Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 2183

I had the privilege of volunteering on a construction team that was sent to Guatemala to rebuild churches after the massive 1976 earthquake. Although I am an engineer I didn’t have much actual construction experience after I left Thailand in July 1975; and even then I was the construction manager and didn't actually have to build anything. So for the couple months before the trip I took a bricklaying course with the adult education program at the local high school. By early March I was ready to go. 5 March 1977 Saturday. On a Saturday morning I flew from Washington Dulles to New Orleans to Meridian, Mexico to Guatemala City, arriving late afternoon. I was met at the airport by the missionary who was organizing the team. As there were others arriving from all over the ... read more

Oriana arrived at Nassau in the Bahamas early in the morning. Despite the hour, several other cruise ships were in the vicinity. I was up on deck to see the pilot boat arrive. In the distance was the flat silhouette of New Providence Island with the distinctive profile of Hog Island Light marking the entrance to Nassau Harbour. (It's now known as Paradise Island Light and remains a landmark.) Oriana docked at Prince George's Wharf, where cruise ships dock today, though it has been greatly expanded. We left the ship here and we transferred to the Nassau Beach Hotel. Sightseeing in Nassau was by taxi. Among the sights were: Government House, the Ardstra Gardens, Fort Charlotte and Fort Montagu. Government House was then the residence of the British Governor-General. Ardastra Gardens is still known for the ... read more

Leaving Gatun Locks, Oriana docked at port of Cristobal rather than heading directly out to sea to enable passengers time to visit Colon. At this time, Cristobal was in the American Canal Zone, Colon in Panama. (I liked the way the twin communities together were "Cristobal Colon" . Someone had been clever!) Family friends met us at the dock to show us around the Atlantic side of Panama and "the Zone". I can't now remember exactly who the couple was. I believe they were descendants of people my grandparents had known during the time they lived in Panama (1910-1918). In any case, they were very nice and drove us around in their car. We saw Colon, the principal city on the Caribbean side of Panama. Then, we drove out to see the ruins at Fort San ... read more