Climbing Kilimanjaro Days 1-2

Don't even think about it, Tricia. Don't--damn.

April 30, Day One
When I awoke in my room at the Kilimakyaro Lodge in Tanzania and rolled over in bed, the view through my window was of Kilimanjaro. Clouds had moved in slightly but not enough to obscure the all-important peak. There it stood, snow-capped and waiting to be conquered by our hopeful group of five.

La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires

I see dead people's homes.

Buenos Aires in Argentina is a cosmopolitan city, so it wasn't one of my favorite cities for that reason. I prefer places that offer me a different experience. However, there's a very cool site in the city called La Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron's body is kept along with those of other notable South American people. The place is huge, about 14 acres, and there are nearly 5,000 vaults. What I found especially interesting is the different styles of architecture used on the mausoleums.

Hiking to the Trollkirka (Troll Church) in Norway - Part 2

It looks dark and dangerous inside. Let's check it out!

 
This is a continuation of the previous post, "Hiking to the Trollkirka (Troll Church) in Norway". Read that one first! On to the cave...

Hiking to the Trollkirka (Troll Church) in Norway

Don't watch the movie, "The Trollhunter", before attempting this.

One of the best 'adventure' tours I've taken with the ship was done out of the port of Molde, Norway. The tour was described as a hike and cave exploration of a 'strenuous' nature, and that was pretty damned spot on. Unfortunately not everyone can read or is blessed with common sense.

Visit to Garbage City, Egypt

"Hoarders" Egyptian style.

During my trip to Egypt I stayed on a few days in Cairo and hired a driver to take me to sites off the beaten path. Two of the highlights were visits to the City of the Dead and Garbage City. Here, I am going to show you the latter.

The Death March of Machu Picchu (or, One Does Not Simply Walk Out of Machu Picchu)

The last time I would smile that day.

Even though I've been focusing my posts on my adventures on the ship, I want this blog to also include adventures I've taken on my own or with friends/family since I think many of them are just as interesting. Case in point was a trip to Peru that I took with my brother David and his friends from the ship (Rob, Mark, Desiree, Ali and Adam). I'll be posting about the various segments of the trip in separate posts since there are too many to include in one. This post is about what we fondly refer to as the Death March of Machu Piccchu.

The Motion of the Ocean

Dibs on the ginger ale and the toilet, not necessarily in that order.

One day a guest approached me and though she was a much older woman, she looked exceptionally frail for her age. The reason for this was made apparent the moment she paused midway into the casino and pressed a hand to her stomach. I thought she was going to hurl right there on the Lucky 7s.

"How do you handle it?" she gasped at me. She was so pale I could have hung her in a window and seen light through her. "I've taken Sea-Calm and I still feel like I'm about to fall over."

I told her you get used to the motion of the ship after a while. Unfortunately, by 'a while' I meant in 'a month or so', and her twelve-day cruise wouldn't be enough to do anything but convince her not to cruise again. I felt bad for her because the worst part about seasickness is that there's no way to escape it. There's no solid place of calm on a ship. Everything is always moving to the point that jumping overboard seems like a viable option for relief.

But I’ve learned that seasickness isn't the only thing to contend with on a ship at sea. There are several pros and cons about traveling over the waves in a big, beautiful bucket.