Traversing the Canal

We began our journey through the canal around sunrise...7am....the sun rises later the closer you get to the equator and sets sooner, too (that was a bit weird to get used to!). It was warm but pleasant.
Sunrise in Panama: it wasn't as spectacular as we were hoping for but still a very peaceful way to begin our day
The naturalist on board explained that whenever you see turkey vultures on the shore, a crocodile lurks in the water. Sure enough, there he was.
Pretty amazing to see this big animal. With Greg's telephoto lens we were able to get up close and personal.
Panama has a beautiful jungle canopy and the sunrise casted an interesting glow over the trees.
Approaching the first set of locks. Shortly before we entered the locks.......
.....the pilot crew boarded our ship and it was like Chinese fire drill. They just kept coming up out of the boat and climbing aboard our boat. As we passed through each set of locks (there were three), one crew would be getting off the ship while another was boarding. Our balcony was pretty much directly over the entry point!
We spent some time on the upper decks of the ship enjoying the views. Even though it was our second time through the canal, it was still pretty amazing to see all of it. (Temperature: 102)
There were four cars that pulled our ship through the locks. The crews hook up the ship as it enters the locks and the cars take over.
Not much room to spare (like 11" on each side!!!). The new set of locks is being built and these will accommodate much larger ships than ours.
Getting through the first set of locks...headed for Gatun Lake....
Gatun Lake: This is the area the ships queue up to await the order of entry for the journey to the next set of locks. Depending on the priority list, ships can wait up to 8 hours to enter the locks. Cruise ships pay a hefty fee to move to the top of the list.
We traversed the "river" or waterway area and passed under this bridge. Pretty awesome sight.
We played follow the leader with these ships the entire day!
Which way do we go? At each set of locks (whether you are entering from the Pacific side or the Atlantic side), there is an arrow indicating which side of the locks the ship is to enter.
Our final locks. We entered the first set of locks around 8am and left the canal at 5pm.
Say hello to the Pacific Ocean!
And good-bye to the Atlantic side! (Okay, that's a bit of stretch, but you get the drift!)
One last look at where we came from. It was an amazing journey. Now it's on to Fuerte Amador.

Port #2: Cartegena, Columbia

Early the next morning, we arrived in Cartegena. Temp at 7am: 90 degrees (it max'd out at 106 with 90% humidity before we left port!). It was breezy and it felt nice to be out on the deck watching all the activity. It is a beautiful country. Our shore excursion was a tour of the fortress and city.

You can see Columbia behind us. It is a huge country and spans from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific with its shoreline.
The harbor is guarded by the navy and this statue of the Virgin Mary.
The old blends with the new. High rises are being built around historical sites such as this lighthouse.
As we entered the harbor we passed by the walls that protected Columbia from the Spanish warships and attacks from other countries who wanted to take advantage of the massive borders.

Many of the walls of the harbor entrance showed the scars of battles. As we passed by this wall, we could see where the cannons had destroyed portions of it.
We visited one of the most famous fortresses on the point. The people in the forefront are vendors, selling anything you could possibly want as a souvenir. Our guide cautioned us against buying anything silver in this setting, telling us it wasn't a "bargain" and we would be able to find the "real deal" in town. The guards are posted throughout the fortress to insure the safety of the visitors - a little unnerving!
Greg enjoyed getting pictures as we walked up the fortress. This is pretty close to the top of the fortress and we had a clear view of the harbor and entrance into Cartegena. The fortress was built in the perfect location for protecting the city.
There were vendors all along the main walkways. These people just set out their items on blankets and are not shy about asking you to look over the treasures.
These owls live in the fortress. At first I thought they were sick because of the way they were sitting and looking at us, but our guide assured us they were healthy and well taken care of. They were pretty ugly, though!
Many of the downtown streets are too narrow for cars and buses. Streets were not marked one way so if a car was coming down one way, other drivers had to wait to go the other direction. Many people just carried their goods on their heads, backs and in carts.
Typical shopping day......it was crowded, lively, colorful and fun!
Can you tell if these are real people? After taking a picture, the "statues" would motion the camera-taker over to put a donation in the buckets in front of them, but otherwise they were totally still. And yes, they are totally painted in metal black/gray.
This vendor was selling fresh fruits and vegetables to the local people. There was no evidence of any type of produce store/market. Just these carts throughout the city.
We then visited this Cathedral, where many of the early Church's punishments were carried out on the grounds and outbuildings. We saw torture chambers, guillotines, and weapons. It's hard to imagine what the people went through. Made us sad to see it.
This is the patron saint. He is buried in this tomb that sits in the front of the church on the alter. The church itself was very beautiful and serene. It was hard to grasp all the ugliness that must have surrounded this place during the years of Inquisition.
One of the stained glass windows in the back of the church.
Cartegena had many different types of hibiscus growing everywhere. The fragrance of these flowers was so pleasant. We really enjoyed our tour of the city, even if we sweltered in the heat.

Aruba Part 2

Our land and sea excursion was a treat. We first went to the rocks at the top of the only hill in Aruba! Once we toured the island (not very big!), we boarded a catamaran and toured the island from the ocean. The water is incredibly blue and clear and warm. Definitely could stay here!
I climbed the rock formations; Greg stayed back and took pictures from the lower part.
Tight squeeze through here!
Incredible view from up top.
We visited a church on the other side of the island. The Catholic faith is a big part of the culture and you could walk the 3 miles to the church, stopping along the way to say the stations of the cross. The chapel was beautiful and is used by the local people every week.
Services are also held outside when it isn't too warm.
We were definitely ready to board our boat; the temperature was close to 90 at this point (at 10am!).
The water really is this blue with blue skies!
Our ship in the distance, along with another cruise ship. We were the last ships of the season to port here so it was fun to "hear" from the local vendors about the great deals we could have!
Back at the boat and ready to move on to Cartegena, Columbia.

Aruba

Our first port of call: Aruba! Statistics: at the dock at 7am, temperature about 80 degrees, no breeze, beautiful turquoise blue water, white sandy beaches......what we called paradise!
We were escorted into port by pilot boats. The pilot boat carries a pilot who takes command of the ship and directs it into the dock. We were awake and on our balcony to watch the transfer of the pilot. Luckily they entered the boat from our side (port side).
Our first look at land....6:30am. The sun was just starting to rise, much later than at home.
The houses and businesses in the area are very colorful. We took this picture from our balcony. It gave us a good perspective of how high above the water we were on the ship.
These birds kept us entertained as we were coming into and out of Aruba. They kept diving towards the water......
getting closer......
splash down! Not sure what they were finding to eat but they entertained us!
Lizards were everywhere and they didn't seem to be too bothered by people. They scurried away when they thought we were too close, but otherwise posed nicely.
One of the many tropical flowers. All of them were colorful; hibiscus were the most prevalent and colorful.

And the winner is........

????who knows????? My dad and sister, Beth, have an on-going competition for the best garden grower of something. This has been going on for years and last year for the very first time, Beth won with her Peter Pepper! (I will leave that one up to your imagination! But it really was a pepper that grew as its name suggests.) I had entered the competition for the first time last year and came in dead last. So I donated my $5 to Beth. Anyway, this year it was decided that we would grow loufah squash. Now this is a squash that does dry to become loufah sponges. Beth started plants for all four of us (Beth's daughter, Amy has joined in again this year) and I got my two plants on Father's Day. Dad has conceded as he has managed to kill off 4 plants and decided this wasn't his year. Because this is a finicky plant, I am documenting my efforts of growing these now....just in case.....and everyone's dies too!!!!
I kept the plants in my kitchen garden window until yesterday and planted them in a pot. They sit on a warm porch in a pot now and measure about 10" long. If they are looking puny, into the house they are going to go!!! For whatever reason, they thrived indoors. Beth kept telling me to put them out (maybe a case of sabotage??????)
Our garden has decided it's going to grow in spite of cool spring and summer weather. I have spaghetti squash setting....hopefully warmer weather this week will help them along.
Actually the garden looks pretty good, considering! I was putting the grass around the plants this evening and discovered a cucumber that was about 4"! We have several very little tomatoes---FINALLY! (Can you tell we are ready for summer weather?)
The butterfly bush is in full bloom and smells wonderful. I'm gone so much of the day, I'm missing the humming birds and butterflies that frequent the bush.
Our latest visitor to the bush is a bird - not sure what kind - we have only seen the nest. We have kept our distance as we are hoping if there are eggs, mama and papa will sit and hatch them. How fun would that be?!
My dad made this awesome bird feeder but last winter did the shingles in. So....I decided a copper roof would be fun to have on it. Greg wrapped the roof in the sheets of copper and we will wait to see how it patina's. It's ready for the onslaught of finches, robins, swallows and other feathered flyers. Ah the wonders of nature!

Day Three: Day at Sea

We sure were enjoying our warm weather. We spent the day on the balcony and by the pool. It was not a hard thing to do!!We sailed by Cuba most of the day. It was a surprise to see how long/big it was and how close it was to the USA.
Our cabin steward kept us entertained with towel animals! He even put more candies in the animals throughout the week. It was fun to come back to the room and see what he created.
We had a complimentary bottle of wine delivered to our room from our travel agent; Robert, our steward, decided the wine glasses needed to be showcased! I could get used to the pampering, I tell you!