Antarctica

In a year, on January 31, 2012, we'll be cruising the South Shetland Islands, of which there are a couple dozen, most of them with two names, one for Russians and the other for everybody else. More penguins and seals, and a lot of coldness -- the midsummer* average temperature is about 35 degrees Fahrenheit. So I'll need to pack something warm or huddle inside for several days, which hardly seems a good way to spend time on a cruise. It doesn't look like they plan on us landing anywhere, which is probably just as well: Wikipedia says that "...[the islands]  remain more than 80% snow and ice covered throughout the summer." Plus which the resident population is 0 -- lots of research stations and scientists of several nationalities, nobody selling souvenirs or hawking lichen burgers to tourists.


I'm beginning to appreciate that I'm going to be on this big boat for FOUR MONTHS. We spend three days cruising around Antarctica. I'll need to be sure and do a lot of meditating during our times at sea, otherwise I can see myself getting into a "you've seen one iceberg, you've seen them all, when's the next lounge show?" frame of mind.

*No, really, midsummer. We're in the Southern Hemisphere, so in end of January there is like the end of July here.

the Falklands?

OK, in a year from today, 1/28/12, I'll be in Stanley, Falkland Islands, or, if one has Argentinian sympathies, the Islas Malvinas. I know nothing about the Falkland Islands except that Britain and Argentina went into a somewhat silly set-to over them some years back. According to Wikipedia, "virtually the entire area of the islands is used as pasture for sheep," which is a perfectly fine profession, and might be very appealing to the overstimulated for the ultimate getaway vacation ("Come to the peaceful Falklands, watch the sheep wander out to pasture, take a nap, watch the sheep wander back from pasture.") But we're only going to be there for a day, and we're already on vacation. Let's see what Weather Underground has to say about the weather. Well, today late afternoon, it's 54 degrees Fahrenheit and 82% humidity -- I suppose islands generally have high humidity, what with all that ocean all over the place, and 54 degrees isn't awful. Oh, wait, look back at Wikipedia: they have PENGUINS!





Penguins. OK, I'm reconciled to the Falklands.

Two days in Rio de Janeiro

It's now January 21, and in a year I will just have spent two days in Rio de Janeiro. I will have walked along the black and white wave pattern of the promenade along the Copacabana beach, staring in awe at the beauty and elegance of the people sunning themselves. I will have looked up at the statue of Christ the Redeemer and maybe ridden the car up to Sugar Loaf. Lent will be a month off, so I won't have had to fight Mardi Gras crowds, but I won't get to see the parades and costumes either. It will be mid-summer, temperature around 90 F., humidity in the mid-70s. And I can imagine all I like, but it's like an innocent from the provinces imagining her first trip to New York City. Only for me it's the whole world, about which I can at present only poke around in Wikipedia and pore over the itinerary and pretend to myself that I have any idea what the trip will actually be like. In a year I will have been in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will be on my way to Buenos Aires, Argentina, as in "Don't Cry for Me". Maybe I'll sign up for a tango tour.

This is going to be terminally cool. I won't be, of course. I will be gawking wide-eyed, barely past picking straw out from behind my ears.

you thought I was kidding ...

... about the pirates. And then there's the rebellion in Tunisia which may spread to Egypt, putting the Suez Canal at risk of national instability. There aren't a lot of alternative routes between India and Greece. I wonder what the cruise line would do if they decided we couldn't safely get through the Suez Canal. Go around Africa instead, substituting Johannesburg for Piraeus and Monrovia for Barcelona? Fly us from Dubai to Naples? Put us ashore at Sharm el-Sheikh and let us hitchhike home?

Where I'll be -- January 17 2012

At the excellent suggestion of my good friend Nanette, I'm going to start anticipating next year's cruise.

For instance, today's January 17. Next January 17th, I'll be at sea on the two-day voyage between Recife, Brazil, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, having already been ashore at Roseau, Dominica; Bridgetown, Barbaros; Belem, Brazil; and Recife, Brazil. We're sailing south of the equator, having gone past the big bulge in the side of South America. According to the Weather Channel, the temperatures are in the mid 80's and the sky is mostly clear with winds between 10 and 20 mph from the south/southeast, humidity around 60%.

And here I sit on deck*, watching the ocean go by, eagerly anticipating supper (since it's late afternoon) and writing a blog entry about, oh, I don't know, what South America looks like off in the distance as we move south. At the moment, being a total landlubber, I have no idea what 10-20 mph winds do to the sea. Then, I'll know. Stay tuned, I'll tell you all about it.

*My idea of what one does on a cruise ship is very primitive at the moment. I'm assuming one can sit on deck except when the waves are surging and the rain and wind make that a suicidal way to spend time. So I'm imagining scenes from some Cary Grant movie, where I get to be Joan Crawford with a big hat and way longer legs than I actually have, reclining in a deck chair in the sun and flirting with anyone who flirts back and some that won't.