That Holland America cruise

I have been on some 14 cruises, but the Holland American cruise line is the worst I have ever used, or rather, the Zuiderdam ship was by far the worst ever.

The thing is though, we had a wonderful cruise IN SPITE OF THEM, when at  the end of December  2017, I headed out with eight adult friends and five kids.

It was the camaraderie that did it.

Great travel partners

What I found as a really horrible first impression from we embarked was the fact that they never even had a small welcome package in the staterooms. They remind me ever so much of Spirit airlines, for once you pay your fare, you have to pay for almost every single thing. For example, I have never been on a cruise where you go to the gym and pay to even cycle! Dinners in certain dining rooms you had to pay for and in some recreation areas, you had to pay to even enter! Yuck.

To make matters worse, the new year's eve party music was terrible and they even started the countdown almost 2 minutes after midnight and only gave out free champagne after people grumbled loudly.

Anyway their saving grace is their staff, all of whom were wonderful and also their entertainment, especially the Trinidadian steel bank Island Music.

Half Moon bay, Bahamas

I liked the choice of ports of call too, Bahamas, Aruba, Curacao, Cartagena, Panama Canal and Limon, but that is what attracted me in the first place and caused me to take that particular cruise.

I started out enjoying wonderful tours all the way to Cartagena, then because a man had sneezed on me for about 15 minutes non-stop at a show the night after news year's day, boom, I was hit down with an influenza virus.

First I went through it was a coughing spell for an entire day, for which I took lozenges. Then feeling better, went on the tour of the "Walled city in Cartagena," when bam I  fainted on a sidewalk with 103 degree fever.

What a shock.

However, having friends around was what saved my life as in no time they secured my belongings and had me back on the shuttle to the boat and right to the hospital doctor. I was in isolation for two days but was happy and animated after that and enjoyed the rest of the cruise, thanks to the great company.

Back to the tours before the drama.

The first stop was at Half Moon Bay, one of the 700 "islands" of the Bahamas. This one is owned by Carnival Cruise but its just a small cay surrounded by a white sand beach. I swam but the water was cold brrr. Then the rain poured.

That was a forgettable port stop.

A section of the scenic Arikok National Park

ARUBA

I liked Aruba which reminds me a lot of Antigua,.......flat, lovely beaches all around and hot.  As it is a very dry island, they grow very little and import much.

Apart from tourism the only other industry they have is aloe vera farming, processing and export.

What  really caught me though were the caves and the fabulous rock garden.

The best caves are  in Arikok national park. That area reminds me of our own Hellshire in Jamaica.

The Guadirikiri  cave was very impressive  with its fabulous  stalagmites and stalactites and interesting formations which challenge the imagination.

The other cave we stopped at was Fontein but because of the delicate bat population, we couldn't take photos inside.

The island itself is tiny and  less than seventy miles from Venezuela and they take tourism seriously, even giving us helmets and flashlights to tour the Fontein cave. It is unique  too with a population of just over one hundred thousand but made up of ninety six nationalities. They also have a high literacy rate as education is compulsory and most people speak a minimum of four languages.

They remain part of the kingdom of Holland and have an ambitious green program to go totally renewable by 2020. To achieve this the airport is covered with solar panels and they have quite a large wind farm and are serious about recycling.

What I really fell for though was  the Rock Park at Ayo which was once a sacred ground for the indigenous Arawaks.

This area is close to the town of Santa Cruz in the center of the island. I have seen really spectacular rock foundations in my time in Nevada, Utah, Colorado etc, but this was even more awesome.

The backdrop to this Rock park was mount Jamananota, only 620 feet high, but when you are on a really flat island, even a little hill like that looks high!

To get to this point we had driven through an eerie, deserted area where the guide said the French had murdered a number of Indians and according to him, at nights, if you drive though that area alone at nights, ghosts enter your vehicle!

Obviously bunkum but a timely constant reminder of how vicious the European invaders were towards the indigenous people throughout the western world when they arrived.

Curacao

Curacao is also part of the Dutch kingdom and interestingly, like Aruba, it also has a female governor. The governors have to be locally born people though.

It is however larger and more industrialized than is sister island Aruba, even being a banking haven,. It also has the deepest deep sea harbor in the Caribbean, so does a great deal of trade, especially with its neighbor Venezuela.

Venezuela is currently being devastated by a socialist experiment which has led to chronic shortages so people from that large, powerful neighbor, visit in droves and work in Curacao to send money back to their relatives.

 

The Venezuelans even operate a floating market at the port in Curacao where you can buy any agricultural product from the barges then they load up on scarce imported goods to take home.

In general Curacao is a shoppers haven for all its Caribbean neighbors. Because it has so much going for it, tourism does not appear to be as well developed as over in Aruba.

We took the island tour and visited  the Hato cave  near Willemstad but it was nothing close to those in Aruba although better lit.

Cartagena

My first impression of  Cartagena was that  it is  not only a dirty city but also unsafe as most homes are grilled. Unfortunately because during the tour of the walled city  I collapsed I never really got  to see much, so that’s a lasting impression.

The "walled city" is  an old district full of impressive colonial architecture and heritage sites and surrounded by thick stone walls. It was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century after an attack by Francis Drake. It took two centuries  to be  completed, as the city faced frequent damage from storms and pirate attacks.

Today hundreds of people make their living selling wares and offering services there. Some women even dress in  traditional costumes and charge to take photos. You can also get a horse drawn tour of the city. I was really enjoying this outing until I had to be unceremoniously evacuated, but that's life.

After that, I stayed on ship after coming out of isolation, but really enjoyed the rest of the cruise hanging out with my group of dear friends, the Simmons, Simmonds and Green and even getting beaten badly in drafts.

The entertainment on the ship was really good, especially the magician and Island Music steel band from Trinidad. They really enjoy entertaining guests and it is by far the best steel band I have even seen in my life.

So despite the flu setback I enjoyed myself immensely for the company, the tours, he entertainment, the workers made up for the lousy cruise line!

Think I am going to give Central and South America a break for a while though. For about two years ago when I returned from Brazil, Guyana and Surinam  I also had a fever and was isolated at Medical Associates in Jamaica as they thought I had brought back malaria to the island!
Fevers and I are not doing too well with Latin American travel somehow!

SCENES FROM MY BALCONY DURING ISLOLATION. THIS WAS JUST OUTSIDE THE PANAMA CANAL

SCENES INSIDE THE WALLED CITY BEFORE MY DEMISE!

 

Sexual predators and the new revolution

I am an unapologetic admirer of the American media, for here the major media houses employ some of the most fearless, independent and determined journalists and give them a free rein and the necessary resources to get to the bottom of matters of public interest, regardless of where the chips fall.

This is not new though for even during the civil rights struggle, I dare say the battle that Martin Luther King Junior and other leaders fought for desegregation and equality, would have been much more difficult and possibly unachievable, had not courageous persons in the media been prepared to join in highlighting the atrocities in the society and fearlessly bringing pressure on reluctant politicians to amend the laws.

I see a similar pattern now emerging in the quest to expose and change the culture concerning the pervasive sexual exploitation of women. This is something which has plagued us women and children from the beginning of time and made our lives a living nightmare. For make no mistake, this is a direct result of patriarchal domination and the religious doctrines developed by men, that determined that women are men's property who were put on earth to look after the home and most importantly, provide pleasure for men.

No women suffered more from this doctrine than imported African slaves who were not only valued as factories for producing an unending supply of workers for the plantations but also, importantly, for the sexual pleasure of their masters and their teenage sons who were supposed to be taught how to enjoy sex, by slave women.

The high percentage of mixed race people in former slave societies is a permanent reminder of those terrible days.

What the American press is beginning to do today as they have done so many times in the past, is to take the lead to bring about a change of culture. Hopefully this will have worldwide implications, for in general, when America leads the world follows.

We therefore cannot allow ourselves to be sidetracked by the loud, perverted voices who want to resist this cultural change. For example, it was shocking to read in the Washington Post that Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox news, an organization where the sexual exploitation of women was apparently accepted as a perk for senior persons and media celebrities for decades, said in a recent interview that the outing of his news organization was largely political because "we are conservative."

This is absolute nonsense as predatory men of all political stripes are being exposed by the media.

On another plain, we have other apologists who are seeking to cloud the issues by putting flirting, sexual harassment at the workplace, adultery between consulting adults, rape and pedophilia all into one barrel. For example, I was horrified to hear people who should know better, trying to downplay the despicable actions of an alleged pedophile running for the senate in Alabama, by categorizing him as a sexual harasser. Pedophiles are the very lowest of sexual predators and I totally agree with Ivanka Trump that "there is a special place in hell for men who abuse children."

I have also heard others trying to resurrect Bill Clinton's confessed adultery, an immoral but non-criminal act, and comparing it to that of the current president who has openly boasted about groping women an action confirmed by some fifteen women have come forward to affirm that they have actually been his victims.

While every type of sex crime is serious and deserves in-depth investigation, persecution and criminal penalties where possible, every incident has to be dealt with on its own merit.

The current attack on predatory behavior by men who stymie the progress of ambitious women, causing mental trauma and destroying lives forever, may have elicited concerted and  perverse attempts to downplay this real problem and provide cover for those who have committed these harmful sex crimes no matter how long ago but I reiterate, this should not be allowed to succeed or detract from the issue.

Among the strategies I see at play by some persons seeking to derail the movement to expose powerful men who previously used their money, dominance in their organizations and even the media, to attack and destroy their victims is to belligerently denigrate the valiant women who had to suffer in silence for even decades. An even more pernicious strategy is to try and even paint the independent press as purveyors of fake news and go as far as to try to set them up by having them publish false claims as was exposed recently when Jaime D. Phillips from Stanford, Connecticut approached the Washington Post with a false accusation that she had been raped by Senate candidate Roy Moore. 

However, the American press is proving itself to be far too sophisticated and resilient to be taken in by such devious ruses devised by deplorable people but we still need to stand firm and support them.

We women have to be careful however not to jump to the conclusion that most men or all men are sexual predators, for those now being accused, though popular and powerful, are just a small fraction of the total number of men who hold similar positions in the society. 

What distinguishes perverts from the decent men in positions of authority, is their penchant to abuse power, something most powerful men never do. I therefore disagree with those who declare that one solution simply lies in more women being elevated to senior positions.

Of course, I am all for women who wish to do so, to become managers based on their ability, but women can also abuse power and have been exposed for doing so, therefore that cannot be considered the solution.

We must instead salute the good journalists, many of whom are men, who seek out and work with the victims to bring irrefutable evidence to expose that small minority of even some of their most popular and powerful colleagues, Hollywood celebrities, media bosses and importantly too, the organizations that shielded them over the years. 

By encouraging and allowing the brave women to share their stories, the media has put a roller coaster into motion that is unstoppable because the predatory men now have to pay a real price, not only in terms of being named and shamed but also, because the society is evolving culturally and they are losing their livelihood and positions of power. Yes, many will miss facing criminal consequences because their crimes were committed decades ago and are not prosecutable because of the statute of limitations, but at least now they are paying a real price with their pockets, careers and reputation, for past misdeeds.

Another nudge in the right direction came via a report in the New York Times of December 16^th, which revealed that Senator Robert Mendez proposed an amendment to the tax bill to the effect that any settlement, payout or lawyer’s fees related to sexual harassment or sexual abuse could not be deducted as a business expense if such payments were subject to a nondisclosure agreement.

This may not be a revolutionary amendment but at least it is a good step in the right direction considering that in the past, even taxpayers had to pay hush money for predatory congressmen.

Yes, this cultural revolution is no “nine-day wonder” but the beginning of necessary change, in attitudes in the USA.

However, despite what appears to be rapid progress because there are almost daily reports of the unmasking of new, powerful perpetrators, unfortunately this is a revolution which will take decades before it is totally effective in all sections of the society. For while high-profile white-collar female workers in top professions now have a voice, it will probably take decades before women in lower paying and menial jobs will have the confidence to come forward in numbers to expose their exploiters. For in many instances, in their field of work, there are numerous takers for their jobs and most times they are the sole bread winners in their families or may often be insecure in their immigration status.

As we start on this long journey however, a method has to be found to shine the searchlight on their plight too and that of the twenty to thirty-six million sex slaves (it is estimated) living in hell today throughout the world.

This is an awesome task but every journey begins with the first step so hopefully this cultural revolution will continue to shine in every dark corner throughout the world until all women are free.