Port trips

Several weeks ago we got a packet in the mail from Semester at Sea. It was the long-awaited list of Field Programs--designed to provide hours of interesting and relevant programming for the ports that we visit. (For the listings see http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2010/spring-2010-field-program.php )Yesterday was the deadline for "pre-sale" trips. These were primarily class-related, overnight, or trips that required advanced arrangements. There was a bit of anxiety since the trips can fill ,and then selections are made on a lottery basis. So, Nancy and I spent hours reading the 100 plus pages of trip information and studying our guidebooks and conferring with friends.

Our goal was to do more than touristy kinds of things while getting to see some of the cultural and historical highlights for the countries. But, we also want to get a flavor for the everyday life and participate in programs that support the sustainability theme of this voyage. We chose our "big" trip to be the once in a lifetime (for us) safari in South Africa. It sounds simple, but there were many to choose from, and they ranged in price from pretty expensive to very expensive (for us). We'll let you know in a few months how it went. Our next big trip choice was a overnight trip on the Amazon River. We decided to forgo the Taj Mahal since our VISA card was bursting at this point.

One of my sustainability choices was UNITED FISHING AGENCY FISH AUCTION & LECTURE ON THE BIOLOGY OF TUNA in Honolulu that starts at 6 AM. I think it will be fascinating. A boat trip on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam could be another highlight.

We registered online, entered our VISA card numbers and hit enter, so now we wait. There will be opportunities to take other non pre-sale trips that we will register for on the ship. We'd like to do a service trip to help on a house with Habitat for Humanity in one of the ports. We will also make some independent trips to museums, bookstores, universities nearby hiking spots, etc. I also have former student assistants and friends in Hawaii, Japan, China and Ghana, so I'd love to see them if possible. So much to do--so little time.

Trip reports and photos to follow.