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- Intrepid travelers outbound for new adventure!
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- Bags aboard, got our SeaPass, two days of finding our way around, fine
dining and pampering to …
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- … where we enjoyed USS MIDWAY and the Maritime Museum without leaving
the waterfront!
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- We toured the interior
of the vessel, including
the sea bridge and
the air boss’ bridge.
It was a
very complex vessel
on active duty for
almost fifty years.
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- We walked by the STAR OF INDIA, a clipper ship …
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- … and saw HMS SURPRISE, from the movie
- ‘Master and Commander’ with a Russian sub astern …
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- … and a selection of other historical watercraft.
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- Then we found
- bird-of-paradise plants,
- growing outside,
- in clumps!
- We had no idea
- what we were in for
- …
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- … where we anchored out …
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- … and were ‘tendered’ ashore in the ship’s lifeboats!
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- We went sailing, but it was too rough to go snorkeling …
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- … so we went in and did touristy things until we took our tender back
out to the ship … the white schooner had been
our
sailing
excursion.
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- CELEBRITY INFINTY was a B-I-G boat …
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- … especially when you’re looking up from the tendering stage.
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- It was kind of an industrial landing … like Seattle’s!
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- Some of the town was really old … but this was not an old forts tour for
Pops, but a nature tour for us …
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- … but the official greeters were great!
(And see the soldiers in
t
the background.)
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- Our shore excursion took us away from the tourist areas, which seemed
really crowded and noisy, but the beaches looked good … if that’s why
you came. Our bus went past all
this, out east of the city, past new development and abandoned coconut
plantations and poor barrios with naked children playing in the dirt to
a natural area that included the freshwater supply for the area. It was also a tourist area that
looked like it had seen better times … rather ‘rustic’.
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- It was to be a boat trip up a
river to a lake …
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- … first, you got into the boat.
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- Here’s another view of the landing.
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- Then off upriver … LOOK! Egrets!
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- … and cormorants … or ahinghas …
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- We followed local natives up the river …
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- … past a riverside, open air dining or dance pavilion …
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- … past vacation homes from a bygone era …
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- … deeper into the jungle …
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- … narrower … and darker …
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- … until we came to the light at the end of the tunnel.
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- We emerged onto this spacious, open lake.
-
You know, the
mud on the
bottom of this
lake is used for
women’s facials.
I’ll get you some
… what! wait …
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- Then back over a now familiar route …
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- … past now familiar birds …
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- ... with our trusty, but English illiterate, boatman …
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- … back to our landing area.
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- Fran found a plant with white bracts and a small flower that reminded
her of a poinsettia, but the guide didn’t know
its name.
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- But he did show her an almond tree and where almonds come from, which we
really hadn’t thought much about before!
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- Heading back to
town, we stopped
at a place that
helped sea turtles
survive the
transition between
hatching and
reaching the
ocean.
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- Then back for a complimentary glass of champagne … but you had to walk
through a jewelry store to get it.
And past the guards at the pier to get back on the ship.
Two policeman were killed that day on the outskirts of the city
in Mexico’s drug wars.
- Before our next port, let’s talk a bit about shipboard life.
CELEBRITY INFINTY was a beautiful ship, well-maintained and
staffed with a cosmopolitan group of people from over 35 different countries,
with formal and fine dining with professional wait staff and casual
dining if you just don’t feel like dressing up even a little bit for a
meal.
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- A steward made your bed and tidied up your stateroom every day. The was a shipboard newspaper if you
really wanted to keep up with the headlines. There were two swimming pools, a spa,
a casino (I came out $2.00 ahead for the voyage!), several bars and a
lounge near our dining room where it just felt right to dance with Fran
almost every night before dinner.
- Drinks were not included in the ticket price, so you weren’t subsidizing
the boozers. But there were lots
of drink stewards and sommeliers
to cater to your every alcoholic desire whether it was Johnny Walker
Black on the rocks by the pool or a glass of house wine with dinner.
- There were lots of lounge chairs on deck and a jogging track around the
swimming pools. We didn’t even
visit all the nooks and crannies that were available. We found several we liked and used
them frequently. There was a
library/reading room, a game room, a coffee bar, ice cream shop, and
fancy pastries.
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- Here’s a picture
of the
Grand Foyer …
I didn’t take
many inside
pictures …
the light just
wasn’t good.
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- Fran and I
did have our
picture taken
here one evening
before one of
our formal
dinners.
Just a couple of
64 year old kids
out playing!
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- Our waiter was Luis Vasquez of the Dominican Republic, with 27 years
cruise ship experience.
He was a delight, explaining every dish and helping us navigate
thru the four spoons, four forks, three knives and three dessert pieces
that came with every five course meal.
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- Luis’ assistant was an enigma. He
didn’t wear a name tag and delighted in being evasive. Our table named him Excellent Choice,
his favorite comment whenever we selected our salad dressing from him.
Our table had
couples from
Washington,
Iowa, Florida,
Illinois,
Denmark, and
the United
Kingdom!
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- Luis was very solicitous of Fran’s need for gluten-free meals. One night a honey pecan chicken breast
arrived accidently dusted with flour.
Luis scrapped off the coating for Fran while her sommelier poured
her wine …
Ah, yes …
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- Huatulco was a planned tourist community.
This small pocket port built the infrastructure first, then the
tourist hotels,
shops, etc.,
rather than
the other way
around.
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- It resulted in a much quieter and relaxed picturesque
tourist haven. While we
were there, there was a
Mexican
wedding
in the
seaside
chapel.
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- Once again, our shore excursion was to be a long, beautiful drive into
the country to visit a garden.
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- Our guide was Alberto Espana Vasquez, a horticulturist and
ornithologist. He spoke good
English and knew what he was talking about.
Fran was excited!
Soon, we were
in the small
town of
Santa Elena,
with flower
boxes OVER
the windows.
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- Of course, the town had a small cathedral.
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- Inside, a Virgin of Guadaloupe graced an ornate apse.
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- More ornate
paintings
adorned
the ceiling
of the nave.
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- Nearby, a plaza held a covered market facility.
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- Here was the city hall. The flags
were in celebration of a local
election.
Note
the
antennas
and
dishes.
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- Inside, local students, in vivid colors, had painted
murals of local themes.
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- A stairwell
showed
the history
of the town
as a rope
from early
Mayan
origins …
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- … through discovery and conversion in a colonial era …
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- … to an emerging national identity.
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- A nearby
cemetery gate
caught our
botanical eye …
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- … then the cemetery itself ...
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- … arid and eerie and crowded and fascinating.
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- Fran pondered the flowers …
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- … and we both
pondered
a child’s grave,
tucked among
its ancestors.
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- A decrepit roof and rebar stick up for the next building phase.
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- Down a rugged road, fording a river, lay our garden, Hagia Sofia … yes,
named after the Istanbul mosque.
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- Wandering the byways were brahmin cattle, ‘hamburger walking’ cited
Alberto …
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- The garden was a small valley of controlled jungle, featuring Heliconia
(Mexican bird-of-paradise) and other tropical flora.
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- Throughout this tour, Fran and Alberto were side by side, each pleased
to have someone who shared their enthusiasm for plants.
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- There was a vanilla bean vine and a thorn tree …
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- … banana trees, carefully explained …
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- … interesting tropicals who names I’ve forgotten, if I ever knew …
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- … more interesting plants …
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- … and, of course, the Heliconia …
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- … talk about spectacular!
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- I think it even left Alberto in a bit of a daze!
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- A snack and off for home, back to the river.
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- I don’t think Alberto and Fran were talking about the river … just drive
down to the left a bit and then straight across.
On the way
back, we saw
several
tropical birds
fly across
our path.
Brilliant
balls of color
too fast to
photograph.
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- Back in town …
a ‘banana peel’
tree …
or something
like it!
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- A walk past the tourist boats …
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- … down to the beach, past the wedding …
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- … for a tall, cold Victoria.
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- Then back to the ship. It was
quite warm and humid.
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- As we were approaching the gangway, a steward approached and offered us
an individually ICED washcloth.
Was I being pampered?
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- As we departed
(the ship backed all
the way out to sea),
the blowhole
in one of the nearby
cliffs was active.
See the plume
under the lighthouse.
A hundred feet high,
perhaps.
Later, we saw dolphins
playing alongside the
ship.
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- One of the
demonstrations aboard
ship was
from a chef expert
at fruit carving.
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- He was not an expert at explaining his skill formally, but easily spoke
with interested patrons after his demonstration.
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- Did I mention the Pasticceria?
One of each?
Yes, sir, coming right up.
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- This rather industrial port is the Pacific cruise ship gateway to excursions all over the
country.
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- We took an excursion to the Monteverde Cloud Forest. The transportation
was certainly colorful.
Their website – www.selvatura.com – is excellent.
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- The last few miles were … interesting. One woman complained that it
wasn’t paved all the way.
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- But there sure was a nice lodge at the end of the road.
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- Our guide, Roberto,
was another
naturalist that
Fran enjoyed.
Hoorah, salvia!
Even I know salvia!
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- The trail, seemingly across the tops of the trees, was the main event
here. Unfortunately,
most of the
animals
were
napping.
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- Several suspension
bridges spanned
deep jungle
chasms teeming
with plant life.
They were a little
bouncy!
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- Lots of vines and aerial roots …
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- … definitely in the canopy.
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- Then a nice lunch at the lodge.
This is the home of the
frog on the wall.
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- Fran found this jewel on the grounds.
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- After lunch, we went into the Hummingbird Garden, where perhaps a
hundred hummingbirds were flying about, oblivious to the tourists. Video was mandatory here.
Can you
find the
blue one
and the
green one?
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- A postcard gives a colorful hint of the sights.
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- A large mounted insect collection is here.
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- A lifetime
of collecting
and work,
artfully arranged …
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- … and some giant insects from Malaysia.
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- We stopped at a local non-tourist supermarket in Monteverde. This is where the coffee came
from.
The
clouds
are a
little
lower!
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- Photos from a moving bus rarely work, but they do give a glimpse of the
beautiful countryside.
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- We followed a milk truck down the mountain.
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- This cemetery was a lot newer than the one in Mexico.
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- Ranchers make fence posts from local trees and they
take root!
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- The beach at Puntarenas just didn’t seem as inviting.
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- In the 1880s, after years of discussion, surveys, and politics, the
French attempted to dig a sea level canal across Panama. After eight years of careful and
tremendous effort, but with unreasonable expectations, political and
financial chicanery in France, the deaths of perhaps 15,000 French
engineers and Jamaican black laborers from accident and disease, notably
misunderstood yellow fever and malaria, their venture collapsed. Two
thousand buildings and untold ships, boats, machinery and material were
abandoned. About 25% of the
digging eventually needed had been done.
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- In 1903, Teddy Roosevelt fomented a revolution with a little gunboat
diplomacy, separated Panama from Colombia and the Canal Zone from the
Panamanians, and sent a new team into Panama to succeed where the French
had ‘failed’. Politics and
bureaucracy in Washington almost scuttled his effort, but by 1907, Army
engineers and public health officers had organized the task. Yellow
fever and malaria were eradicated with new knowledge that understood the
vectors of the disease through man and mosquitoes. The engineering marvel of the locks,
Gatun Lake and the Gaillard Cut thru the mountains opened in 1914 and is
essentially the canal in use today.
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- We entered the Pacific entrance before dawn. The helipad in the ship’s bow was
opened to passengers for the best views.
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- Small islands just outside Panama City were connected to the mainland
using fill from the digging of the canal. Panama City’s skyline is far different
from the town plundered
by the English
pirate Morgan
in 1671.
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- We passed a Panamanian navy base.
This was probably the navy base at Rodman that I visited with
FIREBUSH to refuel and grant liberty after my night passage of the canal
in 1979 enroute from Baltimore to Kodiak. Notice
the buoytender
and patrol boat
here. These are
both US Coast
Guard vessels
that have been
transferred to
Panama.
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- The USCGC JARVIS was visiting from an area drug interdiction
patrol. More former US Coast
Guard patrol cutters are in the background.
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- Soon we passed a Chinese ship used for drilling core samples in the
modern widening of the canal.
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- Then a dredge of some kind with a tug.
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- Cumulus clouds in the morning light suggested rain, but our passage,
while sometimes cloudy, was never wet!
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- We passed this canalside light and saw a complex of buildings in what I
think of as Canal Zone style architecture.
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- We approached the double lock at Miraflores as the ship ahead of us
‘blew tubes’ to clear the soot from it’s boilers. We headed for the left lock.
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- As we approached, two guys in a rowboat (!) departed from the quay to
pass lines from the ship to the ‘mule’
engine that would help steady us as we passed through the
lock.
We ended
up with four
mules that
held us
centered in
the lock as
we drove
through.
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- As we entered, the lock next to us, with the BREMEN MAX DOUGLAS, had
closed its gates and was already filling. The entire system runs on electricity
and gravity.
There
are no
pumps.
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- The lock was 1000 feet long. We
were 965 feet long. Passengers on
their balconies could reach out and touch the sides of the lock on both
sides.
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- Lockmasters in this building controlled the entire locking process using
a model of the locks.
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- The port quarter mule of the ship next to us repositioned itself as its
ship moved into the second lock.
These mules were Japanese made.
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- As we rose to the level of the second lock, one could grasp the size of
the 700 ton hollow gates that float on their
hinges.
See
our mule
at the
lower
right
with our
starboard
bow wire.
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- A relatively small electric motor moved these gates.
Even the handrails collapsed electrically as the gates opened and stowed in their slots in
the walls.
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- As we moved into the second lock, BREMEN MAX DOUGLAS had completed
locking up through Miraflores Lock and was moving out onto Miraflores
Lake.
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- This showed the dramatic rise of the lock, almost 30 feet. The second set of gates was used in
locking up different sized ships, to save water.
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- Just a little reminder,
we were in Panama.
They own the locks now
and seem to be doing
a good job of it.
Panama is planning
new, wider and longer
locks, in addition to
the existing locks,
and widening the
canal.
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- We entered the second lock and Centennial Bridge came into view. This bridge was built in 2003 and is
the modern link for the Pan-American Highway through
Panama.
An earlier
Thatcher
Bridge
crossed
the canal
at Panama
City.
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- I ran back aft to see where we had been.
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- We had exited Miraflores Locks and were crossing Miraflores Lake enroute
to the single Pedro Miguel lock.
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- Miraflores Lake
wasn’t very big
and soon we entered
Pedro Miguel lock.
Note the rowboats
and the small shed
at the end of the quay
at the left.
All the traffic was
upbound in the
morning, using both
sides of the lock.
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- Here was a good view as the smaller gray ship was in the lock and the
double gates closed behind it.
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- After it had been raised, it moved into the Gaillard Cut under the
bridge and through the mountains.
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- This turbulence was the water from the lock emptying to lower the water
level in the lock.
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- There were always other ships nearby, locking up, going to Gatun Lake
before ships coming the other way arrived
to lock down.
See the guys
in the
rowboat …
… and the
turntable for
the mules.
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- The jungle seemed always ‘right over there’.
Here you can see the leaf spikes and new leaves growing from the
tops of the palms.
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- Remember that shed at the end of the quay …
Apparently not every ship goes straight into the lock!
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- Here’s the control
station for the
Pedro Miguel
lock.
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- Off the starboard side, there seemed to be an abandoned recreational
boating marina …
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- As soon as we were in the lock …
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- … the gates would close behind us …
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- … including a car bridge! And
see how the gate
handrails and steps have popped up.
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- … and on our way ... with the next guy right behind us!
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- We left Pedro Miguel lock … quick, up to the bow …
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- … as we passed under the Centennial Bridge and into
the Gaillard Cut.
This bridge
and the
Thatcher
Bridge
back in
Panama
City were
the only
two bridges
over the
canal.
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- The Gaillard Cut, or the Culebra Cut, was where most
of the ‘digging’ took place.
It was now about twice as wide as it was originally. The sides were scraped bare of jungle
as the Panamanians were making it even wider to accommodate larger ships
and two way traffic.
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- Some parts of the mountains were very solid, but notice the foreground
slope where millions of cubic yards continued to slide into the cut for
years after the canal was
opened.
And don’t
forget the
digging
in the
ditch
before
the water
was let in.
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- It looks like a buried pyramid … nope, just a mountain
terraced away from the canal.
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- The other side was being chewed back in the widening which seemed to be
taking place mostly on the port side.
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- Soon, we entered the ‘foothills’ as the Cut led towards Gatun Lake.
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- A clamshell dredge was digging out big rocks.
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- We passed another core drilling rig.
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- Amongst the new, big shiny machines
were some old, small worn landings.
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- At Gamboa, a railroad bridge crosses the Chagres River that provides the
water that fills Gatun Lake.
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- A short way on, in this maintenance harbor, was this HUGE heavy life
crane on a barge.
What do
you do if
a ship
sinks
in the
canal?
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- Around Gatun Lake, only the native Indian tribes and canal personnel
were allowed to live near the lake.
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- Then we met a tanker going the other way!
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- … and some fellows probably headed back to that little Indian village.
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- This suction dredge was piping its spoil to grounds away from the canal.
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- The way was circuitous. Here, an
island was being removed to straighten and widen the channel.
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- Sometimes, the beach was really close aboard!
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- In this pastoral scene, remember these islands were really the tops of
hills formed when this man-made lake filled. It took a year to survey the fill line
of the lake
through
the
jungle.
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- Just above Gatun locks, some ships were anchored. The story was that their toll payments
hadn’t cleared!
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- We tendered ashore for a shore excursion arranged after the ship sailed
from Seattle.
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- First, we watched a ship or two lock down the three locks at Gatun from
an observation platform ashore.
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- We felt like old hands at this.
The ship comes in, goes down
a step
…
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- … and goes out to the next step.
Some of the original
gate
wheels
were
on
display.
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- Out they go, down a third step before they were back
at
sea
level.
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- This was one of the original GE mules.
The canal was GE’s first major electrical project. It gave them a huge business
boost.
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- … then by van across the little lock bridge to Gatun Dam. This is the spillway for the dam, a
huge, long earthen structure off to the right built from excavated spoil from
the digging
of the canal.
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192
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- Another boat ride looking at the local flora and fauna. This is a termite nest up in a tree.
|
|
193
|
|
|
194
|
|
|
195
|
- A tree dripping with bromeliads …
|
|
196
|
|
|
197
|
- … and a lizard. Can you see it?
It’s right there!
|
|
198
|
- Back ashore,
we found a trail
of leafcutter ants
carrying lunch
home across
the parking lot.
OK, let’s try this.
Each of us will carry
a 4x8 sheet of
plywood across a
boulder-strewn
anywhere!
|
|
199
|
- And a very old winch engine from the Domestic Engine Pump Company … USA.
|
|
200
|
- After a van ride along the original French canal, now a deserted,
overgrown ditch, into industrial Colon, we were delivered to a very
pleasant Pier 6,
with shops, a bar and
a street market,
to await our ship
...
|
|
201
|
- … which dutifully arrived and carried us away into the darkness. A full day on the Canal and in
Panama!
Nary a mosquito
heard or
seen.
The ship’s
canal toll
was about
a quarter
million
dollars!
|
|
202
|
|
|
203
|
- Entering Cartagena was some distance from the city, through a more
easily defended narrow channel.
A fort
on the
port hand …
|
|
204
|
- … was complemented by a battery on the starboard hand. The waterways behind were too shallow.
|
|
205
|
|
|
206
|
- Cartagena
was a
glittering city
across
the bay.
The six tallest
buildings
in town
were under
construction.
|
|
207
|
- They had a statue in the middle of the harbor.
|
|
208
|
- Again, there was a mixture of US Coast Guard and old US, now Colombia
Navy, ships here.
|
|
209
|
- We moored in a commercial, secure area with a good view of the city’s
container port.
|
|
210
|
- There were
lots of
tour buses
here …
Most of
the containers
appeared to be
from Europe.
|
|
211
|
- … and one tour pirate ship. One
of the excursions was a harbor tour partying aboard a ship, probably
true to size, made up to be an old Spanish galleon under a pirate and
Colombian flag!
|
|
212
|
- Our first stop was the Fortress San Felipe, the largest Spanish
fortification in South America, survivor of
several military actions against other European armies.
|
|
213
|
- On the way into the fort, I photographed these colorful ladies, thinking
they were of the many street vendors trying to sell
us souvenirs.
Oops, they were
photo props.
When I didn’t
pay them
they became
even more
colorful!
|
|
214
|
- A view into the city going up into the fort.
|
|
215
|
- Some conveniences
have been added
to make
our assault easier.
|
|
216
|
- This young man,
made up as
a colonial soldier,
played a bugle call
and got his tip.
|
|
217
|
- I took a little rest
near the topmost
sentry turret.
|
|
218
|
- This cannon
overlooked
the city and
its approaches.
|
|
219
|
- This artillery platform topped the fort.
|
|
220
|
- Every tour had to stop someplace to shop! Twenty plus shops lined this
arcade. They all sold the same
stuff.
Colorful,
if a bit
tawdry.
|
|
221
|
- We walked through the old part of the city …
|
|
222
|
|
|
223
|
- At the Inquisition Palace (a rebuilt one, as the original was destroyed
on the first Independence Day) …
|
|
224
|
- … we saw some of
the tools the Church
used to convince
people they were
the sinners the
Church said
they were.
Most paid a fine.
Some were
executed.
All suffered.
|
|
225
|
- On a more pleasant note, street signs were artful ...
|
|
226
|
|
|
227
|
- Somewhere, a cathedral tower rose …
|
|
228
|
- … and inside another, the lighting worked …
|
|
229
|
- … at least in one direction.
|
|
230
|
- Then a quick stop for a snack and some folk dancing.
|
|
231
|
- We passed some of the eleven miles of walls and fortifications that
surround Cartagena, built to successfully thwart invaders,
at a cost
of
fifty-nine
million
ounces
of gold.
|
|
232
|
- One last, frantic
shopping spree
to buy some
Colombian cash,
a bottle of beer,
and a pair
of emerald
earrings …
and we
were back
aboard.
|
|
233
|
- At our farewell dinner, Luis summed up our cruise.
|
|
234
|
- He posed with us and our UK friends.
|
|
235
|
- Then dawn rose over Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We were back in a version of American
civilization and we went home, via Nancy’s in North Carolina and Mom in
Missouri, but that’s another story.
|
|
236
|
- … another trip of a lifetime …
|
Notes
