GeorgeCharlie

A few steps away from the Fish Market was the shipyard, where the construction and repairing of large wooden fishing boats was done. This is one of the few remaining large wooden fishing boat shipyards in South America. We were there on a Sunday so nothing was going on.

There were also small stands, where you could get the fish you have purchased cleaned and descaled for 50 cents a fish. A short video showing the preparation and sale of some shrimp.

We arrived in Manta, Ecuador, the morning of November 27th. We had arranged a private tour for 10 people with Narwell Tours. The tour was called 'Taste of Ecuador' and covered the main tourist sights in that area of Ecuador. The sights covered were; Fish Market and Shipyard; Pacoche Wildlife Refuge; San Lorenzo's Lighthouse viewpoint; Cuidad Alfaro Museum & Mausoleum; along with a stop for shopping. The local Tarqui Beach was across the harbour from where we docked. This beach is adjacent to where the Fish Market and Shipyard are located. The Oosterdam as seen from the Fish Market. The market is similar to what we have seen in other fishing port towns. The fishermen bring in the fish from their morning catch and prepare them for sale. There is a wide variety of catch here and it is quite a show to watch – especially the birds. There was the expected large number of different birds, all looking for a free meal. The roof of the market was covered with them. Of course, as an open air fish market, you expect to see lax food handling standards. But seeing some large fish laid out in full sunlight on the beach, caused us to question if they were really there for sale as human food. Our guide assured us that people would be buying them and taking them home to eat, or resell. Well, at least the birds had their fill first!! Inside the market building were tables full of various catch. Outside the market was a covered eating area where people were able to have food cooked for them. Nearby, there were several trucks with large ice-filled containers being loaded with fish.

When we were in San Antonio on a cruise last month, we used Puerto San Antonio Tours for a day-tour and found Philipp to be very good. I know he does cruise port to airport/hotel (and vice versa) transfers, but I do not know if he does airport to hotel transfers. You can always check with him. His website is: https://puertosanantoniotours.com/transfer/

We flew out of EZE just before Christmas and we departed from Terminal A, which is likely where you will be departing from. All three terminals (A, B, & C) are closely connected, so movement between them is not that difficult. Although, we had access to a VIP lounge, there appeared to be numerous USB charging stations available at the seating areas of the gates. Besides the large sit-down eateries, there were a number of small bars intermingled with the gates. These bars mainly consisted of a couple barstool tables, which had USB charging ports built into the top of the tables. Of note - we were departing EZE at the same time Argentinians were celebrating a national holiday for winning the World Cup, so most food/drink establishments at the airport were either closed, or at reduced capacity - due to lack of staff. The group of 6 of us decided to grab a bite to eat at the Outback and just after we sat down, they told us they would continue to serve us, but they we switching to take-out only, as they were at shift change and only a couple of staff showed up for the new shift. Needless to say, we drew many angry stares and comments from other people, when they found they could not come in and join us.

We recently returned from a 31-day SA cruise on the Oosterdam, which I believe is the ship you are going to be on for your cruise. Most likely when you are mentioning purchasing Wi-Fi, you are referring to purchasing an Internet package. The Wi-Fi available on the ship is provided free of charge and used primarily by HALs Navigator app for information access on the ship, plus it provides your connection to the Internet. We had pre-purchased the Premium Internet package prior to sailing with the hopes of being able to do a 'Live' review of the cruise. You can find my "Somewhat Live' review here and you will notice my feelings regarding the Internet from my opening comments - along with other comments throughout my postings.😠😠 Overall, the Internet was somewhat usable for basic email functions, but generally useless for sending any amount of data (i.e. pictures). One of the people we were travelling with tried communicating through Whatsapp and his experience was no better then I had with the apps I was using.

In the early hours of November 27th, we crossed the Equator. Although, the King Neptune Ceremony was carried out at the Sea View pool mid-day on the 26th. All cruisers were welcomed to kiss the fish, to signify that they had officially crossed the Equator and were no longer a pollywog.

I forgot to mention one other thing about the Embera culture. One of the unique features of the Embera is the body painting that they do. The Embera use the inedible fruit JAGUA to create a black dye that is then used to paint their bodies. The pigment remains embedded in the skin until the external layer is naturally exfoliated, generally lasting between 10 to 12 days. It is done primarily for body ornamentation and each design has a meaning, and each is different for age as well as gender. The jagua body painting is still in use for all celebrations and is one of the most enduring and important customs for both Waounan and Embera people. Another thing of note regarding their use of the dye, is that they apply it to babies - due to it being a natural insect repellant.

In the early evening of Nov 25th, we waved goodbye to Panama City. And started our first true cruise to South America.🤠

The return boat/van trip took about the same length of time as it did to go out. Overall, even with the tour being rushed, the was very interesting and well worth the time to see.

As part of the last activities before departing back to city, we had to earn our return trip tickets by participating in a local dance. Each of us were paired up with one of the locals - with Lynne and I getting a pair of cute younger dancers.

After lunch we were entertained with the Embera ladies Dance performance, which is part of healing ritual and part celebrations. The dances are based on birds, flowers, mountain, or local animals dance performances. Following was a group of men playing local instruments, such as a flute made from Bamboo; drum covers made of wild leather (the chimbombo); the smaller the Requinta drum which is made of similar leather; the Maraca made of Gorge; the Wiro made from Gorge and Turtle shell.

We arranged an independent tour with the Secrets of Peru tour company, which picked us up directly from the ship at the San Martin harbour. In the morning the tour took us to the Ballestas Islands and in the afternoon to the Paracas Nature Reserve, and then back to the ship. The tour was well organized and very interesting. I am currently in the process of doing a review of our 31-day cruise and should be covering our visit to General San Martin fairly soon. If you are interested, the review is at:

We also have wood carving from around the world, some of them close to 50 years old, and have never had to do anything to them. It may be because we live in a relatively low humidity area and they have always been kept inside the house.

We then enjoyed some local Embera food (fried plantain, fried fresh catch tylapia, fruits and a bottle of water) wrapped in leaf – the ultimate disposable food container. The food was very tasty. We then had the chance to walk about the village, along with perusing the crafts tables for any items we may be interested in buying.

They also carve items out of ironwood. Carver demonstrating ironwood carving. What his carving looks like in its rough-cut form. After many, many hours of cutting and polishing, they end up producing a work of fine art. This is the hummingbird statue we purchased. It is about 5 inches tall and is carved out of a single piece of ironwood.

We were in General San Martin last month (Dec 02) and HAL provided free shuttle service between the port and Plaza Paracas, which is where most of the independent tours left from. The bus ride is about 30 minutes.

We just returned from a cruise which visited San Antonio and we used Philipp with San Antonio Tours. We found Philipp to be very good, plus flexible with his tour arrangements. I understand he provides day tour/transfers, so he may be able to arrange something which fits your schedule. https://puertosanantoniotours.com/santiago-de-chile/

Have you tried contacting Falkland Islands Tourist Board. We recently returned from a cruise which stopped in Falkland Islands and we found their Tourist Information Centre staff were very knowledgeable. Besides their website, I believe they also have a Facebook page.

We're just off a 31-day South American cruise on the Oosterdam. As our cruise was the first large cruise ship sailing down the west side of SA, we encountered a fair number of logistical problems, which I'd hope are corrected by the time of your cruise. We are 4-stars and when we queried if we could just use our status to get early access to a tender, we were told no. We had to get a tender number just like everyone else. Another thing I noticed, was that the first 2, or 3 tenders were open to whomever wanted to get on - regardless of status, ticket number, or brand of deodorant you were using. After that, the tenders loaded ship tour people, but there was usually still space on the tender for another dozen, or so people, so they would then let some of the independent people who were waiting, get on the tender. Of note: A lot of the free-for-all situation we enjoyed may have been due to how disorganized the tender process was for our cruise. But, as others have noted and I know from past cruises, if you are there early and they have a tender ready to go, they will normally let you just walk on.

One item they carve is the Tagua nut, which comes from the Ivory Palm. This palm tree is considered to be endangered due to the fact it only grows in South America. Once the nut is dried it exhibits the same features of ivory - colour, texture, density, and overall look. The Tagua nut in its natural form. The nut at various stages of carving.

Arriving at the Emberapuru Village we were welcomed to the Embera community with a local music performance. The village has a population of 128 people. We then we had some time to use the local ‘facilities’. Then, in the local round-house community center we received some various talks regarding the Embera Culture, hand craft as iron wood, Tagua carving, process of weaving baskets, tradition lifestyles, body painting, & education. Lining the inside of the building were tables displaying the local handcrafts, which were, of course, available for purchase.

After finally getting to the tour pick up point, we set off on a tour to one of the local native Embera villages. It was a private tour for six people by a local native guide. He was highly recommended by several past Cruise Critic reviewers, along with top rating on TripAdvisor. Our experience with him certainly backed up his ratings. The owner/guide is well recognized as providing a truly unique & authentic travel experience. He grew up in an Embera village and was further educated in the USA , receiving training in Natural Resources. He is trilingual in Embera, Spanish, and English. His website is Embera Village Tours – Embera Tours Panama One of the TripAdvisor's reviews of the guide can be seen here. After about a one-hour drive, we arrived at the river where we boarded a dugout canoe. And no, we did not have to paddle, as it had an outboard motor! It was about a 45-minute trip to the village, which was interesting, but the low wooden seats were extremely uncomfortable for us older folks.

In most cases HAL does not require the at-home test to be medically observed. A person can perform their at-home test and record the results on their phone for presentation at cruise check-in. From HAL's FAQ regarding testing requirements: For cruises not visiting Australia that allow an at-home, self-administered PCR or Antigen COVID-19 test, guests should take a photo of their test result with their mobile device. Their full names, date and time of test should be written on, or next to the test device result like the below: First Name: _____________________ Last Name: ______________________ Date of Birth: ____________________ Date the self-test was taken: ____________________ Self-test type: ___Antigen    ___PCR Place self-test device below: For cruises visiting Australia that allow an at-home, self-administered Antigen COVID-19 test (RAT), guests should take one photo with their mobile device that meets all of the criteria outlined below: Negative RAT test next to the guest’s government issued photo ID with a clock showing the time the test was complete (a wristwatch, mobile phone screen or a wall clock, etc.).

We were dropped off at the Flamenco Marina, which is right beside the new terminal complex. This is where tendered cruise ship passengers are normally taken. From there you can meet your tour guide, catch the 'hop-on hop-off' bus, or take a taxi.