NOVEMBER PANAMA CRUISE 2009
Nov. 8th we left Portland and flew to LA and embarked the Coral Princess for this exciting Panama Canal Cruise with Bill and Leah. The first place we went was Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico. We have been there before and really enjoyed the warm air and the beautiful scenery. I love the "Chiclett Kids" (we bought about $10.00) and of course had to go the the Hard Rock Cafe for Bob and the Jewelry Stores for Leah Jane. Bill is a good sport to put up with all of this!!
This is a Lobster we caught and put on a building before we left the city - bet you couldn't tell.
Beautiful Acapulco and the famous Cliff Divers. It was pretty amazing to watch them dive. Many of them go blind because of the pressure of going into the water. They now have more divers and try to spread out the number of times that they dive in a week. They also know how to work the crowd after their dives.
Hautulco, Mexico is a beautiful government planned community. They are already putting in 4 lane highways and planning great things for this area. This is an older hotel with a great view. Hautulco has 7 bays like this one. A very scenic place to go.
COSTA RICA - PUNTATERAS
We had a great time in Costa Rica. We went off the ship and got out own tour. We rode in a van into the mountains for about 1 1/2 hours then got on horses and rode for 1 hour. We then did the zip lines. It was over 4 kilometers of ziplines, 25 lines and 2 repelling lines (because it was to steep to zip), over waterfalls and streams the whole time. It took the whole day. At the beginning the guides told us once you started you had to finish because there was no other way out. Sometimes we went from tree to platform in tree, to platform on the ground. It was very exciting.
PANAMA CANAL
The biggest attraction of the trip was the Canal. We spent the day before in Puerto Amador just outside the canal. Bob was not able to go off the ship because he was quarantined for the H1N1. I didn't go because my knee was swollen from zip lining. I did finally go ashore with Leah to do some shopping. The next moring we went into the canal. Just as you get past the downtown area and look on the starboard side (right), you can see the Panama Temple. There is a picture below. The 3 sets of locks are amazing. The manmade lake, the dredging that continues and the beautiful country side make this really one of the wonders of the world. They have started a new canal for super tankers that will meet the canal at the bridge of the Americas. It was fascinating to watch all that was going on.
The Temple
The Bridge of the Americas - Bob is still in Quarentine but....
Cartagena, Columbia
Before the cruise, I read many things about the different places we were going to visit and Cartegena had warnings not to go there alone. However, when arrived we found that all the drug lords had moved to Juarez, near the US border and therefore it is a very safe place to visit. We had a great time visiting the old town. These shops are set up in the old prisons. It is a beautiful city with great museums. Columbia is known for its emeralds. Leah bought an emerald here.
We also went to Aruba, and of course the only thing to do is to shop and shop. I lasted about 1/2 and hour and then went back to the ship. Bill and Leah shopped for about another hour and Bob gets the shopper of the year award for perseverance and finding the Hard Rock Cafe!!
Coral Princess This is the time of the cruise where you have to scrub up and look like you're going to the Senior High School prom. Fine looking couples, don't you think?
