REFLECTIONS

SEA DAY - Today, Day 13 is yet another sea day – the first of two before we arrive in Manta, Ecuador. It's good to get these breaks at sea – yesterday was a tough two-hour walk in Carara National Park with all the heat and 92% humidity. I could have used a snorkel.

Because it’s slower on board the ship today, I thought it should be time for a little reflection on what we’ve seen so far and where we’re headed. To me, South America has been more than a direction for us, more than a description of where we’re going, more than just a mere adjective.

The far south, the still farther and even farther South, has been like a mystic magnet and a mystery for us, it’s like using a shorthand expression for what we’ve seen as inexpressible, at times a purely imaginary place. It’s been a bit of a pilgrimage for us, through an even bigger landscape. Occasionally sitting on the Promenade deck, we catch up to a far away pass that was off in the distance, only to discover another hidden valley just on the other side, or we watch a turquoise river disappear into an unexpected gorge, or even stare at a suddenly revealed mountain range after the freezing Antarctic winds rip back a curtain of clouds. In those special moments, the south becomes a very real place, not merely a story or an excerpt from my daily blog. The south is truly a real place; its other name is Patagonia.

I’m signed up again for the 2:30 p.m. Texas tournament so that will hopefully get me even if I win. We’ve become friends with Vince & Karen from Salmon Arm, B.C. – they take two large cruises per year – so it’s been enjoyable to spend time with them, particularly since he coordinated the eight tours we have with them on this trip. We’re passing on the third formal tonight – just too much glitz and glamour in the past few days. We’ll likely head up to the Lido and get something from there rather that put on the Ritz for yet another night.