Oh the Places I'll Go

 I have a nephew and a cousin who have spent considerable time in Brazil and love the country and its people, but I had not yet had an opportunity to visit.  So, I selected the extended cruise I am currently on partly because it included stops in ten Brazilian ports along the southern coast of the country.  Prior to this trip, I had not realized that Brazil is as large as the continental United States.  This cruise, therefore, would be the equivalent of sailing up the eastern coast of the US to Maryland and saying that I have seen all there is to see of the country.  We have an Amazon River cruise scheduled in early 2027, so we will see a bit more of Brazil then.  But at least this was a nice introduction to the country. Balneario Camboriu as seen from the ship:  Rain forest and beaches Much of Brazil is covered by rain forests, with the majority of the population living in coastal cities, many of which have beautiful sandy beaches.   Our first ...

Chile is a long, narrow country on the Pacific coast of South America, bordered on the north by Peru and on the east by Bolivia and Argentina.  The Andes Mountains extend 8,000 kilometers (nearly 5,000 miles) through South America from Columbia and disappear into the Magellan Strait, where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet.  The mountains form a natural border between Chile and Argentina.  I sailed approximately 3,000 nautical miles (3,450 land or statute miles) from San Antonio, Chile, a port city near Santiago, to Punta Arenas and around Cape Horn on the Oceania Marina in March, 2025.  I flew into Santiago and spent one day there before boarding the ship.  Since the Southern Hemisphere seasons are the reverse of those in the Northern Hemisphere, March is the end of summer and the beginning of fall.  In fact, the day we boarded the ship, March 6, our guide on the transit bus told us that it was the first day of school across Chile. Santiago is a l...

  Although Scott and I have traveled extensively, we had not ventured to India yet.   Frankly, we were both a bit nervous about visiting that country having heard tales of crowds and digestive illnesses and extreme poverty; so we decided to visit India via cruise ship.   That way we could experience some of the country and its culture while returning to eat and sleep in the comfort of the ship.   We compared several offerings and settled on an itinerary that included four different ports along the Indian coast as well as stops in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia before ending in Singapore.   The option we selected was on the small luxury ship Regent Seven Seas Voyager, which carries just 600 passengers.  In addition to being an all-inclusive line (shore excursions, gratuities, laundry service, etc.), the cruise price included business-class air, one pre-cruise night in a Dubai hotel, and a three-day post-cruise stay in Singapore.  In addition, this ...