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Published: April 20th 2012
We were really looking forward to sailing through the Panama Canal and had no idea what to expect. We anchored off the coast of Panama City at about 11 pm and woke up to find ourselves surrounded by other ships, all cargo ships and a very misty Panama City which is all skyscrapers and looked like Gotham City in the mist. We were out on deck at 6am and entered the canal at 7am. It works like a canal at home but on a larger scale and the ships are pulled in and slowed down by mules, these mechanical cart horses. It opened in 1914 and these days can operate 24 hours a day raising ships 85 feet from the Pacific, sailing about 30/40 miles and then lowering them 85 feet into the Atlantic ( or vice versa). They can deal with up to 42 ships a day and each lock takes 52 million gallons of water, which is easily replenished because of the incredibly high rainfall in the surrounding jungle. Work is going on to expand the locks which will allow the largest of ships through. The French had started to construct it by cutting through rock which was almost
impossible and eventually they gave in and the Americans took over realising they would have to lift the ships over rather than cut a channel. There are 3 steps or locks on either side with Gatun Lake in the middle and it really was fascinating. We spent the entire day on our feet walking around the ship to look at what was happening from all angles. We even saw some alligators! Haven't been able to establish the cost of going through but the biggest ships pay $200,000 and the least amount paid was $0.38 by a man who swam through.
That evening they held a line dancing demo before the main entertainment, they were very keen that we joined in........ Singing in front of an audience was pushing it, dancing was out of the question, straight after dinner we escaped to our cabin and stayed put until the coast was clear.
The next evening they had another of their 'tv' shows, Mr and Mrs, as usual, they were struggling for volunteers so we got up, oh blimey talk about put ourself through it and Col didn't quite get it in that they had a
choice of a, b or c as answer and he just went for the one that nobody else went for..... needless to say, we came 3rd out of 3!
Next port of call was Cartagena (pronouced carta hey na) in Columbia, with dire warnings of not bringing back the main export (cocaine) and not to accept any packages to bring home on someone's behalf, we ventured ashore. We had not booked a tour so after a lot of hassle and negotiating at the port gate we squeezed 4 of us into a tiny vehicle and made our way to the old town, which was absolutely fabulous, it is walled, founded in 1533 And one of the oldest cities in the Western Hemisphere. Beautiful Spanish colonial buildings,painted in bright colours with beautiful balconies covered in flowers made every narrow street very attractive, we just loved it and were sorry we didn't have more time to enjoy it, though it was expensive and very hot and humid. There were police everywhere and as we were leaving, 100's of riot police were arriving as a big meeting of leaders of the Americas is to be held later in the week
and Obama will be attending. The port entrance was well set up with shops and a bar and a small zoo though most of the birds were free, they had loads of brightly coloured parrots which made a huge racket, flamingos, toucans, monkeys. Many of the parrots were up in the trees but also plenty on the ground so you had to be careful where you trod.
The weather was really changeable, coming through the Panama canal it was almost unbearably hot (thank god for aircon) the next day it poured with rain but humid at the same time, the following night there was a really bad storm and the ship was rocking and rolling with huge waves banging and crashing into the side of the ship and the following night more of the same, this is the Caribbean and we were expecting perfect weather a calm sea - ha!
First Caribbean stop was Curaco, part of what was known as the Dutch Antilles. We were to be moored at the capital Willemstad which is divided by a stretch of water with Punda on one side and Otrobanda on the other and it is
Toucan
play at that gamea really pretty place, nice selection of shops and lots of bars and cafes. There is a floating bridge that connects the two sides which regularly opens to allow ships through, they give warnings to tell you the bridge is going to open so that you can hurry through or if like us, not in a hurry, you can stay on as it swings open, however as soon as it opens 2 ferries operate in its place. We hadn't booked a tour from the ship but there were a couple of local tour busses trying to grab our attention, both were painted in bright colours with colourful characters as driver/guides, no windows of course as this was our aircon! We chose the one that had TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED painted on it and a larger than life driver/guide called Aerial who turned out to be great, we had an enjoyable tour, an hour at the beach and plenty of good stories plus a huge coolbox full of cans including beer to help yourself from. He took us to the factory that makes curaco liqueur, there were loads of free samples of various flavours but nowhere obvious to buy which
is very usual for these type places. Being Dutch, many, of the buildings have typical Dutch gables and the whole place is very bright and jolly as each building is painted a different colour, the story being that at one time all the buildings were white, the new President said that all the bright buildings and sunshine gave him migraines, so he instigated the decision to use all colours of the rainbow for the buildings and it was only after his death that they learnt he was sole director of the paint factory!
In the town we found these two old rasta guys making some good sounds and wherever you came from, he could make up a song, girls from Liverpool, they're so cool, girls from Slough can take a bow! The drummer from the ships orchestra loves anything banging out a beat and he was there with them and got us rattling something with them too. The ship sailed early evening, it was very warm and sunny and as usual, the band was playing Faily the singer was belting it out and we were jigging about having a good time.
Next stop was
St Maarten, unusual island in that half is French coming under direct rule of France and the other half is Dutch coming under the rule of Netherlands, so there is two of everything, airport, power station etc. There are markers for borders but no actual borders. It has come under various rules over the centuries including UK. The French side is slightly bigger and the story goes that a Frenchman and a Dutchman set off from the same point, the Frenchman with a bottle of red wine and the Dutchman with a bottle of gin and they were to walk around the coast in opposite directions until they met on the opposite side which decided how much land each country would have, the French part is in the north.
We did a tour of the island with a stop at a butterfly farm which was wonderful, the butterflies were so brightly coloured and one particular one was as big as your hand and the most beautiful blue colour, the whole coach were trying to get a photo but they were on the move all the time and if they did stop, they closed their wings immediately and
the blue was hidden. They served up rum punch ( at 10.30am) tasted like they had forgotten the punch, it was feisty stuff. Our driver guide today was Freddie, like most people on the island, he was fluent in English, French, Dutch and Spanish which was the same for Aerial in Curaco though they had their own language too. He had all the knowledge but was full of funnies too and some of his tales were a bit naughty which was made all the funnier for us by some of the stoney faces around us, some of our fellow passengers do amaze us with their lack of a sense of humour, or lack of appreciation at some of the splendid entertainers we have had, particularly the ones who sit in the front row night after night and can't even put themselves out to clap and sit in silence if an entertainer picks on them. Anyway, Freddie had a nice way about him, explaining about the water taxis with his lovely West Indian accent, he said $6 per head and the rest of your body goes free! Passing a church with a cemetery next door, he said there is St Peters
underground hotel, you check in but your never check out! Made us laugh anyway. Many celebs have homes here which Freddie pointed out including Mick Jagger.
After the tour and a bite to eat on board, we joined one of the water taxis with calypso music blaring out, from near the ship which took us on a short journey to the capital Phillipsburg which is such an easy place to be, there are two shopping streets, Front Street and Back Street and the beach is in front of Front Street with its beautiful coloured sea, it is impossible to describe the blues and greens of the Caribbean sea. Plenty of bars and restaurants and a very nice place to spend time.
When we arrived this morning there was another enormous cruise ship moored beside us, it was huge and looked like a block of flats! In fact it looked top heavy. Our ship, Black Watch was dwarfed by it but we heard so many of our passengers say they wouldn't go on it if they offered a free trip ( I expect they are lying ) but they are a loyal lot and this
thing didn't look like a ship! Apparently our keel is much deeper than theirs and therefore in the rough sea that we have had in the Caribbean, we would have had a smoother journey than them despite our size ..... Or so we have been told. They tell us it is the roughest it has been for years and we are catching the tail end of a tornado. By the afternoon a third ship had berthed, this time it was a Costa ship and we certainly won't be going on that. We spoke to people from both ships and they said there was 6000+ passengers on board and announcements were made in 7 or 8 languages, sounded horrible. Even though our ship might not be as sleek as these huge things, we think this is more our cup of tea.
We didn't depart St Maarten until 11pm by which time the other ships had left. On deck, an excellent duo called Foreign Affair were playing we were dancing and there was a BBQ and rum punch on deck too.
From some of the emails we have received, it is clear that you couldn't care
less about where we are going or what we are seeing but want more info on Benidorm Benny aka Right Twerp and some of our other delightful travelling companions......... Well,
BB's aka RT's lower teeth seem to have reappeared after several days absence, his room mate tells us that he is only half way through a tube of toothpaste which wasn't new when the ship sailed in January. However his posture has improved as his clothes are so stiff and crusty as soap suds are alien to them. Our 'friends' from the north have sent an email which I can't repeat here for fear of copyright infringements or the obsenity laws, feel we are bullying and intimidating this poor lonely individual and have therefore set up a help group, they only have 2 members at the moment but would welcome more, they can be contacted at BASTARDS which stands for Bxxxxxxx (can't reveal their surname) Against Southern Twats Abusing Retarded Deluded Spaniards, but a further group in oppsition, PART Passengers Against Right Twerp and several others, FORT, PORT which we are sure you can work out.
Beryl and Cyril, we think we have shaken
them off but are always on the lookout in case we get caught. She totters about on her little fluffy kitten heels, saving seats everywhere so that whatever is going on in any place, she has front row. Cyril, wears a good old fashion pair of flannels, matching socks compulsory sandals but has a mean wardrobe of the brightest Caribbean shirts which is handy for us as we can spot him at 2 decks away.
Col bought a very smart polo shirt in Peru which was bright orange, however, the following day, Sal had a confrontation with the most aggressive Dutchman you can imagine so we have chucked the shirt overboard, unfortunately, said Dutchman wasn't in it.
118 118 continue to pound the decks, never speaking to anyone but we have discovered they are not Brits.
Cols lady friend who turned out to be an ex bloke, oh dear, probably a very sad story but someone has to get him/her sorted on the clothes stakes, dresses that are slashed down the back, across the middle and up the side are not a good look......
Box of Frogs is
probably another sad case as there is some sort of mental illness as he is either high as you like or in the doldrums, completely bonkers rushing around being very important, wearing a suit in the day and scruffy at night.
Apparently, talking to the staff there are several people that they have to keep an eye on who have issues, probably includes us!
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Eryl
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Sounds amazing - am reading my I phone very early sat am - there is not one place u have mentioned I wouldn't want to visit - sounds absolutely wonderful -am visiting Elen, Ed and baby Morgan mid may- not sure when u r back X