World cruise 5

Not really back in business, but we'll make a start doing it the long, hard way.

January 11

We spent the majority of the day transiting the Panama Canal. The first photo is of the gates at the Gatun locks closing behind us as a another cruise ship (which never got close enough to identify, but someone said it was one of the Silver Seas ships) approaches the locks on the other side.

Next is a photo as we move into the third lock with Gatun Lake in the background. The locks are only 4 feet wider than our ship which leaves literally very little rom for error. They are building new locks at each end of the canal which will serve much bigger ships and be much more efficient in using and reusing the vast amounts of water it takes to raise and lower big ships 85 feet.

We spent a long time almost inching through Gatun Lake. I suspect that was due to heavy traffic through the canal. I wonder whether that will change when they open the new locks in a couple of years.

The third photo is of the mystery ship and our escort tug following us through the Culebra Cut. To me, this is the most interesting portion of the canal as it is where they had to dig the canal through the backbone of the isthmus.

The last photo is the Pan American Bridge over the canal at Panama City. The Pan American Highway goes from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. I've been to the southern end, but not the northern one.

Although we were past the Panama Canal, at dinner everyone, including the waiters and other dining room staff were given Panama hats (made in China) to wear. I have promised M that I will get her a real Panama hat while we are at Manta, Ecuador since that's where the real ones are made. She's going on some sort of wildlife tour there while my tour will visit an area where I should be able to find her a hat.

January 12

Chugging along off the South American coast...way off. At noon we were 120 miles north of the (west) coast of Colombia. The weather has been mostly cloudy, hazy and quite warm with an occasional shower. The ocean has been very smooth.

I am hoping that Mike can show me a better way to upload photos to my blog because I spent a frustrating hour trying to get yesterday's post and photos done with no success. He says it's easy...we'll see.

Oh, by the way, for those of you who know me in person, the other evening at dinner I actually ate some cauliflower and have two witnesses, maybe three if the waiter happened to be looking. I was not impressed.