Regaining My Land Legs

I feel a sense of melancholy when thinking of the absolutely fantastic vacation that I returned from on Sunday night.

For the last two weeks, I have shared with you some of the dynamic photos and stories of our time at sea aboard the Emerald Princess. Steve and I traveled to several ports culminating with our passage through the Panama Canal. It truly was an amazing trip.

Why the melancholy? Well, I miss someone who makes my bed, straightens my room (twice a day), serves me dinner in one of several eateries (three main dining rooms, two specialty restaurants and an assortment of places offering everything from pizza to ice cream cones) where I never have to worry if there’s enough money in my wallet and where I’m greeted with a refreshing moist towel and flavored water when returning from a land excursion. Yes, cruising definitely does not stink.

We returned to the states on Friday morning, disembarking in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida then renting a car and driving to Miami Beach for the night (we’ve never seen it before). Then we flew to Georgia to see Steve’s aunt and some of my family members. Unfortunately, Steve contracted a head cold (which I have since caught) and couldn’t see his elderly aunt. However, thanks to modern technology he was able to Facetime her.

On Sunday evening our son Danny picked us up from LAX, officially ending our vacation.

It was a fantastic trip marred by just a few things. Coming home, Steve’s garment bag never left Miami Airport though it was properly tagged (thankfully he received a call this morning that the bag was found and will be sent to California in the next day or two). I also lost one of my favorite coats, a grey one I called my Mrs. Mazel coat. Darn! So careless of me. Hopefully the airport in Atlanta will find it and send it over … but I’m not holding my breath.

I’m already looking over the Princess website to see about booking a Caribbean cruise…

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And keeping in line with places we visited, I see that according to AP Colombia is proposing transferring at least 70 hippopotamuses that live near Pablo Escobar’s former ranch – apparent descendants of four imported from Africa illegally by the late drug lord in the 1980s – to India and Mexico as part of a plan to control their population.

The hippos are territorial and weigh up to three tons. Environmental authorities estimate there are about 130 hippos in the area in Antioquia province and their population could reach 400 in eight years.

Escobar’s Hacienda Napoles — and the hippos — have become a sort of local tourist attraction in the years since the kingpin was killed by police in 1993. When his ranch was abandoned, the hippos survived and reproduced in local rivers and favorable climatic conditions.

Scientists warn the hippos do not have a natural predator in Colombia and are a potential problem for biodiversity since their feces change the composition of the rivers and could impact the habitat of manatees and capybaras. Last year, Colombia’s government declared them a toxic invasive species.