Moorea is still the prettiest of the islands of French Polynesia, however much people want to brag about Bora Bora. The mountains there are so spectacular they almost don´t look real. Then we sailed east to fabled Pitcairn Island, where the descendents of the Bounty mutineers live. They are a healthy looking bunch, came aboard the ship to sell trinkets and stamps. The European genes predominated, few of them look very Polynesian. Pitcairn is very vertical, has no beaches and the small boat landing is problematic, to say the least. In some weather a small boat couldn´t even get in there. Pitcairn is, however, quite green and forested.
Easter Island, on the other hand, is largely barren as has been reported. Most of it looks like pasture and relatively poor pasture at that. The great stone statues are even more spectacular in person than they have been all these years in pictures. Man, that is some amazing stone carving. We saw the quarry where they were shaped, one still lying there not quite finished. We heard the whole big ear/little ear battle thing where the little ears won and established the birdman cult. Easter Island is one of those places where you feel like you are on the far side of the moon.
Sailing east from Easter Islands, we took another four days to reach the coast of South America. We put in at San Martin, Peru, which is very barren. The terrain looks like the deserts of northern Chile. It appeared that they were exporting bulk sand, of which they have plenty, probably to refurbish a resort beach somewhere. The next day we sailed to Callao, the port of Lima, Peru. Man, that is one impressive container port. I suspect Lima/Callao is the biggest container port on the west coast of South America. I know it is bigger than Valparaiso, Chile, and bigger than the Mexican ports. Furthermore, it didn´t have a third world look to it. Everybody had a job and was busily doing it, nobody was standing around with their hands in their pockets. Maybe it is run by a first world company, I wouldn´t be surprised.
After a day and a half in Callao, we sailed to Manta, Ecuador. This is a big tuna fishing port, the fleet is quite large and very modern-looking. Many brands you´ve heard of export canned tuna from Manta. We went ashore and had a city tour. Manta has the same down-at-the-heels look as most cities in Costa Rica, Panama, or Mexico. On the other hand, I didn´t see a lot of people just hanging out doing nothing. And, I didn´t see a lot of people who were either ragged or hungry. The architecture leaves much to be desired from an American esthetic but that is my problem, not theirs.
Sailing north from Manta we crossed the Equator and the ship held the usual ceremony to initiate the pollywogs into the Ancient Order of Shellbacks. As old shellbacks ourselves, we skipped the ceremony and did laundry while the laundry room was largely empty.
Today we transitted the Panama Canal, with beautiful weather and stunning views. The Pacific Princess has this lounge at the top in the bow with floor to ceiling sloping windows, comfy chairs, and air conditioning. That is the way to enjoy the Canal, sitting comfortably with a panoramic view and a cold drink. It was a neat day. Now we are at dock on the Caribbean side of Panama, at Colon, and will sail tomorrow to the San Blas Islands of Panama, the next day we are in Limon, Costa Rica, and we´re taking a tour.
