Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize, and Costa Maya

Wow,  I just realized that a whole year of COVID has gone by without us taking a trip anywhere or doing anything.  I came to see what our last trip was, and noticed that these pictures had never been published.  Shocking! So, today I will try to remember what these are even about!  

I do remember that in Costa Rica there was a thunderstorm, and I remember because the kids and I had scheduled a zip-lining excursion, and while I don't mind the rain, I wasn't that keen on zipping through the forest amid lightening. 

There weren't many folks around, so we had a nice drizzly walk before our outing. 

The kids are ready to go! 

Here we are on the bus to the rainforest for our fun.  As we are driving we pass a bunch of places that are preparing pineapples for international shipment.  

The view out the bus window. 

These are loaded with pineapples. 

Here we are off the main road and onto a back road that winds up to a mountaintop.  

Trying not to look too excited.  Because I didn't have any pockets I had to leave my phone on the bus.  So no pix of the actual ziplining.   We did see monkeys in the tree-tops, which was exciting.  You can get an idea here:

https://www.costaricarios.com/5-of-the-most-amazing-zip-lines-to-discover-in-costa-rica/

Back on the ground, we saw some of these amazing frogs.  

Heading back to the bus.  

In this photo, we are in Honduras.  The last time we were here the kids were so much younger, and it was so much less developed.  We decide to forgo a tour and just walk around the town to the beach.  

As usual, these two are AMAZING sports and just go along with walking until we get tired.  

We make it a couple miles to this beach where we just hang out and collect rocks and shells. 

Time to head back, but not before making some music. 

Last stop on this trip, Belize, where we all try stand-up paddleboarding. 

We wind up here, ready to go! 

This was super fun

Now it's time for some swimming! 

Happy New Year! 

When we last visited Costa Maya it had been devastated by Hurricanes Dean and Felix.  The town was mostly closed or destroyed, and the main street was shuttered except for a few street vendors.  

Not anymore.  This place is JAMMED.  Everything has been rebuilt and there are tons of shops and restaurants.  

We just walked around the port until we were ready for a swim. 

Sea turtle! 

Columbia and Panama Canal

So... finally getting to post this blog (and the next one) about our winter vacation trip to the Panama Canal.  We have been in self-quarantine for about six weeks now, and I am getting to the bottom of the to-do list.  This trip was on the Norwegian Pearl and took us to Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Mexico.  

Here we are getting ready to sail from Miami, BBC in hand!

Our first stop was Cartagena, Columbia.  We started walking around but then decided that it would be better to take a taxi.  Luckily between us all we had enough Spanish to get in, inquire about the fare, and get there.   

We went to Old Town, a walled city with lots of historic buildings.  https://www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/caribbean-coast/cartagena/attractions/old-town/a/poi-sig/454795/363310.  

We spent hours walking around and just looking at the amazing buildings and architecture. 

Here the kids are actually on the wall that surrounds the city.  

Our last stop before heading back to the terminal was a grocery store where we picked up coffee and chocolates.  Grocery stores are my favorite places to shop because it is such a window into a country.  

Adios Columbia!

Hola, Panama!

So here you can see that we are lining up to enter the Panama Canal.  There is a series of three locks that fill with water and raise the boat before.  You can see on the right side, the levels.

The canal is only 110 feet wide, and the boat just barely squeezes in there.  There are a couple of boats like the one you see here that guide the ship into the canal gently and without scraping the sides!

This engine is the mule, and it helps to guide the ship through the canal.  It stays on this track the whole length of the canal and has ropes that move the ship into position.  The ship just barely fits in each lock, so it is really important that it can be maneuvered carefully.  

You can see that the lock we are entering has a lower water level than the next one, so the valves underneath open, and that water comes into ours, raising the ship. Here is a 12-second video that shows what happens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlIsmLAzrkU

You can see the water levels from the different colors of stone and metal. A cool thing is that all of the parts of this canal are original, from when it was constructed.

I just realized that the video doesn't work, but here is a video from YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQEo2L5dTD0

Here is the mule as it climbs to Lake Gatun.

So we went to Lake Gatun, then turned around and came back.  We stopped in Panama at this town and then headed back out to sea!