Wednesday 20th January Up early for our Excursion in Ilheus (pronounced ill-jouse) as we were leaving at 8.30. I was up on the front deck at 7.15 just as we were being nudged into our place in the port by a Tugboat. We were berthed next to a huge ship the MSC Splendida, which seemed even bigger than the ones we were alongside in Las Palmas. We walked along the quay past the MSC Splendida to our coach and were again welcomed by a group of drummers on the quayside...

Monday 18th January Our arrival in Recife (pronounced ray-seef) was around 8.00 but Martin was up earlier to see the view of the approaching coast. I was on the front deck at about 7.30 and we were already in the harbour. The coast line was lined with tall thin high rise buildings as far as you could see - which wasn't too far because of the moisture in the air. It was hot but very cloudy with dark grey clouds all around. It had been raining as the decks were w...

Thursday 14th January The first of four days at sea as we cross the Atlantic to South America. Most days Martin has set the alarm so that he can see the dawn break but this morning decided not to, and woke up just as a early! Our cabin is an inner cabin without a window but is not in complete darkness because there is an inch/couple of centimetres gap under the door where a strip of light shines through from the corridor. The gap allows the steward to post t...

Wednesday 13th January The alarm was set so that we could get up in time to see our arrival in Porto Grande, the port of Sao Vicente, in the Cape Verde Islands (pronounced cap verd) . The islands are almost in a horse shoe shape lying on its side. We were going to the second most populated island of the group. The dawn broke and it was just like a sunset over the dark craggy mountains of the island - beautiful! The bay of the port is part of a sunken crater s...

Monday 11th January A quiet day at sea after the drama of yesterday. The decks were full of people enjoying the sunshine, but we managed to find a spot to sit and read in between eating, sneezing, blowing my nose and napping. When I was in today's Photography Lecture (Photographing Architecture) Martin was lucky enough to hear the shout of 'dolphins' and saw a pod of dolphins riding the bow wave of the ship. There are a few passengers who stand for a lot of ...