Thhe Captain consulted me when he found out I had been at sea longer than he had.

On our first of 3 sea days, we were invited to a reception with the officers and all the guests that embarked back in Santiago Chile.  There are only 22 of us left. 

Not my picture…

That evening we had a thunderstorm, and it lasted all night long.  Thunderstorms at sea are very rare.  As the Captain said the next day, “it was quite spectacular”. 

PNG is the second largest Island in the world and even after 72 hours of continuous sailing, we haven’t even reached the mid-way point. 

These glasses were empty an hour earlier.

The next two days were very rainy, but it was still 82-84 degrees, so it was outside weather, just had to stay under cover or in the hot tub, as some did.  We actually saw some Spinner Dolphins that day.  Also, I did a first ever activity on a cruise ship.  I went to the Doctor.  Two weeks ago, I scraped my arm, no big deal, it didn’t even need a Band-Aid.  The next day at one of the stops I got a bit of a bug near my left knee.  Both of these spots got infected, no picture, you’re welcome.  So, that morning, Kim decided I needed to be looked at and off we go.  It has always struck me funny that the Doctors’ office is always on the lowest deck and up in the bow.  The most common ailment on a cruise ship is sea sickness, the area of the ship that you don’t want to be in if you are seasick is the bow, because it has the most movement of anywhere on board.  The doctor poked and prodded, then said he was going to put me on an oral antibiotic regimen and I was to clean and dress both spots twice a day.  Then the question that stumped me,  “Do you have enough plasters to do that?” Before I could say what, Kim said no, we don’t.  So, he got into a cabinet and pulled out a handful of Band-Aids.  Afterword. I had to ask Kim how she knew that a plaster was a Band-Aid and she told me she watches a lot of British TV. 

The days were filled with many lectures, and we learned fascinating stuff about the part of the world we are in.  Did you know we are in the heart of Cannibalism and head shrinkers? 

We also have nightly briefings nightly.  We discuss where we have been and what is coming up in the next few days.  Our next stop is a village that is believed to be the most remote primative village in the world.  Then we move up above the equator, where the sun will again set in the west, and visit some of the most beautiful tropical places I have ever seen.  At these briefings, you quickly learn that there actually are stupid questions.  The upcoming stop requires a 50-minute zodiac ride up a river, well, that’s what we were told, then the recap slide said it was a one hour ride, yep, someone asked which is it, 50 minutes or an hour?  We are on island time, 50 minutes, one hour, the same thing.  Count on being on the zodiac for about an hour and a half and then you won’t be disappointed.  We were told it would take all 22 zodiacs to get everyone ashore and we have to travel in a convoy because the water is very shallow and we will follow local guides, so some will have to wait in the boats while other boats are loading.  Yep, someone asked what do we do while we wait in the boat?  Followed by, will the ride back to the ship be as long as the ride there?  And then, how long will we be in the village?  And from another, what’s the total time we will be off the ship?  At some point the expedition leader said, “I didn’t realize I would be doing stand up comedy tonight”.  Of course the bathroom question came up, no bathroom facilities available. 

Changing subjects and speakers, we learned a little about where we will be in a few days.  At one stop if you are very adventurous, we will leave the ship at 5 AM and travel through the jungle on foot on very difficult uneven trails to get the chance to see the real “birds of paridice”.  They do a dance ritual at dawn that is fantastic to witness.  Followed by some photos.  Sure enough, as if on que came the question about will we be guaranteed to see birds?  And, is the trail on level ground?  These people are killing me. 

On another Island we will again go snorkeling.  When we got on, they issued us all snorkel gear.  Someone asked if we should bring our snorkel gear.  Another guy said he would like to go snorkeling but does not want to get wet.

Now, do you understand that there really are stupid questions.

More later………