like curtains, implying that what you are seeing is like an on-going play. He also noted that with the human figures, he keeps their expressions more neutral as if these magical objects are “normal” to them. His wife is also an artist whose works are inspired by her upbringing on a farm, including more natural objects, such as trees. They converted three separate houses, stacked on top of each other, into one house, where his work space is in the basement and hers is on the top floor, with the main living space in the middle. The main living space was also a decorated work of art, similar to our first stop on this tour.

After the gallery visits, we went to a restaurant, where we thought we were just getting a beverage. They surprised us by also serving these fantastic appetizers, including potato wedges, a cheese dip with seafood in it, tuna, and something that I didn’t understand nor did I like. The beverage ended up being a Pisco Sour. We stayed there much longer than any of us expected, getting back to the ship a few hour later than planned. However, it was worth the extra time to be outside, overlooking the city, and enjoying the company.

One interesting thing I learned today is that Chile has a different Spanish dialect than the other countries that we have already visited. That may explain why it was so difficult to pay for lunch on Day 39. However, even with that, as the artists only spoke Spanish and our guide translated, I found that I could understand most of what they were saying, but then was rubbish at trying to say anything back.

Once back on the ship, I had a chance to FaceTime my sister, niece, and nephew! This is the first time we tried it since the time zones and internet onboard didn’t seem to allow us to coordinate. It mostly worked, with being a bit slow and fuzzy, but was really nice to see some familiar faces.

The evening went like usual - Chef’s Market Dinner with Western South America food at the Terrace Cafe (buffet), followed by Country Music with David at the piano, followed by the evening entertainment, singer Sonia Selbie.

Day 42

The weather forecast predicted mid-60s and sun for the day. Upon waking up and looking out my window to confirm, they seemed to have been mistaken. It was very cloudy and gloomy. My original plan was to just wander the city as it had looked like an interesting port, but since the weather was still predicted to turn around, I decided to go check out the shopping mall first and then hope it was nicer outside afterwards.

As I was walking along the pier to the terminal, I realized that my head seemed to be attached to a swivel, in that I was continuously looking all about for what was going on around me. This seems to be a direct result of focusing on photography for the past month; always looking for subjects of interest or unique environments and just taking in everything I possibly could in each new location.

On my way to the mall, the path took me through a little tourist shop area, where they were just getting set up for the day. Figuring I could stop through on my way back to the ship, I kept moving along what seemed to be a prescribed route to the mall. However, I found myself in the fish market, where as much as I prepared myself, the smell ambushed every single one of my senses, or at least completely overwhelmed my noes, eyes, mouth, and seemingly even ears. I’m sure if I would have touched something in the moment, then indeed every single sense would have reacted to the environment. Since I was out fairly early, the fishermen were still unloading the fresh seafood and the market keepers were slicing and dicing the catch to showcase.

At a fork in the road, I turned left. There’s a very likely chance that I was supposed to turn right because I found myself in the docks where the boats were still coming in, men unloading nets into giant bins and covering them in ice. Their looks suggested not only was I not expected, but probably not supposed to be in that area. With that said, there were some restaurants back there, so maybe there were other reasons their looks were not so welcoming. As the discomfort continued to grow, I turned back towards where I had just come from, catching up with another couple from the ship and walking with them for a bit towards the mall.

The mall was much like the other malls in South America, were it was a mix of big department-like stores and some craft goods tables in the main area. This mall had an arcade too, but was definitely only for kids, so I did not play today. The search for shoes is still on-going and while I found a pair that would work, they did not have my size. The clerk didn’t even check when I asked. She just knew that my super-sized feet would not fit in anything they had to offer. After wandering a bit more, I headed out, back towards the ship.

Some days, I seem to have a lot of courage to wander aimlessly around the places and try different foods or experiences, but today, I was lacking that gumption, seeking the comfort and safety of the ship. Avoiding going back through the fish market, I did walk through the little tourist markets to buy my magnet for this stop, and got back onboard.

At some point the sun decided to come out, which lead to pool time in the afternoon since it had been a while since it was warm enough to read and nap outdoors.

For the rest of today, I am planning a low-key evening, going back to the Chef’s Market dinner and hanging out to see David at the Piano. I’m posting this update a bit early today because we’re at sea tomorrow and I’m not sure if the internet will cooperate with me.

Here’s to Week 7 (already?!?!)…