Panama City and Colon, Panama

When we finished passing through the locks, I quickly unloaded the pictures I took of the canal crossing.  While that was happening I got ready for our excursion to Panama City.  The ship is now anchored in the lake and after meeting with our excursion group; we take the tender to get to our bus at the dock.  Our tour will take us to old Panama City, ruins from the 1500 and 1600's. 

As we leave the docks, we get a glimpse of the new wider locks.  We actually drive on land that will not exist when the locks are finished.  You can see the new rolling gate that these locks will use.

We pass different parts of Gatun Lake on our way to Panama City.  This section, created when the valleys were flooded to create the very large Gatun Lake, still has tree trunks exposed above the water line. 

Just before we get to Panama, a building is pointed out high on a hill side.  The tour guide tells us that the building, which looks like a bee hive, is a Monastery. 

Driving through a part of the city, near the old ruins of the first Panama City, we come across power lines.  We have seen a number of the poles like this, just filed with a rat’s nest of wires.  Guess they do not have any rules or laws that limit this type of line clutter.  Wonder if they have many power outages?

Panama Viejo, or the old ruins of it, is our first stop on our tour.  Our guide tells us that the old city was first settled in 1519 and was the first permanent European settlement on the pacific coast, Spanish in this case.  Panama Viejo became a city in 1521. 

Walking through the ruins we find out that, after Panama Viejo was abandoned, the bricks were taken by neighboring residents.  They would collect the bricks to use for new buildings and residences.

More of the Panama Viejo ruins.

As we continued pass more ruins, we came upon this tree while walking along the walkway.  It looks like a Banyan tree or a similar type of tree, dropping branches that become part of the root system.  It is nicely symmetrical.   

Across the walkway from the banyan tree is an Almond tree, with a number of fruits on the tree.

The tower near the end of the group of ruins we have passed is four stories above the ground.  On the left side of the tower, you can see what looks like a modern circular stairway.  Not sure if it was made to show what it might have been, but it goes nowhere.  Inside the tower is a modern staircase, so we took the stairs to go up to the top floor, all 125 steps of them.  In either case is is pretty impressive for an early to mid 1500's building.

I call this; moth on flower.

Part of a wall from one of the old high rises, with a new high rise in the background.

We climbed to the top of the 4-story tower and from the upper level you can clearly see the grounds.  Modern stairs and platforms inside the tower allow entry to the different levels.

Looking the other way across the bay, from the top floor of the tower, you can see the high rises in Panama City.

More close ups of the ruins, these with an arch clearly visible.

Leaving the old ruins of Panama Viejo, we head into the new modern city of Panama.  As we begin to enter the city we pass an area not quite so modern.  Looks like fishing boats that didn’t go out today.  Clearly visible are the houses in the background in the not-so-new part of town, each with their satellite dish.

Check out this building we passed while driving to our next stop.  Sure would like to see what the inside of this building looks like.  Now those are corner offices.  Also, looks like a new building going up right next to it.

Check out this reflection on a glass building we were passing, thought it was interesting.

This is how the rest of the people live in Panama.  Or at least those that do not live in the condo buildings like the ones in the background.

More of the power and telephone wires jumbled on the poles.  I can’t get over the number and jumble of wires that they have on these telephone poles.  We past some poles that were so messed up it looked like a wire junk pile. 

We get to our next stop and begin the walking tour of the old walled city and turn down several narrow streets.  We travel several small streets and alleys stopping at a shop or two and eventually reach the Basilica Metropolitana de Santa Maria la Antigua, the Cathedral of Panama City.

We are inside looking at the front of the Basilica, very colorful.  As we were leaving there is a date on a floor tile indicating the year 1875.  Not sure what the date references, the date the basilica was built or something else.

One of the bell towers of the Basilica.  You can see that trees are growing up from the merlons on the roof.  One of those looks like it has been there for some time 3-4 years at least.

Next we arrive at one of the several “shopping” places on our tour.  These are small 8 by 15 foot booths sent in a large building like a flea market.  A number of the “shops” had masks, in one of the booths in the indoor market had these masks available. 

Again, as we travel down more of the narrow streets, we see more balconies on the buildings, these have large bunches of flowers and plants. 

As we are walking back to the bus to end both our walking tour and the tour of Panama, I see this building which I thought looked interesting.  With its tree growing out of the wall and the roots growing down the wall looks very medieval. 

Leaving Panama City in the bus, I get one last view of the high rises with the Pacific Ocean in the background and also fishing boats in the front.

Back on the Atlantic side we reach the Port of Colon where we meet the ship.  It is beginning the docking process here from the return from Gatun Lake and the trip back through the Gatun locks.  The shopping center where we wait to board the ship is as colorful as some of the houses we have seen here in Panama.

Tomorrow we will dock early in Limon, Costa Rica where our plan is to visit a banana plantation.

Panama Canal, Gatun Locks, Panama

Today we transit the Panama Canal to Gatun Lake where we will disembark for our tour to Panama City.  The night before, like most passengers, we went to bed early; I was eager to wake up around 4am to enjoy our journey through the Panama Canal.

I was up early to get the place I had scoped out to take my time lapsed pictures as we travel through the locks.  When I said early I mean 3:30am.  After speaking to someone who has been on a Panama Canal trip, they said to get up a couple of hours before to get to where you want to stand, hence the original 4:00 am early rise.  However, after reading someone’s travel blog about going through the canal (in this case west to east) they indicated they got to the front of the ship two hours before starting to enter the canal.  Only they found there were already many people already packed along the rails with coffee and pastry.

So I get up at 3:30 am and head to where I want to watch and take pictures.  No one is there and the door is roped off.  So I wait and go to the buffet area and get my own coffee and pastry.  I return to the front deck several times and finally by 5:00 am and still no one there I go under the rope barrier and through the door.  It is still dark, but I set up my camera and equipment, by flashlight, to take my time-lapse pictures of going through the Gatun Locks.  The sun is rising on our left before we enter the locks.  

As we begin to enter the beginning of the locks, we come to a "V" in the river.  Our route will take us to the right.  The left route is for the new wider locks that are in the process of being built.  The new locks will allow much larger and wider ships to pass through the canal.  The gates in the new locks are roller type while the older locks are a two gate "valve" that shuts and the water pressure holds it closed.  The newer locks will open soon.

Accompanying us is a cargo ship on our side of the locks, in the lock in front of us and a container ship in the locks to our right.  As we enter the locks, it seems that we barely fit within the lock walls.  We hook up to the "mules" which are train engines that will keep tension on the ropes to ensure we stay in the center of the lock.  You can see one traveling with us on the left side of the ship in the video.

As we leave the last lock, I stopped taking my time-lapse pictures and quickly go to our room to unload the pictures (over 700) to the computer and get ready to leave for our excursion.  I also have to get ready for our excursion.  After reaching the lake we anchored off shore, in the cue area for the ship to return through the locks.  Here we will disembark the ship via a launch to reach shore where we will begin our tour.

The 24 second time-lapse movie representing the 2 hours it took us to go through the locks.

Cartagena, Columbia

Today we are in Cartagena, Columbia and we are to meet our tour excursion at 7:30 am.  Leaving the ship, we meet up with our tour guide and get on the bus.  We try to be on the first bus since there are 2 or 3 buses doing the same tour and I want to take pictures before there are a lot of people in the way.  On our way to the first destination, we pass through town where there are some nice window arrangements.

Some of the houses we passed on our way to the first stop, like these next to a small park where the trees have multi-colored painted trunks, are brightly colored.

Our first stop on the tour is Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas (Fort of San Felipe).  Construction began in 1536 by the Spanish, expanded in 1657 and then again in 1762.  Entry to the fort is by a fairly steep walkway.

Here is Carmen standing near the base of the fort wall.  You can see the height of the wall compared to Carmen’s height.  

One of the few people we saw acting in period roles and manning the fort.  He was adamant that I take his picture.  As a matter of fact, every time I passed him by, either saluting (as seen here) or blowing his horn.

Near the top of the fort, we have a good view of modern Cartagena.  You can see the bridge crossing the waterway of the bay.  Just on the right side of the picture, about 1/3 of the way up, you can see the wall of the "old walled city".  On the otherside of the high rises is the Caribbean Sea.

We are about half way to the upper level where the bell and watch towers are located.  You can see how clear it is out, not a cloud in the sky.

Another section of the fort wall with modern Cartagena's skyline in the background.  The walls are angled so that when cannon balls hit the wall, they bounce up causing less damage to the walls.

Carmen at one end of a tunnel built through the upper fort wall.  In a last ditch effort, the defenders would be able to use this as a killing field by forcing the invaders to attack through this passage.

There are several watch towers along the walls; this one of several watch towers overlooks the city and the sea. We have a clear view of the entire area.  From this tower a full 180° site of the entire city.  In the distance you can see the Caribbean Sea.

From the top level of the fort you can see the flag of Columbia flying over other levels of the fort, as well as the sea and parts of the modern day Cartagena.  There are also a couple of other tour groups passing through and learning about the fort.

While we were at the top level of the fort, I caught Carmen sitting on one of the steps which overlooks the wall.  In the background are the bell tower and the upper watch tower.  To the left is part of our tour group learning about some of the bricks and heading into a shop.

Another side of the fort: in its time it was the most important work of Spanish military engineering in South America.

I could show you many more pictures of the fort, but both time and space somewhat limits me to the pictures above.  While here, while both going up and down the fort’s ramp there are many vendors selling hats, shirts, table cloths, jewelry, you name it it’s for sale.  Here are some of the hats that were available.

As we head to our bus we get a full view of the fort, providing the size and height of the structure.  You can tell the size by the people walking up the walkway, on the left, on their way to the top of the fort.  Also there is a man next to the watch tower on top by the bell tower.

While we were leaving the fort, there were a number of people, dressed in various costumes and they would let you take a picture with them, for a price of course.  I took the picture from a distance.  We were told that this is the job they have chosen and that is why they want money for taking their picture.  

In addition to people dressed in costumes, one man had a three-toed sloth which you could hold, for a price, and have your picture taken.  While this lady held the sloth, I just took a quick picture from afar and hoped it came out.

One of the many street vendors we saw while traveling through town. This one selling oranges.

We stopped at a shopping “center” called Las Bóvedas, once dungeons, where I found another woman with fruit balanced on her head.  Not sure if she was there to sell the fruit or waiting for someone to want to take her picture.

Here is a good view of the length of the shopping area.  Each door, on the right is coupled with an arch on the street.  You can see the number of shops along this section of the building, there were more behind me.  Notice the man just to the left, at the second arch, he is selling hats and has them all stacked on his head, he'll sell you any one of them.  It is kind of hard to see, but all of the men selling hats, shirts, or whatever, all have the same flowered shirt.

We begin our walking portion of the tour through the old walled city, with its narrow streets, you get a view of the old buildings, many of which have balconies.  Each building has its own colors and styles. Without a doubt each balcony is made in a different style.  Looking down the street there isn't one that is the same.

The old Spanish Colonial buildings along the streets are each painted in their own bright colors; all different on doors, building walls, and balconies. 

There are many different types of balconies from a full balcony, as seen in the above pictures, to this “Romeo and Juliet” balcony all in bright colors. 

For our next destination, we head into the Inquisition Museum of Columbia (Palacio de la Inquisición).  Yes, a museum of the same inquisition that happened in Spain and the rest of Europe.  In the museum we see various implements for “confession”.  There were many rooms with various tools along with outside spaces for hangings and other methods.

Here are some of the street vendors we have seen trying to sell their wares.  The vendors here have their product laid out on blankets.  Most of the items for sale included jewelry, bags, hats and other items.  

Various spaces around the old walled city included churches and small alleyways with very nice architecture.  The bell tower in the background is from La catedral de Cartagena.

Iglesia San Pedro Claver Sanctuary, an old church.  The sanctuary is next to a large square with many different shops, restaurants and banks.

There are several sculptures in the square in front of Iglesia San Pedro Claver.  Here are a few of them.  The sculptures represent chess players, a women sewing, a group playing dominoes, and other activities.

Before we go into the Iglesia San Pedro Claver Sanctuary, we walked around the square and the shops when we noticed a couple of hawks in the tree.  There have been many birds around, but none have been this close to us to get a good picture.  Glad these stuck around for a while.

Inside the Sanctuary is a garden where the trees are allowed to grow.  The atrium has many different plants and sculptures, including a small bell arch.

As we leave the atrium, we pass through several rooms which have some of the churches artifacts from years past.  Here statutes, paintings, crucifixes, and the spare alter.

The front dais and alter from the inside of the church.  The bottom of the alter contains the remains of the Sanctuary’s name sake.  This is still a working Catholic Church.

After leaving the church and before returning to the ship, we walked to a hall where we are treated to some of the areas traditional dances.  The group did several dances while accompanied by several musicians playing some traditional songs.  

Back on the bus and on our way back to the ship, we pass a number of beaches where there are tents and umbrellas, that are available for rent.  For a Friday there were quite a few people at the beach.

As we begin leaving the dock and sailing out of the port of Cartagena, Columbia, we see some of the high rises with the Fort of San Felipe
 in the background.

Following our route out of the bay we slip away from Cartagena.   Even though you can see the Caribbean Sea on the left side of the picture, we still have a few miles to go before we get the to bay/sea entrance.

As we leave the bay we see the small fort protecting the head waters and bay.   This fort is what pirates like Captain Morgan would face when attacking Cartagena, before getting to face the Fort of San Felipe.

Not much of a sunset tonight.  There are many clouds covering the horizon and block the sun, but still you can see the sun's rays breaking through the clouds.

At Sea

We are back for another day at sea.  We missed the sunrise since we slept in late getting up at 7:30 am, but in any case the sun was behind the clouds by the time we get on deck.  Still the sun and clouds look impressive. 

By 9:00 am the temperature reaches 80°.  We spend most of the day sitting alongside the pool reading, listening to music and watching a movie.  Later in the afternoon, the sun is still behind the clouds on the horizon.  The sun's rays are clearly seen coming through the clouds.

At sunset, there were still too many clouds way off on the horizon which obscured the sunset.  However, a little before the sun went down there were a few spectacular views while the sun was behind clouds.