 |
| Adult and baby pelicans atop a fishing net. |
“Sightings from the Veranda while Cruising”
 |
| A scene of Arica, Chile, from the veranda. |
Last night at the nightly Captain’s Club party, we had an opportunity to meet several passengers, engaging in exciting conversation as usual. Toward the end of the two-hour party, we stumbled upon a woman that sent us reeling in awe of the coincidence.
 |
| Boulevard scene in Arica, Chile. |
Here we are sailing around part of the South America continent, and we met Marjorie. She lives in a town nearby us (in our old lives) and attends the same church we attended in Victoria, Minnesota, many moons ago.
 |
| Arica is beautifully decorated for Christmas. |
Father Bob, who is still pastor at St. Victoria, married Tom and me one year after our civil ceremony after we’d had our former marriages annulled. Oh, my, what a coincidence!
 |
| Dining in the open mall area. |
Marjorie shopped at the same markets where we shopped, bought her eggs and chickens from the same farmers in the area. We were shocked by the opportunity to meet Marjorie. Of course, she’ll say hello to Father Bob for us.
 |
| It was pleasant walking through the attractive town. |
After our enthusiastic conversation in the Constellation Lounge, we invited Marjorie to join us for dinner in the main dining room, the Trellis Restaurant. She had planned to meet up with her sister and brother-in-law in San Antonio (the second embarkation point on this cruise), and due to bad weather in the US, they missed embarkation day.
 |
| Arica is a famous tourist town. |
Instead, they had to fly to today’s port of call, Puerto Montt, to catch the cruise while it’s in port for approximately 10 hours. That could certainly be a stressful situation that occurs when passengers go on private tours and don’t get back to the ship in time for its sail away at the end of the day. We hope it all works out for them.
 |
| Walk-up McDonald’s restaurant attracted quite a crowd. |
After dinner ended, it was almost 10:00 pm, and we decided to head back to the cabin for an early night’s rest. Neither of us has slept well on the cruise, and we are both exhausted.
 |
| An old locomotive on display at Colon Park. |
After another fitful night’s sleep, with both of us awakening every few hours, we’re still a bit sluggish today, hoping to take a 20-minute nap later in the day. We’re planning to get off the ship today after we upload the post to visit the town of Puerto Montt, which supposedly has some interesting history.
 |
| A colorful fishing boat. |
Most likely, we’ll get on a tender by noon, spending the bulk of the afternoon in town taking photos on yet another cool and cloudy day. Much to our surprise, it has been cold during most of this cruise.
 |
| More colorful fishing boats in the harbor. |
We’d imagined South America would be hot during the time of year but were we ever wrong. Although not outrageously cold, Temperatures have been in the 50’s and 60’s Fahrenheit (10C and 16C).
 |
| Another outdoor cafe was hoping to attract ship passengers and other tourists. |
Today, when we leave the ship, we’ll be wearing some of the clothing we purchased for the upcoming Antarctica clothing. We’re thrilled we have these warm items with us. I’ve been wearing sweaters I’d bought for that cruise over the past several days. We’ll be adding our heaviest jackets when we soon disembark on the tender boats.
 |
| We couldn’t determine what this white patch consisted of. Any comments? |
Today, we’re posting the final photos for Arica, Chile, and tomorrow we’ll be back with more images. How silly we were, worried we wouldn’t have enough photos to share during this cruise. We’ll be lucky to share the bulk of them.
 |
| Was this small wood building used to store musical instruments for street musicians? We weren’t sure. |
Thanks to our loyal readers such as Marie and Bill, LeAnn and Chuck, Pat and Dan, Gary and Judy, and many more who have written to us. Your messages mean so much. We love hearing from you.
 |
| A lonely-looking stray dog. |
May you have a lovely weekend day during this busy holiday season!
 |
| Upside down Christmas tree on display at Makers Workshop in Burnie, Tasmania. For more photos, please click here. |