After another enjoyable sea day, we arrived at our first port stop in Tanzania – Kilwa Kisiwani.  This is a small island off the coast of Tanzania that was once a major trading center with an operation extending all the way to China.  They traded gold, iron, slaves, textiles, jewelry, and spices along the coasts of Africa, Oman, India, and China using the Dhow boats mentioned previously.  This trading operation was heavily influenced by Arab Muslims who came down from Constantinople to participate in this rich trading business.  Eventually an Arab Sultan became head of this trading empire and built his palace on this island.  Where at one time there were 9000 people living on this very small island, today there are only a few hundred.  During our visit to the island, we once again arrived in our zodiacs on another dry landing.  We were met by our local guides who spoke very good English although Swahili is their native language.  They took us to an ancient cemetery which had graves dating back 1000 years. The Muslim graves where walled structures with no roof and the bodies were just laid in the structure with trees growing in the grave.  Most of the graves were just stones in the ground that were totally unreadable.  As we walked along the shore, we saw some of the locals fishing with a net.  After laying a net out they used sticks to scare the fish into the nets before pulling the nets up to collect the fish.  They did this while wading through a shallow area.  As we continued walking, we were shown the ruins of an old mosque and the remains of an ancient fort that kept guard on the island 800 years ago.  Near the ancient fort were the remains of the Sultan’s palace and we were shown where the bedrooms and kitchen were located.  The last ruins we were shown was the Great Mosque which was the most impressive of all the ruins we saw.  This whole area is now a UNESCO sight and they get tourists from Europe to come visit but certainly not too many cruise ships.  The nice thing about an expedition ship is you get to see different parts of the world that other cruise passengers would never see.  When the tour was over, we walked through other areas where people lived and were shown their local school and hospital.  As we were walking to the zodiacs the local people were singing and doing a dance for us.  Wherever we went on this cruise the local people would come out to greet us and typically sing and dance.  It was always a very welcoming feeling when touring these remote areas.  Eventually the Kilwa Kisiwani empire was defeated when Vasco de Gama came around the tip of Africa and started claiming all the coastal lands of Africa and India for Portugal.  Obviously, this valuable trading business was not given up easily but back then Portugal was a world dominant country with a great navy.
Next day in Tanzania was spent in the Sinda Islands.  There were no residents on this island but there were a few locals that came over to the island to try to sell some food and drinks to the passengers of our ship.  They had lounge chairs and covered areas set up along the beach.  Near this area was a large Baobab tree that looked like a large bottle.  We were told there was a path in the middle of the island that would take you to the other side of the island.  We decided to give it a try and ran into one of our guides walking back from the path warning us that you needed shoes because there was a lot of sharp coral rock on the path.  Since we had our water shoes on, we thought we would be OK.  About a third of the way down the path, we had already regretted deciding to walk there.  The rocks were more like razor blades and the water shoe soles weren’t thick enough to prevent us from feeling the sharp protrusions of these rocks.  There were deep holes in some areas that went down several feet and you had to maintain your balance as you tightroped down the path on these sharp rocks.  We kept telling ourselves that we must be close to the other side since it was a very small island.  As we walked further the path gave a very eerie feeling like you were walking some road to “hell” with everything dark because of the thick vegetation with overcast skies, and nothing but sharp, ugly, black rocks all around you.  You could not hold these sharp rocks with your hands for balance because they would cut you.  As we went further, we wondered if we would ever emerge and knew if one of us fell on these sharp rocks, we might not be able to help the person out of there.  We never saw anybody during this hike, and we believe we were the only people (dumb enough) to walk this path through hell!  Thank goodness after 45 minutes of walking this path we eventually emerged on the other side of the island.  Hallelujah!!!  Why our expedition guides let passengers walk this path was another indication that when they gave an indication that things might be tough, heed their warning because things were probably awful!  When we got out to the beach on the other side, we ran into two other passengers who had walked along the beach to the other side of the island.  They warned us of the rising tide and that we might not be able to walk back to our starting point before the water came in and you would have to wade or swim back to the other side.  One thing was for sure though – we were NOT going to take that hellish path back!!!!  As we started walking slowly back to the other side along the shoreline, we were constantly distracted by the many crabs that would poke out of their holes and the micro fish life that was all around us.  It was really very beautiful, and we did not hurry back as the couple had warned us.  When we finally made it back to where we started from, we were wading in about a foot or so of water.  Sharon decided to do some snorkeling before we went back to the ship, and she saw a a pretty lionfish and a couple of red knobbed starfish.  After we got back and washed up a little, we went back out on a zodiac to do a planned bird watching activity.  We didn’t see many birds for most of the trip and then as we were about to go back to the ship, we saw a large African Fish Eagle which looks just like an American Bald Eagle.  It was a very pretty bird and posed for us for a while before taking a graceful flight away.
The next day we arrived at Pemba Island where we had a full day tour to see the island and the famous Pemba Flying Fox.  This was another dry landing for us by zodiac although it was raining steadily when we got to shore.  We boarded buses and headed out to see the island.  This was a larger island with a population of over 400,000 people which are primarily Muslim.  As we drove along the island you could see how poor the people were and their dismal living conditions.  Our buses were given a police escort everywhere we went to make sure all traffic was cleared out of our way.  We were VIPs on this island and got looks from everyone as we rode down the road.  Our first stop on this island was a school for young boys and girls.  Everyone was dressed in their finest clothes when we arrived.  It wasn’t just the students, but the parents came to see us along with other village people.  They obviously do not get many tourists in this area.  At the school we watched some of the lessons being taught and each student was excited to impress us with how they answered the various questions from the teacher.  We bought some of the soap and spices being sold by the students for a few dollars.  You are always anxious to give back a little to these poor communities where people work so hard and always seem so happy with so little.  Everyone seemed to want their picture taken and we were more than happy to oblige.  As we left the schools all the children and parents were furiously waving goodbyes and we were off to see the famous Pemba Flying Foxes.  The flying foxes are large bats that have a head that resembles a fox and can only be found on the island of Pemba.  These are some of the largest bats in the world with a wingspan of 5 feet.  Back in the early 1990’s there were only a few hundred of these flying foxes left because people hunted and ate them.  Today because of the ban on hunting and the conservation work done, there are estimated to be around 700,000 of these animals now on the island.  A single tree will typically have up to 850 resting there during the daytime.  These bats are nocturnal, sleeping during the day, while eating at night.  As evening arrives “clouds” of these flying foxes fly out to other areas of the island where they consume large quantities of fruit (mangos, figs, and bread fruit).  Before dawn they will be back in their trees to wait out the day since they are blind in the sunlight.  We saw many of these bats up in the trees just hanging and waiting for nighttime.  Something scared the bats in the tree as we were watching them, and the bats went scurrying around in the air before landing back into  the same tree they had just left.  As we rode back to the ship, our guide talked about some of the local customs.  He explained that most men would have 2 or 3 wives.  The men would have to give the father of the bride one cow to allow the women to be married and a man’s wives sometimes live in different houses than each other.  We were told that the island gets most of their revenue from spices with cloves being by far the biggest crop.  Tanzania is one of the top 5 producers of cloves in the world.  We had an interesting stop in Pemba and only have one more stop in Tanzania.
We arrived in Zanzibar ready to explore and see as much of this island as possible.  This is another large island populated by 850,000 people.  Although it is mostly poor throughout the area, you can see areas of wealth due to the many foreigners who live on the island.  This was the island where we were supposed to take a Distinctive Voyage group to see Stone Town and a spice farm but everyone in the group elected to do a different Silversea tour.  Since all of Silversea’s tours are included (no additional cost) on expedition ships, there isn’t a lot of value in a different tour offering unless it is something very exciting.  The whole reason we were allowed to come on this cruise (without paying anything for this very expensive cruise) was to host this tour and at the end of the day no one wanted to go on the tour.  This allowed us to pick some different tours to go on and we decided to do a tour to see Seaweed Farming and the Monkeys or Jozani Forest.  Zanzibar might be best known for its beautiful white beaches where honeymoon couples come from around the world but it is also well know for the Stone City that is a UNESCO Heritage Site and once a major trading center of the world.  In the early years its primary trade was in spices and precious metals, but in the 1800’s it became known for slave trade.  Today you can walk the streets of this historic city to reconstruct its past, but many people go to the Stone City just to see the house where Freddy Mercury (from the music group Queen) was born.  Our visit to the seaweed farm was interesting.  We got to wade out to the seaweed farms and get a demonstration on how they grew and farmed the seaweed.  We were shown all the different farms that stretched out as far as you could see.  The local women would come out to farm and harvest the seaweed.  It is a very laborious job, and you must grow a lot of seaweed to make any money.  There are about 25,000 women in Zanzibar who farm seaweed and they make on average $35 a month!  It is one of the few jobs an uneducated woman can get. Seaweed is used for either food, medical purposes, or cosmetics.  We were given a tour in one of the cosmetic factories to watch how they process the seaweed for cosmetics.  China is shipped most of the seaweed for medical purposes while Japan receives the majority for food.  It is an interesting industry, and some people (not the farmers) are making a lot of money from it.  Our second tour stop was to Jozani Forest to see the monkeys.  There were two main species of monkeys we saw there: Red Colobus and Vervet (black faced).  These monkeys would let you get close to them, and they were fun to watch.  We only spent about a half hour watching them and taking pictures but probably could have spent a couple of hours observing these fun-loving creatures.
We departed Zanzibar and Tanzania for the Seychelles Islands but not before Zanzibar gave us a beautiful sunset to say goodbye.  It was made even more beautiful with the uniquely shaped Dhow boats sailing by in the foreground.  It was a nice end to a nice day!
 
Sharon and Greg

Sharon's Facebook Post for Kilwa Kisiwani
​Our 1st stop to Tanzania where we visited Kilwa Kisiwani, a town that dates back to the 9th Century as one of the most famous trading posts in East Africa and on the Indian Ocean. From 11th Century to early 15th Century this island community was a powerful city, political force and major trading center for Africa as well as many Asian ports.

Sharon's Facebook Post for Sinda Islands
Beach and snorkeling day at Sinda Island located about 10 miles from Tanzania. Our ship anchors about 1.5 miles offshore and we zodiac to the island shores
​

Sharon's Facebook Post for Pemba Island
​Great day in Mkoani Pemba Island, Tanzania - located 35 miles from the Tanzania coast. The island is 42 miles long and 14 miles wide. Pemba Island is known for cloves such as cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper. A great day visiting two local schools and viewing the Pemba Flying Foxes.

Sharon's Facebook Post for Zanzibar
​Today we’re in Zanzibar, an island about 22 miles from the mainland Tanzania. Zanzibar was once known as the capital of the world for spices and slave trade in the 19th Century. 50,000 slaves passing the Zanzibar slave market each year, with many dying en route. The trade was in the Market Square, in the heart of Stone Town. Today it’s one if the world’s most popular UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

On April 13th we headed from the Atlanta airport in route to Maputo, Mozambique where we were departing on the Silversea Cloud for an 18-day expedition cruise to Madagascar, Tanzania, and the Seychelles Islands.  We had a 15-hour non-stop flight to Johannesburg, South Africa where we had a 17-hour layover, allowing us to stay overnight in a nearby hotel room to get rested up and eliminate our jet lag.  The next day we took the short 1-hour flight to Maputo which is the capital of Mozambique.  The next morning after a nice night in the Radison Blu Hotel we headed to the port by taxi which turned out to be more exciting than we anticipated.  The taxi driver dropped us off at the port building, but we could not see the Silversea ship and the port guard said we were not in the right area.  Two locals, who spoke a small amount of English, helped us drag our luggage down to another area of the port where we proceeded to enter at another gate area of the port.  After the guard, who once again spoke little English, told us we were in the wrong spot, we were sent back to the exact same port entrance the taxi driver dropped us at.  The two locals we had “hired” took our baggage back to this port entrance and the guard this time reluctantly let us pass without the two locals who could go no further.  As we went down the cobblestone path, we eventually entered a port terminal but there was nothing in there suggesting Silversea was in port.  As we exited the terminal on the waterside we could see the Silversea ship down the dock about quarter mile from the terminal building.  We dragged our luggage down until a Sliversea’s crew member came out to greet us being somewhat surprised on where we were coming from.  Obviously, Maputo doesn’t get many cruise ships and not everyone knows where they are when they do come in.  We had never been so happy to board a cruise ship before.  We were one of the first passengers aboard, which gave us time to settle in. 
 
We had booked this expedition cruise because Distinctive Voyage, a program we have worked for in the past, was in need of a host on this cruise to help coordinate a tour for 13 passengers on board this ship.  The only cost we had to incur was the expense for our travel to get there and return after the cruise.  This was an extremely expensive cruise going to some unique destinations and we were excited to get the opportunity to host this Distinctive Voyage group on this cruise. 
 
As we headed out to sea, we were looking forward to our first port stop in Madagascar in 2 days.  The seas were very chopping for a small ship like we were in (250 passengers) but the ride was relatively good.  Unfortunately, as we approached Madagascar we received very disappointing news.  We were told our ship would not be allowed to dock at any Madagascar port because we had just come from a South African country where cholera was currently an issue.  We would only be allowed to dock if we taking a prescribed antibiotic which we did have available in the quantities required on the ship.  This was a new requirement from a Silversea’s perspective and they were caught off guard by this requirement.  The passengers on board were very upset by this news and we were forced to turn around and look for alternate port stops before getting back on the original itinerary.  The next day we were going to stop at Bassas da India which is a unique atoll off the coast of Madagascar in the Mozambique Channel.  It is a beautiful atoll that is supposed to be a great place to snorkel and dive.  As we approached the atoll in the morning, we were told to stay away by the French navy who contested control of this island with Madagascar and didn’t want a ship our size visiting this area in fear of ecological damage.  Well strike two for Silversea and the passengers were starting to get a little rowdy.  With what we paid (or didn’t pay), we certainly couldn’t complain.  We ate at specialty dining restaurants every night at no cost with all full drink packages.  The nice thing about cruising with Silversea is that they are a very inclusive cruise line.  All their specialty restaurants except one had no cost and there is no charge for any drinks on board.  They provide all the tours at no cost.  It is an extremely nice cruise line to go on and the passenger to staff ratio is almost 1 to 1 which means you get great service.
 
Well, we were back to another sea day sailing to Bazaruto Island where we decided to go as an extra stop before rejoining the original itinerary.  The day before arriving at Bazaruto, we went through various checks to get set up with snorkeling equipment that was provided to us for the rest of the cruise and getting approved to go on kayak trips when they were allowed at our various stops.  At Bazaruto our ship docked off the northern end of the island where we took our zodiacs about a mile to the sandy shoreline.  All expedition cruises use zodiacs to get their passengers ashore when there is not port to dock at.  On this cruise there was only one other dock we would be at in Zanzibar and all the other stops required us to get into zodiacs to get a shore.  Most of the zodiac landing were called wet landings which means the zodiac would land on sand and you would have to jump out into the surf and get your feet wet to get on shore.  At Bazaruto we had signed up to do their aggressive hike which was supposed to be a 3 mile hike up the beach to a lighthouse about 80 foot up in elevation.  Usually when you hear “aggressive hike” with cruise lines, you anticipate a moderate hike where you hardly break a sweat.  Well, when Silversea says “aggressive” they must mean the hike from “hell and back” because this hike was TOUGH!  The 80-foot hike up the hill to the lighthouse turned out to be a 250 foot hike up a steep incline in very soft sand through vegetation that could slice you up.  On the way up the guide got lost and we had to double back and try a different route.  Most people made it up, but several people elected to go back down to the beach and walk back.  We both made it to the top although one of us was doing much better than the other when we finally made it there.  Several people up at the top were getting medical help to stop the bleeding on their legs and arms which had gotten cut up when going through the dense vegetation.  I think even the guides when we got to the top thought that this might have been a little too aggressive of a hike.  The walk back down from the lighthouse was easy and uneventful.  We eventually walked back to a beach on the other side of the island where the tide was out and it was funny to see all the boats just sitting on land because the water was now about a half mile away with the tide going out.  There were some African Ibis birds picking for food in the sandy area.  A few of the natives on the island would come by and say hi to us as we walked back to the zodiac pick up point.  You could see a resort chalets along the beach that didn’t seem to have anybody in it at the time.  We got back to the Zodiac and went back to the ship for a little snack and a well-deserved drink.  As we were eating and drinking the ship relocated to Santa Carolina which is a small island in the Bararuto Archipelago.  In the afternoon we did another zodiac landing to a popular beach area where some people snorkeled.  Sharon tried snorkeling there but didn’t see much.  Greg was too exhausted from the hike to “hell and back” and enjoyed the beach bar that Silversea set up on the beach while taking advantage of the bartenders carrying cold beer to people along the beach.  Well at least we had finally made it to land after 3 days on our cruise.
 
The next day was another sea day which we really enjoyed.  We work on the ships and Silversea’s internet turned out to be pretty good allowing us to get things done.   We were having our dinners outside at the Grill Restaurant where they brought you a hot stone to your table and you cooked your fish or filet mignon to your own taste while you ate your appetizers.  When we weren’t eating at this restaurant, we would eat at La Terraza which was an Italian restaurant that had a spectacular appetizer “plank” every night with different types of olives, cheeses, salamis and other tasty little treats.  You ate this while you enjoyed their freshly made bread that you dipped in the olive oil and balsamic that was used at every restaurant on the ship.  Every meal we had was great and we would have been happy on this cruise just eating, drinking and working without going to any port.  It certainly was a great environment to work and read a book.  We also took our daily hot tub sessions and walks on the top deck while enjoying the rocking waves of the sea.  We do well on cruises, as I am sure all our readers know, but Silversea is a really enjoyable cruise line to just enjoy sailing.
 
The next day we were back on our original itinerary with a visit to the Isle of Mozambique.  This was actually a dry zodiac landing where we could just hop off the zodiac on to some concrete steps at a pier.  In the morning, we had a 4-hour walking tour where we walked through Stone Town a UNESCO Heritage site.  This area was originally discovered by Vasco da Gama who was the famous Portuguese explorer who was the first European to sail around Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa on his way to India.  When he arrived at the Isle of Mozambique, he discovered gold and ivory there and claimed the area for Portugal.  Mozambique was a Portuguese territory until 1975 when they gained their independence after a 10-year war.  When Portugal originally ruled Mozambique, they set up the capital of the territory in Goa, India which they had also claimed as Portuguese territory.  The first place we toured in the Stone City on the Isle of Mozambique was the governor’s palace which is now a museum.  In this palace were some immaculately carved furniture from Goa India that was hand made for the governor of the time.  There were over 40 pieces of furniture with intricate details carved.  For the work to be considered a once in a lifetime masterpiece the hands of the carver were cut off to ensure he could never duplicate these masterpieces.  This palace was very large with many guest rooms and large accommodations for the governor and his wife.  From the museum we walked around the city which is mostly ruins now and not well kept up.  At one time it was a world renown city with spectacular architecture of its time.  It once contained the largest hospital in Africa, which is now just a shell of a building.  As part of the tour, we went inside a woman’s house who rents out rooms to students in the local college on the island that has only been there for 6 or 7 years.  She bought the house for $80 over 25 years ago and now it is worth over $40,000.  It would not seem to be a livable place for any American to live with almost no furniture and just basic electric outlets.  There is certainly no air conditioning, and we didn’t encounter any air conditioning on the entire part of the island we visited.  (Not even in hotels or restaurants!)  While we were in the woman’s home she explained the life of a Mozambique woman including how they dressed and wore jewelry.  She talked about the food they ate and how they made it and showed us the chalking material they made to coat their faces.  Evidently this face powder was good for the skin and provided good protection from the sun but it certainly did not look very appealing to us tourists.  One of the places we went was somewhat of an artistic show where you sat in one of their traditional dhow boats or a canoe while a light show and film appeared around you that was narrated to tell you about the traditional life of a fisherman in Mozambique.  The dhow is a traditional Arabic sailing boat that is seen on the north and east coasts of Africa with boats sailing as far north as Yemen.  The boats stay close to the coastline and are used to transport heavy cargo (vegetable, fruit, water, etc.) from different places along the coast.  There was a fleet of 10 dhow boats that sailed around our zodiacs when we came in and out of this port just to demonstrate the maneuverability of these boats. This narrated light show was very interesting to better understand life in Mozambique.  Outside this theater one of the craftsmen was working on repairing the hull of one of the dhow boats.  It was an interesting morning tour, and we learned a lot about Mozambique.  Our trip back to the ship in the zodiac was a little wet with the winds picking up and the seas getting a little choppier.
 
After a quick break for a light lunch and to change into some dry clothes we headed out on the zodiac for an afternoon tour to the fort.  At the north end of the island is Fort de Sao Sebastiao which was built by the Portuguese in the late 1500’s and took over 60 years to build.  It is the oldest complete fort standing in sub-Sahara Africa.  The fort was originally built by the Portuguese to protect their interests in the area which included a very lucrative trade business with India and 100 years later, an equally lucrative slave business in Africa.  Mozambique and Tanzania were the primary ports where slaves were shipped out of East Africa.  Outside the fort walls along the sea is the Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte which was built in 1522.  It is amazing to think that this chapel built right on the sea could last over 500 years!  After we toured the fort and saw how very large it was, we were also shown a large cistern that contained enough water to supposedly provide water for everyone on the island if their normal water supply was unavailable.  The water in this cistern looked disgusting with green algae covering the top surface and we were told that they had to boil this water before they could use it.  I guess on islands that don’t have lakes or rivers, you get fresh water wherever you can find it!  While we were in the fort, they put on a cultural show with the local women all dressed up in their colorful native attire.  They performed many dances chanting away at the top of their lungs.  While they danced, we were offered all sorts of different drinks and food.  Much of the food was seafood that was being made at various stands around the fort.  They offered freshly cooked cashews and other nuts along with an array of exotic fruits.  Everything was offered at no cost just for the tourists.  It was quite a spread and a very enjoyable cultural show to watch.  We elected to go back to the zodiacs a little earlier to take a few pictures on the way back in town.  As we left the fort, we were assaulted by youths asking for money and other young men trying to sell artwork and jewelry.  This is a very poor community, and they would do anything to get some of our dollars although we didn’t have any concerns with regards to robbery or violence.  We had been told on the ship before getting to the island, NOT to give the children any money or candy or otherwise we would have 200 children running us over to get the same thing.  We were also warned about the “persistent” people trying to sell us things.  After making it through the gauntlet of begging children and would be salesman, we got back to the zodiac for another wet ride back to the ship.  The waves had continued to get larger, and it took a little longer getting back to the ship as we worked against the heavy current and waves.  All in all, it was a very interesting trip to this island and we knew a lot more about Mozambique after this visit.
 
Our next 4 stops are scheduled to be in Tanzania.
 
Sharon and Greg

From Sharon's Facebook Page:  ​We are off on an 18-day Expedition Cruise on Silver Seas Cloud. 1st stop Bazaruto AM - Hiking along the beach to Lighthouse and afternoon to Santa Carolina for snorkeling and island viewing. Ship anchors offshore as we go in groups via zodiacs and wet landings on the beach.

Sharon's Facebook Summary of Mozambique Isle - Dhow boats are made out of teak and coconut wood. One or more masts with lateen sails (a classic triangular-shaped sail (made today out of cotton fabric) attached to a cross beam that is raised and lowered according to the winds) found in the Indian Ocean or the Red Sea in South Africa.

We always let people know about our upcoming cruises in case anyone wants to join us.  Typically, we provide this information after we complete all the blogs on each trip, we take but we have been so busy we have not been able to keep up with all our blogs.  Moving forward we have added our list of Future Cruises on our website and will always provide a link to our future cruises in every blog.  Here is our current list of our planned trips over the next 2 years.  All cruises are still available for other people to join us unless stated otherwise.  We will start limiting the size of each group to no more than 20 or 24 with regards to providing a total trip package including all transfers, tours, and other reservations.  After our group gets to 24 people, we will still book cruises, hotels, and airfare if they are available, but not the entire trip including transfers and shore excursions.  We will only book airfare if we can book it as a bundled package with hotels from Delta Vacations.  The 5 cruises highlighted in RED have recently been added.
 
·         Panama Canal Cruise on Silversea in May 2024

• From San Francisco to New York
• Opportunity for Napa Valley visit with pre-cruise extension

·         Kenya/Masai Mara Safari in July 2024

• No availability

·         Greek Island & Turkey Cruise on Celebrity in September 2024

• Round trip Athens with 3-night pre-cruise extension
• Overnight stay in Istanbul
• Only 3 staterooms available and booking quickly

·         Viking Christmas Market River Cruise in December 2024

• No availability

·         Amazon/Brazil Cruise on Oceania in January 2025

• From Miami to Rio de Janeiro
• Cruise down Amazon River to Manaus, Brazil

·         Transatlantic to Cape Town cruise on Oceania in February 2025

• From Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town
• Post cruise extension planned in Cape Town with possible short South African safari

·         Viking Northern Lights Cruise in March 2025

• From Bergen, Norway to London
• Possible post cruise extension in London

·         French Polynesia/Hawaiian Island cruise on Silversea in April 2025

• From Papeete, Tahiti to Los Angeles
• Distinctive Voyage Cruise with special excursion
• Possible pre-cruise extension in Tahiti

·         British Isles Cruise on Azamara in July 2025

• From Southampton to Edinburgh
• Perry Golf Package with trip to 2025 British Open
• Availability only for cruise, airfare, and hotel

·         Tahiti/Bora Bora Cruise on Paul Gauguin Cruise Line in September 2025

• Roundtrip Papeete, Tahiti
• 2-night overnight stay in Bora Bora
• Pre-cruise extension in Papeete to Swim with the Newborn Whales
• Limited availability

·         Australia Great Barrier Reef Cruise on Celebrity in February 2026

• From Sydney to Sydney
• Overnight stay in Great Barrier Reef port (Cairns)
• Pre-cruise extension planned in Sydney
• Back-to-back cruise in conjunction with cruise below

·         New Zealand Cruise on Celebrity in February 2026

• From Sydney to Auckland
• Back-to-back cruise in conjunction with cruises above and below

·         Fiji – Samoan Island Cruise on Celebrity in March 2026

• From Auckland to Auckland
• Back-to-back cruise in conjunction with cruise above
• Possible post cruise extension in Auckland

 
 
Let us know if you would like to join us on any of these cruises.
 
You can now find our updated cruise list on our website at:
 
http://www.hookedoncruisin.net/group-cruising.html

 
Regards,
Sharon and Greg

On January 18th we arrived in Laem Chabang which is a cruise port about 2 hours from Bangkok by car.  Our ship was staying overnight which gave us two full days to visit Bangkok and the surrounding area.  When we got off the ship our Tours By Locals guide, Teera Rojanaviboon, was waiting for us with a bus and driver to take all 31 of our group into Bangkok.  Our first stop was the Grand Palace.
 
The Grand Palace began construction in 1782 by the new king, Rama I, to relocate the capital to the left bank of the Chao Phraya River to provide a better defensive position against their enemies of that era.  The palace was built on 54 acres of land and is surrounded by 12 miles of walls.  Inside these walls are the Halls of Residence for the Royal Family, Throne Halls, administrative buildings, and temples including the royal temple (Chapel Royal).  Rama I was the first monarch of the Chakri Dynasty in Siam and died in 1809.  The country’s name was changed to Thailand in 1939.
 
Within the walls of the Grand Palace is a small city with many impressive looking buildings.  The architecture of these buildings is spectacular and unlike the older palaces of Thailand this palace is kept in immaculate condition.  It would take at least one full day to see everything within the walls, but we only had a few hours to view it.  One of the more famous items inside the Grand Palace is the Temple of the Golden Buddha which houses a 26” by 19” Buddha sculpture which is decorated in different gold attire during different seasons of the year.  Within the palace there is a handcrafted replica in concrete of Angkor Wat.  Angkor Wat is a 400-acre Hindu-Buddhist temple in Cambodia that is considered the largest religious structure in the world.  The artwork, sculptures, mosaics, tiles, and landscaping through the Grand Palace is truly amazing.
 
After spending a few hours at the Grand Palace, we headed out to Methavalai Sorndaeng which is a local restaurant with some great Thai food.  The menu was preplanned, and they kept bringing out different Thai foods that everyone seemed to enjoy.  Several of us enjoyed our lunch with a nice cold Singha beer, the most popular beer in Thailand and only seems to come in very large bottles.
 
With a good lunch in us we went out exploring again and were taken to the Wat Pho – The Temple of the Reclining Buddha.  The main building within the temple housed a 150-foot reclining gold plated Buddha that was 50 foot tall.  It was hard to get a good view of the Buddha because the building was just large enough to encompass it.  This temple is the oldest temple in Bangkok built in the 17 century and has 394 gilded Buddha images which is the most of any temple.  Wat Pho is also a center for the preservation of traditional Thai medicine and for $7 you can get a great foot massage from the students!
 
We ended the first day of touring with a walk through some of the street shops and flower/vegetable markets on our way to a longtail boat that took us on a tour of the Chao Phraya River.  The longtail boat is the traditional Thai boat that is named from the long (6-10 foot) shaft that extends behind the boat to the propeller which looks like a tail on the boat.  The boat driver steers the boat by moving the propeller shaft from side to side.  The boat engines used are large old car or truck engines that are mounted on the back of the boat and are quite loud.  These boats can travel at high speeds.  The trip down the river was interesting and you were able to get a good view of the Grand Palace on the boat tour.  The river on the other hand was very dirty although you could see fish in the waters.
 
At this point in the tour 8 of our group went to a hotel to spend the night and see Bangkok in the evening while the rest of the group headed back to the ship. 
 
The next morning the same guide and bus driver picked up the smaller group of 23 people to tour Pattaya which is a resort beach area about 100 miles southeast of Bangkok in the opposite direction of the cruise port.  We were taken to an overview area on top of a mountain where we had a great view of the city and beach area.  Near by there we went to Big Buddha Hill which has a large 60-foot sitting Buddha on top of a hill with a long staircase bordered by two long Chinese dragons.  At the bottom of the hill, you will see Nagas (7 headed snakes) coming out of the dragons’ mouths.   At the top of the hill is another temple (Wat Phra Yai) built in 1940 for the fishing village there at the time.  This is one of the most popular tourists stops in Pattaya.
 
Our next stop was Nong Nuch Garden, which was not what most of us expected.  Yes, it had beautiful gardens and many bonsai trees to marvel at, but it had so much more.  It was almost like an amusement park.  There were exhibits with dinosaurs everywhere you looked.  They had many elephants available for rides and pictures.  This is where we had a buffet Thai lunch.  The food was great but there was a very large Chinese group that got there right before we arrived, and it was hard to get your food.  It didn’t matter if you stood in line, the people from this group just cut in front of you to get what they wanted.  About the time we were finishing our lunch the crowd died down and you could get anything you wanted to eat.  The food was good, and we enjoyed ourselves.
 
After lunch we went to the Pattaya Floating Market.  This is a huge shopping area along several canals that had many shops along the shores selling various things.  It primarily seemed to be selling items for tourists and it was not a traditional floating market which Thailand is famous.  Greg had been to Bangkok 50 years ago and had witnessed Bangkok’s huge floating market just off the main river downtown where thousands of Thai people came daily on their boats to purchase food, medicines, equipment, and whatever they needed.  Back then there were almost no tourists visiting the floating markets on all the items being sold were daily essential items that people needed.  The Pattaya Floating Market was still very nice and offered a glimpse of how people in Thailand once shopped.
 
Our last stop of the day was spectacular.  We went to see the Sanctuary of Truth.  Some people called in a temple and others a museum.   It is said to be the largest wooden castle in the world.  All the wooden sculptures in the Sanctuary have been hand carved to discover the 7 truths of life.

• 1st Truth: “Who are we?  Where are we from?”
• 2nd Truth: “How do we live our lives?”
• 3rd Truth: “The End of Life”
• 4th Truth: “Samples of Civilization”
• 5th Truth: “What is a life goal?”
• 6th Truth: “Society is like a two-sided coin”
• 7th Truth: “The beginning of society”

The woodworking techniques used to build the sanctuary are ancient in some cases and traditional in other ways.  Minimal steel nails are used in construction and artisan craftsman are required to build this structure.  Mr Lek Viriyaphan is the originator of the project and began dreaming about it when he was in high school.  As he became a successful businessman, he spent 10 years looking for the ideal site before beginning construction.  Construction began in 1981 and it is not yet complete but is a work in progress with the hope that it will be completed by 2050.  There are 200 people that work on the structure daily and you must wear hard hats to tour it.  Tours are provided throughout the day in 6 different languages.  It is really a must-see attraction in Thailand!
 
We ended our tour there and headed back to the ship.  We said our goodbyes to Terra and 4 of us told him we would see him again in a few weeks on our return cruise. 
 
We will not add any dialogue in this blog about the second visit to Bangkok, but the pictures and Facebook dialog is included here.
 
You can now find our updated cruise list on our website at:
 
http://www.hookedoncruisin.net/group-cruising.html


Regards,
Sharon and Greg

Cruise 2 Bangkok Day 1 Facebook Entry: Spent a day in Ayutthaya Province, ancient ruin city with many historical temples/palaces left behind by the rich Siamese Kingdom. Thanks @Terra Rojanaviboon (our tour guide) for an awesome day!

Cruise 2 Bangkok Day 2 Facebook Entry: Our 2nd great day in Bangkok - went to visit the Train Track that goes through the Market (very similar to Hanoi). Visited Salt Farm and the Floating Market (very different from Pattaya) as we saw many purchasing for their needs and others who are tourists buying what they find by boat!

On January 17th we arrived in Ko Samui, Thailand after spending one day at sea on the Celebrity Solstice.  Most of our group had Concierge Veranda Staterooms on Deck 10 close together on this cruise.  We needed the day at sea to rest up after our Singapore tours and be ready to tour Thailand.  On the night of the 16th, we had paid for a specialty dinner for the entire group called La Petite Chef.  It is a very interesting meal with animated characters walking across your table preparing your food.  Our entire group seemed to enjoy the experience.
 
At Ko Samui we had arranged a private boat tour to Ang Thong National Marine Park.  Due to the distance away from our port we needed to get our group started as soon as our ship was ready to disembark.  Unfortunately, this was a port that we had to tender in (take small boats to shore), because there was no dock at this port.  We had made arrangements with the Concierge to be the first tender to leave the ship and our private tour boat was waiting for us upon arrival at the dock.
 
Ang Thong Marine Park is a beautiful archipelago consisting of 42 islands in the Gulf of Thailand.  These islands consist of many limestone hills, sinkholes, caves, and inland marine lakes.  Although it is a great place to snorkel and kayak, we had a tight timetable to see the sights and get back to the ship before it departed.  The group did some hiking up one of the tallest hills, which was almost 1200 feet high and was rewarded with some great view of the surrounding area.  We did see a few monkeys and tropical birds in the area.  It was certainly a worthwhile trip to see another beautiful area of the world.
 
A few weeks later we returned to Ko Samui on our next cruise, but it was the first port stop that we had no tour organized.  Larry and Greg decided to rest on the ship while Lisa and Sharon went out to explore other areas of the island.  There was not much to see right where the tender docked but there were some nice resorts on the other side of the island.  Lisa and Sharon took a taxi to the resort side of the island and enjoyed the sights.  They even had a nice Thai massage on the beach.  There were some of the small Thai fishing boats on that side of the island.  They enjoyed their short stay on the island.

Sharon and Greg

SECOND VISIT FACEBOOK POST: We arrived back home but had one last post to our last stop in Koh Samui, Thailand - Chaweng Beach - white sand beach, beautiful turquoise water, great day relaxing. An island off the east coast of Thailand. Then departing the ship in Singapore for our flight back to Atlanta!
Had a great trip with family and friends! Lots of fun, laughs and great memories made!

​On January 9th we headed out to Singapore with 21 other members of our group on the plane.  We were meeting up with 10 other people in Singapore bringing our group to 31 people for this trip – our largest group we have ever organized.  Our trip consisted of 4 days in Singapore prior to our cruise and then a 12-night cruise to Hong Kong with port stops in Thailand and Vietnam.  In Hong Kong some people were flying straight back to Atlanta while others were staying 1 or 2 nights before going back.  Four of us (Conrads and Gardners) were staying on the ship for a return cruise to Singapore.
 
Upon arrival in Singapore, we headed to the Intercontinental Hotel, but we did not do much since everyone was struggling a little with the jet lag and the 24-hour flight we had just taken to get to Singapore.  That night a small group headed out of the hotel in search of one of Singapore’s famous hawker stands.  This is Singapore’s version of a food court that you might find in any mall in the United States.  Hawker stands in Singapore are all individually owned, and the food is prepared by local cooks unlike the food courts in the US that are all franchise owned and operated.  The hawker stand we visited that night was outdoors with all of the local dishes prepared while you watched.  We tried the chicken rice, and it was very good.  Greg also had a Tiger beer which is the local beer made in Singapore and is excellent.  After a brief walk around the area, we headed back to the hotel for a well-deserved night’s sleep.
 
The next day everyone met down at breakfast, which turned out to be an excellent buffet.  Every morning, we looked forward to starting out our day with this spectacular breakfast buffet and we missed this breakfast when we boarded the ship.  After breakfast a small group of people walked over to the Singapore Harbor and walked through some of the local malls before our afternoon tour.  Around noon the group walked over to Clark Quay where we met our Tours By Locals guide who we had hired to show us around Singapore.  We started out on the first day doing a harbor cruise that went down the Singapore river into the harbor where the famous Singapore Merlion spits water into the harbor.  The Merlion has become the official mascot of Singapore and is a mythical animal that is half lion and half fish.  The animal was derived from a legend when hundreds of years ago a prince on his first visit to the island saw a strange animal that was later identified as a lion and the prince named the island Singapura which meant lion in his language.  The Merlion that looks out over the harbor was made by a local sculptor who used all 8 of his children to help him.  Our guide provided the history surrounding the Merlion and shared how Singapore has grown so much over the last 50 years.  From the Singapore harbor you can see the magnificent Marina Sands Hotel which is now another icon of Singapore.  On one side of the harbor are large hotels to house the millions of tourists and businessmen that come to Singapore every year, and on the other side of the harbor is the financial district with huge skyscrapers for all the major banks and other financial institutes that do business in Asia.  Our tour ended at one of the most famous hawker stands in Singapore called Lau Pa Sat where we enjoyed some good Asian food.  There was even one food operator here that had been awarded a one-star Michelin status.  After our tour we walked back to our hotel, and everyone had the rest of the afternoon and evening to do whatever they liked.  Sharon and Greg headed out to hike around the area to see some other sights and walked around the Singapore harbor at night with all the many colorful lights all around.
 
On our second full day in Singapore our guide met us at the hotel with a bus to take us around the city.  Our first stop was at Little India where we walked through the many shops.  The flowers sold at some of these shops were beautiful and very inexpensive.  There were many unique fruits sold and sugar cane could be purchased if you had a sweet tooth.  The shops were clean and well kept up.  It is very important to note that Singapore is a very culturally diverse city.  Almost ¾ of the population is Chinese Singaporean, there is also a strong presence of Malay, Indian and European people throughout the city.  The British once ruled Singapore and you can still see their influence throughout the city even though Singapore gained their independence almost 60 years ago in 1965.  Our second stop on the tour was the Malay Heritage Center and Sultan’s Mosque.  A Sultan ruled Singapore until a treaty was signed handing over control to the British in 1819.   The Sultan’s Mosque is a beautiful building near the Malay Cultural Center.  To enter the mosque everyone had to borrow clothing that is provided during entry to cover your knees and shoulders.  Make sure to check out our group picture with everyone wearing the colorful pants that were handed out.  The cultural center works hard at trying to ensure all Singaporeans respect each other’s religion and cultural rituals.  Our next stop on this tour was Chinatown which houses many shops, restaurants, and temples.  We walked around the shops and looked at all the unique decorations in the area.  We had lunch at one of the large indoor hawker stands.  Most people were adventurous, trying some of the unique delicacies offered.  Many also got some good Tiger beer which is offered almost everywhere around the city.  After lunch we went to a city planning building where they had a large three-dimensional map of Singapore showing their 50-year plan.  It is amazing how long in advance they have planned the construction of buildings and have planned their growth.  They told us that they had run out of areas that could be land filled preventing the construction of new buildings but has forced the city to think vertically.  Many of their buildings are very tall to handle the expected city growth and another layer of the city has been built underground.  You can literally walk down any of the rapid transit entrances and see a whole other layer of the city where you can buy anything and find an abundance of restaurants and shops.  It was remarkable how this city created a plan 50 years ago and has continued to follow and update this plan as necessary.  After the tour our group was brought back to the hotel, and everyone was on their own for dinner.  A few of our group followed us through a few malls and down to the harbor to look at the sights.
 
Our last full day in Singapore was on our own without any guides.  We had bought tickets for everyone to see Gardens of the Bay, which is a spectacular nature park built behind the Marina Sands Hotel.  We first took everyone to the grove of Super Trees where there are 12 self-sufficient 75-foot artificial trees.  These trees have a metal frame that allows for 100’s of plants to be inserted around the trunk of the tree to grow all the way to the treetop.  The plants get their water from a large rain barrel in the center of the tree where water is pumped to them using solar energy from solar panels on the tree.  The plants get their nutrients from the earth directly below each tree.  Connecting each tree is a walkway over 70 feet above the ground that you can walk between each tree.  From this pathway you get a unique view of the city and the many ships that are anchored around the surrounding waterway.  Singapore is one of the largest ports in the world.  After taking in these amazing views our group came back down and walked over to the Flower Dome, which is the world’s largest greenhouse according to the Guiness Book of World Records.  Inside this uniquely shaped glass dome are flowers and plants from the cool-dry areas around the world.  These plants are kept in immaculate shape and throughout the dome are unique sculptures which appear to be made out of driftwood.  After spending a long time in this Flower Dome, we went to the second dome which is called the Cloud Forest.  This dome houses one of the world’s tallest indoor waterfalls and is surrounded by different plant species from around the world.  You can take an elevator to the top of the waterfall and then walk down a path admiring the views as you get to the bottom.  Besides these three attractions there is so much to see in this 250-acre park.  You could spend a full day just looking at all the sculptures and plant life around this park.  After spending 4 or 5 hours at the Gardens by the Bay, we headed back to the hotel to wash up and go to the Marina Sands hotel that evening where we were went up to the top of the hotel to have a few drinks and get some more spectacular views of the city.  This is an ideal vantage point to see in every direction around this city.  We were hoping to catch the sunset but unfortunately a few low hanging clouds prevented us from seeing anything special.  We watched the harbor laser show from on top of the hotel which is an interesting perspective of this show.  It is better though to view it at ground level right at the harbor.  Some people had a little to eat while we were up in the hotel and others decided to go to some nice restaurants in the area.  As we left the Marina Sands hotel, many of us went back down to the Gardens by the Bay to see the evening light show.  We watched the first show from high atop the Marina Sands Hotel and now wanted to look at it from down below.  It is an excellent light show with each Super Tree lit in different colors with excellent music matching the changes in the lights.  At that point everyone went back to the hotel to pack and get ready for our cruise the next morning.
 
Four of us returned to Singapore 24 days later after we completed our second cruise (back-to-back on the same ship) to see more sights at each port stop.  We only had a few hours to tour Singapore before we needed to go to the airport to fly back to Atlanta.  During that short visit we want back to Gardens by the Bay and Chinatown to see some of the decorations that had been put up for Chinese New Years.  At Gardens by the Bay, they had a display called River Hongbao that they were just starting to create when we were there in mid-January.  On our return it was February 8th with Chinese New Years scheduled to occur 2 days later, on February 10th.  This is the Year of the Dragon and many of the decorations are colorful yellow and red dragons.  Our guide told us a lot about Chinese New Years and how it is celebrated.  We were able to see some great decorations while we were there.
 
 
Regards,
Sharon and Greg

FIRST FACEBOOK POST: ​Our 1st day in Singapore with many of our Vietnam cruisers! Spent the day cruising from Clarke Quay to Marina Bay and a trip to the most famous “Lau Pa Sat” Hawker Stand (a large food court with food stalls selling a variety of local cuisines).

SECOND FACEBOOK POST: ​Day 2 in Singapore visiting the towns of India, Kampong Glam, Chinatown and evening views from Clarke Quay and Marina Bay.

THIRD FACEBOOK POST: Our last day in Singapore to view Gardens By The Bay and spend a great night on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel overlooking Singapore!

SECOND CRUISE BACK to Vietnam

On September 19, 2021, we flew up to Boston in preparation for our cruise on the Celebrity Summit.  We spend 2 days with our cruising friends Barb Decourcy and Van Heffernan.  They showed us around their area in Rockland Massachusetts just south of Boston.  One day we went into Boston and visited the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum and took a Duck Tour around Boston.  We also visited a nice seafood restaurant and Italian restaurant while we there.  It was nice spending a little time with our friends!
 
Our cruise departed on September 21st on the Celebrity Summit, and we had 4 people joining us on this cruise:  Brendinah Regts and Loni Willanzheimer in addition to Al and Margaret Schriber.  Besides our friends on this cruise, we were the on-board hosts for the Distinctive Voyage Program that had 140 passengers on this ship.  Our responsibility was to host a cocktail party for the group in addition to escorting them on a tour in Halifax.  Because the group was so larger Joe and Karen Shamus joined us a secondary host who we had previously worked with on another cruise.
 
Our first stop was Bar Harbor, Maine where 4 of us had booked some rental bikes for the day to go around the Acadia National Park.  The Schribers had elected to do a narrated bus tour in the park.  Acadia National Park was one of the first national parks in the country with land donated by the Rockefellers.  This was a park where carriage roads were built through the park to allow the ultra-rich people of the time to stroll through the beautiful, hilly forest.  We chose a bike route that followed along the coast to visit Sand Beach and Thunder Hole.  The biking started out easy in relatively level ground.  Two of us (Bremdinah and Greg) elected to take electric bikes and the other two (Sharon and Loni) took regular bikes.  Sand Beach was nice.  It offered a large rocky sand beach that people could enjoy the ocean washing down to the shores of the forest with many beautiful rock croppings all around.  Thunder Hole turned out to be quiet although you could hear the water rumbling in the underwater caves at times.  At high tide the water is supposed to “thunder” as it sprayed the walkway that people walked on to see the water crashing into the caves.  As we continued to ride and enjoy the nature around us, the hills got higher, and the biking go more difficult.  We had been doing so much sightseeing and were now 10 miles out of town, that we decided it might be better to start heading back since we had to be back to the tender by 3:30.  As we biked back, we took turns helping Loni with her bike as the hills were taking a toll and we needed to share the load to get back in time.  We made it back in plenty of time and decided to stop at the Thirsty Whale for a little celebratory drink for making it back in time.  A couple people tried the local brew while Sharon tried a blueberry margarita since this area of the country is famous for their blueberries.  We made it back to the tender by 3:29 and were the last people back – just in time!
 
That night we hosted a cocktail party for the Distinctive Voyage cruisers.  It was a good time to enjoy a few drinks and sit down with fellow cruisers and discuss our travels.  The main purpose of the cocktail party though was to explain the Distinctive Voyage program to everyone, so they knew what to expect. 
 
Our next stop was Halifax where we had our 3-hour Distinctive Voyage tour scheduled.  It was a short 3-hour tour that ended up at the Maritime Museum along the Halifax Wharf which is a beautiful place to walk.  Getting off the ship turned out to be difficult because there was only one small walkway available and since we had arrive a little later in the morning, everyone wanted to get off the ship at the same time.  It took us an extra 45 minutes to get our entire group off the ship to meet our guides.  We broke up into 3 smaller groups with the 3 guides and went off on our tour.  We were disappointed that the guides portion of the tour only lasted about an hour walking along the wharf before we were dropped off at the Maritime Museum to explore on our own.  We were disappointed in this tour and felt responsible because we were the hosts.  Fortunately, the Maritime Museum is a great place to visit and learn about the Titanic sinking and rescue operations.  Halifax was where the rescue operations were headquartered to try and recover as many people from the sinking ship as possible.  It is also where many of the people were buried that were found.  The museum does a great job in learning about the Titanic and what happened.  Besides learning about this well known ship disaster, there is also a great story about a massive explosion that occurred in the harbor when an ammunition ship collided with another ship and blew up during World War I.  It is a fascinating story and an event that reshaped what Halifax looks like today from all the rebuilding that occurred after the explosion.  After the museum our small group of 6 went to visit a church 3 miles from where the explosion occurred that still has shrapnel that embedded into the church.  Unfortunately, the church was closed and we couldn’t see inside.  Instead, we went out in search of a good lobster roll and have a little lunch.  We went to Dave’s Lobster where we had been before, and the food did not disappoint.  Everyone got a little different seafood dish, and we enjoyed it looking over the harbor.  We also found an ice cream shop that our guide recommended, and it was quite a unique dessert with cotton candy decorating our sundae.  At that point we headed back to the ship.
 
The following day we arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia where we had been a few weeks ago on a different Viking cruise.  We had a arranged for a private tour through Tours By Locals to take us around Cape Breton on what is called the Cabot Trail named after the famous English explorer who founded the area.  We were hopeful of seeing some nice fall colors, but it was still too early in the year, and you could only see a few patches of colors here and there.  We had a great guide and he told us about the area.  We stopped at many scenic places to take pictures.  We saw a lodge built at the end of the cape which was where many rich and famous people came to relax and enjoy the nature in the area.  Even the English Royality came to the lodge. They were in the process of building a ski slope in the area and for now the “soon to be slope” was used as a nice hiking trail.  On the way back we went across a river on a small ferry that only accommodated around 9 cars at a time.  It was interesting to learn that all ferries in Nova Scotia were free and paid for by their taxes.  We stopped at a small restaurant and once again many people had lobster rolls while others had different seafood offerings.  It was an enjoyable tour, after which the guide took us back to the port where we did a little shopping at the indoor crafts shopping area before heading back on the ship.
 
The next day was a sea day and then our arrival in Quebec City which was one of the primary reasons we chose this cruise.  It did an overnight stay in this beautiful city.  On the morning we arrived we were given an invitation to watch the arrival on the helicopter pad which is on the front of the ship and provides clear, unobstructed views to the front in addition to both the right and left sides of the ship.  This was especially nice since we were going down the St. Lawrence River which isn’t that wide and there are good views on each side.  It was enjoyable to see our approach into this city which we had visited once before.  When we did dock, we got off the ship and walked around the port area a little admiring all the fall and Halloween decorations.  We then went in search of a bike rental shop to rent a bike for the following day.  This time we rented 3 electric bikes and Sharon was the only one to stick with a regular bike.  On the next day we would do a 5-hour bike ride in the morning before our ship departed.    After making these arrangements we went back to the port to meet a Tours By Locals guide that we had pre-arranged.  He was a strange mixture of French and Irish background but a really nice guy who had lived in the area his whole life.  He walked us all around the old city and into the La Chateau Frontenac which is the iconic picture you see of Quebec City with a huge, impressive building looking out over the city’s cliffs.  It was built in the very early 1900’s and was the home to many historic meetings in history.  One of the most famous meetings is where Churchill and Roosevelt met in the Blue Room and made the decision to invade the Germans at Normandy.  After spending a full day walking the old city, we decided to have a little lunch and drink at a local pub our tour guide suggested.  It was nice to relax a little and enjoy a drink on the bar’s outside tables and watch all the people in the area.   October is a great time to visit Quebec because they do such an outstanding job of decorating the city with pumpkins and Halloween decorations.   We were also shown on this trip some different artistic decorations and sculptures that are created each year for the city.  Most of these creations are removed after one year but some become popular enough to remain for many years to follow.  This year they had added some reflective foil to the sides of some of the buildings in a very interesting geometric pattern and it gave a fascinating view both in day and night.  We would vote on this art to continue for years to come.
 
On Day 2 in Quebec City we got up early to have a little breakfast in a restaurant our guide had recommended.  From there we went over to the bike rental shop and picked up our bikes.  As we biked along the east side of the river we would stop and take pictures.  There were many interesting sights and sculptures along the way.  Our ride along this side of the river came to an end at an old historic bridge that is not used for too much car traffic anymore since they had built a new modern bridge above it.  We rode across this bridge to the other side where our bike ride continued.  On this side we went through some old neighborhoods that had some fascinating architecture and some spectacular landscaping.  We even saw a mail man delivering some packages using a pull wagon. We made a short stop for a bite to eat at a restaurant that seemed to cater to bikers.  We continued biking down the coast through many nice parks and eventually reached the ferry that we needed to take to cross the river back to where our cruise ship was docked.  As we got off the ferry on the other side our bike rental shop was right across the street.  After dropping off our bike we went back to our ship to enjoy a nice sail away from this fascinating city.
 
The next day we arrived in Charlottetown which is in Prince Edwards Island.  This city was most famous for being the birthplace of the author of the Anne of Green Gables children’s books.  During our tour we drove by the farm where the author had grown up and wrote her books.  Once again, we had arranged a Tours By Local private tour for our small group of 6.  We were picked up at the port and as we drove out of town, we were amazed at all the scarecrow decorations around town.  Evidently, they were having a scarecrow festival, and everyone seemed to participate.  We learned that the city constantly had festivals each month to help encourage tourism in the area.  As we drove out of town, we were shown all the potato farms.  Prince Edward Island is Canada’s “Idaho of the US” with regards to growing potatoes.  Evidently the soil is perfect for potato growing and three of our fast-food chains (MacDonalds, Wendys and Chick fil a), get their potatoes exclusively from this area.  Besides potatoes the area is also well know for their lobsters, mussels, and king crabs.  We were shown many of the traps as we drove around in addition to the fisherman out on the water bringing in the traps.  The fishing season was just ending and soon many of the rivers and bays would be frozen over.  After our tour we headed back to town and invited our guide to join us for lunch at his favorite seafood restaurant.  Some of our group had the mussels which the restaurant was famous for, while others had lobster rolls, oysters and other seafood dishes.  It was an excellent meal, and no dinner was required on the cruise ship that night.  We had another great tour and took a leisurely walk back to the ship.
 
Our final stop was Portland Maine where we didn’t have any tour scheduled.  We had decided to do a short train ride on a historic train in the area.  It was an enjoyable tour and allowed us to learn about some history of the area.  On the way back from the train we walked through an area that had some old historical houses.  We stopped at a recommended seafood restaurant and had another great meal.  It is amazing on how many places we stopped for seafood on this cruise!  Before going back on the ship, we walked along the hargor and was amazed to see all the lobster traps and fishing boats in the area.  We walked back to shore for our final leg of the trip back to Boston.  It was a great cruise and we enjoyed spending it with our 4 friends!
 
We always let people know about our upcoming cruises in case anyone wants to join us.  Here is a list of our planned trips over the next 2 years.

• Vietnam/Singapore/Bangkok/Hong Kong cruise in January 2024
  • Two back-to-back cruises available
• Wonder of the Seas Caribbean cruise in February 2024
  • Over Winter Break in Fayette County GA
• Kenya/Masai Mara Safari in July 2024
  • Availability still for one couple
• Viking Christmas Market River Cruise in December 2024
  • Group rates available – limited stateroom availability
• Amazon/Brazil cruise in January 2025
  • Miami to Rio de Janeiro on Oceania
• Transatlantic to Cape Town cruise & Safari in February 2025
  • Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town on Oceania
• Northern Lights cruise in March 2025
  • Viking cruise from Bergen, Norway to London
• French Polynesia/Hawaiian Island cruise in April 2025
  • Distinctive Voyage
• British Isles Cruise in July 2025
  • London to Edinburgh
• Tahiti/Bora Bora Cruise in September 2025
  • Out of Tahiti on the Paul Gauguin Cruise Line
  • Pre-cruise extension to Swim with the Newborn Whales

Let us know if you would like to join us on any of these cruises.
 
Regards,
Sharon and Greg

Facebook: ​Fun times in Boston with Barbara and Van and then boarding Celebrity Summit cruising to Canada/New England! 1st stop Bar Harbor.

Our first trip to Greenland started off with a beautiful scenic cruise of the Prince Christian Sound in the Southern area of Greenland.  This was the second new country we have been to this year if you count Antarctica which is a continent but not really a country.  Our initial view of this northern country was spectacular as we cruised down several large fjords and looked at many glaciers on the mountains and waterfalls running down the steep cliffs.  We were told we were the first cruise ship to be able to navigate Prince Christian Sound this year since ice blockages prevent many ships from getting through.  Although we saw many small icebergs in the water, we did not see anything that seemed too intimidating.  The glaciers we were seeing are either part of, or off shoots from, the world’s second largest ice sheet – the Greenland Ice Sheet.   This massive ice sheet is second only to Antarctica’s and is  larger than the entire state of Alaska.  It is 2 miles thick in some areas and if it were to melt all the oceans would rise 25 feet around the world!  It was a great morning to cruise and see this beautiful country made up of so much ice.  The water was a crystal clear blue and the fjords we went through were majestic.
 
Early in the afternoon we stopped at Nanortalik which is a very small town on the Southern tip of Greenland.  The name of the town means “Place of Polar Bears” and there are only around 1000 inhabitants.  Unfortunately, once again we didn’t see any polar bears.  There were not a lot of available tours in the area, and we spent most of our time walking around this small town.  There were certainly many colorful houses in the area.  Most of these homes had been built 80 years ago and some had been turned into museums.  When World War II came along, Greenland changed dramatically with many US military bases being built there and the native people, the Inuits, saw an entirely different type of lifestyle.  Following the war they began building houses and educating their children more formally than prior to the war.  They built more factories for the fishing, whale, and seal industries.  Although many of the Inuit traditions remain, their lifestyle was changed forever by seeing how other people in the world lived.  We enjoyed our walk around the town and walking through the museums which just showed how their lives had changed over the last 100 years.  Off the shoreline you could see small icebergs floating in the water.  We even saw one larger iceberg “calve” why we were watching it and a huge chunk of ice fell into the water causing a mini tidal wave that washed ashore.  It made a large sound when it cracked, and we wished our camera had captured what happened, but it caught us by surprise.  After a few more pictures we headed back to the ship because this was really our first day of rain during this cruise.  It was a light steady drizzle but with the temperatures in the 40’s it wasn’t a great day to stay out too long after you started getting a little wet.
 
The following day we arrived at Qaqortoq and although it was supposed to be rainy, it turned out to be a very nice day.  We started off the day with a tour of the Seal Factory called the Great Greenland Furhouse.  I am not sure what we expected but it was really a strange experience to see them process seal fur.  It was extremely sad to find out how many seals were hunted by the Inuits.  It was their way of life and they used everything from the seal for food, oils for lighting, and fur for clothing.  The factory was created to start a seal fur export business which seems to be successful although it is very interesting to see how many countries will not allow any of the products to be imported.  There still are many countries that want their products, but we are proud that the US has said no to importing seal fur.  We saw all aspects of how they processed the fur and even made various products out of the fur.  Although we were repeatedly told that no baby seals were hunted or processed in the factory, many of the skins seemed very small.  It was an eye-opening tour, but we probably would have preferred being a little more ignorant of this factory.  After leaving the tour, we walked around the town.  This was a “large” town in southern Greenland and had 3000 people living there.  Because it was the largest town in the southern region, it was also the main educational center where children from the entire region would come to go to high school and trade school.  All high school students were boarded at the school until graduation.  The town was built on the side of a small mountain and walking around this town required some real climbing.  The houses at the top of the hill had some great views but they had a LONG walk to get to the downtown area and there weren’t a lot of cars in the area.  On the far side of town was a large inlet where they were constructing large office buildings and modern residential complexes.  Behind where all the schools were located was a large cemetery where every grave had a large white cross.  It was amazing how many crosses ran up along the hillside.  We missed the kayak demonstration they were having but ran into the person who was doing the demonstration.  He showed the local kayaks that were used for transportation, fishing, and seal hunting.  These were very light kayaks with wooden frames surrounded by seal fur on the outside.  One of their main sports there was kayak racing.   This again was a very colorful town surrounded by colorful boats out in the harbor.  Although many people think of white when they think of Greenland, the people there go out of their way to use bright colors on their homes, businesses, and boats.  It is actually very scenic.   We enjoyed our two stops in Greenland and now off to Canada for our final two stops.
 
We arrived in L’Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland two days later.  As we were getting ready to board the tenders the captain announced that he felt the waters were too rough to have a safe tendering operation into the port.  They canceled this port stop but fortunately we didn’t have any specific plans for this stop.  It would have been a new port for us and we were excited to see what was there.  Unfortunately, we will have to see it next time we are up in the area.
 
The following day we arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia where we had a tour set up to see the Fortress of Louisbourg.  Although we had been to Sydney before, we had never seen this National Historic Site.  It was a fully reconstructed fort and town that was built originally in the early 1700’s.  It is very similar to Williamsburg in the United States where people are dressed up in the clothes people wore during that time.   Historically this fort was built by the French to control the Grand Banks fishing industry.  Unfortunately, the British did not like this idea and just after the fort was completed in 1745, it was attacked by New Englanders who were still British at that time.  It took 46 days to defeat the troops in the fort.  Three years later the French returned as part of a treaty agreement.  This didn’t last long because in 1758 the British were back with 150 ships and 13,000 troops to put the fortress under siege.  After the French surrendered again, the British tore apart the entire fortress and town.  It was never rebuilt until the reconstruction efforts over the last 30 years.  The village outside the fortress was very interesting to walk around seeing the people dressed up in their 1700’s outfits and looking at some of these beautiful, reconstructed buildings.  We even saw a cannon demonstration where they fired a cannon over the water.  It was a very nice tour and very educational.  When we got back to downtown Sydney, we walked around the shoreline and into town.  Sharon was able to go back to the restaurant (Governors Pub and Eatery) where she had her very first lobster roll and sure enough, she had another one.  We went back to the port and spent another hour or so shopping at the large craft area inside the port terminal where they have 20 or so local crafts people selling their wares.  Sharon found a nice shawl that she couldn’t pass up.
 
As we headed out of Sydney which was our last port stop of this 28-day cruise from Norway to Iceland to Greenland to Canada and finally to the USA, we were treated to one of the nicest sunsets we had ever seen.  The sunset was made more beautiful with the scenic view of the houses along the shoreline.  These homes could be seen so vividly with the sky on fire above them.  It was a great end to a great cruise!

We always let people know about our upcoming cruises in case anyone wants to join us.  Here is a list of our planned trips over the next 2 years.

• Greek Isles/Mediterranean cruise in October
  • No staterooms available on ship
• Vietnam/Singapore/Bangkok/Hong Kong cruise in January 2024
  • Two back-to-back cruises available
• Wonder of the Seas Caribbean cruise in February 2024
  • Over Winter Break in Fayette County GA
• Kenya/Masai Mara Safari in July 2024
  • Very limited availability
• Viking Christmas Market River Cruise in December 2024
  • Group rates available
• Amazon/Brazil cruise in January 2025
  • Miami to Rio de Janeiro on Oceania
• Transatlantic to Cape Town cruise & Safari in February 2025
  • Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town on Oceania
• Northern Lights cruise in March 2025
  • Viking cruise from Bergen, Norway to London
• French Polynesia/Hawaiian Island cruise in April 2025
  • Distinctive Voyage
• British Isles Cruise in July 2025
  • London to Edinburgh
• Tahiti/Bora Bora Cruise in September 2025
  • Out of Tahiti on the Paul Gauguin Cruise Line
  • Pre-cruise extension to Swim with the Newborn Whales

Let use know if you would like to join us on any of these cruises.
 
Regards,
Sharon and Greg

We arrived in Longyearbyen on August 11th after 2 days at sea.  We left North Cape which was the furthest northern peninsula of land in Europe and then went due North for 2 days to get to the island archipelago of Svalbard which is only a few hundred miles south of the North Pole.  This is the land of the polar bear where there are more polar bears on this group of islands than there are people!  Unfortunately, we did not see a polar bear on this trip although we missed one by two days that had ventured into the city and was scared away with helicopters.  Longyearbyen is the biggest city in Svalbard and is named after an American who started a mining company there over a hundred years ago.  After 10 years of mining in this area John Longyear sold his company to the Norway Mining Company and the land is now part of Norway although there is a significant mixture of nationalities that live there.  Although coal is still mined on the island, many other minerals have been mined there over the years.  Svalbard was used as the starting point for all the North Pole expeditions in the early 1900’s and later it became a land that attracted people who liked adventure and the outdoors.  More recently it has become a tourist stop.
 
We had never been there before and our ship was staying overnight which would give us an opportunity to explore this area a little.  You cannot venture outside the city on your own (a city law) unless you have some type of polar bear protection (such as a rifle).  We had arranged for two independent tours on the first day and the guides on each tour brought their rifles along.  The first tour was in a RIB boat to go out and look for walruses (and hopefully a polar bear).  Unfortunately, we saw no polar bears and only one walrus.  We did see a whale and a few puffins along the way.  The highlight of the trip was some up-close viewing of two glaciers in the area.  The largest was Nansen Glacier and are boat pulled up within a couple hundred yards of the ice cliff of the glacier and we were able to see some significant calving of the glacier (where large chunks of ice fall off into the ocean).  There were chunks of ice floating all around the area along with a few good-sized icebergs.  We were also shown an old abandoned Russian mining town on the shore.  Many nations had attempted to mine the high-quality coal found on the island.  It was a nice tour and gave us a good introduction to Svalbard and the area. 
 
An hour or so after we got back from the boat, we had another independent tour set up to photograph wildlife in the area.  The goal was to see a polar bear or arctic fox during the tour.  Although we still saw no polar bears, we did see 2 arctic foxes (a mother and her pup).  Our guide new right where the family of arctic foxes were because he had been watching their den for many weeks.  We were lucky to catch the mother down by the water and watched her as she scampered up the mountainside downwards her den.  She was not intimidated by us at all and came up to us within 30 feet to check us out.  Our guide would ball up some moss and throw it to her and she would run up and nibble on it.  It was a real treat to see an arctic fox close up in the wild!  We were told that the mother had 3 pups but only one showed themselves from a distance.  In addition to seeing the arctic fox we also had a great viewing of a reindeer.  Although we had seen many reindeer on our trip, this one ventured up to within 20 feet of us and did not seem scared at all. We also saw many different species of birds during our tour.  The first bird we saw was the arctic tern which we were told migrates all the way from Antarctica to Svalbard – this is almost north pole to south pole and is amazing to think they can fly that far.  They are also very aggressive birds when protecting their eggs and young.  We were told that they will even attack a polar bear if their young are in danger.  As we were driving by a bird sanctuary in the area, these arctic terns would attack a camera put outside the window of the vehicle because they felt the vehicle was too close to their nest.  Besides the arctic tern, we were introduced to the predatory gulls.  We thought gulls only ate fish but these predatory gulls attacked in pairs and would grab young birds from their mothers.  It was amazing to see these vicious birds.  We also saw many Barnicle Geese in this area, as they were laying on their eggs, and trying to protect them from the predatory gulls.  It was a great tour, and we learned a lot from our guide.
 
After our second tour we walked into town and just explored a little before heading back to the ship.  On the way back we stopped at the Svalbard Brewery (or Bryggeri as the Norwegians call it).  Greg had a nice cold beer from the furthest northern brewery in the world (eat your heart out James Digby!).
 
The following day we had a Viking tour which was just an introduction to Longyearbyen.  They took us to the local museum which was very nice with some great exhibits of polar bears, arctic foxes, and other wildlife.  The museum explained the history of mining in the area and had a great exhibit on the two most famous fur traders on the island (one who was still alive today and in his 90’s).  After visiting the museum, the bus took us around the area and showed us the World Seed Vault.  The Norwegian government built this vault 40 years ago from an old, abandoned mine.  They allow countries around the world to store crop seeds in this vault to preserve the ability to produce food crops in the future in case of a natural disaster of some sort.  These seeds are always maintained in freezing temperatures without the need for freezers.  Over one and a half million seeds are stored there.  As we left Seed Vault, we were taken to one of the abandoned mines in the area.  It is amazing to see all the remnants of mining equipment around town and the many towers which remain that were once used to support the cables and gondolas that brought coal from the mines to various collection points.  You see signs of this place being a mining city everywhere you look.  Up on the sides of the mountains you can also see the avalanche barriers that have been built to protect the city below from avalanches that constantly happen during the winter months (which is most of the year in Svalbard).  Svalbard is so far North that it doesn’t see ANY daylight (sun) for 4 months out of the year!  During the summer months the sun doesn’t set for 4 months.  It is a different place to live and the people we met were relatively young and love the outdoors.  As our bus passed a small campsite by the airport, we were told that the year before, a polar bear had attacked and killed a camper in his tent.  Since then, the campground has installed an electric fence around it!  We decided we probably wouldn’t be camping in Svalbard!   We left this tour a little early and asked the guide and bus driver to drop us off at the other end of the town so we could walk around and explore the area. 
 
We took a few pictures of the local church and small little cabins behind the church.  We elected to walk through the field behind the church to check out some of the old mining operation, but we were stopped by a bird that landed near us.  It flew away and came back landing a little closer.  It flew like this two more times, and then it became much more agitated and started to dive bomb us.  Evidently it had a nest in the area and did not want us anywhere near us.  Even trying to walk away quickly didn’t seem to satisfy this bird and it hit our head a few times as we quickly walked away.  Note to self – stay away from Arctic Terns!  We passed a cemetery along the way and assumed the graves were miners that had died on the job.  We could see one of the mine entrances as we walked, and we marveled at the towers built to hold the gondolas.  Some of these towers were mounted on the sides of these mountains and would have certainly been difficult to build.  We walked into town and went into their shopping mall which was impressive with the shops available.  As we walked back to the ship, we stopped at the Husky Café so that Sharon could get a little coffee and take a picture with the local huskies in the café (the mother and her pup).  We made it back to the ship and waved goodbye to Svalbard. 
 
We were thinking about whether we would come back and due an expedition trip to try to see polar bears or go to Churchill, Canada where we heard it was easier to observe the polar bears.  After we did some research, we decided we would go to Churchill, Canada in the future where we have found that polar bears actually walk through town in October and November as they migrate.  They have many polar bear expedition trips you can take there, and it sounds like you are guaranteed to see polar bears there.  Besides supposedly, being the Polar Bear capital of the world, it is also known as the Beluga whale capital of the world when 1000’s of Beluga whales converge on this area in Hudson Bay in the summer months.  You are also supposed to be able to see the Northern Lights during most of the year.  Well, we will be setting up a trip to Churchill, Canada in the future (maybe October or November 2024) to see Polar Bears and the Northern Lights!  If you are interested, let us know!
 
Svalbard was great and we really enjoyed our time there.  We are not sure if we will be back, but it is certainly a worthwhile place to visit.

Regards,
Sharon and Greg

On August 15th we arrived in Isafjordur, Iceland.  This blog will encompass the 8 stops we were to make in Iceland although we did miss our stop in Heimaey due to rough seas and the inability of our tender boats to make it safely to shore.
 
At our first stop in Isafjordur we had a private tour to Dynjandi Falls.  This was a spectacular looking falls that we were able to walk up almost half of the way to the top taking some great pictures.  On the way back to the ship we stopped at a local Icelandic farm and learned a little about their operation.  Some of the goats on the farm were great to view and so were the turkeys.  We took an opportunity here to take a group photo of the 6 of us on this cruise.  Two or our group (Linda and Laurie would be heading home tomorrow).
 
The next day we arrived in Reykjavik where we had a Puffin Boat Tour and Linda and Laurie headed to the airport.  We headed out in the morning to Lundey and Akurey Islands just outside the harbor to see some puffins.  We saw them nesting on the island and swimming in the water.  We even saw one with a little fish in its mouth.  After our short puffin tour, we walked around the city visiting the rainbow street and viewing the cathedral.  There are many interesting buildings and restaurants in Reykjavik and it is a nice place to stroll through.  The biggest church though in Reykjavik is a Lutheran church called Hallgrímskirkja.  This is a tall volcano looking church made of concrete.  It has a statue of Lief Erickson out front that was given to Iceland by the US.  We sampled a few pastries from some of the local shops and remembered some of the places we had gone to a few years ago when we spent 2 days here prior to a cruise.  Instead of taking the shuttle back to the ship we took a long scenic walk along the harbor area.
 
The next day we arrived at Heimaey but was not able to see this island because of the rough waters preventing our tendering operation.  It was especially strange since we had missed this exact same stop because of a hurricane 2 years ago. 
 
On August 18th we stopped at Djupivogur which was a very small port on the east side of Iceland.  Only 400 people lived there but it was beautiful country.  This was the first time we had been in this quaint little town and our only new stop we were making while in Iceland.  We took a 6 mile hike up a nearby mountain that was quite a strenuous hike for a Viking tour.  The views from up above were great and the guide was very good.  We even had someone from the ship hiking with us and Sharon asked him halfway through the hike what he did on the ship.  He said he was the Cruise Director which embarrassed Sharon since he was the most well-known person on the ship.  It just goes to show you how many ship events and nightly Viking entertainment shows we go to.  (For the rest of the cruise he would not let Sharon forget she didn’t know who he was.  She knows him now!)  This town was so small that our guide in the morning was the daughter of the mayor and our guide in the afternoon was the brother of the chief of police.  Everyone knew each other in this small town.  The afternoon tour took us through town and showed us the famous Eggs of Merry Bay.  These were 34 granite sculptures of eggs of the 34 species of birds that laid their eggs in the area.  This was a project designed to improve the appearance of the area after a fishing company had built a factory and then left the town shortly after leaving many rusting buildings behind.
 
The following day we arrived at Seydisfjordur.  We took a morning tour with the ship just to walk around the area and learn a little more about it.  This is a small town also that has about 900 people.  It also has a unique looking blue church that has music concerts every Wednesday in the summertime.  It is said that if you think you are a good musician or singer that you must sell out the little blue church to be considered good in Iceland.  We walked around the city after the tour checking out some of the waterfalls that you can see coming down the sides of the fjord.  We had some great views of the city down below.  Only 2 ½ years ago in December of 2020, this city had a massive landslide where it lost a good portion of the town.  They had so much rain that mud and earth just gave way on the fjord mountain side causing many homes just to slide towards the water.  Some homes were demolished with the rocks coming down and others caught fire.  It is a miracle that no one was killed during this landslide.
 
On August 20th, we made it Akureyi where we had a tour set up to visit Godafoss Falls and Lake Myvtan.  Unfortunately, we arrived at a different port than normal, and the bus had left by the time we got to the correct port.  Fortunately, we found another tour to take us to Godafoss Falls and some other places.  It turned out to be a great tour.  Godafoss stands for falls of the gods and it got its name when the Icelandic leaders were forced to denounce their Pagen gods for a Christian god.  They took all their Pagen god statues and through them into Godafoss Falls.  The falls were as spectacular as the last time we had seen them although the Icelandic flies were more annoying and in abundance.  These flies are about a third of the size of US flies and they just swarm at your eyes, mouth and ears.  Keep your mouth closed or you will eat a few!  Our next stop was to visit an Icelandic turf house.  We had seen one last trip, but these are really interesting to go through.  Half of the house is made by the earth with the roof being dirt and grass.  The only thing built out of wood or stone is the front face of the house and the internal walls.  Many of these turf homes include 4 to 8 smaller homes combined together.  Sometimes 20 people or more might live in them.  The one we visited was owned by a church preacher who also farmed the land around him.  Our last stop on this tour was a Christmas House.  It was quite a surprise and a lot of fun to walk around.  They had many displays around the property and some nice pastry to eat.  It you come to this city it is certainly worth stopping at.
 
The final stop in Iceland was back to Isafjordur.  It was our first stop in Iceland on the cruise and the last stop.  Sharon had set up a private riding experience on Icelandic horse for us.  This was one of the best horse-riding experience we even had!  This wasn’t just jumping onto a horse, riding around for a few hours, and then hopping off.  It was the full experience!  When we first walked into the stable, we were told to pick up a saddle and bridle and follow our guide out to the horses.  She put on the bridle, and we took the horses to an indoor riding area to saddle the horses and ride them a little to get familiar with them. Before putting the saddle on we were given a brush to comb down the horse before we rode him.  We were taught the proper way to brush by following the grain of the hair.  We threw the blanket and saddle on the horse and then the guide tightened up the belt for us to make sure it was tight enough. Instead of getting on the horse from a step ladder or some raised platform like most horse tours we have been on, you put your foot in the stirrup and swung your other leg over the horse.  Granted it was a little easier on these horses because Icelandic horses are considerably smaller than most horses.  We then rode the horses around the beautiful countryside for a couple of hours and came back to the stables.  We were offered an opportunity to ride through the beach area with the horses but was also warned that the almost, freeing fjord water got up to the horses belly, which meant you were going to get wet.  Since we already had the “horse on the beach” experience in Jamaica where the water was a whole lot warmer, we elected to pass on a beach ride in Iceland.  When we got back to the stable, we hopped off our horses and unbuckled the saddles.  We carried the saddles and bridles back to where we got them and picked up a bowl of treats for each horse.  Boy did these horses like these nutritious treats!  We thought they were going to eat a hole in the plastic bowl.  We then took the horses outside to the corral with the other horses and it was amazing to see them roll around in the rocks after the ride.  I guess they were a little sweaty from the ride and the rocks were nice and cool to roll around in.  The guide said all the horses did this after a ride.  We stayed around with the horses and petted them and played with them for about a half hour before we left.  These horses were almost like overgrown dogs and just loved the attention of people.  This was a totally spectacular experience and if you ever have an opportunity to do this, this is a MUST!  After the ride the guide dropped us off in town so we could walk around a little before heading back to the ship.
 
We had 8 great days in Iceland and the weather was spectacular!  Just as in Norway it showed rain almost every day but the rain never seemed to materialize.   Now we have one sea day, and we will arrive in Greenland.  Another place we have never been to before.

​Regards,
Sharon and Greg

REYKJAVIK - A great day in Reykjavík as our 1st visit was after COVID, 9/21. Today we were in search of Puffins and walk around the city!

DJUPIVOGUR - Visited an adorable town named Djupivogur with a population of about 400! Too funny - Our morning tour guide was the Mayor’s daughter and in the afternoon our tour guide’s brother was Chief of Police (only officer in the city)!

​Our 2nd visit to Seydisfjordur - the town is named after the Fjord Sveinstekks with a population of about 700. We visited the town and hiked to 2 waterfalls and visited the Tvisongur (sound sculpture).

​A fun day in Isafjordur, Iceland visiting the beautiful Dynjandi Waterfalls, Pingeyri seaside Village and Tungudalur Fishing Village.

Day 2 Isafjordur: ​One of our favorite days in Iceland, riding Icelandic horses! We first brushed and saddled our horses, Blossi and Lokkur in an indoor ring. Bonding time for these gentle and sweet horses before we headed out to the stunning countryside!