PANAMA

We recently returned from a 2-week cruise to celebrate my parents’ 50^th wedding anniversary.  There were 11 of us traveling all together, including other family and friends.  We left from San Francisco, transited through the Panama Canal, ended up in Fort Lauderdale, and made a number of ports of call in between.  Fair warning that this post is going to be heavy on vacation photos… because it was a spectacular vacation!  We had amazing weather all along the way, good fun at every port, and a fantastic visit with family, old friends, and new friends met along the way.

First up, San Francisco.  They don’t make days there any nicer than the one we had as we sailed out.  Trust me. 

Ahoy mateys!

I mean, seriously, how many days a year does San Francisco look like this?

Heading out to sea.

First port… Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  Andrew and I walked the town a bit, with a stop at Slim’s Tequila Bar, which is the self-proclaimed smallest tequila bar in the world.  And then we hired a water taxi to take us out to Los Arcos at the tip of the Baja Peninsula. 

This was the view from our cabin when we woke up that morning.

Sampling the goods at Slim's.

Water taxi to Los Arcos - and our cruise ship in the background.

Next port… San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.  This small beach town was still recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Katia a couple months prior.  Locals told us all the boats in the harbor had been either sunk or washed ashore, and there were still several sailboats half-buried in the beach.  But my parents and we walked around the town a bit, found a donut shop and a local brewery that a friend had told me about and that satisfied my craving for all manner of carbs, and bought some of the local rum to have on hand as we sailed onward.  An excellent stop.

Welcome to Nicaragua!

Looking over the options at Dia de los Donuts.  You don't know how excited I was to have my first real donut in almost a year.

And some rum for the road...er... sea.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katia was evident on the beach.

Next port… Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  It was HOT and we watched finishers of a running relay race coming into the finish line.  I have no idea how these people can run in this climate.  I’ve tried several times now and have given up. 

A lovely old stone church in Puntarenas.

Central America has AMAZING sunsets!

And the sunsets are even more enjoyable with some local Central American rum. 

And then… the Panama Canal crossing.  We started the passage about 7am and it took the better part of the day to transit through from the Pacific to the Caribbean.  100+ years later, the canal is still a well-oiled machine, and it was completely fascinating to see it in action first-hand.

Moon on the morning of our Panama Canal Transit

Panama City over yonder.

Under the Bridge of the Americas and into the canal we go. 

Some local wildlife along the way.

There is less than a meter on either side of these big ships passing through the locks.

Through the first set of locks and into the Culebra Cut.

The Culebra Cut - basically a 9-mile ditch cut through the mountains to make the whole thing work.

The spectators in action.

Heading through Gatun Lake and it's submerged hilltops-turned-islands.

A ship coming into the Gatun Locks along side our ship.

1913!  They don't make 'em like this anymore!

View of the lock gates from the back of the ship.

We made it!  The last gates before we head into the Caribbean Sea.

Next port… Cartagena, Colombia.  Six of us ended up stumbling into a private tour of the town and in particular the old walled city with its super cute cobblestone streets, colonial churches and buildings, and fortress walls.  My favorite stop of the cruise.

View of Cartagena from a hilltop monastery.

The intrepid explorers - us, my parents, and our family friends

The old city walls are no joke!

Such a lovely old city with its town squares.

Art imitates life, 21st century style.

Adorable!

This church had just gotten a fresh paint job before the Pope's visit in September.  Spiffy.

I loved the old street signs - and since the street names change every BLOCK, there were a lot of them.

And lastly… Aruba.  We’d spent a week here with our friends Meg and Chris several years ago and had fun walking on the beach there again.

Ahhhhh-ruba.

It was a fully relaxing two weeks away, and I came back to work on Monday feeling very rusty.  But by Friday, I felt like I’d already been back for a month.  Oh well.  On to planning the next vacation!  (Which is still TBD.)   At any rate, we had a wonderful time exploring new places and visiting with our family and friends at the same time - a two fer!  So glad we were able to celebrate my parents' 50th with them in such a special and memorable way.  Happy anniversary, you two!

And now, we are also anxiously awaiting news of our next assignment.  We should find out any day now.  I’ve put up a poll on the right-hand side of our main blog.  If you’re on your phone reading this, check out the desktop version to submit your vote for where you think we’ll be headed next… and stay tuned for the announcement very soon!