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| Tom at breakfast, waiting for his eggs to be delivered to the table. |
“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”
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| Another visit from one of our little furry friends, the Variegated Squirrel, commonly found in Costa Rica. |
It’s hard to believe we were in Nicaragua one week ago, leaving the next day to return to the villa in Atenas. This past week has been filled with the completion of many tasks looming in our minds.
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| Options at the complimentary breakfast buffet, including items for omelets. |
Now, with so much accomplished, we can relax and enjoy our remaining time in this beautiful property and sleepy small town. Tomorrow, we’ll head out for one of the last few times to grocery shop, stop at the pharmacy and wander through the park and center of town.
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| A variety of cheeses and nuts were offered on the buffet at the complimentary breakfast buffet. |
We’ve purchased all the clothing we’ll need for Antarctica and a wide array of supplies we’ll need over the next year, which will be awaiting us when we arrive at the hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in November 22nd.
We’re leaving the bulk of our bags at the hotel in Buenos Aires during the Antarctica cruise. Once the Antarctica cruise ends in Buenos Aires on February 8th, we’ll ship all the cold weather clothing back to our mailing service in Nevada to save them for possible cold weather expeditions in the future.
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| Fruit at the buffet. |
We’ll have to be very creative in packing the new supplies, which undoubtedly will add to our overall baggage weight. However, we’ll only have one flight to deal with the excesses, from Buenos Aires to South Africa.
We’ve yet to book a place to live in South Africa, nor have we booked the flight from Buenos Aires, neither of which worries us. Louise, our friend, and property manager in Marloth Park, along with her husband Danie, a home builder, have assured us they’ll find us suitable housing in the park, perhaps a last-minute cancellation or a property that didn’t get booked for our lengthy time frame.
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| Tom’s plate after visiting the breakfast buffet. The queso cheese squares are fried and prepared without a batter. I had a few of these with smoked salmon and veggies. |
Louise and Dani know we’ll be happy to move every few weeks or so to another house that becomes available. This is suitable for us, rounds out our experiences and assists them with vacancies. It’s a win-win for all of us. The wild animals wander throughout the reserve, so we’ll be just fine regardless of where we’ll live.
Yesterday, I completed the scanning of all our receipts and documents since the last time we did this while in Henderson, Nevada. Once we’ve scanned the receipts, we toss them to avoid carrying and paying for the weight of paper in our baggage.
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| Tom’s made to order fried eggs. |
On the upcoming flight to Fort Lauderdale in 17 days, we can expect to pay for our checked bags with American Airlines as long as we don’t exceed the 23kg (50.7 pounds) limit to avoid excess weight charges.
We have left to prepare to pack our belongings scattered throughout the house in cupboards, drawers, and closets. All of our clothing must go through a short cycle in the dryer, resulting in the necessity of ironing a few items. The rampant humidity causes them to feel damp sitting in the closets.
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| The pool at night at the Real Intercontinental Metrocentre Mall in Managua, Nicaragua. |
Most of our clothing is wrinkle-free, but regardless of such a claim on the label, most still wrinkle. Everyday items worn on the ship during the day aren’t much of an issue, but I’ve made a pile of ironing for the evenings I can either hand off to Isabel or do it myself. We’ll see how it goes.
Yesterday’s pool time was spent under a dark cloudy sky. The sun is shining, but as often the case, we see the usual clouds rolling in. Once thunder and lightning began, we hightailed out of the pool.
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| The entrance to the hotel in Managua, Nicaragua. |
Photo from one year ago today, November 5, 2016:
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| Yorkeys Knob on a cloudy day in Cairns. Since we’d spent three months in Trinity Beach (to the right in this photo) from June 11 to September 7, 2015, and had seen so much when there, we decided to stay on the ship. For more photos, please click here. |