Through the Canal and Beyond

My friends and I often talk about going places, so in late 2013 three of us decided that we were going to do it.  “It” was a 15-day cruise in February from Ft Lauderdale through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles with stops in Oranjestad, Aruba; Cartagena, Columbia; Fuerte Amador, Panama; Puntarenas, Costa Rica and Puerto Chiapas, Mexico.  A cruise is a great blend of relaxation and opportunities to see a little of a few countries.  This one had the added bonus of a full day crossing Panama from east to west through three sets of locks and across Gatun Lake.  The weather was wonderful, so there was ample opportunity for a sunburn.

The Island Princess

Several days were spent at sea.  There is always plenty to do on a Princess cruise.   Chief among them is eat!  The food was quite good though we were tired of it by the end.  The desserts in the dining room were very good though they never repeated the flourless chocolate cake we had the first night.  Bummer.  We had a great meal in the seafood specialty restaurant one night.  Well worth the extra $20.  Princess still has the concept of formal nights which I think should go.  But a lot of people did seem to enjoy dressing up.  Over the 15 days we met lots of interesting people at meals—and a fair number who loved to hear themselves talk! 

The Bordeaux Dining Room where we ate most dinners

The entertainment on the ship was outstanding.  The cruise staff were very good and were definitely jacks of a lot of trades.  Music-wise there was a classical group and a rock group, both of which were really good and worked really hard. There was at least one big production each night, and we went to most of them.  Several were decade theme nights.  I was amazed at how few of the 70’s songs I knew.  Where was I?  There were various versions of a quiz show--such as two truths and a lie for the definition of an obscure word, jeopardized trivia, a yes-no game where the cruise staff tried to get the contestants to answer questions with yes or no in which case they lost, and a guess-how-your-spouse-will-answer-this-question quiz.  In addition they had karaoke nights and music nights.  We especially liked the comedian; we saw him twice. 

Balloon drop in the atrium

The Rhapsody Trio at work--piano, violin and bass

The four-story atrium

The Lido Deck where we spent a lot of time

We made our own entertainment also.  Every day we played canasta in the late afternoon.  I really looked forward to it.  We got $1 decks of cards from the casino (which we frequented also) and still play with them in our community canasta group.  Oh, I almost forgot.  I won the Super Bowl pool.  $500!

Emma Jane and Rita at the canasta table in the sun 

Emma Jane concentrating at the slot machine

We also had occasional entertainment from the ocean (no camera at those moments).  Several days we had dolphins jumping around.   They seemed to be following the ship.  We also saw sea turtles.

                                               

I always like to play trivia on a cruise.  The only session I missed (other than when we were doing shore excursions) was on the day we went through the canal. After a few days we had established a regular group with two ladies from Canada, one from Los Angeles via China, one from England, and the three of us.  We never won, but it was still fun. 

Champagne with the trivia group: Rita, Betty, Judy, Grace, Christine, Emma Jane, and Marie Jeanne

Rita and Betty in the Explorers Lounge

There are aspects of a cruise which I think are uninteresting—like the selling of art works and all the photographs they take and hawk.  But the nice thing about a cruise is that you can ignore what you don’t like.  The onboard shopping really was just so-so.

I also walked deck 7 pretty regularly, so much so that by the last day my legs were telling me that they had had enough.  Rita and Emma Jane spent a lot more time in the sun than I did, but I enjoyed it also—especially considering what we would have faced back home.  Our cabin had a balcony.  The two of them enjoyed coffee out there every morning.  And I did some reading and puzzling out there.

Deck 7 around which Rita and I walked

Our room looking out to the balcony

Betty in our three-person room; Rita was on top

So the onboard aspect of the trip was a big success.  But most people go on a cruise at least in part to see other parts of the world.

Our first port was Aruba.  We arrived early, walked around looking at the architecture.  Among the few places open at that hour was an open-air market where we got a few things.  Strange that the stores didn’t feel the need to be open when the tourists were there.

Pretty pink colonial building on main street

We were about to give up and go back to the ship when a man came up to Rita and told her about a bus trip around the island.  We decided to go.  It was a bus with no glass in the windows so it felt more as if we were part of the scene as opposed to riding on a giant closed-up bus from town to town.  It was mostly filled with Argentinians and was pretty raucous in a fun way.  

The ceiling of our crazy bus

The island, amazingly, is largely desert with towns here and there.  We drove through housing areas with colorful houses, past some churches and the California Lighthouse in the distance, along the beach, past all the high-end resorts, and to the few tourist attractions there. 

Colorful government housing

Giant cactus on the island

First was The Casibari Rock Formation.  Rita and I climbed to the top along uneven steps and through a cave-like area for a good view of the island.

Some of the rocks at Casibari 

Just a tree I liked

The iguanas were everywhere

Next was Natural Bridge. The large one collapsed in 2007, but the Baby Bridge still stands. We were told to get 7 small stones and stack them up on the rocks to ward off evil spirits. So we did.

Baby Bridge

Waves battering rocky coast

Warding off those evil spirits

The guide was quite good, telling us many interesting facts—such as they have no rivers so seawater has to be desalinated so that they have potable water.  Our guide said he pays $800-$1000 for water and electricity each month.  Grocery stores are 90% Chinese-owned.  He said there is very little crime, perhaps to distract from memories of the Natalie Holloway case. 

We got back to the port just in time to make it to the ship before we set sail.  We figured that for $15 we got a far cheaper and better excursion than any Princess offered. 

Betty, Rita and Emma Jane outside our bus

The next morning we pulled into the port at Cartagena, Columbia.  This was the industrial area; there were containers stacked up on the docks as far as we could see.  This time we took a Princess excursion, stopping first at Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, a World Heritage site.  We didn’t go inside, but those on other excursions said it was a very impressive place. 
 

Busy port of Cartagena, Columbia

Road to Castillo de San Filipe de Barajas

We drove along Las Murallas (the city walls) and then on the beach (literally) to the mangrove area.  There we got in canoes and were poled through the mangrove swamps, an area of very dense mangrove trees growing in the water.  They had uprooted some of the trees to make a tunnel so that we could canoe through it.  We learned that the mangrove trees were once used to build houses, but they discovered that they anchor to the soil and are better used to protect the coastline.  

Canoeist and riders

Through the tunnel in the mangrove swamp

Closeup of roots above water level

Pulling crab trap out of the water

That was a fun experience.  Later one of the natives demonstrated how he catches fish and crabs.  If they don’t catch anything, they don’t eat.  Other than whatever they get from the tourists, fishing is their sole way of making a living.  These people were Africans who were brought from the Congo long ago to build the fortress and the city walls.  They are still very poor.  

Throwing the net to snare fish

Betty, Emma Jane and Rita with our coconut drinks

The next stop was at a shopping area where local crafts were sold.  Again, we got a few things.  I always think it’s fun to see what the locals make.  Then we walked through the old city.  It also is a World Heritage site—and stunningly beautiful!  The architecture was largely Spanish colonial.  The houses were the old Roman type with rooms surrounding a courtyard.  We wished we could have toured one of them.  We learned along the way that oil and tourism are the main industries of Cartagena, but in Columbia-generally it’s emeralds, coffee, and flowers.

Colonial architecture on the left and 20th century on the right

Wooden balcony of colonial house

Fancy door knocker connotes wealth

Lion door knocker--size counts too

Iglesia de Santo Domingo

Courtyard I wanted to explore

Overflowing balcony

Old City street

The next day was the big day of the cruise—the passage through Panama.  I had thought that the canal went from coast to coast.  Actually we passed through the large Gatun Lake (which they made by flooding the forest) and along a river as well as through the actual canal, along the way going through three sets of locks.  The distance is much too long (43 mi) to have locks the entire way (the lake being 85 feet above the oceans).  

Viewing ship ahead of us in Gatun lock 

I watched off and on all day, from the front, from the rear, and from the side (where we were at times only inches from the lock wall).  The ship is tethered to trains traveling on tracks on either side of the lock to keep it from hitting the wall.  

We were this close to the lock wall; the blue is the ship's deck

Notice the train to which we were tethered 

I especially liked seeing the locks open and close and the water flood into or out of the lock compartment.  The water movement is all accomplished by gravity, and all operations are automated.  

Locks are closed

Locks partially open

Locks almost open

Locks fully open

Water gushing in to equalize the levels

Along the way we could see the construction of the new canal which will allow much more traffic through in a day.

In the morning an expert came on board and gave us really interesting commentary all day long.  The canal opened in 1914, so we passed through in the centenary year.  It is incredibly expensive to go through (in 2013 $134 per bed for a cruise ship—we had about 2000 passengers and 2000 crew).  An average of 44 ships per day pass through, and operations go on 24 hours a day.  We saw many small ships and boats waiting for the opportunity to go through—fitting in between those with a reservation.  The canal has been closed only twice—December 1989 when we invaded Panama and December 2010 when it rained too much to make passage safe.  The rain forest on both sides of the canal is protected because it is water from there that supplies the locks.  That was a very interesting day.

Container ship beside us in the other lane

Rita and I took an excursion at Fuerte Amador which is the city on the Pacific side of the canal.  

The trees here in Fuerte Amador were planted a canal-wide distance apart

After an hour bus ride, we got into motorized though otherwise primitive canoes hollowed out of trees for a 40-minute ride along the river to the Embara Indian village. 

Primitive canoe but modern motor

 

On the river

Welcoming party

The river was very pretty with many patches of water hyacinths and lilies. The natives wore only something around the middle though when the children go to school they have to dress as the other children do.  They seemed very happy and comfortable with themselves, and the kids were really cute. 

The Indians are very adept at crafts, particularly wood carving.  Rita and I each got a hummingbird sculpture.   They served us delicious roasted fish on a big leaf among other more Western things.  The pineapple was probably the best I have ever had. 

Fish in a leaf. Yum.

The kids were adorable

We heard about their culture from the chief (who is elected for a term) and saw a few simple dances.  We were also allowed to walk around the village to see the houses which were thatched-roof structures on stilts.  We both enjoyed the day.

Women and children dancing

Typical Embaran home

Lining up to say goodbye

Betty was first into the canoe

Our next land day was in Costa Rica.  We landed at Puntarenas and got on a bus to go to a settlement near the Tarcoles River (where this time I got a better view of the crocodiles than Glenna and I had at Christmas time). 

Crocodiles along the Tarcoles River.  A chicken hatchery was nearby!

After arriving we went for a nature walk where we saw some beautiful flowers (though this wasn’t high season for them), snakes and several plants from which we get spices (such as cinnamon, mint, and anise).  We learned that 70% of the medicines are from items found in the rain forest.

Gorgeous ginger flower

Heliconium

Shampoo ginger flower

Aluminum plant; I really like this one

Snake skeleton

That day was really hot, so I was glad to get into the tram car for the ride up the mountain into the canopy.  There wasn’t a whole lot to see—very few fauna and really not that much variety in the flora. 

Tram going up into the canopy

Ferns growing on the rocks

After we had a welcome lunch of typical Costa Rican foods—beans and rice, chicken and beef, pasta salad, and juice (one being soursop which Emma Jane quite liked).  This day was our least favorite excursion, but the guide was again very good (and cute).  Back at the ship, they were painting the sides.  Odd.  But a good use of the time for sure.

Easy to listen to this one

The last port was Puerto Chiapas, Mexico.  We rode a bus to the Izapa ruins which go back as far as 900 BC.  These were built by Mayans who were a peaceful people interested in science and astronomy.  It was here that the calendar was developed.  Amazingly they were only a few seconds off from what we use today.  They were displaced in the 15^th century by the war-like Aztecs who chopped off the heads of the Mayans and used them for an early form of bowling.

Pretty tree against a beautiful blue sky

Izapa Mayan ruins

Carved stele

Cocoa tree with hanging cocoa nut

The infamous bowling alley

Betty at Izapa steps

The last stop was in the town of Tuxtla Chico where we walked around the town, seeing the church and the market (where we tasted small sweet bananas and had a super fresh tortilla sprinkled with a little salt) and ending up in the square. 

Colorful Tuxtla Chico church

Ceiling of church

Live chicks in the market

Vegetables and herbs stall

Chickens--definitely not too appetizing

The women of the town gave us a demonstration of chocolate making, the cacao tree being native to the area.  We learned that the Mayans were the ones who discovered that the inner bean was edible—and good.  Only the shamans and governors got to eat it at first.  It was called the food of the gods.  The Aztecs demanded tax payments in beans.

To prepare, the women first cracked open the shells by banging them against one another.  The good part in the middle is wrapped in a soft white substance.  These are soaked so that the white part can be pulled off.  

Cracking the cocoa bean shell 

White casing around the bean

Then the beans are roasted and rolled with a natural rolling pin to crush the beans to a powder which is mixed with cinnamon and sugar.  

Roasting the beans 

Adding sugar to the cocoa powder

The women work this mixture in their hands to release the oil and form it into patties at which time it is ready.  We tasted each stage and got a cup of delicious hot chocolate (and I am a connoisseur!). 

Rolling the mixture

Forming the balls

Balls and powder

Stirring the delicious cocoa

After the demonstration a marimba band accompanied the women as they did some traditional dances.  This port is a new one, and everyone seemed to be trying very hard to make our time there a happy one.  I really appreciated their efforts.

Traditional Mexican dance 

Powder painting--notice the basket for money

The last four days were at sea.  A bit too long.  We were ready to get off in LA and to stop eating!  Cruises are a really pleasurable way to travel if you are content with a small dose of a country, but it bothered me that my pleasure comes at the expense of the really hard-working people who serve us.  They have really long hours and are away from their families for long periods.  Most are there because this job is better than whatever they could get in their own country.  For example, the lady who gave me a manicure was from Trinidad where she had left behind two kids, 9 and 5.  She is on the ship for 9 months at a time, working 14 hour days 5 days a week.  Despite the long hours, she said the repetitive food is the worst part of being onboard.

Sunset over the Pacific

LA harbor early in the morning

All in all, a cruise has a bus trip beaten, hands down.