Panama Canal & Costa Rica

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We woke up before 7:00 AM Tuesday because we could hear an unusual amount of activity for that hour. We scrambled into some clothes and ran up to the deck where we could see that we would soon be at the first of the two sets of locks on the south end of the Canal, the Miraflores locks. The captain had said we'd be there at 7:45, but we were almost an hour early. My favorite part of the canal is watching the two guys in the tiny boat row out to bring us the cables that will attach the ship to the mules that pull us through the locks. They throw a rope up to the guys on deck who then haul up the cables that are tied to the rope. I think it is so wonderful that this is still the best way to accomplish this.

We stood in the front of the ship on the top deck through the first two locks. Then went down to have breakfast while the ship crossed Miraflores lake. We then went up to our favorite hidden place on deck 8 to sit while we went throught the third lock and entered Gatun Lake. It was a beautiful sunny day but we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible to keep from getting sunburned. The canal did not seem nearly as busy as it was two years ago. We were the only cruise ship -- as far as we could see -- and the container ships (with one exception) weren't nearly as large.

After lunch we decided to stay inside, so we went up to the Observatory on deck 9 and got chairs looking straight out ahead, the best seats on the ship! It was perfect for going through the north end of the Canal, the Gatun Locks. We could see the construction work going on for the new set of locks that are supposed to open in 2014 which will let the wider, longer, super-container vessels through. Just when we were entering the second lock, the waitresses told us we had to move so they could get set up for afternoon tea. Well, since that didn't start for another hour, there was a huge uproar among all who had joined us! We ended up letting them set the tables, but we held on to the chairs until we left the last lock. I should have mentioned that a commentator accompanied the ship through the canal, explaining on the PA what we were seeing. Just as we started moving out into the Caribbean, he spotted a huge crocodile on the beach, so everyone raced over to starboard to get a look at it. (Hugh thinks it was staged with a stuffed one...)

Wednesday morning we arrived in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. I've never been anywhere so lush. The trees and plants just seemed to be
blossoming for the pure joy of getting to live there. In the morning Hugh and I walked into town. This place is not a place you'd go for a week's vacation. It is one of the poorest provinces of Costa Rica. And throughout the day we saw some pretty awful housing. But it was a very interesting place to visit because we could really see what the local life was like. Some little boys pointed out an owl and a sloth in the trees of the jungle-like park in town, then were not too pleased when we asked them to share the dollar tip we gave them. Oh, well.
In the afternoon, we took a tour on a flat bottom boat through the Toruguero Canal, then on a restored train which runs through banana plantations and the rain forest. First, however, we stopped at a
Del Monte banana processing plant. Really interesting to see how they go from banana plant (not tree!!!) to ship container. I don't think we need to worry about spiders on them! We also got to have a couple of "real" (not hybrid) bananas, tiny sweet things with thin skins that are only sold locally.
On the "Eco" cruise, we saw lots of different kinds and colors of herons, a sloth, an iguana, some bats, and a number of other birds. The highlight of the train ride was when we passed some howler monkeys in
the trees. The train stopped, then backed up about 100 yards so we could get a chance to see them. The
noise the monkeys make is amazing...very deep so that you think they are
much bigger than they are. When the train blew its whistle, the monkeys
would howl back. Very funny!
I think I would like to come back to Costa Rica someday, but probably to the Pacific side where it is cooler. The country seems to be pulling itself out of poverty. The two largest income producers are now tourism and microchips; just five years ago it was bananas and coffee. They have no army, but have plowed their tax money into education and preserving the ecology. And it is working: they have a 96% literacy rate and now are working to preserve the mangrove swamps instead of cutting them down to make banana plantations.
We now have two days at sea, then seven islands in eight days. Yikes!

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