Wk 9 Panama Canal

---

Geo: 8.97, -79.53

Saturday 10/03/12 At sea 22c Sunny with some cloud

This is probably one of our last real chances for whale spotting, we've seen numerous blows both near and far out at sea as well as a couple of Minki Whales. Some of our table were even lucky enough to spot a blue whale almost alongside the ship but that's been about it.

We had a very quite morning on the starboard side with more reading done than watching wildlife when all of a sudden we started to notice a few Pelicans flying by and then Terns and Boobies. In a very short time we then saw shoals of flying fish which is what was attracting the birds, in next to no time the sea was covered in birds both in the air and on the water, literally hundreds of them; whole squadrons of Pelicans were arriving.

Very shortly after we spotted our first blow and we could see whales in the distance, whilst we could see them clear enough with binoculars they were hard to make out with the naked eye, this went on for about an hour during which time we came across schools of dolphins and were treated to all sorts of acrobatic displays both alongside the ship and in the distance. After a while we became amazed by the sheer number of Dolphins they were literally from the ship to the horizon and both to the left and right of us I'd never seen so many. The birds had flown by now but the Dolphins were around for ages all heading off into the distance, and then we sailed through a strange patch of dark water which looked almost a reddy brown, we couldn't understand it but continued to watch the disappearing Dolphins until they finally receded over the horizon.

At dinner we were telling our companions about the afternoon's spectacle only to be then informed that they had been watching the same sight with the dolphins on the port side when out of the blue a pod of Orcas appeared and started to go after the Dolphins, in no time the sea was red and the Dolphins took off as fast as they could go, so what we saw was in fact the aftermath of the Orcas kill. Whilst we were saddened by the killing spree we were more annoyed that there'd been no announcement from the bridge alerting us to the spectacle being played out on the port side. Once again right idea, right time, but wrong place this time.

Sunday 11/03/12 Lima, Peru 24c Hot and Sunny

It's starting to hot up now and as we're going inland into Lima today it'll be even hotter.

We took the complementary shuttle bus into Miraflores which is a 40 minute ride along the coast as we're berthed in a commercial dock. We were warned not to walk along the area outside the port and once the coach exited the dock gates you could see why; the area is really run down and in a bad way.


Miraflores looks like an up and coming beach area having been steadily modernised over the last seven years, there's a pleasant promenade around the cliff tops with some nice small parks overlooking the sea, as well as many interesting sights and monuments. On our way back we came across a number of stalls being set up and there were plenty of locals with their dogs walking around and setting their stalls up so we went to look. It appears to have been a fund raising event to support unwanted dogs; some of the stalls were amazing selling everything from doggy shoes and accessories to jackets, tutus, and skirts. By now the area was filling up so having taken a few snaps of the dressed dogs (photos to follow later) we made our way back to the main sea front area and caught a taxi to the capital Lima some 8 or so miles inland.


We loved Lima which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and managed to take in the Cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, Santa Domingo Convent which is beautiful inside, as well as the palace, and a number of beautiful plazas. By now the temperature had increased to 30c and we were all but drained despite having plenty of water, it was just so oppressive. Our taxi which had brought us agreed to pick us up at the palace at 15:30 so we could be back in time to catch the shuttle back to the boat the last shuttle was leaving at 16:30, however he never turned up and when we then tried to get a taxi back they wouldn't go to Miraflores as it was too far apparently most of the taxis are purely city and environs. We did finally mange to find one who got us back in time and was cheaper than the journey in.



If we're going to more than one place then we normally always visit the place furthest away first then it's easier to assess how much time you can spend there inc allowing for travel back to either the shuttle or the boat, this was the first time we ignored that rule and so nearly got caught out.

Monday 12/03/12 Salaverry, Peru 25c Hot & Sunny

Today we're booked on an excursion to visit the Huaga Arco Iris (Rainbow Temple) which is a mud ceremonial centre associated with the fertility of the earth constructed between the 12 -14 centuries; and then on to the Chan Chan ruins which is another UNESCO World Heritage Site built around 850AD and is the largest mud city in the world covering some 14 sq Km.


Unfortunately being an adobe city the years of neglect, rains and weathering have seriously eroded many of the beautiful panels of birds, fish, and plants as well as rainbows. Large areas of the site are being reconstructed but done in such a way as the join between the two is obvious so you can always tell which is original and which has been restored. It's a fascinating place and unbelievable that a city constructed entirely of mud has survived over all these years with little or no maintenance whilst being pounded by the elements.


Tuesday 13/03/12 At sea 22c Sunny with a few clouds

A good day for Dolphin and whale spotting, the dolphins are in abundance with large pods of between 20-30 regularly being spotted. There have been numerous sightings of whales blowing but frustratingly the majority are staying just below the surface with just a quick sighting of their back being the most we see, if it wasn't for the blow you'd never know that they were there.

Finally in the afternoon we were blessed with the sighting of a whale in front of the ship, watching the whale doing shallow dives and rising it looked like we would pass reasonably close and sure enough he remained on course approx 300 m off the port side of the ship. His last dive before the ship came level would, if things remained constant mean the whale should surface mid way along the port beam so off I dashed in anticipation. I waited in position with camera in hand; nothing and then I spotted him behind me ¾ of the way along the ship he presumably stayed under longer as the ship passed, anyway I dashed to the rear of the ship and just managed to see him prepare for a deep drive and watched as his flukes appeared in a farewell salute with that all the passengers who had been watching broke out in spontaneous applause and shouts, a beautiful sight but too far away for me to capture it on camera.

Throughout the day we spotted strange fishing boats with a large column just behind the ships bridge obviously it was a forward lookout position but for what, we speculated Tuna,Marlin, or some other species of fish, and in the end it proved to be a Tuna fishing boat.

Wednesday 14/03/12 Manta, Ecuador 34c Very Hot & Sunny

Manta is the Tuna capital of Sth America and as if to prove the point we berthed alongside a Chinese Tuna factory ship which had already started off loading whilst we were having breakfast off the back of the ship. Alongside the Chinese ship was a smaller local fishing boat around a third of its size, and on the opposite berths there were 5 local Tuna boats, and all the while there are other fishing boats putting out to sea and others arriving.

Aside from being famous for Tuna the other place of note is Montecristi approx 18 mls inland renowned for making the very finest Panama hats the finest of which takes months to make and costs thousands of U$ it's said that the very best can be rolled up and passed through a wedding ring, from the much cheaper ones which we saw I've no reason to disbelieve it as they rolled up extremely small.


We decided to share a taxi with Chas & Debbie as they also wanted to visit Montecristi and within a few minutes began to regret it just outside of the town the area was severely deprived and rundown so much so that we all looked at each other and agreed that we'd just turn around once we got there and come straight back such was the level of concern there's no way you could walk the streets and feel comfortable. In all fairness I've no basis for my feelings and if anything our experiences of all the peoples of the Sth American countries we've visited has been so positive, they've been polite, non threatening, happy to see us, and unlike some countries when you say no to hawkers or stall holders there's rarely a problem they just accept it.

When we arrived in Montecristi it looked even worse and then the driver turned into what I can only call a small lane and started to ascend this steep incline with no sign of the town in sight. I looked at Chas and he looked at me through the rear view mirror and I knew he was thinking the same thing as me, when all of a sudden we turned right and came to a halt, other than a woman bent over a stool platting a Panama hat there was nothing else, no town, no shops, and very few people. We were just about to say take us back in our best Ecuadorian (Spanish) when a guy appeared from nowhere and started talking to the driver through the window, the next minute my door was suddenly opened and we all piled out to try and explain we wanted to go back when other taxis began pulling in collecting customers from inside the adjacent building and shooting off, it became clear that this was in fact what goes for a taxi rank in the town.

Fears somewhat abated we explained to the guy who seemed to be the controller that we wanted the driver to return in an hour and a half to take us back to the port, after numerous tries we felt confident that they understood what we wanted and we made our way down the road as we could see locals going that way, sure enough as we turned the corner, we could see the church and the market square.

Within minutes we were swamped with hawkers selling belts, hats, toys, stone figurines, and all sorts of bracelets and ribbons. As it happened I wanted a couple of belts and the designs were unusual, but I wasn't paying the $10 US (I later discovered the starting price at the port for the same belts were £20 US) and eventually paid $15 US for 2. More than 50% of the market stalls were selling Panama hats along with plenty of other styles some of which I was tempted by. As we were first off the ship we were the only tourists there which is a bit of a problem, even when we'd declined one hawker another one took his place, somehow they think they might just clinch a deal the others missed even though their all selling exactly the same merchandise.

After half an hour more passengers arrived from the ship which made us less of a target so we managed to visit the local church which was simple but pleasing as well as the local shops, once again all selling the same merchandise. We eventually returned to the rank and made the journey into Manta itself where we parted company with Chas & Debbie to explore on our own. It's only a small town with not a lot to offer apart from a local market selling pretty much the same items as in Montecristi (albeit their prices were higher) along with some additional craft products and paintings. On the way in we'd noticed a bronze fisherman statue which looked interesting and the famous Tuna fish roundabout, so having taken our photos we made our way back to the ship. As we approached the berth the two ships opposite us were still off loading their cargo after all this time! We stayed to watch some of the massive Yellowfin Tuna being offloaded onto lorries along with smaller varieties which I think were albacore. After a short while we returned to the ship thoroughly drained and soaked to the skin, oh an A/C room and a cold shower never felt better.

Duly refreshed we went up on deck and watched them continue to offload their cargo, they finally finished around 18:00 around 10 hours. The captain announced that he'd just been informed by the pilot who had spoken to the captain of the Chinese ship that they'd been fishing for 21 days and had on board just over 1000 tons of Tuna and the current market price was $1000 US per ton, a cool one million dollars for 21 days. Remember this was just one ship of which there were 7 in port in today, in one of many, many ports in Sth America, Australasia, and the Far East, how long can this raping of the seas continue?

Thursday 15/03/12 At sea 26c Sunny with overcast spells

Friday 16/03/12 Panama Canal Transit 26c Hot & Sunny

Up at 05:30 this morning for the approach under the Bridge of the Americas marking the entry to the canal we're 17th in the convoy going northwards and are due to enter the Miraflores lock around 08:00. All in all it was a great day with a BBQ on deck as we went through, good weather and a good atmosphere on board despite some pushing and shoving for the best views. I think I've said previously one of the problems with this particular ship is there's no unrestricted forward vision, all forward facing open decks are enclosed in blue tinted windows which are steeply raked making it neigh on impossible to get a decent photograph without some reflection.

Around 15:30 we finally exited the canal and cleared the breakwater back into the Atlantic creeping ever closer to home

.

---