Bye, Bye Valpo; welcome aboard the Zaandam!

Just a few words about that earthquake in Valpo the other night.  We discovered that it was a 5.5 magnitude quake at a depth of 24 km beneath the earth.  Also, Frank felt another quake early in the morning the following day. The shaking was not very severe but noticeable if you happened to be awake.

Champagne welcome!

We boarded the MS Zaandam, and were immediately invited to the Mondriaan Theater to meet the Captain and the crew.  The crew greeted us with a champagne toast since we have sailed with Holland America Cruise lines before.  Nice welcoming touch but we realize this works kind’a like frequent flyer miles on airlines; the more they throw out the accolades for us “frequent sailors,” the more we keep signing onto their cruises.  Haaaa!!  The old wine ‘em and dine ‘em trick!

The Zaandam is not a terribly big ship as cruise ships go, but perfect for going thru the narrow fjords and straits that make up the mish-mash of interconnecting waterways at the southern tip of South America.  We attended a tutorial in the auditorium, our 1^st sea day,  where the crew discussed our next Ports of Call.  The thing that mostly got our attention was the treacherous seas that we will encounter as we round the Horn.  When we were in grade school, we were taught that the turbulent ocean currents at the Horn were due to the difference in sea levels between the Atlantic and the Pacific.  Not true. The crew spokesman informed us that what makes the sea so rough here is the wind, which is created when the super-cold Antarctic air hits the warmer waters around the South American coast.  Many ships of the past have gone down in these nasty waters; this is one reason why the Panama Canal route looks so attractive to modern ships.  When we reach the tip of S. America, we’ll give you a full report on weather/water conditions.

Sunset from the promenade deck

We took a walk on the promenade deck the other evening.  We were told that there were some whales showing their faces on the port side of the ship. We must have missed them but already the weather is noticeably colder, and the need for coat, hat, and even gloves is becoming apparent. 

  

Frank learns to tango

One day, we decided to get a little crazy, as we were simply riding on the high seas for a day, biding our time, waiting for our 1^st port docking tomorrow morning.  So to fill the gaps, we took a class in how to speak Spanish and then it was off to Tango class.  Arriba, arriba!!  By days end, we were pretty light on our toes with the tricky dance moves of the tango.  The MS Zaandam had hired a professional Tango couple to teach lessons onboard. They had won a tango competition in Colombia last year; so we were in good hands with these young instructors.  We can’t wait to reach Argentina in about two weeks so we can show off our new dance moves to those Argentine tango-ers in Buenos Aires!  Heh, heh.

Cheers from somewhere in the Pacific!