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Around the World
  • Ali and Jeff Carithers
Dec 2014 – May 2015

Around the World

A 137-day adventure by Ali and Jeff Read more
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  • Trip start
    December 18, 2014
    Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    The Shell House Restaurant, Savannah

    December 15, 2014 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 55 °F

    We stayed near Savannah last night on our way to Florida. This was the dessert menu from the restaurant where we ate dinner. Our first cultural experience of the World Cruise. Southern Georgia cuisine.Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    Fort Lauderdale, Florida

    December 18, 2014 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 63 °F

    We will be boarding the Silver Whisper tomorrow to begin our 4 1/2 month journey around the world. Our friends Jane and Mike Beasley met us here and spent a few days with us before seeing us off.
    There are three pictures of our departure from Fort Lauderdale on the Silver Whisper. These are three of the most excited people in the world. The adventure awaiting us is unknown, but we know we will be creating memories to last a lifetime.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    12

    Key West, Florida

    December 20, 2014 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    Key west is always fun to visit. We all had a bike ride around town before it "woke up" this morning. The sights, sounds and smells are always interesting! Last night we celebrated Nancy's birthday at La Dame restaurant on the ship. We were so excited, I'm not sure any of us even remembered what we ate! I'm sure that didn't have anything to do with the excessive amount of alcohol we consumed.Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    Santa Marta, Colombia

    December 23, 2014 in Colombia ⋅ 🌬 104 °F

    This is our first stop out of North American waters. We had our first taste of rough seas all day yesterday-it was very dramatic. It's fun to see everyone staggering around the ship and we know it's not from alcohol!
    Santa Marta is the oldest city in Colombia. It is hot and very lively. There are lots of vehicles, most of them honking all at once!
    Jeff and I have never been to South America so this is uncharted territory for us. Jim and Nancy have been here before on their sailboat travels, but it won't be too long before we are all visiting places that the four of us have been talking about for the last year and a half!    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    Cartagena, Colombia

    December 24, 2014 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    This morning we sailed into Cartagena, Colombia. Colombia conjures up many images for me including drug cartels and the places and activities we all saw in "Romancing the Stone". It was unexpected in that the people were friendly and the old town was rich with lovely architecture, fruit vendors and some of the most saturated paint colors I have ever seen.
    As you can see from the photos, there is an interesting juxtaposition of old and new. Jim and Nancy were anchored in their boat here 20 years ago at which time there were virtually no highrises.
    We keep reminding ourselves that it is Christmas Eve. We will be entertaining the Kleinschmidt's in our suite tonight with room service pizza and a movie-our schedule has been so busy, we need a quiet night while we wait for Santa. We have visions of emeralds dancing in our heads (we are in Colombia after all)! We will toast Christmas with a glass of Limoncello, because nothing says Christmas like Limoncello.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    2

    Panama Canal

    December 25, 2014 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    Interesting transit on the Panama Canal-just a good, old-fashioned Christmas!

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    Puntarenas, Costa Rica

    December 27, 2014 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    A beautiful day in sunny and warm Costa Rica. We walked on suspension bridges in the canopy of the rain forest-amazing! We are docked in a fishing village and the warm breezes blowing through the fabrics of the stalls of the street vendors made for a pretty site.
    As the sun sets we are watching a tug that is waiting to lead us out of port.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    San Jose, Guatamala

    January 1, 2015 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    A cultural experience awaited us here. Jeff and I walked into a nearby town and saw true underdeveloped, third-world lifestyle. It was an eye-opening appreciation of the lives that we are fortunate enough to live. We wandered into a town where we probably didn't belong.
    We also saw some of the beautiful handwork that is done here.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico

    January 1, 2015 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

    The 4 of us went anout 30 minutes by shuttle into the small city of Tapachula, Mexico. It was a vibrant city that exuded a nice energy. There was dancing, music and local foods. As we strolled through the city, we even encountered a covered, temporary ice-skating rink which was packed with locals. We felt it was a real taste of a Mexican city since we were some of the only non-mexicans around. Our bright-white legs were a real giveaway! It was about 90 degrees and we heard several people mention how delightfully cool it was. Yikes! Even though we love the food on the ship, we did step out here and
    had lunch at a small, local place that included a dish of mole.
    We shopped at the Zapateria for shoes and rode back to the ship in one of the most crowded vehicles I've ever been in. At one point I could see Nancy's head just about touching the windshield.
    The ship sailed in the late afternoon to traditional Mexican dancers at the dock.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    At sea

    January 1, 2015, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌧 68 °F

    Happy New Year! It was quite an event on tbe ship last night with 350 guests and 350 crew on the upper deck ringing in 2015! Nancy won a bottle of Dom Perignon so it was a great way to top off 2014.
    Disco bunny is enjoying her cruise and helped in the celebration.
    There was a spectacular New Year's Day Brunch and then recovering from all the celebrating.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    2

    Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

    January 2, 2015 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Uh-oh! I think we've gone too far north! It's cool here today-we've gotten used to warmer temperatures, but we still don't have any reason to complain.
    We went to a salsa and salsa event today. We made 7 different types of salsa and 2 different kinds of margheritas. Somehow I was chosen to "cook" in a salsa competition and the best part was that I got to wear a giant sombrero!
    Then we danced salsa! Uno, dos, tres - cuatro, cinco, seis! Too much fun!
    We are at sea the next 2 days before arriving in LA. Our first day at sea after LA will be Jeff's 60th birthday!    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    At sea

    January 6, 2015, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌙 66 °F

    We are having our long stretch of time at sea. It is 7 days that we have all been looking forward to since we booked this cruise. Once we left LA and celebrated Jeff's 60th birthday (you'll hear about that from him), we have settled into a nice, but busy routine. We are all committed to 2-3 hours of fitness each morning in hopes of still being able to wear our clothes throughout the trip.
    There are many interesting lectures each day. There is a travel/historian that speaks about each of our upcoming ports and we have recently been joined by a wine expert who lectures while we are drinking particular wines! There is an artist on board giving classes and next week several of us will be joining one of the chefs going to the market in Tahiti.
    We are all doing a lot of reading and Jeff will be fluent in Swahili by the time we get home.
    The Pacific Ocean is very peaceful and we are loving the tranqility. The 4 of us witnessed the elusive green flash at sunset yesterday in honor of Jeff's birthday.
    A few notes from me about Jeff's 60th. Since the actual start of the World Cruise was in Los Angeles, I had asked Trish and Don if they could possibly meet us there as a surprise for Jeff. I can attest that he certainly was surprised to see them once we got off the ship. Jim had kept in touch with them as we were waiting for the ship to clear. We had a great visit. We saw a beautiful church that was all glass and then had a wonderful luncheon overlooking the Pacific Ocean. My gift to Jeff was a quilt that I had made. Months ago I had sent out plain squares with a pen for everyone that is special to Jeff to design/write on. I compiled them into a quilt and while Jeff was out of town, collected all my quilting ladies to get it quilted. He loved it.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    At sea, January 12

    January 12, 2015, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌧 77 °F

    We are at the end of our 7 days at sea and we have enjoyed even more than we thought we would. You can be as busy as you want to or just relax, read and look at the water-and there is a lot of it! The ocean has been changeable-sometimes smooth and sometimes pitching and rolling. It will be interesting to walk on actual land tomorrow-we may be pitching and rolling ourselves!
    An observation-we are hundreds of miles from land, yet we see various species of birds flying around us-what are they thinking? Sometimes they land on a deck and look quite puzzled.
    We crossed the Equator yesterday so now we are officially shellbacks instead of polliwogs.
    We will get up early tomorrow to watch as we sail into Nuku Hivo, Marquesas Islands.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    1
    22

    Nuku Hiva, Marquesa Islands

    January 13, 2015 in French Polynesia ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    As much as we have enjoyed our 7 days at sea, it was a real thrill to see land today. We could hardly take our eyes off the beautiful and dramatic volcanic cliffs of the Marquesas. Here we are at yet another place that we never thought that we would visit.
    The island is quaint with lots of interesting rock sculptures and quiet roads. Gorgeous day.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    Rangiroa, French Polynesia

    January 17, 2015, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    This island is the opposite of the island we were at in the Marquesas. It too is an ancient volcano, but it has evolved into an atoll. It is a rim of land that is about 1/4 mile wide with a huge lagoon in the center which is about 10 miles in diameter. The second and third pictures are a comparison of Nuku Hivo and Rangiroa. The photo on the left is Nuku Hivo and the right is Rangiroa. The center of Rangiroa is the sunken crater of the ancient volcano. Two completely different islands.Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    2

    Moorea, Society Islands

    January 17, 2015 in French Polynesia ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    We sailed into Moorea this morning and it is everything that you would envision French Polynesia as. It is dramatically mountainous and the water is crystal clear. BTW, as we were sailing here, the captain's report was that the ocean was 3 miles deep. That's a little too much to comprehend while on vacation.
    Moorea is the island that "Bali Hai" refers to.
    We spent the day doing the best snorkeling
    we have ever done. The colors of the coral were fantastic and the fish are different than any we have seen before. We also learned that the sun is unforgiving here no matter how much sunscreen you have on.
    We sailed to Papeete, Tahiti this evening and will shop at the local market tomorrow.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    1

    At Sea in the South Pacific (from Jeff)

    January 22, 2015, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    While at sea between Los Angeles and French Polynesia, I turned 60. The day before my birthday, Don and Trish surprised me in LA and we had lunch at a resort and visited some beautiful coastal sights. It turned out I was to have several other surprises on my birthday at sea.

    One was a very prominent green flash on the horizon at sunset. The green flash is when a brief beacon of green light is visible immediately after the sun sets. It is caused by the prismatic effect of the atmosphere and conditions must be right for it to occur, such as an unobstructed view (over water, for example) and a clear sky.

    The other very special surprise was a quilt Ali gave me with contributions from many of the most important people in my life. She started organizing you to make personalized squares over a year ago, assembled the quilt top and then she secretly worked with her quilting club friends to do the hand quilting while I was gone to a meeting for several days last summer.

    I became emotional when I initially removed the wrapping of this wonderful gift and got teared up again as I read all the personal squares. Thanks to all of you for taking the time and effort to make something so special.

    The accompanying photo shows the finished product with Tanzanian fabrics outlining all the heartwarming squares. I used it the first night because that is good luck, but it now graces the arm of our sofa since it is kind of hot down here in French Polynesia.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    Somewhere in the South Pacific

    January 22, 2015, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Hey, what happened to Wednesday? We crossed the International dateline last night and Wednesday simply disappeared! We decided to call that our fasting and no drinking day - sounds pretty convenient.
    We will arrive in Tonga tomorrow morning for a day of kayaking and snorkeling.
    The South Pacific Ocean has been delightfully smooth and is a spectacular cerulean blue, so different from the water we saw on the way to French Polynesia.
    The first photos are of Papeete, Tahiti, where we visited the market and saw some quite unusual fruits, vegetables and fish.
    The last 4 pictures are of Bora Bora. It was a lovely island - we biked about 10 miles and got to experience the sounds and wonderful cooking smells on a Sunday morning.

    As you can see, Nancy and I have embraced our potential French Polynesian roots and had dinner in flower headdresses! Later on, Jeff and Jim explored their possible Polynesian roots, perhaps a little less successfully, but they looked awfully cute.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    1
    1

    Nuku'alofa, Tonga

    January 25, 2015, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    January 25, 2015.
    Tonga is an country I never thought I would see. An archipelago in the South Pacific, it is a monarchy that was never a colony of European powers. The traditional woven plant fiber wraps men and women wear around their waist were more common than we expected and Ali convinced me I wouldn’t have anywhere to wear the getup in Virginia so I resisted the urge to buy. Some of the wraps have been passed down for generations so the ragged ones are often the most treasured.

    There are some interesting South Pacific island customs that carry over from the Southeast Asian settlers several thousand years ago. One common custom is that if the first two children in a family are boys, the third born child is raised as a girl, regardless of the birth sex. We have encountered this a number of times on many of these islands and it is typical. The woman in the photo with the magenta dress is an example. She was in charge of the dockside local entertainment activities in Tonga.

    The men are often impressively large and proud of it. This may account, in part, for their highly successful rugby teams.

    While in Tonga we explored the main town of Nuku’alofa and went kayaking to an offshore island where we snorkeled and enjoyed meeting some local people.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    1

    Noumea, New Caledonia

    January 26, 2015, Coral Sea ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    January 26, 2015
    We spent the day on the island of New Caledonia. It is at once French and Melanesian. There are baguettes and bistros alongside Kanak people with their brightly colored clothing. We walked and snorkeled and had a pleasant day in what seemed to be the biggest city we've been in since LA.
    We are currently headed to Sydney through the Coral Sea and into the Tasmanian sea which are typically rough so it will be an interesting couple of days!

    The evening before arriving into New Caledonia, the World Cruiser's were invited for cocktails and dinner in the crew bar and dining room. It was a special time because we have gotten to know many of the crew and it was fun to see where they spend their time off.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    13

    Sydney, Australia

    January 31, 2015, Tasman Sea ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    January 29th and 30th.
    We spent the past 2 days in Sydney. It is a very vibrant city teeming with people. The Sydney harbor is the largest natural harbor in the world and quite breathtaking. We sailed in early in the morning through the headrocks that protect the harbor. The intricate small bays and lush hills greeted us as we moved toward our docking area. As we progressed, we saw what is probably one of the most iconic pieces of architecture in the world-and there was a collective gasp from everyone. No matter how many photos of the Sydney Opera House you've seen, it still takes your breath away when it comes into view. We were fortunate enough to attend an opera there preceded by an unexpected harbor tour. The weather could not have been better (we hear that is not always the case) which allowed us to explore the city and botanical gardens extensively. We also ferried to Manly Beach, which has some very dramatic waves and is a big draw for surfers. Australia's rugged, natural beauty is incredible with carved rocks and crashing surf.

    We enjoyed our time here, feeling quite overwhelmed that we were in Australia!    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    The Tasman Sea

    January 31, 2015, Tasman Sea ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    As we left Sydney Harbor yesterday, the captain used some words like "pitching" and "groaning" to describe our upcoming journey through the Tasman Sea on our way to Melbourne. So we quickly finished our Proseco (first things first) and battened down the hatches. The seas last night were 20' swells and we are going through a gale today. Talk about drama! It is a challenge to do almost anything - it's hard to keep your food on your plate much less to try to walk anywhere. There are crashing sounds at times that we simply can't figure out! We are all feeling fine except for being a little (or a lot) sleepy. Jeff has been taking some video so we can share it when we get home.Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    Melbourne, Australia

    January 31, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    February 1
    Melbourne is a very cosmopolitan city with many eighteenth century buildings adjacent to modern, dramatic architecture. Multiethnic, it has a peculiar claim of having the third largest Greek population of any city in the world. Even on a Sunday, it was full of activity with coffee houses, pizzerias and chocolateries being very popular. They have an extensive tram system and the central loop with its quaint 100 year-old tram cars is free for use.

    We all agreed we had the best pizza we had in our lives at a streetside pizzeria. For those who are counting, we walked 30,000 steps today (almost 15 miles).    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers

    Adelaide, Australia

    February 3, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Adelaide is a smallish city compared to Melbourne and Sydney. About 1.5 million people. It has a mix of old and new buildings, the older ones being primarily from the gold rush days. There was a very lively market there that had a beautiful array of fresh vegetables, cheeses and breads. We had some Algerian food that was a treat.
    We are still enjoying great weather and good times.    Read more

  • Ali and Jeff CarithersAround the WorldAli and Jeff Carithers
    2

    Port Lincoln, Australia

    February 4, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Port Lincoln is primarily known for it's tuna business and oysters. Jeff was brave enough to have a big plate of their famous oysters at 9:30 in the morning! The landscape is more like what I expected Australia to look like with it's sandy, scrubby hillsides. It was a short stop of about 4 hours so we all took the opportunity to walk about 6 miles on ground that wasn't moving.
    The evening brought a special treat. If you give the chef 24 hours notice, they will prepare any type of meal you would like. Since we have enjoyed so many ethnic and local meals on the ship, we asked for a Philippine meal-it was fantastic! And served by our favorite Philippine waiter.
    We are now sailing through the Great Australian Bight which is an expanse of windswept sea that is known for it's roughness. It is calm as can be and we are happy! The captain seems to be making a beeline west to get past it as quick as possible. We have heard that the temperature at our next port, Perth, is 101 degrees. Not a complaint, just an observation!
    The second photo below was in the "bait" section of the convenience store.
    It looks like Sara Lee sells different types of things here in southern Australia than in Woodstock!    Read more

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