Oct. 24, 2011 - Panama Canal

What a great day we had to go through the 77.1 KM of the Panama Canal. I got up at 5.30 in the morning as we were scheduled for the first lock at 6 AM. It was a beautiful day as we approached the Gatun Locks. The sun was just rising to a perfectly clear day. We were docked in the first lock by 6.30. This was followed by 2 additional locks to raise us to Gatun Lake that is 85 feet above sea level. Then we anchored as the ships were only allowed to travel in single file in certain sections of the canal because of dredging near the Culegra Cut. We were fortunate in that our passenger ship was given preference to the freighters and lead the line of ships that were headed for the Pacific Ocean. So we crossed Gatun Lake to the famous Culebra Cut and passed under the newly opened Centenniai Bridge. It had not been built the last time Dorothy and I went through the Panama Canal from the opposite direction about 23 years ago. It had been completed in 2004.
Soon after the Centenniai Bridge we got to the single lock called the Pedro Migel Locks that was the first lock to drop us down to the Pacific Ocean. In this area we saw new locks being built that will be able to handle much larger ships in the future. After that we went through the 2 locks of the Mirafieres Locks. This brought us down to the level of the Pacific Ocean.
Our ship moored in the holding area for ships that are to go through the Panama Canal. Tonight and tomorrow people from our ship will catch the tenders to get to Panama City. Dorothy and I are scheduled for a shore excursion by bus of the historic parts and the modern parts of Panama City.
We are well, enjoying ourselves and are looking forward to this shore excursion.

Map of Panama Canal

Entering 1st stage of 3 stage Gatun Locks

Lock gates opening on 2nd. Stage of Gatun Locks

Entering 3rd and final stage of Gatun Locks

Exiting last stage of Gatun Locks to Gatun Lake

Gatun Dam built to form Gatun Lake

Dorothy and Con viewing ships in holding area on Gatun Lake

Passing a ship in the Panama Canal

Large floating crane at maintenance facility at Rio Chargres

Railway Bridge over river from Madden Dam

Dredge working in the Calebra Cut.

New Centenniai Bridge over Calebra Cut.

New canal and locks being built for larger ships.

Entering the single stage Pedro Miguel Locks.

Exiting the Pedro Miguel Locks

Entering the 2-stage Miroflores Locks.

Dam forming lake between the Pedro Miguel Locks and Mireflores Locks

Entering the 2-stage Miroflores Locks.

Entering last stage of Miroflores Locks

Bridge of the Americas over the entrance of the Panama Canal

Oct. 23, 2011 - San Blas Island

This morning we arrived at the San Blas Archipelago that is just east of Cristobal that is at the entrance of the Panama Canal. The San Blas Archipelago consists of over 365 islands strung along the Panama's north coast. In the morning we cruised by many of these islands. Only about 50 of the islands are inhabited. The islands are covered with palm trees even though some of them are quite small.
We arrived at Sug Tupu island at about 11 AM and this is the island that we were to be ferried to by the ships tenders. When we arrived the young Cuna men and boys came out in their dugout wooden canoes and dove for coins as we tossed them overboard. This was something to see and we were all taken up by the skill of the men to retrieve the coins tossed into the water

Dorothy and I had a ticket to go over to the island for 3 PM and had to make sure we caught the last tender that was to depart at 5.30 PM. The ship was scheduled to leave by 6 PM.
The island was very interesting. It was inhabited by the Cuna tribes that have a unique language and heritage. They are subjects of Panama but are allowed to follow their traditional way of life. Once on the island we were amazed at all the people trying to sell their wears or have their pictures taken for $1. Dorothy bought 2 interesting conc shells.
We also were shown a family unit by a man who had worked in the mess of the US army when it was still in Panama. He showed us how his family and relatives lived in a small community. We saw many of the elder women wearing their traditional dresses with their Mola blouses. They were very colourful and of course were also selling these Molas.
We stayed on the island for about an hour and we were happy to get back to the ship and enjoy our way of life on the ship.
We departed at 6 PM just as the sun was setting. Tomorrow we will be going through the Panama Canal.

Some of the 350 islands in the San Blas Archipelago

Cuna young men waiting for coins to be thrown from the ship

3 Cuna men dive for coins

Cuna family in a large dug-out canoe.

Docking area for Cuna boats at Sug Tupu Island

Dorothy at the stall in the market on Sug Tupu Island

Lady in traditional native dress with Mola blouse

High tech microwave antenna for TV and internet on Sug Tupu Island

School room in Cuna village on the island

Toilet over the water at end of a jetty

Cuna man who showed where he and his family lived on Sug Tupu Island

Dorothy and Con in Cuna village on Sug Tupu Island.

Sugar cane juice is being squeezed from a sugar cane

Docking area for Cuna boats on Sug Tupu

Large yacht moors outside Sug Tupu Island

Oct. 22, 2011 - Santa Marta, Columbia

We docked at Santa Marta at 8 AM right on the scheduled time. I think the Captain once worked for a railway on the way he keeps to a schedule.

We went on a bus tour of Santa Marta that included Folk Dancing on a beach. We started with a tour through the old section of Santa Marta. This was interesting as Santa Marta was established on July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas. This makes it the oldest remaining city in Columbia. Then we went to a very beautiful park that once was the estate of Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino. He allowed the Liberator of Columbia, Simon Bolivar to stay there till he died on December 17, 1830 when this famous liberator became penniless. This estate is now a memorial to Simon Bolivar. Besides the memorial, the park is very beautiful with very old trees and gardens.
Next we drove about 40 KM down the coast to a resort where we saw Folk Dancing. After that we returned to old Santa Marta and were taken to the museum where we saw displays of the original people of this area, their jewelry and how they lived. After this we saw the famous Santa Marta Cathedral that dates back to the time Santa Marta was originally established. We walked through the very old streets of Santa Marta and saw many very old buildings. This was a great day and Dorothy and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The bed where the famous liberator of Columbia, Simon Bolivar died

A very old tree on the estate of Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino where Simon Bolivar died

Memorial building for Simon Bolivar

Dorothy in front of the memorial to Simon Bolivar

Folk dancers

The beach about 40 km’s from Santa Marta where the folk dancers performed

Santa Marta with our cruise ship in the harbor.

Dorothy in front of the cathedral in Santa Marta

Pretty building at the city square.

Another old building on the city square

Oct. 21, 2011 - Cruising from about Cuba to Santa Marta

I tried last night to update you on this day's activity but the internet connection was not working too well. When I got up at about 6 AM, I walked out on deck and saw Haiti on the left had side (port) of the ship. It was a very clear morning so I saw Haiti very clearly. Later in the morning, Dorothy and I attended a very interesting lecture on the 4 voyages of Columbus to the areas that we were just sailing through. After we passed Haiti we passed Jamacia but it was too far to the west to see from the ship.

Oct.20, 2011 - Cruising from Fort Lauderdale to Santa Marta

We left Fort Lauderdale at about 5 PM on Oct 19 and headed south in the direction of Cuba. Soon after sunrise on Oct. 20, I saw some of the outer islands of Cuba that are north of Las Tunas in Cuba. We cruised in an easterly direction just north of Cuba and could see the mountains of Cuba. At sunset we could not see Cuba but knew that the ship was heading to the passage between the eastern end of Cuba and the western side of Haiti.

At night we had a formal evening when we dressed into our long dresses for the ladies and tuxidos for the men. We all looked rather grand and were given a great dinner to complement our dress. After dinner we saw a Broadway show with singers and dancers that had been on Broadway. This was an exceptional show that we enjoyed thoroughly.

Dorothy and Con at sea just north of Cuba

Dorothy and Con at their first formal dinner on the ship

People enjoying the pool in hot weather just north of Cuba

Oct. 19, 2011 - Fort Fauderdale, Florida

Our ship docked at Fort Lauderdale while we were asleep early in the morning. It was raining and not looking like a great day and we had a shore excursion to see the city and have a tour on boat of the canals. When it rains in Fort Lauderdale it just comes down in buckets. At least once we were on the bus, we were out of the heavy rain. We saw some interesting places in the city before we boarded our cruise boat. We were fortunate that the rain became much lighter when we were on the cruise boat. We were taken to the canals that the very rich and famous have built their large mansions on. I took many pictures of them and will share them with you on this blog when I can get to a faster uploading system.

Outside of these mamoth mansions were very large cabin cruisers and sailboats. Also we were fortunate that were were in Fort Lauderdale while a convention was being held of large cruisers and sailboats. We saw some of these boats that have already arrived for the convention as well as the largest cruise boat that has been built. These boats were very impressive and in time I plan to share the pictures of them with you. We also passed our cruise ship, the Veendam as well as another cruise that has 3 times as many passengers.

What an exciting day we had. Tomorrow we are heading to Santa Marta in Columbia. It will take 2 days sailing before we reach it.

Bryan House – Used to house wives of servicemen during WW11

One of the many large mansions along the canals

Dorothy and Con on canal cruise boat with their cruise ship, the Veendam in the background

Very large sailing yacht at Large Yacht Convention in Fort Lauderdale

Large cruiser at convention

More very large mansions along the canals

Large capacity cruise ship leaving the part.

Fort Lauderdale beaches seen on leaving harbor.

Oct. 18, 2011 - 2nd day of cruising the Atlantic

We had a very relaxing day today. It rained and it was windy in the morning so we had to stay off the outside areas. In the afternoon the wind died down and it only showered occasionally. In the morning we listened to an interesting talk on the modern cruise ships. In the afternoon we walked on the outside decks. Then we just relaxed, read a little and had a nice nap before dinner. The show after dinner was very good as well as the lightning show and heavy rain that we got as we just got to bed.

Tomorrow we will be in Fort Lauderdale and will be going on a bus tour of the city and tour by boat of the canals to see very expensive homes built on the canals.

Sunset to finish the day