cruise news, part one

To all those who said that I would never want to travel any other way once I had tried cruising, I say ppfffft. It was a good experience and I am definitely glad I went, but I am not so sure I am a convert. Maybe I need to try a different ship next time? Or maybe it is just me, wanting to see everything at every port and feeling a tad restrained by needing to fit it all in with the ship and shuttle schedules. The extra charges for the shuttles into each city from the port were also a bit grating and everyone was complaining about that little detail.

But......
It was great to not have to keep packing and repacking and to wake up in a different location each morning. At some point over dinner, you might suddenly become aware - if you were looking out the window - that we were moving. The food was very, very good. But so are many restaurants that I have eaten at. I was not interested in shopping so the luxury shops on the Promenade deck held no appeal for me, though we did wander through the nightly 'sidewalk sales' and try to find something.... There was also nightly entertainment to keep us amused. And a variety of places to sit yourself down with drinks and new friends. There was a seemingly neverending gallery of sculptures and artwork on all the floors and even on the last day, I found a landing with a piece of art I am sure I had not seen before and wondered how is that possible? The ship was huge and even with all those people on board, it did not feel overly crowded. And it still took a bit of thinking to remember which stairwells and which elevators to take! And which direction the cabin was in. Next time, definitely get a balcony. If only for that extra bit of fresh air.

The most disappointing part, for both Xup and myself, was the dining. We wanted to share a table and the first two/three nights were great for meeting new people, even if one or two were the same people. Then it all fell apart and we ended up eating on our own and once (because of our different shore excursion plans) we each ate by ourselves.

Definitely the best part was the pre planning and the anticipation. It all feels a little sad to not have that anymore.
And to not have someone coming in to make up the beds and clean the WC. And leave bottles of water.

Then there were the animals....

I came home to a healthy pet turtle though it was hard to tell if he missed me.
But, I heard today that Lonesome George (who I wrote about here) has passed on at an relatively young age of 100 or so years. He was the last of his kind and will be sorely missed in the Galapagos.

turtle sex

You may have missed the news about Lonesome George. So I, as your turtle blogger, will keep you up to snuff.

Back in the '70's some people went out hunting for wild goats on Pinta Island off the coast of South America. They found a very old tortoise instead. He was taken to the Galapagos National Park where much fuss was taken over his care. After so many years living alone, apparently without even the wild goats for company anymore, he was not the happiest of tortoises in this new environment, but as they all do, he adapted. But, the big guy was the last of his kind and other people wanted children and grandchildren. So the dating life began. He was put on a diet, given training in manners, and several female playmates. George was not particularly interested in playing. He was given a male playmate. No interest there, either. Well, no one actually ever saw anything, so maybe?.... Two other tortoises who were found to be distant cousins were brought in to share his space. Maybe he just wanted some family, someone he could relate to on a basic, primal level, the people thought. For 36 long years, the people waited and watched and hoped for a little action.

Now, George has been estimated to be somewhere between 60-90 years old. That means that perhaps for more than half his life he has lived alone, with his thoughts and his own dreams. So when this dating thing happened, well, turtles have a lot of time on their hands. One thing they know is patience. He's had a lot of time to think things through. Sure, he has his unique genes (so he's been told, he's never seen them) but what else could he offer any offspring? What was the point of it all, he probably asked himself, many times. He had his house, but none of his kids would want to be burdened with that, they would all have their own houses to take care of. He hadn't any particular interests or talents to pass on. It probably seemed to be way too much to bother with. And he'd never get to be all alone again, which he infinitely preferred. Not everyone who lives alone is lonely.

But then it seems he thought again. Perhaps to utterly shock all those annoying, gawking people, or to give the tabloids some fresh fodder. Or maybe he is just a joker afterall. For suddenly, one of the gawkers found some eggs in a nest and then a little later found more eggs in another nest. Twice! Excitement. Congratulations. New introduction cards were being made up: Papa George.

Then, nothing.

Turtles are known for laying infertile eggs. They don't need a male to help with that, either.

I know this. I have my own turtle with gender issues. Otis was a happy boy and was thoroughly shocked when he suddenly started laying eggs. To suddenly discover that one could do this, all by oneself, shook him to the core. He couldn't deal with the thought that now he'd have to wear a bow and false eyelashes a la Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck to distinguished [herself] from the other boy turtles.

No, he was so shocked, he quickly ate the evidence and hoped it would never happen again.

Perhaps, Lonesome George is chuckling to himself.
Who says he's lonely?

Sam and Ella are home

Good news folks --- Sam and Ella have been returned!

Hamilton police returned Sam and Ella to HamiltonReptile.com at
noon yesterday. The turtle went missing Monday, leaving owner Marc
Cunningham heartbroken.

Police recovered the turtle Cunningham says is "priceless" after they got a call from the school. A student had taken the turtle and was turned in by others after they read about Sam and Ella's plight in The Spectator.

As a result, Cunningham will give a $300 reward to the Maplewood Avenue school.
"That's very generous of him," principal Kevin Heer said. "We're just really happy the turtle has been recovered and it's back at its rightful place."

Cunningham said he started getting calls at about 6:30 a.m. yesterday. Some said they had seen a young girl with the turtle. Others just called to express their concern.

The turtle is extremely rare and needs to be hand-fed to survive."He's back home now, and folks are welcome to come and see him, but he is in a locked container," Cunningham added.

Now, for your added enjoyment here is a turtlecam I stumbled upon. I was going to post a picture of a regular, boring, old one-headed red eared slider for you, but this is so much better. Maybe.