FOTO FRIDAY - 4/26/13

Dear Family and Friends,

This week's photos was taken in 2003, during our first trip to Africa.  We were fortunate enough to be able to visit a family of mountain gorillas living in the volcanoes between Uganda and Rwanda.

Silver Back

It was a once in a lifetime experience. 

Love,
Nancy

The icing on the cake - Bora Bora

Dear Family and Friends,

When Chuck booked this cruise he had no idea that it would be a very special sailing. As it turned out, we happened to be on the voyage that marked the tenth anniversary of this ship's first voyage.  Rather than go to the Marquesas Islands and return to Tahiti, in honor of this special occasion the ship went to the island of Bora Bora before returning to Tahiti.

 The main island of Bora Bora

This main island is surrounded by many other islands that make up Bora Bora.  The water is the most beautiful color I have ever seen.

We spent the day on this island.

 The beach was fantastic.  We enjoyed swimming and sun bathing.  We could walk out for ever in this shallow water.

The island was small but beautiful.   It was filled with coconut and other palm trees which provided us with glorious shade.  There was a nice continuous breeze which made the day very pleasant.

The shadows of the trees on the white sand made very interesting patterns.

We had a great picnic which included, among other things, barbecued fish.

 The ship staff and the passengers both enjoyed the festivities on this special occasion.

This is the photographer that was hired to photo this anniversary cruise.

 

These beautiful ladies helped serve our lunch.

Here is a picture of our ship's engineer.  His name is George.

This is the ship's plumber.  I think his name might have been Joe. :)

Here are some other members of the crew that chose not to sit at the same table as Joe.

Chuck went on a swimming adventure with sharks and rays.  I just enjoyed the island and the wonderful day.

This was the most beautiful island of the whole trip.  I am so glad we were able to come here.

At the end of the day, we returned to the ship.  Once again we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

The next morning we arrived in Tahiti.

This is the end of the posts about this trip. 

It has been three weeks since we ended that cruise.  Since then we have been in the U.S. visiting family and friends...hugging kids and grand kids.

Our oldest grandson, Joshua, returned with us to Cuenca.  We have been enjoying him so much.  I will share about his visit next time.

Love,
Nancy

Rangiroa located in the Tuamotus Islands

Dear Family and Friends,

We said goodbye to the Marquesas Islands and started our return journey.

We stopped at the island of Rangiroa.  This is a beautiful place as you can see.

 

The water  is beautiful.  This is a place that people come to to go skin diving.

Here is a resort that has rooms built out over the water.  Chuck and I enjoyed a cocktail in their bar.

Here are a couple of guys heading out to go skin diving.

These two beautiful ladies served us our drinks in the bar.

This island has an airport, so you can come by plane.  Or, if you have a nice yacht, you can come by boat.

Or, if you are like us, you come on the cargo ship.

We had a nice visit on this island.

And, that evening we were treated to another glorious sunset.

Our last island was the best treat of all.

I will tell you about it next time.

Love,
Nancy

FOTO FRIDAY - 4/19/13

Dear Family and Friends,

This week's photo is of the Tea House in the Chinese Gardens located in downtown Portland, Oregon.

It was taken in 2002.  Chuck and I loved visiting Portland as often as we could.  We even considered retiring there at one time.

Love,
Nancy

Keeping the Passengers Entertained

Dear Family and Friends,

The passenger side of the ship stayed just as busy as the cargo side of the ship.  Every day we had something we could do, we even had choices of things we could do.  Below, as you can see,  we were taken to what WAS a secluded and deserted beach.  After we arrived it was definitely not deserted anymore.

A few people chose to go deep sea fishing.

On one island Chuck went for a walk and saw some interesting stone work.

 

 The one below looks like a mother cuddling a very ugly baby.

While we were being entertained, there was a lot of work being done by the cargo crew.

 Every night a new sunset attraction.

 We were happy campers...

Love,
Nancy

The people of Fatu Hiva

Dear Family and Friends,

On the islands that the boat was unable to dock the cargo were taken to shore on a barge.

We went ashore and I decided to concentrate photographing the beautiful people of the island.

 We were entertained with music and dancing.

 This guy is what I told Chuck he would look like in a few years if he decided to be a beachcomber.

 A lovely setting.

After our adventure on shore, we sat around, socialized and waited for "you know what."

I love the lighting the setting sun provides.

And here it is......the setting sun.

Love,
Nancy

Paul Gauguin's Grave and Other Cruise News

Dear Family and Friends,

We visited the island of Hiva 'Oa.  It is the island where Paul Gauguin, a famous French painter, spent his last years.

Another photo of our boat.

We hiked a bit to a ceremonial ground on the way we passed these horses.  Mom and pony.  The mom was tied up but the pony wasn't.  I guess the pony would not go very far from mama.

A nice picture of our wonderful tour guide. 

This tiki is over 500 years old and is the largest tiki outside of Easter Island.

Love the coconut trees.....love the man.

 

Here is an example of the body tattoos worn by so many of the local people ....men and women.   Quite tasteful compared to some of the tattoos we've seen in the U.S.

We went to the town of Atuona.  This is where Paul Gauguin spent his last years.  We visited his grave in the Calvary cemetery.

The artists is this town were very good.  Many beautiful carvings and woodwork.

After we were on the boat again and the sun was setting, the clouds rolled in over the top of the island peak.  The color provided by the setting sun was delightful.

Another great day.

Love,
Nancy