Somewhat "Live" - Nov 19th Oosterdam 31-Day SA Cruise - Miami to Buenos Aires

[Lido deck main]

How was the tour.  We are booked with same company.  Guide has a great smile.  

[GeorgeCharlie]

A few steps away from the Fish Market was the shipyard, where we were be able to see where the construction and repairing of large wooden fishing boats was done. This is one of the few remaining large wooden fishing boat shipyards in South America. We were there on a Sunday some nothing was going on.

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

3 minutes ago, Lido deck main said:

How was the tour.  We are booked with same company.  Guide has a great smile.  

 

Our guide was struggling at times. The hour wait at the nature park was frustrating and showed lack of organization. Maybe just bugs trying to get back up after such a long layoff. There was a second group from our ship who had a female guide, and they said their tour was okay, without any long delays.

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

We then drove over to the Pacoche Wildlife Refuge, about 30 minutes from Manta.

 

 

Here we were to take a 1 ½ hour walk through the forest with a nature guide. Unfortunately, when we got there, no guide was available, and we stood around (no seating area) for an hour waiting for a guide. 

 

Some people decided to try and sit on an 8-inch step. 

 

 

The facilities were actually reasonably good, with a regular flush toilet and sink with running water.

 

Once a guide arrived, we set off down the rather hilly trail. Some sections were reasonably steep and had crude steps which were difficult to navigate in some cases.

 

 

The nature guide describing a tree.

 

After walking for about a half an hour our guide, along with the nature guide decided to cut the walk short and go back. Overall, there wasn’t much to see and was quite disappointing, especially after such a long wait.

From there we drove over a restaurant near our next stop, San Lorenzo’s Lighthouse viewpoint.

Lunch was included in the tour cost and consisted of deep-fried fish with rice.

 

On the beach in front of the restaurant there were a number of fenced off areas where turtle eggs had been laid and now waiting to hatch,

 

 

From there it was a short drive to the viewpoint.

 

 

The walk over to see the lighthouse was apparently very strenuous so none of our group went any farther then the to top of the first hill.

[GeorgeCharlie]

Apparently, there will be over 1,000 people getting off in San Antonio tomorrow, with 1,100 getting on the ship. About 700 will be continuing on from the cruise.

[StartrainDD]

14 hours ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

Apparently, there will be over 1,000 people getting off in San Antonio tomorrow, with 1,100 getting on the ship. About 700 will be continuing on from the cruise.

Thank you for your reports!

 

We would be interested to hear how the disembarkation seems to go in San Antonio as we will be disembarking there in January.  We have a private group transfer set up and are struggling with the time to tell the tour guide.

Edited December 6, 2022 by StartrainDD

[GeorgeCharlie]

4 hours ago, StartrainDD said:

Thank you for your reports!

 

We would be interested to hear how the disembarkation seems to go in San Antonio as we will be disembarking there in January.  We have a private group transfer set up and are struggling with the time to tell the tour guide.

 

I can't help you much as far as San Antonio disembarkation goes, as we're staying on the ship till Buenos Aires.

[GeorgeCharlie]

4 hours ago, StartrainDD said:

Thank you for your reports!

 

We would be interested to hear how the disembarkation seems to go in San Antonio as we will be disembarking there in January.  We have a private group transfer set up and are struggling with the time to tell the tour guide.

 

I can't help you much as far as San Antonio disembarkation goes, as we're staying on the ship till Buenos Aires.

[StartrainDD]

16 hours ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

 

I can't help you much as far as San Antonio disembarkation goes, as we're staying on the ship till Buenos Aires.

Understood.  I just thought you might have observed what was happening (announcements, etc.)

 

Thank you!

[Lido deck main]

Hi Bill, 

What about Lima, what did you do?    Did you hear if anyone went to Machu Pichu with the ship?  Are you going to the falls while in Buenos Aires?  

[GeorgeCharlie]

34 minutes ago, Lido deck main said:

Hi Bill, 

What about Lima, what did you do?    Did you hear if anyone went to Machu Pichu with the ship?  Are you going to the falls while in Buenos Aires?  

 

When we left the ship at 8am they were still telling people to wait in their cabin, or public seating areas and to stop going to the gangway until their color/number was called - which was to be starting soon. It seemed disembarkation stated just after we left the port.

 

We talked to a couple of people who went on their own to Machu Pichu, but not to anybody who was on ship excursions.

 

We're flying home the same day we disembark.

[GeorgeCharlie]

1 hour ago, StartrainDD said:

Understood.  I just thought you might have observed what was happening (announcements, etc.)

 

Thank you!

 

Answered in my reply to Lido Main Deck.

[GeorgeCharlie]

57 minutes ago, Lido deck main said:

Hi Bill, 

What about Lima, what did you do?   

 

Hi Mary,

 

In Lima we did 3 tours with Tours By Locals. The Night of Lights, the evening we arrived, a tour of the City of Lima on the 2nd day, and then a tour to some Inca ruins outside Lima on the 3rd day.

 

I'll try and cover some of the tour features within this review, but as an overview we found Lima to be rather boring. Apparently, the reason the ship spends so much time in Lima, is to provide enough time for people to go to Machu Pichu.

Edited December 7, 2022 by GeorgeCharlie

[StartrainDD]

1 hour ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

Apparently, the reason the ship spends so much time in Lima, is to provide enough time for people to go to Machu Pichu.

Exactly right.

[GeorgeCharlie]

At the start of the second segment of the cruise in San Antonio, the COVID/Masking rules again were to wear masks for the first three days, then COVID test on the fourth day. Did notice a much reduced wearing of masks on the first day and by the third day the number of masks were reduced down to likely the people who would be wearing mask throughout the cruise. Indications are that there was an increased number of people who tested positive this time, but no real information has been released. Our room attendant says no one in his 29 cabins tested positive.

[Sir PMP]

On 12/7/2022 at 7:53 AM, Lido deck main said:

Hi Bill, 

What about Lima, what did you do?    Did you hear if anyone went to Machu Pichu with the ship?  Are you going to the falls while in Buenos Aires?  

Macchu we did with the ship, it's worth every penny, trip of a lifetime

[GeorgeCharlie]

Our longest stay for the cruise was Lima where we arrived late afternoon on Tuesday Nov 29th and left on Thursday Dec 01st at 6pm. The longer than normal stay was necessary to allow enough time for people to go to Machu Piccho.

 

We had booked tours for all three days we were there. The Night of Lights, the evening we arrived, a tour of the City of Lima on the 2nd day, and then a tour to some Inca ruins outside Lima on the 3rd day.

 

Again, due to the difficulty using the internet, I'll keep my comments brief and just include a few token pictures. 

 

The evening tour mainly consisted of walking around the downtown area for a couple hours, then driving over to see the lighted fountains.
 

A lot of the buildings featured restored balconies.

 

One of the churches we visited.

 

 

 

Other pictures from the downtown area.

 

 

 

 

The lighted fountain park is a fairly large area, but we only saw a small part of it, as it was after 10pm and we were getting hungry.

 

 

 

You could even get your picture taken in Santa’s sleigh.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by GeorgeCharlie

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

Just a quick update on our current cruise location.

 

Today (Dec 10th) and tomorrow, we are cruising the Chilean Fjords and the Sarmiento Channel.

 

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for both days is overcast with periods of rain. Not the best weather to be sitting on your balcony and enjoying the scenery as it passes.

 

[Lido deck main]

So glad your posting again was getting worried. Hope your cruise is going good.

[GeorgeCharlie]

14 hours ago, Lido deck main said:

So glad your posting again was getting worried. Hope your cruise is going good.

 

The further we sail to the south, the worse the internet becomes.

 

Post #67 took about 5 hours to get posted. Posting text is not too bad, but each picture takes at least 15 minutes.

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

On the 2nd day in Lina, we revisited the downtown area again, mainly to see it in the daylight. It didn't look all that much more interesting in the daylight.

 

The Catacombs in the Cathedral. The arrangement of the skulls has drawn much criticism. Apparently, it was decided that tourists would find it more interesting if the skulls were displayed like these are. Most local people view it as a desecration of a burial site into something that looks like a Halloween display.

 

 

 

The tour also visited some Inca ruins within the city.

 

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

On the 3rd day we drove out to see the Pachacamac ruins and visit some protected nature reserves.

 

The Pachacamac site is quite interesting and well developed.

 

 

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

Wonders of wonders - currently the internet is somewhat faster then it has been, so I'll try and get some posting done.

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

The first nature area we visited included a boat ride.

 

 

 

The 2nd site was for migratory birds, but it will be several weeks before they start showing up.

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

As we were departing Lima, we met a Peruvian submarine headed into port.