Heather's Cruise Part 2- Canary Islands and Cabo Verde

Thanksgiving day 2010
I spent the day enjoying the warm weather at Tenerife on the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands are to Europe as Hawaii is to the U.S.A. Mom and I decided to spend our 6 hours on the island at the European version of Sea World called "Loro Parque." I have lots of pictures of dolphins, seals, and orca whales, along with all the exotic zoo animals. They had the nicest penguin exhibit I have ever seen. We also had the pleasure of sitting in the front row in the "NO-splash zone" during the orca show. It was so exciting to be so close to the whales.

Mom and I really like this sort of stuff and had a really fun day. Our tour guide on the bus was very knowledgeable about the island and told us lots of interesting facts on the drive to the park(in no less than 5 different languages). Such as.. there are no canary birds on the islands. The word canary comes from the word dog (in which language I am not sure). The islands use to have a special type of wild dog on them. Also there are like 13 climate zones on the island due to the height of the volcano. The mountain range in the middle of the ocean stops the humid air and creates a tropical zone where they grow bananas. The banana plantations get their water form the mist that covers the islands daily. They do not have irrigation.The people do not built their houses higher than 3,000 feet elevation because they do not have indoor heating. Just a few little tidbits of information to add to your brain.

This is a shot of the volcano. It has not erupted for 102 years.

So while I was enjoying the tropical climate on Tenerefe, Tracy was at home swearing at me under his breath for not getting the outdoor faucet fixed before winter (like he had asked me a dozen times). He was calling a repairman on Thanksgiving morning to come repair the ruptured water line in the wall. The kids also got out of school all week due to snow and then  the Thanksgiving holiday.

That night we had an incredible sunset with every color of red/orange possible. It is very peaceful to sit out on deck and behold such a sight!

Friday November 26, 2010 Day at Sea

Started the morning at 7am and went for a 3 mile jog around the little tiny track on the 13th deck( probably 30 laps or something like that). Then I layed out in the sun for an hour till mom got up and we went to breakfast. Spent the rest of the morning playing Yahtzee with some new friends, then had lunch with 4 Italians. One gentleman spoke fairly good English and helped us all to communicate. He use to work for an aerospace company and had been to the Boeing plant in Seattle several times. We talked about religion and Italy and had a nice conversation.  We have met all kinds of interesting people.

After lunch I went to a fireside by Brother and Sister Wallace about their mission in Mozambique. Although it is in Africa, it was a Portuguese colony at one time, so they speak Portuguese now. So the language Brother Wallace learned a a young man on his mission to Brazil, led him to be called as the first Mission president in Mozambique, Africa. It was very humbling to see their pictures and hear the stories of the people there.  I started getting a little homesick today, but staying busy helps keep the sadness at bay.

Saturday November 27 Cabo Verde Islands

The small city of Mendelo as we come into port.

What a great day!! There is nothing to speak of here in terms of great buildings, or famous places, but the people here were fascinating to me.

We were met by several of the local Elders from the small branch here. They took us to their humble little chapel and then drove us around the island for a quick tour.

This was the only place I was able to go snorkeling during my entire trip. We went to a little cove, away from the city where there was a little beach. I asked the guides if there were any sea creatures I needed to be careful of in the water and he said "No it is very safe.". Then I overheard the other guide telling everyone the government had brought in a bunch of rocks to make a breaker in the mouth of the cove so sharks could not come in.

I just loved these beautiful little boats. The landscape was varying shades of brown, but the people made up for it in the colors they painted everything. This is also where I went swimming.

 While I was snorkeling I kept telling myself "there are NO sharks, there are NO sharks...."

Unfortunately we only had 30 minutes to swim, but I had so much fun in those short 30 minutes!

Here is a typical street in the town.

Guys playing soccer on a dirt field.

I just loved the color of these houses! My living room is actually about that light blue color in the middle:)

Here is a painting of the little island. We started from Mendelo and drove about 20 minutes to Baia das Gatas. It was a very fun afternoon. We went to one little souvenirs shop and got some great little mementos. . It is a very primitive little city, but that is what made it feel so charming.

After leaving Cabo Verde we said goodbye to the coast of Africa, and started across the Atlantic. We had 3 days to relax and play on the ship before we would reach South America. Our first day crossing was Sunday. We were busy going to church and had a fireside and a formal dinner that evening. Here is a picture of my gastronomical seafood delight. 

It was a little creepy to have my dinner looking at me, but it tasted OK if you just didn't think to hard about it. The next day started out great. I woke up early (as usual), jogged a few laps and rode the bike in the gym. By the time I got up on deck to soak up some sun it was 9:20am. We got settled into our deck chairs, and by 9:50 the sky had darkened and it started to rain:( Not just a drizzle, but a downpour, and it remained cool and coudy the rest of the day

I was sooooo disapointed!! I was in the middle of the atlantic Ocean, headed to the equator,

 I WANT TO SOAK UP SOME SUN!

Tuesday November 29, 2010

The day I sailed over the Equator!

Now this was a glorious day of sunshine. I laid on the deck from 7:30 am till 1:30 pm and finally got myself a sunburn:) Around noon got blessed by King Neptune and rode the waterslide a few times. I was misinformed about the Baptism by King Neptune (because I could not understand the Italian party planners) and missed out on being smothered in pudding and pureed "whatever it was", and so I just watch happily as a bunch of other saps jumped into the food sewage in the pool. It was really gross!

Here I am with King Neptune and my friend Larry Stamps. He was much braver(or just more foolish) than I and he did end up jumping into the pool of grosseness. It was the best day of fun at sea the entire trip.