Mariner - Spring 2008 - (Page 4)

Visit the “Sea of Pearls” on a delightful 10-day cruise to Mexico. Today, pearls are just one of the attractions of the Sea of Cortez. There are quaint fishing villages and mile-long sandy beaches, warm waters teeming with marine life from sea lions to whales, and historic villages where bricks are still made by hand and mission bells announce siesta time. You can visit these storied waters—and maybe even shop for the locally cultured black pearls in ports of call like La Paz or Loreto—on any of the 10-day sailings listed below. 10-Day Sea of Cortez Roundtrip San Diego ms Ryndam Oct 12, 22; Nov 1, 11, 21; Dec 1, 11, 2008 Feb 3, 13, 23; Mar 5, 15, 25; Apr 4, 14, 24, 2009 Sonora, Mexico Sea of Cortez, Mexico “The lands where pearls come hither.” In 1533, Spanish captain Hernan Cortez admired the pearls he saw local people wearing when he visited what he called the “Sea of Pearls,” now the Sea of Cortez. Unlike most pearls of the era, which were white, cream, yellow or pink, these glowed in luminescent shades of dark gray with peacock overtones of purple, green and blue. These rare pearls became the New World’s biggest export until the full development of gold and silver mines in Mexico and Peru. Soon, Europeans began referring to the Americas as “the lands where pearls come hither.” Too popular for their own good. The Yaqui Indians would dive up to 50 feet in search of pearl-bearing oysters, but by the turn of the century, the natural stocks had been depleted. The techniques for culturing pearls had been advancing, though, and soon Mexico became the world’s first commercial producer of cultured black pearls. Just as things were looking up, more bad news followed when the Mexican Revolution—followed by the building of the Hoover Dam, which deprived the Gulf of critical nutrients—prevented the industry from succeeding. By 1940, when author John Steinbeck came through the Sea of Cortez on a collecting expedition, almost all that was left were stories, but that was fine with him. He returned from the journey so inspired by the tales that he wrote the novella, The Pearl. An industry reborn. In 1995, a group of marine biologists developed a method for culturing pearls using native rainbow-lipped oysters—the same species that grows the natural gems. This species previously had been considered unsuitable for culturing because its shells were too fragile. Today, a modern oyster farm on the Sea of Cortez produces a small number of these pearls each year, making them the rarest of the rare. It takes four years to “raise” each pearl—two years for the oyster to mature, and two years to form the pearl after it’s been cultured. And while the pearls produced today may receive a helping hand, they’re identical in beauty to those that captivated the courts of Europe when Spanish explorers started sending them home in the early 1500s. Holland America Line Look for additional Mexico sailing dates, itineraries and savings on page 28 of the Mariner Values section. To book your cruise, call your Travel Professional or 1-877-SAIL HAL, or visit www.hollandamerica.com. 4 http://www.hollandamerica.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Mariner - Spring 2008

Mariner - Spring 2008 Table of Contents Black Pearls of the Sea of Cortez St. Lucia’s Drive-in Volcano Alaska’s Prolific Wildlife How Coffee Changed Costa Rica A Traveler’s Guide to Holiday Shopping Malta’s Last Stand Colorful Residents of the Great Barrier Reef Introducing Our New Website, a New Mariner Society® Director, a Face-lift for the Ms Prinsendam and More The Best Cruise Fares Currently Available The Ms Eurodam’s New Tamarind Restaurant Your Guide to Holland America Line Savings 2008/2009 Sailing Schedule

Mariner - Spring 2008

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