Nice to have a couple of days at sea after the busy shore days. We are flying along at over 20kts, battling the Gulf Stream but I must say that the water is a lovely deep blue. Unfortunately it is punctuated with a lot of orange seaweed or algae, but this is common in these areas. We have officially entered the Caribbean, after sailing within 15 miles of Cuba earlier this morning. We have to believe the Captain about this, as the haze on the horizon did not allow us to see land.
Day 83 - 22 August - at sea
Another hour back overnight and a bit cloudy, although temperature is in the early 20s. The sea has quite a bit of movement and the "bags" are back out on the stairwells, something we haven't seen for quite a while. Still steaming at almost 20kts and the Captain is certain we'll reach Limon on time tomorrow morning. Almost forgot, another formal tonight - thankfully my shirt came back from the laundry last night.
A bit of good news from the Captain in his midday announcement. The ship had been inspected by American Health Department people in Miami, as are all cruise ships in American waters, and Sea Princess achieved 100%. This was the first time that she has reached this standard and apparently it is pretty unique for a 20 year old vessel. To celebrate, the Captain put on a BBQ on the back of Deck 14 *for staff only* - passengers were not able to use the facilities while the party went on.
Day 84 - 23 August - Limon, Costa Rica
Although yet another (temporary) hour back, we still had to get up at 5.30 as we have room service breakfast arriving at 6.30 and have to assemble for our excursion at 7.30. Just as we enter port the clouds turn to rain - quite heavily. Fortunately by the time we get off the ship it has stopped. There are around 50 on our tour and most thankfully they have split us into 2 groups (both buses & boats). Oh yes, I haven't said yet, but we are exploring the Tortugero Canal, to see (hopefully) wildlife along the waterways.
The bus trip out took around 40 minutes and we were surprised to see that just around the corner there is another port - much larger than where we are berthed. The township was uninspiring and did not encourage us to visit later. The canal interlinks with the natural waterways to provide access to inland areas & up the coast. After a quick comfort stop, as there are no facilities on the boats, we boarded our pontoon boats. As I mentioned, there were only 25 or so on each boat, which usually holds 3 or 4 times that number. This enabled all of us to get a good view on both sides of the water. Oh yes, it had a full roof to protect us from the rain, which continued for about half the cruise.
During our 90 minute cruise, we saw lots of different birdlife, mostly small birds, but also a number of waders along with sloths, various monkeys, iguanas, bats & some tiny frogs. Unfortunately my photos were not very inspiring, particularly given the weather conditions, size of the birds (I'd been expecting big birds, not finch types) and the excellent natural camouflage.
Can you see it?
A bird - where?
This one is a Sloth!
The usual tropical rainforest plants including bananas and decorative plants were in abundance. At least our 2 boats went along slowly and our driver & guide were excellent at sighting and pointing out the wildlife, which quite frankly I would not have spotted. Some other tourist boats seemed to be using the canals as a speedboat course.
After disembarking we enjoyed (complimentary) iced tea along with fresh local pineapple & banana. The best & sweetest I've tasted in a long, long time. It was then back to the ship and time for a late morning coffee. As we sit in our stateroom, we are overlooking a banana boat unloading empty containers & at the same time loading an endless supply of large containers, containing Chiquita bananas (yes, a whole container ship of bananas). Who knows, we may be eating them when we get back home.
A lot of bananas
Day 85 - 24 August - Panama Canal
We were woken early morning by flashes of lightning & heavy thunder. Fortunately it didn't last long and by the time I got up it was just cloudy. We were approaching the port of Colon, our last glimpse of the Carribean before we head into the locks and through to the Pacific. You may recall that yesterday I mentioned the extra hour we got was temporary, so yes, an hour forward today!
It wasn't until after breakfast that we entered the first lock & the "mules" hooked up to the ship. As we approached the end of the lock, somehow the mule's communications must have broken down, as we scrapped heavily along the wall of the lock (there goes a couple of hundred litres of white paint!). We also noticed a large flock of crow type birds by the workshops causing quite a commotion on the mown grass - turned out they were fighting over/eating a 1 metre long snake.
Coming the other way
After traversing the Gatun Lake for much of the afternoon, we reached Pedro Miguel locks around 3.30. Apparently there was a small crocodile, but on starboard side, so we didn't see it. Otherwise the traverse went without incident and as usual the large grandstand at the end of Miraflores Locks (the last in the canal system) was full of cheering well wishers. We were proudly flying our NZ flag (in competition with our 2 Australian neighbours! ).
At last we entered into the Pacific Ocean, but we were surprised and perhaps a little disappointed that it was dark by then and it was only just after 6.00. I recall that the last time we went through it was brilliantly sunny. In any event, the lights of the skyscrapers of Panama City provided a great backdrop. To complete the day the lightning returned (sans thunder! ).
Day 86 - 25 August - at sea
Another day, another thunderstorm. Sometime around 4.00am we were woken again by a short & violent storm. It must have been bigger than we thought as apparently the front part of Horizon Court was flooded this morning. Talking of this morning, it was our *final* Passenger Safety assembly - thankfully. It is not that I disagree with the need to reinforce emergency procedures, but to treat it as a joke by using a singing version based on "The Love Boat" is a bit much.
Generally an overcast day with a moderate swell as we head down the Colombian coast towards Ecuador tomorrow. They did the King Neptune thing this afternoon, although we do not actually cross over into the southern hemisphere until just after midnight.
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