scubacruiserx2

  Snowy Egret with it feathers ruffled

 

 

 

 Roseate Spoonbill with Black Bellied Whistling Ducks

 

 

 

 Eagle on the nest

 

 

 

We will rock you

 

 

Anhinga swimming

 

 

Feed  us

 

 Working on it's suntan

 

 

Sandhill Cranes and chick

 

 

Snake bird mode 

 

 

Osprey landing and perching

 

 

 

 

Water lily

 

 One of my favorite photos of birds was this pelican who had caught a fish . It was going down tail first so it stuck out it fins so the pelican couldn't swallow it . The bird coughed it up and had a few friends waiting for the fish to come out so they could steal his meal . But the crafty bird moved and was turning the fish to go head first . I didn't have a flash so it's hard to see him but the fish is in his mouth ready to go down like Jonah in the great fish .

 

15 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

Magnificent photos!

 

14 hours ago, mexico8 said:

Whatever happened to equality?   A shame about you not being able to list your service in the Daily. Sure not fair treatment. 

 

BTW - love the bird photos and descriptions.   Thank you.

 

 Thank you both . In the event you are in Ft. Lauderdale in the Spring we will tell you where the place is less than a hour away . I was early as the eggs have not hatched yet so we will go again in about a month . Fewer people then since winter visitors will  return to where they live when it gets hotter and more humid .

 We did find it strange that there was no Bible in the night stand next to the bed . We have always found one in every hotel and cruise ship that we have ever been on before .

 Here's a couple more bird shots from home . They are all from our house . The first one is a Swallow - Tailed Kite ( Like a child's toy ) . We see then in the winter or Spring soaring high up on cool days .

 

 

 A Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker that we see in our conservation easement . They are  funny to watch looking for a mate .

 

 

 The Red Shouldered Hawk lives here year round and eats our lizards or mice if they see them .

 

 

  The little sparrow is a Grasshopper Sparrow and the Orange Iguana is an Albino .

  The bird place part 2 with the new camera and an old 300 mm telephoto lens . You will see some serious birders and camera equipment here in addition to cell phones .

 

 

 

 

 

Wood Storks on their nest

 

 

Snowy Egrets  

 

 

 

Nest building

 

 

 

 

 

During the late 1800s, five million birds a year including Snowy Egrets were killed so their feathers — and sometimes even the whole birds — could be added to the hats of fashionable ladies in Europe and America. In 1886, Snowy Egret plumes were worth twice as much as gold.Sep 20, 2019

 

What Lizard ?

 

 

Black Bellied Whistling Ducks are snow birds that some have retired and stay here all year long .

 

 

 

Fly over

 

 

Great Blue Heron . We used to see these big birds as neighbors frequently but the new people in our neighborhood have destroyed their habit by killing all of their trees on their property and planting grass . For 25 years we had no neighbors but in the past 2 years , 5 houses have been built destroying hundreds or thousands of old tall trees .

 We have a1acre conservation easement on our property set aside for animals of all natural land and trees , with no invasive species 23 year ago . It was given to the county with no building ever in exchange for a tax break on that part of our land . It has been more populated with animals that have moved there when the machines destroyed the nearby land . We have nicknamed it ( not  officially  ) Joe's Jungle .

 

 

Anhinga with their green mating masks on . Female with the brown neck is on the nest .

 

 

 

 

A sloppy eater drooling

 

 

Some others

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    I was up early yesterday to drive and arrive at the bird place before sunrise . It is about 45 minutes South from where we live and about 45 minutes North from Port Everglades . I haven't been there for years but I needed and my new camera wanted some exercise . 

 First up I will show my pocket camera . I got a close parking space near the entrance and bathrooms .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Some loud people scared the alligator away before I could get my big camera defogged .

 

 

 

 

Here comes the sun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

 

We´ll have to wait and see… We´re  a month away from embarking in Rio for the TA to Lisbon, and we chose the Star because of the itinerary. Having usually sailed on Celebrity or Princess I´m afraid we´ll be disappointed. But I´ve decided to take it philosophically and enjoy the ports, which is why we´re there! My husband´s ancestors came from Portugal and we´re looking forward to our time in Porto and the Douro valley.

 

 It sounds like a great trip in the Spring . We have never been to any of these ports except Lisbon and that was back in Spring of 2015 on the Eclipse . You can see our visit there and what we did there here :

 

 Begin with post # 540 - 595 . 

On 3/8/2024 at 4:23 PM, valemart_1 said:

Very useful review! For us who are booked in standard balcony staterooms, the Star doesn´t sound too promising... I like older, smaller ships, but reading your review and others it would seem the food on the Star is disappointing.

 

 Sorry , we've been busy including a pre dawn 1 hour drive to shoot some birds with the new camera this morning . Tomorrow is our annual case of 1 hour jet lag called Daylight Saving Time where we move our clocks ahead 1 hour . We don't care for it and wish our government would live time alone 

  We don't know how a standard balcony would be but the price is right . If thinking Antarctica or the Malvinas , we looked at more time in Antarctica like Princess , Celebrity or HAL but they cost more . We knew that we would do Patagonia and we had 4 1/2 days on the Zaandam and saw the Malvinas before so we didn't mind 2 days as much as others did . Regretfully , people behind our cruise didn't get 2 full days and may have missed the Malvinas .

On 3/8/2024 at 2:43 PM, valemart_1 said:

It´s nice to get to know a bit about our CC friends. It´s lke a prequel! Pat is gorgeous and I love a good love story…

 

  Pat's true beauty comes from what is inside . Her appearance was the first thing that I noticed because I only dated attractive women . But looks do fade like photos , so it's the heart and spirt that last much longer like a lifetime and beyond . So we don't always agree but she is my wife for life . 💗

 We just submitted our review of our cruise on the CC reviews . This is the unedited narrative followed by the ratings .

 

 We didn't use the Family or Fitness so we didn't review them thus a 1 star.
 We have cruised NCL 5 times before but not recently . We prefer HAL Neptune aft corner suites with a budget of 1 K per day per suite . Like the Star , we are older 67 and 73 . We choose it for the price and destinations . 1st choice was May with a visit to Iceland , Norway and the UK and a weeks stay in Iceland post cruise . It was expensive and the local guides unwilling to work with us . We had chosen a nice suite and booked it .
  In the meantime we looked at other destinations on the Star and liked the one that we chose in January . The guides and post cruise stay were half the price and the same cabin was available for the same price and air fare was less . Thus we canceled Iceland and  choose Antarctica .
  We have been to South America 3 times so we knew the drill . It's not easy with a storm destroying part of embarkation station . You must surrender your passports for the cruise and be bussed from the station to the ship . It was semi controlled chaos with no apparent line for suites . There appeared to be nobody from the ship there . We finally found the line and waited for a Spanish speaking line to empty before they spoke to us . We were sat in a large common area and told that we would be called for Blue # 1 bus . It wasn't long but hey called for Blue # 1 and White #1 . Too many people rushed the bus and there were more people than seats leaving people standing - an unsafe practice for the 10 minute ride in traffic to the ship . There were left over people and another bus behind us . I carried a carry on bag with valuables  between my legs like I always do while some loud mouth lady lectured me telling me NO Bags . I told her to tell the driver and other people with bags . At the ship , the majority of the people were non suite (White ) and went to the 1st ramp including the lady next to us . The few suite people went forward to a less steep ramp . This problem could have been solved by boarding all of the priority people ( Blue first ) and then filled the remaining seats with White and no standing .
  I was a Firefighter/Paramedic for 28 years in Miami responding to the Port of Miami cruise ships and safety and ordering scenes that were chaotic was an everyday part of the job .
  Entering the ship was like Dorothy entering Munchkin Land after  being in a tornado . They were organized and it showed . The room was great and they showed us to a suites lunch in a private room with people being well behaved . We ate most of our lunches there at Cagney's and met the Concierge , Monica . Breakfasts were next door , again private for suites and elites at Moderno .
 The cabin was the best that we ever had and the Butler  Vonn , Concierge Monica and cabin attendant Arlene were excellent . The Itinerary was excellent except they should have spent more than 1 or 2 days in Antarctica which was the real Star of the ship . The ship was in pretty good shape for an older lady .
  Now for the constructive critic . The food could be better quality , embark and disembark streamed lined like in our home port of Ft. Lauderdale . We missed Punta Arenas for the 1st time in 4 trips mainly because we didn't dock , we tendered and it's always windy there and not the place to tender .  If they must tender , it wasn't so bad that they could have done it by using the leeward side to tender first , and turning the ship 180 degrees leaving the other tenders now in the leeward side .
 If we had to use them as lifeboats this is what they should have done , as a real life practice in the event of an emergency like an iceberg strike .  Thus we missed a port  and they missed a good drill . We didn't care for the shows and the policy that says no photos , something that we have always done on land and sea . There was no Bible in the night stand and we tried 3 times before and during the cruise to meet for an interdenominational , self led bible study and or service for 3 days . They did give us a place but refused to allow us to put up a sign in public . They also prohibited us from allowing it to be announced in the Freestyle Daily . They did allow 
Friends of Bill W a public place to meet ( the Library )  and the LGBTQIA+ group a busy public place with a band at the intersection of 2 restaurants in Gatsby's . They were both daily and advertised in the Freestyle Daily . Additionally , the Jewish group met at the same place as us on the Sabbath , but they were given their books for their service and advertised in the Freestyle Daily .
 We hold no ill feelings against these or any groups but would only like equal treatment for our group . HAL does it and has a Mass daily for Catholics , so why not NCL ? This is our 1st CC review as we usually do photo travelogues as our reviews .

 

 Overall 4 

 Cabin 5

 Dining 3

 Embarkation 1

 Entertainment 3

 Family none so we gave it a 1

 Fitness didn't use so we gave it a 1

 Pubic Rooms 3

 Service 5

 40+ Cruises

 Partly handicapped 3 bad knees sometimes needing a walking stick for balance 

 

 Tomorrow we will attempt to write a review using a Cruise Critic style format slightly modified .

4 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

Yes, that´s us, several years ago. Seeing that video I guess I do look a bit like Susana Balbo… She´s a legend! Funnily enough, if she´d followed her original calling and studied physics at the Balseiro Institute we probably would have met – I was technical secretary of the Physics Department before I retired…

 

 It's funny the way that some things work out . Like Susana I began University to study to be an Architect . But my lack of understanding higher math stopped me and another incident changed my direction . My brother had a serious accident with an almost miracle recovery and I became a Carpenter for a couple of years before joining the Navy to become a Naval Corpsman ( Medic ) . After that I joined the Fire Department as a Firefighter/Paramedic to help save lives the way that people helped my brother . Our unit was the unit to go to the Port of Miami to help and transport people from cruise ships or industrial accidents .

 

 

The same year in 1976 that I was in Fire College I had met my future wife in Michigan on vacation ( the best souvenir that I ever picked up ) and I lived in Florida - over 1200 miles away! She moved to Florida that year and brought the only snow ever in Miami when I was in Fire College .

 

This photo of her was 10 years after our 3rd child and 10 years of marriage

 

 

Later I later worked on the Fire Air - Rescue before I retired at 55 .

 

 

 We also had heavy seas going around the Cape on the HAL cruise to Antarctica and going to Antarctica . The Captain made this announcement .

 

 

 

The result ? An extra half a day of some of the best weather of the trip .

 

 

A little later we heard this announcement by the Captain about an Iceberg .

 

 

 

Why is it so windy in Patagonia ? This article from Wikipedia shows . They are part of Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties of Latitude .

 

3 hours ago, tsahall01 said:

OMG!!  I saw the picture of the cave of hands and thought to myself--That's a creepy bedding set, I certainly wouldn't sleep in it!!  Then I realized it was the picture of the cave!  LOL!!  All the pictures are great, BTW.  Haven't been to Antarctica, but did the cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago on HAL--great cruise and we had perfect weather, so we made all the ports, including the Falkland Islands.  The cruise around the cape was beautiful and very calm.  The captain got as close as he could so we could see the memorial quite well!

 

  We have done that cruise on the Zaandam in 2012 but in the opposite direction and without the Falkland Islands . That one required Antarctica in 2018/2019 . We did get close to the memorial and could see the funicular .

 

 

 

18 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

Those are so good!!! Perito Moreno glacier is on my list of favourite places. And I particularly enjoyed the penguins in Antarctica!

Continuing with snapshots of South America, here are some more:

1.    Two Indian children leaving school in Susques, north of Argentina, at almost 4,000 meters´ altitude.

2.    A Bolivian lady wearing the traditional bowler hat in the main square of La Paz.

3.    Our hostess on the Isla de los Uros, the floating islands of the Uro tribe, Lake Titicaca, Perú (alt. 3,810 m).

4.    Out on a reed canoe with her little daughter.

5.    Off the main square in Cuzco, Perú.

6.    The adobe city of Chan Chan, unearthed in Northern Peru.

7.    Crossing the Peruvian desert.

8.    Pelican in Arica, Northern Chile.

9.    Vicuñas crossing the highway. They´re related to guanacos, llamas and alpacas, much more elegant, but their fine fur left them on the brink of extinction.

 

  Thank you for sharing these personal photos of Peru , part of South America that we  have only seen from photos from our son and DIL . They have been to several of these places and our son still says that the best Pizza that he has eaten was at Lake Titicaca !

  Is that a photo of you and your husband in the boat ? If it is then you resemble the maker of our favorite Malbec , Crios . It's a great story of the first female winemaker . 

 

 

 

 One thing that we didn't show on our thread was photos of Perito Moreno Glacier calving . Here's some stills and videos that we took from a previous trip .

 

 

A block of ice the size of a semi truck

 

 

 

 

 

 

A HUGE iceberg of blue ice that floated up from beneath the Glacier

 

 

 

A little later a boat went out to see it

 

 

 

 

 We did shoot a quick videoclip of the glacier calving from underwater .

 

 

 

 3 Stills of calving .

 

 

This chunk of ice was the size of a semi truck

 

 

This piece of dark Blue ice floated up from beneath the glacier 

 

 

 

 

 On Wednesday January 24th we rented a car in Downtown El Calafate since Monday and Tuesday's trips included pick up at the hotel . After renting the car we drove to the Perito Merino Glacier to see the face since the Glacier cruise on Monday only showed us it's backside .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier

 

 The glacier confuses people since it is advancing . You can drive up to it and walk down a series of walkways and see the glacier face to face . It is 3 miles wide , 200' tall and 19 miles long . A pano shot .

 

 

 

 

 

 So the question was should we walk down the stairs that is quicker and brings you lower and closer , or walk the ramp that is easier on 3 bad knees ?

 

 

 

 

 

We opted for the ramp with hiking poles . The problem is the holes in the grate were larger than the tips on our poles . If you go use your ski tips instead of the hard surface tips . We have been 3 times and the handicapped lift has never worked .

 

 

 

 

 

The crowd where the ice almost meets the land and you can see where the water from the lake runs into the river ( Where the dark blue ice is ) . It's also where most of the calving was .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An ice hole

 

 

We didn't capture any calving this trip so we will show some from previous trips .

 

 

 

16 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

Loved your pics! IYou´re a great photographer, regardless of what camera you´re using!

I enjoyed this Tribute to Pocket Cameras! I began with a modest Olympia and ended up with a nice Sony with a very good zoom. I use it for everything: castles and cathedrals, landscapes, people, and wildlife. But I get the most satisfaction with snapshots that capture the moment! Like these in South America:

1.    Sea lions in Isla de los Lobos, Beagle Channel.

2.    Tour guide retrieving a football at Estancia Harberton, Ushuaia.

3.    Guanaco on salt lake by RP 41 in Santa Cruz province

4.    Choique

5.    Family of guanacos

6.    Puerto Natales, Chile

7.    An ice floe in Lago Argentino

8.    Cave of the Hands

9.    Historic narrow gauge train “La Trochita”, Esquel.

 

 

  Thank you for writing in and your encouraging words . My wife and I both own Sony pocket cameras , but not the same model as hers has more reach with a 200mm lens built in . She was able to capture some videos on our last trip to Antarctica that I couldn't get .

  You have a good eye for timing and photos of people as those were the 3 that I liked best . 

 The football team working together for a common goal .

 The synchronized diving and the lighting . I had to enlarge it to confirm my thing that it is a man and a woman .

 And the train where the light is on the engineer so that he is the focal point of the photo . Well done .

 

 Here's Pat's videos one is penguins jumping on an iceberg and the other is 3 Orcas chasing a penguin - why you shouldn't swim alone .

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday January 23rd Torres del Paine . Crossing from Argentina to Chile and back . 4 passport stamps in 12 hours . The name means Towers of Granite .

 

 

 

 

As we got closer the wind went up to 62 mph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The towers

 

 

And the horns in black

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the border crossing the sign had blown down since the morning and was now weighted down

 

  If you liked this thread you might like 2 others that we did in the past on a different cruise line ,

 

 The first is a very similar cruise cruise just before Covid in 2019 with 4 days in Antarctica on the HAL Zaandam .

 

 

 

 The next was a 6 week cruise on our favorite HAL ship from Alaska to our home port in Ft. Lauderdale , Florida . We had 2 years during Covid to save and the trip was paid before we left . It went thru the Panama Canal and Central America and the Caribbean where we saw volcanos , thus the fire tittle .

 

 

 

 Monday January 22nd Glacier cruise in Argentine Patagonia