Sunday Feb.22nd

I don't want to bore everyone to death with this blog so please feel free to skip swathes of it as you please. Apart from anything else I want to keep a record for my own reference in the future. We have visited so many places and I have forgotten most of the place names, the people we have met and what we did. This time I want to remember it all. Ever since we lived in Mexico many years ago we have talked about exploring South America. I never considered a cruise, Bill decided upon this, to my surprise. No doubt this blog will be full of my banal observations. If ever you read anything vaguely intellectual re geography, history, science, the environment..... you can guarantee Bill will have done that bit. I'm not sure how easy or difficult it will be to access internet facilities but it is supposed to be possible on board ship. This might be the first and last entry! Who knows? Having not done this sort of thing before it could all very well go pear shaped.

Well here we are 4 days before we set off on our big holiday. On Thursday we fly to Barcelona and from there we get the connection to Santiago, Chile. The flight to Chile is 16 hours so I'm really not looking forward to that. Once we are there we have 2 nights in Santiago before boarding the ship in Valparaiso. We have booked a hotel in Santiago so let's hope it will be OK.

I have no idea what to pack. So far I have put in my case enough clothes for every conceivable occasion. The problem is I don't know how formal or informal people will be. I keep saying to Bill things like....you can't possibly take those shorts they are worn and stained etc etc. Then when I have either replaced them, washed them or stitched them he decides maybe he shouldn't take any shorts as he might get too sun burned as the ozone layer is thin around there! And so we go on.

Usually when we go to Vejer we can take any old stuff as it is all very laid back there and also we keep some clothes in the house; this is a very different kettle of fish. The other major factor is the climate, at some points we will be in warm places and in others it will be considerably cooler. What is a girl to do? Go for the layered look I suppose, I shall put my swim suit under my thermals, then add a T shirt, fleece and rain jacket, that should stand me in good stead for starters.

My main concern has always been sea sickness. People who have been on cruises in other places have nearly all said they were sea sick at some stage. My only memory of being really ill was crossing the Bay of Biscay some years ago and it was horrible. I was begging to be air lifted off at one point! I am armed with tablets, a wrist band and a bag full of crystallised ginger. My cousin told me green apples and dry crackers work a treat but I can't really pack those as well .

Better get back to the packing, still trying to work out how to use the camcorder I got for my birthday. Got to go to work tomorrow and Tuesday, Wednesday is going to be mega hectic with last minute arrangements. Hasta la vista, Val