scubacruiserx2

Working on it's suntan Sandhill Cranes and chick Snake bird mode Osprey landing and perching Water lily

One of my favorite photos of birds was this pelican who had caught a fish . It was going down tail first so it stuck out it fins so the pelican couldn't swallow it . The bird coughed it up and had a few friends waiting for the fish to come out so they could steal his meal . But the crafty bird moved and was turning the fish to go head first . I didn't have a flash so it's hard to see him but the fish is in his mouth ready to go down like Jonah in the great fish .

Thank you both . In the event you are in Ft. Lauderdale in the Spring we will tell you where the place is less than a hour away . I was early as the eggs have not hatched yet so we will go again in about a month . Fewer people then since winter visitors will return to where they live when it gets hotter and more humid . We did find it strange that there was no Bible in the night stand next to the bed . We have always found one in every hotel and cruise ship that we have ever been on before . Here's a couple more bird shots from home . They are all from our house . The first one is a Swallow - Tailed Kite ( Like a child's toy ) . We see then in the winter or Spring soaring high up on cool days . A Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker that we see in our conservation easement . They are funny to watch looking for a mate . The Red Shouldered Hawk lives here year round and eats our lizards or mice if they see them .

The little sparrow is a Grasshopper Sparrow and the Orange Iguana is an Albino .

The bird place part 2 with the new camera and an old 300 mm telephoto lens . You will see some serious birders and camera equipment here in addition to cell phones . Wood Storks on their nest Snowy Egrets Nest building During the late 1800s, five million birds a year including Snowy Egrets were killed so their feathers — and sometimes even the whole birds — could be added to the hats of fashionable ladies in Europe and America. In 1886, Snowy Egret plumes were worth twice as much as gold.Sep 20, 2019 What Lizard ? Black Bellied Whistling Ducks are snow birds that some have retired and stay here all year long . Fly over Great Blue Heron . We used to see these big birds as neighbors frequently but the new people in our neighborhood have destroyed their habit by killing all of their trees on their property and planting grass . For 25 years we had no neighbors but in the past 2 years , 5 houses have been built destroying hundreds or thousands of old tall trees . We have a1acre conservation easement on our property set aside for animals of all natural land and trees , with no invasive species 23 year ago . It was given to the county with no building ever in exchange for a tax break on that part of our land . It has been more populated with animals that have moved there when the machines destroyed the nearby land . We have nicknamed it ( not officially ) Joe's Jungle . Anhinga with their green mating masks on . Female with the brown neck is on the nest . A sloppy eater drooling Some others

I was up early yesterday to drive and arrive at the bird place before sunrise . It is about 45 minutes South from where we live and about 45 minutes North from Port Everglades . I haven't been there for years but I needed and my new camera wanted some exercise . First up I will show my pocket camera . I got a close parking space near the entrance and bathrooms . Some loud people scared the alligator away before I could get my big camera defogged . Here comes the sun

It sounds like a great trip in the Spring . We have never been to any of these ports except Lisbon and that was back in Spring of 2015 on the Eclipse . You can see our visit there and what we did there here : Begin with post # 540 - 595 .

Sorry , we've been busy including a pre dawn 1 hour drive to shoot some birds with the new camera this morning . Tomorrow is our annual case of 1 hour jet lag called Daylight Saving Time where we move our clocks ahead 1 hour . We don't care for it and wish our government would live time alone We don't know how a standard balcony would be but the price is right . If thinking Antarctica or the Malvinas , we looked at more time in Antarctica like Princess , Celebrity or HAL but they cost more . We knew that we would do Patagonia and we had 4 1/2 days on the Zaandam and saw the Malvinas before so we didn't mind 2 days as much as others did . Regretfully , people behind our cruise didn't get 2 full days and may have missed the Malvinas .

Pat's true beauty comes from what is inside . Her appearance was the first thing that I noticed because I only dated attractive women . But looks do fade like photos , so it's the heart and spirt that last much longer like a lifetime and beyond . So we don't always agree but she is my wife for life . 💗

We just submitted our review of our cruise on the CC reviews . This is the unedited narrative followed by the ratings . We didn't use the Family or Fitness so we didn't review them thus a 1 star. We have cruised NCL 5 times before but not recently . We prefer HAL Neptune aft corner suites with a budget of 1 K per day per suite . Like the Star , we are older 67 and 73 . We choose it for the price and destinations . 1st choice was May with a visit to Iceland , Norway and the UK and a weeks stay in Iceland post cruise . It was expensive and the local guides unwilling to work with us . We had chosen a nice suite and booked it . In the meantime we looked at other destinations on the Star and liked the one that we chose in January . The guides and post cruise stay were half the price and the same cabin was available for the same price and air fare was less . Thus we canceled Iceland and choose Antarctica . We have been to South America 3 times so we knew the drill . It's not easy with a storm destroying part of embarkation station . You must surrender your passports for the cruise and be bussed from the station to the ship . It was semi controlled chaos with no apparent line for suites . There appeared to be nobody from the ship there . We finally found the line and waited for a Spanish speaking line to empty before they spoke to us . We were sat in a large common area and told that we would be called for Blue # 1 bus . It wasn't long but hey called for Blue # 1 and White #1 . Too many people rushed the bus and there were more people than seats leaving people standing - an unsafe practice for the 10 minute ride in traffic to the ship . There were left over people and another bus behind us . I carried a carry on bag with valuables between my legs like I always do while some loud mouth lady lectured me telling me NO Bags . I told her to tell the driver and other people with bags . At the ship , the majority of the people were non suite (White ) and went to the 1st ramp including the lady next to us . The few suite people went forward to a less steep ramp . This problem could have been solved by boarding all of the priority people ( Blue first ) and then filled the remaining seats with White and no standing . I was a Firefighter/Paramedic for 28 years in Miami responding to the Port of Miami cruise ships and safety and ordering scenes that were chaotic was an everyday part of the job . Entering the ship was like Dorothy entering Munchkin Land after being in a tornado . They were organized and it showed . The room was great and they showed us to a suites lunch in a private room with people being well behaved . We ate most of our lunches there at Cagney's and met the Concierge , Monica . Breakfasts were next door , again private for suites and elites at Moderno . The cabin was the best that we ever had and the Butler Vonn , Concierge Monica and cabin attendant Arlene were excellent . The Itinerary was excellent except they should have spent more than 1 or 2 days in Antarctica which was the real Star of the ship . The ship was in pretty good shape for an older lady . Now for the constructive critic . The food could be better quality , embark and disembark streamed lined like in our home port of Ft. Lauderdale . We missed Punta Arenas for the 1st time in 4 trips mainly because we didn't dock , we tendered and it's always windy there and not the place to tender . If they must tender , it wasn't so bad that they could have done it by using the leeward side to tender first , and turning the ship 180 degrees leaving the other tenders now in the leeward side . If we had to use them as lifeboats this is what they should have done , as a real life practice in the event of an emergency like an iceberg strike . Thus we missed a port and they missed a good drill . We didn't care for the shows and the policy that says no photos , something that we have always done on land and sea . There was no Bible in the night stand and we tried 3 times before and during the cruise to meet for an interdenominational , self led bible study and or service for 3 days . They did give us a place but refused to allow us to put up a sign in public . They also prohibited us from allowing it to be announced in the Freestyle Daily . They did allow Friends of Bill W a public place to meet ( the Library ) and the LGBTQIA+ group a busy public place with a band at the intersection of 2 restaurants in Gatsby's . They were both daily and advertised in the Freestyle Daily . Additionally , the Jewish group met at the same place as us on the Sabbath , but they were given their books for their service and advertised in the Freestyle Daily . We hold no ill feelings against these or any groups but would only like equal treatment for our group . HAL does it and has a Mass daily for Catholics , so why not NCL ? This is our 1st CC review as we usually do photo travelogues as our reviews . Overall 4 Cabin 5 Dining 3 Embarkation 1 Entertainment 3 Family none so we gave it a 1 Fitness didn't use so we gave it a 1 Pubic Rooms 3 Service 5 40+ Cruises Partly handicapped 3 bad knees sometimes needing a walking stick for balance

Tomorrow we will attempt to write a review using a Cruise Critic style format slightly modified .

It's funny the way that some things work out . Like Susana I began University to study to be an Architect . But my lack of understanding higher math stopped me and another incident changed my direction . My brother had a serious accident with an almost miracle recovery and I became a Carpenter for a couple of years before joining the Navy to become a Naval Corpsman ( Medic ) . After that I joined the Fire Department as a Firefighter/Paramedic to help save lives the way that people helped my brother . Our unit was the unit to go to the Port of Miami to help and transport people from cruise ships or industrial accidents . The same year in 1976 that I was in Fire College I had met my future wife in Michigan on vacation ( the best souvenir that I ever picked up ) and I lived in Florida - over 1200 miles away! She moved to Florida that year and brought the only snow ever in Miami when I was in Fire College . This photo of her was 10 years after our 3rd child and 10 years of marriage Later I later worked on the Fire Air - Rescue before I retired at 55 .

We also had heavy seas going around the Cape on the HAL cruise to Antarctica and going to Antarctica . The Captain made this announcement . The result ? An extra half a day of some of the best weather of the trip . A little later we heard this announcement by the Captain about an Iceberg . Why is it so windy in Patagonia ? This article from Wikipedia shows . They are part of Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties of Latitude .

We have done that cruise on the Zaandam in 2012 but in the opposite direction and without the Falkland Islands . That one required Antarctica in 2018/2019 . We did get close to the memorial and could see the funicular .

Thank you for sharing these personal photos of Peru , part of South America that we have only seen from photos from our son and DIL . They have been to several of these places and our son still says that the best Pizza that he has eaten was at Lake Titicaca ! Is that a photo of you and your husband in the boat ? If it is then you resemble the maker of our favorite Malbec , Crios . It's a great story of the first female winemaker .

One thing that we didn't show on our thread was photos of Perito Moreno Glacier calving . Here's some stills and videos that we took from a previous trip . A block of ice the size of a semi truck A HUGE iceberg of blue ice that floated up from beneath the Glacier A little later a boat went out to see it

We did shoot a quick videoclip of the glacier calving from underwater .

3 Stills of calving . This chunk of ice was the size of a semi truck This piece of dark Blue ice floated up from beneath the glacier

On Wednesday January 24th we rented a car in Downtown El Calafate since Monday and Tuesday's trips included pick up at the hotel . After renting the car we drove to the Perito Merino Glacier to see the face since the Glacier cruise on Monday only showed us it's backside . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier The glacier confuses people since it is advancing . You can drive up to it and walk down a series of walkways and see the glacier face to face . It is 3 miles wide , 200' tall and 19 miles long . A pano shot . So the question was should we walk down the stairs that is quicker and brings you lower and closer , or walk the ramp that is easier on 3 bad knees ? We opted for the ramp with hiking poles . The problem is the holes in the grate were larger than the tips on our poles . If you go use your ski tips instead of the hard surface tips . We have been 3 times and the handicapped lift has never worked . The crowd where the ice almost meets the land and you can see where the water from the lake runs into the river ( Where the dark blue ice is ) . It's also where most of the calving was . An ice hole We didn't capture any calving this trip so we will show some from previous trips .

Thank you for writing in and your encouraging words . My wife and I both own Sony pocket cameras , but not the same model as hers has more reach with a 200mm lens built in . She was able to capture some videos on our last trip to Antarctica that I couldn't get . You have a good eye for timing and photos of people as those were the 3 that I liked best . The football team working together for a common goal . The synchronized diving and the lighting . I had to enlarge it to confirm my thing that it is a man and a woman . And the train where the light is on the engineer so that he is the focal point of the photo . Well done . Here's Pat's videos one is penguins jumping on an iceberg and the other is 3 Orcas chasing a penguin - why you shouldn't swim alone .

Tuesday January 23rd Torres del Paine . Crossing from Argentina to Chile and back . 4 passport stamps in 12 hours . The name means Towers of Granite . As we got closer the wind went up to 62 mph The towers And the horns in black At the border crossing the sign had blown down since the morning and was now weighted down

If you liked this thread you might like 2 others that we did in the past on a different cruise line , The first is a very similar cruise cruise just before Covid in 2019 with 4 days in Antarctica on the HAL Zaandam . The next was a 6 week cruise on our favorite HAL ship from Alaska to our home port in Ft. Lauderdale , Florida . We had 2 years during Covid to save and the trip was paid before we left . It went thru the Panama Canal and Central America and the Caribbean where we saw volcanos , thus the fire tittle .

Monday January 22nd Glacier cruise in Argentine Patagonia

Next week I hope to field test my new full size camera by shooting birds . There's a place half way between where we live and Port Everglades that is great and free . If you are in Ft. Lauderdale and rent a car it's 45 minutes away on the highway . In 1999 the US decided to release 5 Quarter dollar coins a year in the order that they entered the Union . The front is the same but on the rear each state was different . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_State_quarters The photos are of the 2014 Florida Quarter and the 2 birds that it honored . The photos are from the bird place and why you need a telephoto lens to reach them from a distance and not disturb them from mating and nesting . The bird drying it's wings swims underwater to catch it's food like a penguin and when it's wings dry it can fly . It's an Anhinga also called a Water Turkey or a Snake bird when it swims because only the head and long neck sticks up like a snake . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhinga The other bird is the Roseate Spoonbill , the only spoonbill in the US but not commonly found here . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseate_spoonbill

Thanks , it was the NCL Star . We had originally book it to Iceland and Norway in May but we couldn't wait . When we saw the same room 9006 at half the price we jumped on it . The best room that we ever had ! A video of it with 2 balconies , one forward facing and one Starboard . The Travelogue of Antarctica and a 6 day stay in Patagonia