Cooking & Conversation: January 2015

Friday, January 9, 2015

Day 6- Costa Maya, Mexico

Today is our last day on land.

The weather was overcast with intermittent showers.

It was a warm 79 degrees this afternoon in Costa Maya!.

Here is a map of our last port of call at Costa Maya.

We disembarked the ship and walked to our shuttle that would take us to our
Beach Getaway.

We lost about half of our group when the guide told us that there would be
"quite a bit of seaweed" along the beach.
We thought that was probably pretty typical, so we boarded the bus.
(Pictures to follow.)

It is the first Western Caribbean port designed exclusively for the cruise ship industry and is strategically located just hours from Cancun on Mexico's southern Yucatan Peninsula. Resembling an ancient Mayan city, Costa Maya is able to accommodate three ships at once, with the capability to dock Oasis and Epic sized ships, and entertain visitors at a destination that showcases the ancient and colonial heritage of the Mexican Caribbean with all of today's modern conveniences.
http://puertocostamaya.com/port

Here we arrived at the beach after about a 45 minute bus ride through the Mayan Jungle.

Here is a view of the beach with the seaweed. The crews worked endlessly
to rake it up and carry it away in wheel barrows.
They just couldn't quite keep up!

It was a moderately warm day, chilly with the breeze blowing across the water.

In the tropics, it is common to have intermittent showers in the morning.

It started raining quickly and stopped just as abruptly.

More seaweed blowing in.

It is sunny again.
Time for a siesta.

It was a relaxing time at the beach, and we did get a few rays.
White sand beaches and turquoise water.

Our shuttle took us back to our pier.

I thought of Noah's Ark and how it would compare to the Norwegian Dawn as we
lived on our cruise ship for a week. Our cruise ship was enormous, and so was Noah's Ark.
I came up with some interesting pictures after we returned home.

Like many Americans, Johan Huibers dreamed of owning a boat, even building it himself. However, his goal was a lot bigger and more ancient than your typical fishing boat.

After a nightmare about his native Netherlands being covered a flood, the creationist was inspired to construct Noah's Ark following the proportions specified in the Bible. It took three years and over a million dollars, but he completed the boat in Dordrecht and opened it to tourists in 2012.

"Johan's Ark" is 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 3 stories tall. The boat took 14,000 trees to build, and it can hold 1,500 people. On average, 3,000 tourists visit the ark every day.

Go to: Johan's Ark

Noah's Ark

Higher than a 3-story building!

Noah's Ark was three stories high (Genesis 6:16). Its total deck area was equivalent to the area of about 20 standard college basketball courts or 36 lawn tennis courts. The world had to wait until AD 1884 before the Ark's size was exceeded, when the Italian liner Eturia was built.

The rectangular dimensions of the Ark show an advanced design in ship-building. Its length of six times its width and 10 times its height would have made it amazingly stable on the ocean. Remember it was made more for floating than sailing, because it wasn't headed anywhere. The Ark was made to withstand a turbulent ocean voyage, not to be at a certain place at a certain time.

Recent thought on the Ark's design is that it could have had a slightly tapered top at the front and back, instead of being squared off. But the famous rock formation near Mount Ararat with pointed ends, which some think is Noah's Ark, is definitely not!

Day 5- Roatan, Honduras

Today we explored Roatan, Honduras

Where is Roatan?

Roatan is the largest of the Honduras' Bay Islands.

We made our way to the shops along the dock before heading to
our shore excursion at the West End.

Honduras is known for its coffee.

We did purchase some dark roasted coffee beans while here.
On the highest mountains of the Celaque range at around 3,000 feet in
Western Honduras, coffee cherries are handpicked, peeled, and washed with
pure mountain water by a century old process.
These wet coffee beans are then set to dry in the hot tropical sun by small
growers in their patios.
This coffee is then transported to facilities in Santa Rosa de Copan where it is processed
and hand sorted by women skilled at selecting the perfect beans to be packed.

Some of the shops at the port.

Made in Roatan - Gift Shop

Nestled amongst the roadside souvenir shops serving the cruise ship port of Coxen Hole is a unique little gift shop called Made in Roatan. Everything is made right on the island by local artisans. Not only are the products unique and interesting, but it is a non-profit shop.
Missionaries Bob and Debi Cowan are serving the Lord here by helping people help themselves.
We purchased coffee, earrings, and a cute bracelet made from coffee beans.
Made in Rowatan