Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:30:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Last Update for Cruise News!
From: harpmusic@redshift.com


Hi Bruce,
Thanks so much for posting my "Cruise News" updates. Your computer
abilities and generousity in helping me with my website are deeply
appreciated. "Hi" to Pati and see you in May.
Amy

MARCH 30 -- APRIL 12 , 2008

VALPARAISO, CHILE--March 30
A city of several million and 1 1/2 hours north of Santiago is the west coast port of Valparaiso where INFINITY has turned around to go south back around the horn for its 2 week cruises, ending in Buenos Aires. But today we continue north toward Ft. Lauderdale where many of the ships crew will disembark and new crew will come aboard. I was originally slated to disembark, too, but agreed to stay on the ship going west back through the Panama Canal, by Mexico and up California coast staying one cruise to Alaska. Not a bad way to travel back to the west coast!

But back to Valparaiso! The city is impressive and sits on high, curved hills surrounding the bay. Pablo Neruda is from this area and owned homes in Valparaiso and down the coast in Isla Negra. The city adjoining Valpariso and referred to as the sister city is Vina del Mar, though the two are quite different. Vina del Mar seems smaller than its population of one million. Many artists live in this popular seaside mecca and each February the city hosts one of a kind world famous, International Music Festival.

My friend, Moira, singer from Buenos Aires, and I took the train into town and walked around the city then took a horse & buggy ride enjoying the tree lined streets and the views of the sea extending from the port. We later enjoyed a late afternoon lunch at Valparaiso's huge port market before returning to the ship. It was nice exploring on our own away from the ship's usual shore excursions.

LA SERENA, CHILE--March 31
Next to the port of Coquimbo, La Serena is 300 miles north of Santiago and Chile's second (to Santiago) oldest city. It means "The Serene One" and has impressive architecture. Known as the city of bell Towers, La Serena has underground tunnels which connect its many churches which had been used as a refuge from the many pirate invasions in this area. Both cities are about 150,000 (2002 census) and this is the fastest growing area in the country.

ELQUI VALLEY & VICUNA: The beautiful Valle del Elqui lies inland from La Serena and offers rich and varied agriculture including papaya farms, vineyards & assorted fruits and vegetables. Within less than an hours drive you can see the great Andes towering over the beautiful country side. Gabriela Mistral, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1945, was born Vicuna which houses an impressive museum which I visited. She grew up in Vicuna, was a teacher nearby and in other areas of Chile and also lived & taught abroad in Europe and New York in her adult years. It is said her best and most meaningful poetry was inspired by her love of children. Many poets, artists and healers are drawn to this area which is known for its vortexes & healing energy. A short distance to the east we visited a pisco distillery and learned about Chile's national drink which is also claimed by Peru. The tour guide even admitted the honor should rightfully belong to Peru but insisted there are some differences in how pisco is made in each country.

ARICA & CHILE'S NORTHERN DESERT--Wednesday, April 2 Continuing north, I took in a tour of Arica, a desert city with an upbeat atmosphere. I especially enjoyed visiting the church with the iron structure framework built by Gustave Eiffel. I learned from the ship's lecturer, Col. Reid, that Eiffel's works extended from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Brazil's Amazon and the railroad station in Santiago. Arica and the Northern Chilean desert were once a part of Peruvian territory but Peru lost this land & its valuable minerals to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879--83.) The devastation of the Pacific War has been compared to that of the North American Civil War & hard feelings remain between the two countries.

This, the driest desert on the planet, has almost perfectly preserved numerous artifacts, pottery and weavings from pre-Colombian cultures. Mummies were buried and preserved here dating back 1000 years earlier than Egyptian mummies, although the techniques of mummification were different. Unlike the nomadic people of Patagonia, every aspect of the ancient desert cultures have been preserved and the festivals in Chile, Peru and this part of the Americas belong to the past while also very much a part of the present. The pottery and weavings show sophisticated art designs akin to present day modern art.

LIMA, PERU, Friday April 4
Peru is the one South American country I had visited before harping on cruise ships & it was enjoyable to revisit Lima where I saw familiar areas, including Mira Flores and discovering different parts of the city. This visit the city was noticeably hotter and sunnier than I recalled from my visit in 2006. Our tour group saw two separate archeological sites within the city, the Gold Museum and pre-colombian pottery & objects of the Huari & Incan people.

MANTA, ECUADOR, Sunday, April 6
Just standing on the deck of the ship in the early morning, it was apparent we had entered the tropics. The port at Manta dates back to pre-Colombian times and has had its share of pirate invasions. Manta is the home of Charlie Tuna and Star Kist has most of its tuna fleets here. I spent time on the pier but didn't go on a tour as it was so hot, but the handicraft items of the local artists displayed at the pier were exceptional.

At 10 pm we crossed the equator at a latitude of 0000, that imaginary reference line which encircles the earth. It measures almost 25,000 miles and is the widest of the latitude lines that ring the planet. According to the ship's newsletter the equator splices the countries of Gabon, Congo, Zaire, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Indonesia, Galapagos, Colombia & Brazil.

PANAMA CANAL, Tuesday, April 8
My first time through the Panama Canal. I've enjoyed several lectures on the history and building of the Canal, a feat of engineering genius. But this accomplishment didn't come easily. More than 25,000 lives were lost primarily due to yellow fever and malaria but also to the hard labor in unforgiving heat and humidity. I've purchased a couple of books to read and continue learning about a topic and era of history I knew little about.

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA, Wednesday, April 9
I had visited Cartegena previously when on the AZAMARA JOURNEY and CONSTELLATION and rested on the ship today as the heat & humidity continued to be overbearing. But I recommend a visit to this beautiful & historic city, especially the old part where I enjoyed a walking tour early last November. The architecture is elegant and the massive fortress walls surrounding the beautiful port area are quite impressive. From the ship you see the newer white high rises in stark contrast to older parts of the city. It's too bad the drug lords have given this city a bad reputation but I'm told Cartagena has cleaned up quite a bit in the last several years.

OCHO RIOS, JAMAICA, Saturday, April 12
By the time we reached Jamaica and some distance from the Equator the heat had lessened and we enjoyed a cool, breezy day. I, along with some of the girls from the ship's spa, shared expenses and we took our own van tour to Bob Marley's birthplace, a museum and his burial site, almost an hours drive from the port up a curved, mountain road. Bob Marley was born in 1945 and died at the young age of 36 from melanoma.

There are many rivers and waterfalls nearby and coming back to Jamaica brought back memories of when Joe and I first visited here in 1973 and later with Patrick and Amanda in 1990. My experience was upbeat and positive and I consider Jamaica one of the more beautiful Islands in the Caribbean.

Jamaica was our last stop before reaching Ft. Lauderdale on April 13th. That was a busy day and lots of crew members disembarked and new crew arrived. I will miss Moira from Buenos Aires and the Pampas Devils Gauchos Tango Dancers, Pablo & Rosa and Gaston & Leticia my neighbors in the crew quarters. I will also miss the kind, supportive waiters/staff at the SS United States specialty restaurant where I played every night. The food and service were superb and it has been an honor to play in such in such an elegant setting. And last but not least, a big thank you to my kind friend, Bruce Belknap, who has so generously given his time and talent to keep you informed about my my travels on the high seas.

We're headed back through the Panama Canal and it will be nice to continue west by Mexico (three ports) and up the California coast and one trip to Alaska! Hubby, Joe, will join me in San Francisco on the last cruise up to Canada and Alaska before disembarking in Vancouver on May 9th.

I've had A GREAT ADVENTURE and wouldn't trade the experience for anything, but look forward to being land bound for awhile. Now I will be available to harp at weddings and other fine events back on the Monterey Peninsula!

Thank you for visiting "cruise news" on my web site.

Amy, harpist
April 16, 2008

MARCH 15 -- MARCH 26, 2008

SATURDAY, MARCH 15

Arrived in Buenos Aires for last time where a new group of guests came aboard. Someone told me Francis Ford Coppola was aboard ship and in Buenos Aires filming a movie but I didn't see any action. I played for embarkation as guests came on the ship but didn't get on camera! Visited Punta del Este and Montevideo, Uruguay for the last time.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19

From Puerto Madryn, I took a bus tour to the Welsh town of Gaiman named after a castle in Northern Wales. The tour group enjoyed a traditional Welsh tea and I was moved to tears by their beautiful choral singing. They offered songs in Spanish, English, Welsh Gaelic and the native language of the region. The area was settled in 1865 to escape the English landlords and the dire working conditions (coal mine dust and forced child labor.) When I asked the tour guide, Andrew Roberts, a 4th generation Welsh Argentine, why his ancestors settled this barren land, he said, "they looked for an empty place to preserve the culture and language" which they feared losing in their own country. Their destination was also influenced by Darwin's description of Patagonia as well as encouragement by the Argentine government to bring settlers into the area. Today they primarily speak Spanish and Gaelic and some English.

The last time in port in Puerto Madryn, I saw a penguin colony almost three hours from town. They are fascinating little creatures and my experience visiting them is best summed up in Pablo Neruda's poem:

Penguin, static traveler,
deliberate priest of the cold,
I salute your vertical salt
and envy your plumed pride.
--Pablo Neruda, Arts de Pajaros

CAPE HORN--MARCH 23

Puerto Madryn is the last port before going around Cape Horn, located in Tierra del Fuego area of Chile, and is the southernmost point in South America. The name, Tierra del Fuego, by the way, came from Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer, who saw smoke rising from Indian campfires. Though he originally called it "land of smoke" the Spanish King Charles V thought "land of fire" was more poetic. The "Cape" as it is known in the area, extends into Drake Passage, which is the Antarctic strait that connects the South Atlantic & South Pacific Oceans. Passage around the Cape was at one time extremely hazardous due to storms, strong currents and icebergs. Now with modern technology, traveling the Cape is quite safe though sometimes rocky!

STRAIT OF MAGELLAN--MARCH 25

The Strait of Magellan is located north of Cape Horn and is 2 1/2 to 15 miles wide separating Tierra del Fuego from the South American mainland. While it takes hours to cover the 330 miles, when it was first discovered by Magellan in 1520 it took 38 days to navigate from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Magellan first called it "Strait of All Saints" but the name was later changed. Without going around Cape Horn there are only two other ways of traveling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and back and that is through the Strait of Magellan and the man-made Panama Canal. The name Pacific was given to the body of water by Magellan, who upon entering it saw only smooth, peaceful spans of water. For a long time the Pacific was known as "the Spanish Lake."

PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE, overlooking the Strait of Magellan, enjoyed its days of glory between the mid-1800s and 1914. It thrived, starting with the California Gold Rush and was a major port. Gold, guano and coal were among the mineral products found when the area was first inhabited. And in the late 19th Century 300 purebred sheep were brought in from the Falkland Islands, which helped the wool market flourish. Now millions of sheep graze the countryside. The city ceased to flourish upon completion of the Panama Canal but the stately buildings and statues are a reminder of this city's golden past. There is a beautiful statue honoring the early Croatian settlers in the area.

FJORDS AND GLACIERS--MARCH 24--26

Not far from Puerto Montt and near Chiloe, we enter the Chilean Fjords which are among the world's most beautiful and date back almost 65 million years. The fjords here offer mountain cliffs that soar out of the darkness and touch the blue sky above. In addition there are spectacular sights of glacial valleys, rain forests and an abundance of marine life, including sea lions, dolphins, penguins and other sea birds. The history of Glaciers date back almost 450 million years! A glacier is not only a bulk of ice, it has domed peaks, old and new crevasses, large holes that were eroded by glacial rivers and endless white plains.

Cruising by the glaciers and fjords this last cruise was no less entrancing than the first time I viewed them two months ago. Each cruise has presented a variety of hues, colors, moods, visual and emotional dimensions. I recently wrote the following poem after cruising by the fjords for the last time. I know Pablo Neruda is an impossible act to follow, but here goes!

Serene, stately fjords,
your honest stance warms my soul,
Your gentle beauty inspires birds in flight
while you patiently await nature's command.
--by Amy

Before continuing up the west coast of South America, I would like to revisit Ushuaia, Argentina, Punta Arenas & Puerto Montt, Chile as I did on returning cruises.

USHUAIA ARGENTINA has been a favorite port and I heard ship guests say the town looks like Switzerland and others say Alaska. It was originally a prison colony and there is one story about the prison guards leaving the area because it was so remote. It really does feel like the end of the world here even after returning. I recently took a "Train to the end of the World" tour. The beauty inspired many photo shoots of peaceful meadows, horses grazing by bucolic streams surrounded by trees and mountains. The train once transported prisoners who worked cutting trees for the lumber industry.

This area was where Charles Darwin's 5 year voyage aboard HMS Beagle resulted in the collection of fossils as the empirical base for "Evolution of the Species" published in 1859. One of his descriptions depict how "glaciers extend down to the water's edge, their fragments floating away into a channel with icebergs while, in the sky, condors soared in the most graceful circles." This channel was later named Beagle Channel.

PUERTO MONTT, CHILE: I have already mentioned the German immigrants who settled here in the 1850s and were here long before (not connected to the Nazis who later came into South America.) Puerto Montt has been described as the gateway to lakes, volcanoes, waterfalls & the Inner Passages. Two absolutely beautiful nearby towns, Frutillar and Puerto Varas look like Bavaria and Switzerland especially with the German architecture. I usually am bored in museums after about 30 minutes but I could have stayed at the German Museum for half a day it was so interesting. That was on a wine tasting tour near a sausage factory and at one of Chile's thriving vineyards.

It's on a sad and tragic note that I leave Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Between 1880 and 1920 there was a virtual extermination of the Native People from this area and one of the little known tragedies of the Americas. They were Nomadic and left no lasting legacy of their culture. There are museums in the area honoring their culture--"the Nomadic men and often beautiful women." I heard heartwarming stories back in Gaiman, Argentina of how the Welsh settlers hid and protected some of the Natives from extermination as they had welcomed these new Immigrants to Patagonia in the 1860s.

After completing the first cruise in Uruguay and Argentina on Feb. 2nd, we went to Rio where INFINITY hosted a private charter group to see Carnival, points of interest in Rio and coastal Brazil again ending in Uruguay and then in Buenos Aires on Feb 15 where we start again on our regular schedule between Buenos Aries and Valparaiso. .

BRAZIL is a whole chapter all by itself. I'll try to be brief! The first night in Rio I did not have port duty and joined several other crew members and we walked the 20 plus blocks in the rain among the estimated one million drenched souls on the streets and at Carnival. One fellow had his camera snatched and it was quite a sight watching two of the tango dancers (from the ship) take chase and retrieve the camera! We had been forewarned to guard our possessions, not wear jewelry, etc. and later heard from other crew members about at least three attempted, but unsuccessful, purse or camera snatching's! On the other hand, several of us were surprised and felt very lucky when this gentleman simply handed us free tickets (6 in all) outside one of the stadiums. There were also lots of heightened prices on the street and tickets could go for several hundred $$$s! My friend, Lorraine from Montreal, and I got separated from the rest of the group and ended up at the top of the stadium. The crowd went wild as the magnificent floats and costumes paraded by, singing, clapping and stomping in unison but no one seemed to notice the entire stadium was shaking! As much as I enjoyed the floats I was very relieved when we were back on the ground and , incredibly, ran into our lost friends who had decided to head for the ship at the same time. We all agreed luck and magic happened that night in Rio. Carnival is not just a festival but represents the heart and soul of Brazil.

After 3 days in Rio and seeing other well-known sites including Sugar Loaf and The large Christ statue, we headed south and was in Buzios on Feb. 7. Buzios is called the French Riviera of Brazil and became well known destination when Brigitte Bardot spent time there. We sought out and found that wonderful outdoor crepe restaurant everyone talked about!

Next stop was in Paraty (Parati in English) one of my favorite towns. Halfway between Rio and & San Paulo, the area is lush & fertile and signs of Native people living there go back thousands of years. And the beaches are vast and beautiful. I loved the little town; its highlights are the architectural structures themselves. Paraty was urbanized by Freemasons who came to the area to escape the Inquisition. They knew the secrets of the art of construction. Harmony & the equilibrium of forms and balance can be seen throughout the town.

Farther south was Santos, a much larger, industrial city and the largest Port in all of South America. I visited a beautiful orchid garden which displayed not only orchids but parrots, large and small, turtles, large and small, monkeys, reptiles and a huge variety of other plants and birds; a restful haven in the middle of the city and a welcome change of pace.

The southernmost part of Brazil, called the "Emerald Coast", has many small towns and resort areas hidden away among coastal ridges and inland mountains and valleys. This area is also has the European Valley, settled in the 1800s by a number of Europeans including Portuguese, Italian, Poles, Germans and Ukrainians. The coastal areas are pristine and unspoiled and are attracting more and more tourists but the overall quality of life remains good.

The Charter group continued to its final destination in Punta del Este, Montevideo and disembarked in Buenos Aires. I took city tours in Punta del Este and Montevideo, two more favorite places. Uruguay is called "land where the birds sing" or something like that! It has a year 'round climate between 60 & 80 degrees F. and has no natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.

In Punta del Este I visited two impressive museums. the Ralli Museum which houses the most important collection of contemporary Latin American figurative art of the world and features special rooms dedicated to contemporary European teachers including Chagall, Dali & Miro. The Casa Pueblo Art Museum was incredible. It features the work of one of the most famous Uruguayan painters, Carlos Paez Vilaro, who traveled the world experiencing art techniques & different cultures. The architecture of the museum, also created by Vilaro, is remarkable, built of adobe and rising out of the topography of the rocks in interesting formations and curves. The view along the beautiful coastal waters is a virtual paradise. In addition to his house, Vilaro also designed and built (with help of friends) his home and a hotel next door. Vilaro's son was one of the survivors in the 1972 rugby team plane crash in the Andes.

Montevideo is sometimes called "little Buenos Aires" even though it has 1.5 million population, 1/2 half of Uruguay's 3 million population. The city is unassuming and maintains a stately proudness and an appealing mixture of the old and new. Like Buenos Aires it is very European with a bit of Colonial Spanish influence. It is the one large city I could probably most adapt to as Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires are awesome in their own right but a bit overwhelming for me. I went on a Jewish Heritage Tour and learned that many Jews from Europe settled in Montevideo between World Wars I and II. The 4 synagogues maintain their National identities and Montevideo has the only Holocaust Memorial in South America. It was a tour full of history and depth. I've also enjoyed a couple of city tours of Buenos Aires and hope to see more of the city next time around.

On February 19th I was a tour escort and got to visit the Magellan penguins in Punta Tumbo, a 3 hour ride one way from Puerto Madryn. This area was settled in part by Welsh people very early on and still maintains Welsh influence. The tour guide, Patricio, told me the Welsh people maintain their fine choral tradition and speak Welsh Gaelic. Wildlife is very prevalent in the area including elephant seals, penguins and Orcas whales. Puerto Madryn is the last port before cruising west back around the Horn.

I hope I've now covered most of the areas on both sides of this incredible Continent but will keep you updated!

December 4, 2007
Good to hear from you! Yes, I cruised back and forth to Bermuda for 6 weeks and then onto Colombia, So. Amer., Haiti & Panama before disembarking in Miami on Nov.10th. I've been back almost a month and will leave again this Friday to cruise around So. America. They gave me an offer I couldn't refuse and if all goes well I'll be out until April. It's quite a lengthy tour but hopefully Joe &/or Amanda will be able to come down and stay in my crew cabin for reduced prices on one or more of the two week cruises. We won't know the particulars until I get on INFINITY, the Celebrity cruise ship I'll be on. To my knowledge, Celebrity is the only company which has harps on their ships.