Blogs from Panama Canal, Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean

Just checking out of my hotel in Panama City as we speak and catching a 7 hour bus up to David. NYE turned out to be pretty cool. I was minutes away from going solo to la zona rumba, which is a closed off area with multiple discotecas. Thankfully, things worked out for the better and I was able to get a hold of Jason´s friend Marian. Jason, thanks, she has been a fantastic tour guide during my brief stay. We ended up going to her parents´ house for a small wedding anniversay party. Apparently her dad was a former pilot, the captains that take over the cargo vessels through the locks. Then we went over to some other "zonian" friends of their´s and spent NYE at a small house party. One guy bought a decent ... read more

It is 6 am and waiting to transit the canal. yesterday a day at sea. We competed in the progressive and won for the second time. Took the trophy home and added more decorations. We will defend title on the 12th. dinner with our trivia partners mary lou and ed and we shared our other bottle of champagne to celebrate. the canal is amazing. does not look like the ship will fit in such a tiny space. Only inches on either side of the ship to the canal edge. Small trains called mules pull the ship into each lock and then we wait while it fills with water - enuf to take us to the water level in the next lock. Two locks and then a large lake and the small cut and onto the last ... read more

In mid-March I found myself spending a whole day in the company of one of man’s greatest feats of engineering. By “engineering”, I don’t simply mean “architecture” – although that’s not in any way to belittle the experience of wandering around Angkor Wat, walking along (and up and down) the Great Wall of China, imbibing the atmosphere at the Taj Mahal, or catching my breath at the first sight of the Potala Palace. By “engineering” in this context, I mean something that “operates”, with “moving bits” (to be un-technical about it). I was embarking upon an ocean-to-ocean transit of the Panama Canal. A far cry from chasing elephants in the Namib or trekking in the Himalaya or even pottering along the Río San Juan. For once, my camera shutter clicked at things mechanical: the enormity of ... read more

After seven months ashore, the sea was calling. It was time to begin the world cruise. So after a month in Florida we spent Christmas Day packing up, dropping our van at the car dealer, picking up a rental car and having our last phone chats with family and friends. We drove over to Ft Lauderdale on a cold morning (38˚), dropped our luggage at the cruise terminal, dropped our rental car at the airport and boarded the Voyager. She would be our home for the next 23 weeks and float us around the world in style. Regent has decided that this 2011 world cruise will be the last one---at least for a while. We plan to enjoy this cruise to the fullest and try to see and explore all the nooks and crannies along the ... read more

It was 5:45 in the morning and we were approaching the canal. A pilot boat came along side us to drop of a pilot to help us go through the canal. Our first set of locks were the Miroflores locks. When we entered the lock we had a cargo ship in front of us. We both were in the lock as the water slowly filled up the lock. When we were even with the next set of locks we proceeded. While we were in the lock we had to tie up to a tug boat because there was a lot of turbulence in the lock as it filled up with water. When the water finally got even with the water on the other side the lock gates slowly started to open. Then we cast off of ... read more