Category Archives: ports of call

Cartagena, Colombia

When we booked our excursion online for Cartagena, we knew nothing about the city. Since we booked a tour of a 16th century Spanish fort, we thought it might be a sleepy little city like Cadiz or Malaga in Spain. Malaga is actually a good size with around 570,000 people but it doesn’t seem large. […]

Photo Gallery: Cartagena, Colombia

Here are some additional photos of our visit to Cartagena. The picture above shows a panoramic scene of the city through a gun turret at the top of the fortress San Felipe.

Photo Gallery: The Port Oasis EcoPark

Adjacent to the cruise ship port in Cartagena is a small zoo called the Port Oasis EcoPark. It features a lot of birds and a few animals as well, notably two giant anteaters.  Admission is free. Here are some photos. This pair of giant anteaters seemed to like hanging out together.

The Forgotten Island

Follow us on Facebook! When we think of the Bahamas we think of the cities of Nassau and Freeport and maybe of the fabulous Atlantis Resort. We also think of an island archipelago with many sandy beaches. The Bahamas, in fact, has over 700 islands of varying sizes. One of them used to be the […]

Photo Gallery: Eleuthra

Follow us on Facebook! Here are some additional photos of our visit to the island of Eleuthra in the Bahamas. Our tour guide on the bus tells of the history of Eleuthra During the ride we were shown how to make some crafts, including this headband made from reeds A house in Governor’s Harbour is […]

Port of Call: San Francisco

Follow us on Facebook! San Francisco was the first port of call on the very first cruise Janis and I ever took, a repositioning cruise from San Diego to Vancouver. We had driven through San Francisco before, taking one of the highways over the Golden Gate on our first trip to California together. But we […]

Sicily and Mount Etna

Follow us on Facebook! To celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary we spent a week in Paris followed by a Mediterranean cruise. The first port of call was Sicily. The ship passed through the narrow strait between the island and the toe of Italy’s boot and then into the harbor of Messina, the island’s third largest city. […]

Photo Gallery: Ephesus #2

Follow us on Facebook! Here are some more pics from our visit to Kusadasi and Ephesus. The picture above is of the amphitheatre. It was merged from two photos so the upper left is a bit of a blur. Welcome to Turkey! Domitian Square Part of the Temple of Domitian Some more ancient ruins Along the […]

Photo Gallery: Ephesus #1

Follow us on Facebook! The photo above was made from several merged together in Photoshop. Below are some more pics of our visit to Ephesus and Kusadasi. Our cruise ship in port at Kusadasi These ruins at Ephesus are part of the Bath of Varius More ancient ruins – lots of truncated pillars Another amphitheatre – […]