A Quick Look Back

As I write this, we are 60 days into our 180 Around the World cruise. We left Brazil on Sunday, after getting off the ship at only 2 of the 10 port stops. We’ve enjoyed a second restful day at sea as we continue sailing toward Africa. We thank God that our bout with Covid was short lived! Neither of us are 100% yet, but we are well on our way to feeling normal again.

We can leave our room and move about the ship freely now, as long as we’re wearing masks. The chefs were cooking on the deck at noon today so we enjoyed eating outside (no masks outdoors). We may eat at one of the cafes onboard now (vs ordering room service) as long as we don’t share a table with anyone else for 5 days. There are a number of couples on the ship who have also been in isolation, as evidenced by them also wearing masks. Our butler’s theory is that it’s because we came from extreme cold temperatures in Antarctica to very hot temperatures in Brazil. I don’t know if he’s correct but whatever – we’re just thankful to be on the mend!

Now that we’re one third of the way through our voyage, I thought it might be time for a “look back” at some of the highlights of our trip thus far. Far and away the most exciting thing for me was Antarctica. I mean, it’s not often that you look out your window and see penguins floating by on an iceberg! No photos I could take and no words I could use could even begin to describe the majesty of such a place! Seriously, there are no words! 

 

Another highlight for me personally was attending a Gaucho Festival in Buenos Aires. Watching young couples performing Argentina’s traditional folk dances and dancing the tango was definitely enjoyable, as well as learning about the gaucho culture. We got to see how they work their beautiful horses and we were served a typical Argentinian meal by the gauchos themselves.

 

 

Another highlight of the trip have been the people we’ve met and the friendships we’re developing. We especially enjoy this one couple from Florida – Lynn and Butch Lott. They are both former military and Lynn (the wife) is a retired lieutenant colonel. She’s never even mentioned that to me – somehow Ronnie learned it. Butch had a stroke about 1.5 years ago. Undaunted, she pushes him everywhere in a wheelchair. There isn't much they won't try. Thankfully he can walk a few (shakey) steps which helps with transfers. His speech has also been affected so it takes him a while to communicate. They have visited 92 countries (they don’t count countries they’ve only traveled through) with no plans to slow down. Lynn is comfortable handling currency and speaks enough Spanish to communicate.

 

posing by graffiti wall - Santos, Brazil

friends Lynn & Butch Lott - Santos, Brazil

 

Most of the people we’ve met are very nice, if somewhat reserved like myself. So we get to know a little about them when we are seated together in one of the specialty dining rooms and then start greeting another onboard and talking a little more. Of course we’ve met people from all over the US and some from UK and NZ as well. Our butler Vishant is from India and our housekeeper Irena is from Russia. They’ve taken such care to make sure we’ve had everything we needed during this past week in isolation.

We’ll be extremely happy if the rest of our trip is as enjoyable as the first third of it has been. Thanks for following along!