Since
the day we met, we have been working down our list of places to go and things
to see. We recently had the opportunity to take a 14 day cruise through the
Panama Canal. We joined three other couples
from our Las Vegas hiking group and left from San Diego with stops in Cabo,
Acapulco, Costa Rica, and Aruba before flying home from Miami. A majority
of our adventures have us "roughing it"; it was a real treat to
travel in the lap of luxury for a change.
A
thousand miles south (and one time zone east) took us to our first stop at
the tip of the Baja peninsula in Cabo. Most of us had been there before, so
we just walked into town to look in the shops and visit a cantina
for some cerveza (beer). The rocks jutting into the sea at Lands End are spectacular.
Patty and I had kayaked out to the arch when we were here two years ago and
were content to just enjoy the view from the ship this
time.
Another
thousand miles south (and one more time zone east) took us to our next port
of call in Acapulco. The size of our group put us in a great position to bargain
for shore excursions. We hired a van and driver to take us around. Believe
it or not, our first stop was the Acapulco Wal Mart
since Bob had forgotten to pack his slacks! The city tour portion took us
past classy villas, beaches and hotels. But the highlight of our tour was
the "Shotover" boating adventure. We all crammed into a super powerful
jet boat and skimmed at full speed through water that,
in places, was only 4 inches deep. When we hit the wide shallow sections,
our driver would cut the wheel and spin the boat around. We weren't prepared
to get quite so wet; Chuck's hearing aid shorted out and he had to read lips
for the rest of the trip. When night fell we watched the cliff
divers swim across the channel and climb the cliff (in their bare feet)
before plunging more than 100' into the surging surf.
Yet
another thousand miles south (still Central time zone but no longer on Daylight
time) we docked in Costa Rica. Using our bargaining power again, we hired
a van to show us the sights. The first stop required
a short hike into the jungle for a series of cables
slides. We were given hard hats and harnesses, then
led up a hill and onto a platform for launching. The guide would hook us to
the cable and let go so we could careen through the tree
tops to the next platform. The first ride was the fastest, and the heavier
(but more aerodynamic) ones almost overshot the next
platform. The final cable slide was long but relatively slow, and the more
daring ones passed the camera doing "no hands".
We
found a fascinating assortment of wildlife in Costa Rica. Huge crocodiles
could be seen under every bridge crossing the muddy rivers. Fruit bats could
be found hiding in any dark place. We saw them in tunnels
and even on the underside of bushes. Patty managed
to photograph a pink spoonbill when we spooked him
from the trees. But the cutest of all were the coatimundi. We took some dirt
roads to a hidden cove called Pirates Beach. As soon as we got out of the
car, these raccoon like animals started slinking out
of the jungle. Bob found some rotting fruit on the beach and offered it to
them. Their little meerkat faces made them look like
the most gentle animals on earth!
Sailing
another thousand miles, this time almost due east, took us to the Panama
Canal (and the eastern time zone). We arrived at the Bridge
of the Americas (only land connection between north and south America)
about 7AM and everyone on board began jockeying for the best viewing spots
on deck. However, the 50 mile transit takes almost 9 hours, so even the best
spots can lose their appeal. We started out on the bow and moved inside to
an air conditioned lounge (great view anyway!). Although many functions have
been modernized during the Canal's 90 years of operation, the old way was
found to be best when it comes to getting lines from the ship. A rowboat
goes out to fetch it. There are two sets of side by side locks and an arrow
is used to direct ships to the appropriate side. Both the arrow and the rowboat
can be seen in this picture.
The
mechanics of the Canal is what makes it the 8th Wonder of the World. Panama
get over 200 inches of rainfall every year. A dam was built on the Chagras
River to store that rainfall in a huge muddy reservoir called Gatun
Lake. Three locks raise the ships 80 feet from sea level to lake level.
The ships then travel 40 miles through the freshwater lake before another
set of 3 locks lowers them to the other ocean. The locks operate by gravity
feeding water from the lake; no pumps are needed. It takes 50 million
gallons of water to operate the locks for each ship. We were told that the
level of water stored in the lake could support twice the current traffic
volume! Ships motor through the locks under their own power but tugs are used
to steer them through the tricky spots. The locomotives called "mules"
are only used to keep the ships centered in the lock
(side-to-side and front-to-back). Our ship is one of the biggest to ever pass
through the Canal. There was less than 2 feet of clearance
on each side and barely enough front/back clearance to allow the doors to
open and close on the locks. Anyone falling overboard would land in Panama!
In case you're interested, the average toll cost for passage through the canal
is $50,000; our ship paid nearly $100,000!
Another
day's travel heading due east took us to Aruba, 15 miles off the coast of
Venezuela (in the Atlantic time zone). We rented a van and drove all over
the small (19 x 6 mile) island. Right downtown, by the docks, we ran into
a "herd" of Iguanas. They came stalking out of the bush to accost
us. We just pulled out our cameras and got friendly
with them. On our tour of the island we climbed around the ruins
of an abandoned gold mining camp, followed the hewn steps to the top of unique
rock formations, and posed for pictures over
and under a natural bridge at the surf line.
Another couple of days at sea took us to Miami and the end of our voyage. As the cruise was winding down, Patty decided to document the impact of midnight buffets on selected cruise passengers. She took these before and after pictures to illustrate the effect! It was a great trip but we don't want to see another gourmet meal for a LONG time!
Home Page
