tomorrow, guatemala!

Location at 2145 ship time...
Latitude: 14 degrees 17.8' N
Longitude: 93 degrees 48.3' W
Course: 106 degrees

Just watching "The Reader" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976051/ on the loop -- I think it may be an illegal copy (seems to be pretty common here -- international waters and all that), but it is an exceptionally good movie. Not sure what it has to do with Guatemala, but excellent nonetheless.

We just had our logistical pre-port for Guatemala where we learned that information being distributed by the State Department concerning this stop is no worse than information being distributed by Australia for travellers to Detroit. Hmmmmm.

It does seem that with a little attention and caution Guatemala, like other ports we have visited, should be safe. John and I don't plan to do a lot there -- we arrive tomorrow morning at 8:00am and can leave the ship soon after that. There are shuttles to nearby beaches and shopping and we may do a bit of that tomorrow. On the 29th I will go off to hike the Pacaya Volcano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacaya with a volcanologist and others from SAS. We leave this port on the evening of the 30th.

Today while eating lunch on the back deck we spotted hundreds of small dolphins that were playing in the wake of the ship. They were jumping in and out of the water and keeping up with the ship -- it was quite a show! Some people saw sea turtles off the bow later this afternoon too.

Half of the finals are now over and people are starting to sort things to pack for home. In Tymitz Square, a central location on the ship, there is a huge pile of clothing that will be given away in Guatemala. We understand this will continue and there will be more clothing to give away when we arrive in Florida as people make room in their luggage for their souvenir purchases.