Being patient

Not something that comes easily, but then there are times when, for one reason or another, there’s no choice but to sit back, relax and let someone else do all the worrying.  It’s what we pay for, in this case at least!

Our cruise is coming to an end and those familiar with Regent cruises will recognise the “Krew Kapers” show which we enjoyed last night and which, as usual, brought the house down.

For those unfamiliar with it all, the show is put together by a group of crew and is hugely entertaining.  To close, every member of crew is brought on stage (quite who sails the ship as they do, I have no idea!) and it’s a great opportunity to thank them all for a job well done. 

We went off to dinner with friends afterwards and enjoyed another evening on the ship before some begin to depart.  We don’t leave until Saturday, so though we still have another night on board, others aren’t quite so lucky.

This morning, we were woken around 6 by the regular sounding of the ship’s foghorn and looked out of the patio doors.

Hmm.  Not looking good here.

So, we spent a while packing a bag or two – complex packing here because we don’t want to take all of our luggage up to Cuzco and beyond and will leave some behind in Lima.  Oh, and we were watching jelly fish in the sea beside us.

There were quite a few!

The Captain came on the radio to say that the port of Callao (Lima) was closed and that we were at anchor until the weather clears and the visibility improves to more than 1km.  Nothing we can do but to sit back and wait – but for those friends with an early flight to Cuzco this morning, that could prove tricky.  It seems as though an inversion is holding over the coast this morning and with the sea temperature higher than that of the air, the mist settles creating disruption with both sea and air traffic.

So, no-one is going anywhere right now.  Except for the jelly fish.  Aren’t they amazing?

Around 10 am, the Captain announced that we had a small window of opportunity and that we had been given permission to continue.  We heard the engines in action again and sure enough, before long we could see the harbour.  In the meantime, we’ve packed most of our things, have completed the end-of-cruise questionnaire and had breakfast.  I suspect that elsewhere on the ship, things have been rather more hurried, as flights are rebooked, tours rescheduled and all kinds of other arrangements have been updated.

The thought of making new plans for all 600-odd of us doesn’t bear thinking about, but they are experienced professionals and can manage it all far better than we can.

Once we were underway, we made our way to the breakwater with the tug Polux alongside.

Oh my goodness.  Birds.  Thousands of them!

So, here we are.   Lima.  A couple of hours late, but hey ho, these things happen.  Our tour wasn’t due to meet until 10.15 so we’ll relax and let those headed to Machu Picchu get on their way as quickly as they can and we’ll await instructions.

One of our travelling companions is particularly excited to be arriving in Lima and may well be on the look out for The Home for Retired Bears to pay one or two relatives a visit