Wrap Up, Blog 13
We had a farewell dinner with
the Brazilian national drink, the Caipirinha made from rum. I loved it!
We went around the room sharing what we liked and didn’t like about the
trip. Everyone LOVED it—almost no
complaints. This group was extremely
compatible—I don’t think I ever heard a negative word from anyone and other
than our similar ages (64-79) we had
diverse backgrounds:
1.
A family of 7
Indians including 1 brother and 4 sisters born and raised in Kenya. Three were doctors (I think) and one was a pharmacist
2.
Two couples
traveling together originally from New York or New Jersey now living in North
Carolina—one a lawyer
3.
Two couples
traveling together (one’s son is married to the other’s daughter) from Atlanta
and North Carolina. The husband from
North Caroline is like the Pope of the Presbyterian Church (I exaggerate, but
he is very high up in the organization).
He and his wife have been to many places in the world such as Haiti
helping the people to help themselves.
After he became a minister, he got a degree in economics so that he
could understand the impact of economics on Christianity. He’s a real “mensch”.
4.
Two single women
(both previously married) who met to share a room. One was a delightful retired teacher and
administrator from Tucson. The other was
a docent at the Monterey Bay Aquarium;
however, she enjoyed her alcohol too much.
5.
Two single men
(one widowed) who had met on a trip sharing a room and became very good
friends. They travel all over the world
together. One is a retired professor of
English literature and I enjoyed talking to him. When we went to the bizarre
dance show in Montevideo (see Montevideo blog), he was the only who loved
it. I found out why: his favorite writer is the existentialist
Jean Paul Sartre.
6.
A charming couple
from Lexington, Kentucky. He still works
for Dean Witter as a financial advisor. His wife was an art docent. We especially enjoyed their company and spent
many of our meals with them.
The entire group was very
interesting and interested in everything, well educated, informed, and mostly liberal—just an outstanding group to
travel with to South America.
Our tour guide Roberto was
beyond outstanding. His stories were so funny that many times tears were
rolling down my cheeks. I would love to go on another tour with him, but his
next tours are Macchu Picchu (Dan can’t go because of the altitude) and an
around the world tour, which is too much both in time and money.
A few of his stories:
He took a tour group to China in the 70’s just
after it opened for tourism to westerners.
He said that every night his group had to change hotels. They got to one hotel and the desk clerk
said, “You’ll have to wait. We’re making
up your room.” His group sat down in the
lobby to wait. First he saw a door go
by, then a toilet. Evidently they were
really making the room!
He was with another group in
Santiago the day Pinochet overthrew Allende.
His group had to get out fast. He
told everyone, “Get your luggage, get down to the lobby now.” Two women said, “But the brochure says we
get a free afternoon today to go shopping.”
Another time he was in Macchu
Picchu when terrible flooding occurred.
The hotels were on the verge of collapsing. The train was unable to run. His tour was stuck for 3- 4 days and had to wait
12 hours in line to try to get on a helicopter to get out. Finally an announcement was made that
everyone 70 and older would be evacuated.
He told his group, “You’re all 70.
Start walking.” His group
followed orders with the rest of the crowd yelling at them, “you’re not 70!”
Vantage, which does wonderful
tours, is big on “Cultural Connections.”
We went to a private home for a wonderful lunch.
We had tango lessons. We got to milk a cow and saddle a horse. One of
the couples on our tour was robbed (see previous blogs). When we met for cocktail hour that night,
Roberto who always put a positive spin on everything told us about the mugging
but said, “Today was a wonderful day! The Oldhams were robbed, but it was a
Cultural Connection!” He is writing a
book about his 35 years as a tour guide.
I had a hard time saying goodby to him.
A few of you know about my emotional affair with my European tour guide
in the 1970’s, Edwardo. Edwardo now has
a new rival.
I’m in Miami airport waiting
for flight to SFO. I know I called this
a wrap-up, but I may write about a few observations.
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