Portobelo- The Pirates Paradise

Today is kind of a sad day. We woke up with the realization that our trip is almost over. It is true the halfway point has already passed, but spending yesterday in the city and surrounded by the normal hectic activity of everyday life really made it clear.

The past week has been a great getaway and spending it with people like the Embera and in locations such as the Darien Jungle, Manuel Antonio, Corcovado and Coiba National Parks and Golfo Dulce has been an experience that is difficult to see coming to an end. Enough of that though.

Today we are visiting Portobelo where we will get to explore the ruins of stone forts that once served to slow invading pirates as well as take zodiac tours of the Mangroves in the area. But first we eat breakfast and join everyone on the Sun Deck to listen to guest speakers Mr. and Mrs. McGehee relate the history of Portobelo.

The McGehees have lived in Portobelo for more then 30 years and have studied the local history which they presented to us this morning followed by a question and answer period. Sitting on the Sun Deck listening to the history while looking out at the bay and ruins of old forts surrounded by jungle was pretty interesting for me. It doesn't take much imagination before you begin hearing canons and seeing ships in such surroundings.

After learning a bit of history we took a zodiac to shore for another dry landing at the McGehee home and on to a tour of the town. Dani and I, like others broke off on our own and quickly came across the first of several small souvenir stands. This particular stand though, attracted us not because of the selection, but rather the monkey perched on a small platform inside.

This friendly little monkey climbed all over us and went from person to person looking for treats and attention. I have seen monkeys plenty of times in the past, including having the monkeys in the Manuel Antonio National Park an arms length away, but this was the first time I have ever touched or held one and we spent quite some time here before moving on.

Next we came across another souvenir stand where we bought a few items. From the things we had been looking at, this town was up there with the Embera as far as pricing was concerned. The selection was different, but the pricing was not overly inflated like it would have been had we spent time in the cities rather then out of the way places such as this.

The ruins of the old fort are worth the trip, and if we had come on a land tour rather then a cruise, I would have thought the drive worth the time and effort. Like most ruins, it was mostly crumbling walls, but there is still more then enough to give you an idea of how things looked hundreds of years ago. That, along with many rusted canons still sitting as if ready to fend off invading pirates was plenty to keep me happy today.

A couple of things that may interest some of you- Cheap beer and inexpensive model ships. When Dani and I returned to the dock to catch a zodiac back to the ship we saw several people enjoying a beer and found they had purchased them at a grocery up the hill from the church. Pricing, if I remember correctly was between 35 and 75 cents a can depending on what you bought.

We did take a quick run up the hill to get some, but went to the wrong store and bought something else instead. We were too worried about holding up the last zodiac so did not continue on to the correct store.

When we got back to the dock again, the very same beer drinking guest was sporting a couple of hand made ships he had found in a shop. He collects them and said the prices were very good for the quality. I do not know model ships but they were nice looking. So if you are in to these things, make sure to keep an eye out in your walk around the town. You may just get lucky.

We went back to the ship for lunch and then went down to catch a zodiac tour of the Mangroves. This is something I had been looking forward to and was not disappointed. Like much of the sights on this cruise, I had only seen these things on tv so far so getting an up close look was something I was eager to do.

During our tour of the mangroves we saw several kinds of birds, including 3 of the 6 types of Kingfisher in the area. We also saw a small version of a crocodile and some cows in addition to the great scenery.

After our mangrove tour we returned to the ship for the usual social hour, daily recap and some evening dance. Believe it or not, even I danced a bit. That makes 3 times in 20 years, 2 of which were on this cruise.

That pretty much wraps up the day, and here are some more pictures for you. In the mean time, it's off to bed to rest up for tomorrow. We are visiting the San Blas Islands and doing a little more snorkeling so see you then.

Photos taken with Canon Powershot A570is

Panama Canal

This morning begins our crossing of the Panama Canal. We don't actually begin going through the locks until this evening, but the whole day is going to be a bit of a learning experience focused on the canal and its history. I am looking forward to parts of the days events, but to be honest the day is a bit of a mixed bag for me.

It's mixed because although I am impressed by the magnitude of what was built almost 100 years ago without the benefit of modern technology, I am not as enthused as one might imagine at the prospect of watching the whole crossing. More on that later.

For now though, we are about to head out on one of the few dry landings on this cruise and catch a bus to the Mira Flores visitor's center. After a 20-30 minute bus ride through the city, we arrive at the visitors center and are free to wander as we please.

Dani and I started in the museum and worked our way up to the top floor observatory. The museum itself has some interesting exhibits such as scale model locks, ships used in digging the canal and various other displays teaching about the canal and its history. We took a few pictures here, but they are mainly interesting to myself.

So, on to the observation deck. To me, this was one of the best parts of the day. From here you are able to look down on the locks and see the entire process as ships go through each stage of the crossing. You get a pretty good look at the incredible size of these ships in relation to the locks themselves as well as the “mules” used to keep the ships centered.

You can see all of this from our ship as well, but there is something about seeing it from above and watching as people working in the canal grounds go about their business. At the same time you are able to take in the background on both sides of the canal which is impressive when you realize the giant ship in front of you is surrounded on both sides by land with only a small strip of water to the front and back.

We watched this for a while when we heard over the intercom that they were showing a short movie on the making of the canal in English. Since it was about time to return to our ship, we decided to watch it before the return bus ride. I would recommend watching the show because it gives a lot of interesting information in a brief time. Worth the 10 minutes or so for sure.

Back on the ship for lunch, we noticed an odd sight. Off to the side of us was a couple of boats and, well, see if you can figure it out.Then as we were repositioning the ship to the area we were to wait our turn for the canal crossing we saw the latitude and longtude. Nope, I spelled it right.

Then it was a lazy afternoon of reading, talking and napping.

When the evening came, we were all eagerly anticipating the crossing. It was finally our turn so we were met by the canal captain and led into the locks. I can't really describe the events so here are some pictures with a few notes.

Then it was off to dinner and some evening reading while the ship took us through the channel to the next set of locks. For this, you can get a wake up call or simply stay up straight through. We actually slept through it ourselves figuring once you've been through a set of locks you've pretty much seen it all. Besides, after the things we have done and seen on this cruise so far, watching the water raise and lower in a giant bath tub over and over kinda pales in comparison and I am glad to have the bulk of our crossing take place while I sleep.

Tomorrow we are headed to Portobelo, the Pirates Paradise and I need my beauty rest. Arrgh...


Photos taken with Canon Powershot A570is