Thursday, April 13- the Long Layover

My flight out of Kansas City was scheduled to land in Atlanta at 11:30 AM.  My flight from Atlanta to Panama City, Panama left 7 hours later.  Paranoid?  You bet I am.  Of course, everything ran on time and I was left with a long, leisurely stay in the Delta Crown Room in Atlanta, which was fine with me.

This was the nicest airline lounge I'd ever seen in the US- of course, Atlanta is a Delta hub, but in the US, you mostly expect stale munchies and an adult beverage or two.  (Yes, American Airlines, I'm talking to you.)  There was a plentiful selection of food and a well-stocked open bar.  I love airline lounges because they're so much more peaceful.  Even the bathrooms are more civilized.

Little luxuries.

Interesting display of confiscated items, mostly ivory.

We left on time for Panama City; the flight took us over Cuba, making me wish I had a better camera to capture aerial views at night from a plane window.  It was still a wonderful flight.  This was my first time using my own device to stream in-flight entertainment-a good innovation.

We arrived at about 10 PM but by the time I cleared Immigration, got my bag and caught up with the driver form the cruise line and the other people on my flight who were taking the cruise, it was almost midnight before I got into my hotel room.  I poured myself an inch of duty-free scotch and fell asleep easily.

Friday, April 14- Exploring Panama City

I woke up this morning to insistent tapping on a door.  I hoped it was someone else’s, but after a couple of unanswered attempts, my door was unlocked and pushed partly opened.  I yelled at them In English not to come in.  The door closed.  Indignant, I checked the time.  It was 10 AM.  Oops.  I’d just missed breakfast/  Oh, well.  I guess I needed sleep more than food.

I made coffee in the room, had a protein bar and headed out.  Good Friday is not the day to explore Panama City.   They told me all the museums were closed. I went out anyway, taking the well-strolled and well-patrolled Costa Cintura along the water, enjoying the beautiful flowers and people-watching.  

The old section of Panama, which was about an hour’s walk, was a really mixed bag.  The only open restaurants I could find were in a central plaza, populated by locals, with mostly fish on the menu.  That’s probably the freshest fish you can get but I was still a little paranoid that fish might be a great place to harbor unfamiliar bacteria if it weren’t carefully prepared, so I kept going.   There was a lot of beautiful old architecture, much of it in disrepair (but some being rebuilt) and a lot of poverty if you looked down the side streets. 

The new Panama City, seen from the old section.

That, of course, contrasted with the eclectic architecture of the new office buildings and luxury apartments.

I finally ended up having lunch at a restaurant with an outside porch`- shrimp in tomato sauce, a nice salad, Perrier but not the beer I requested because it was Good Friday and sale of alcohol was prohibited.   They spoke very little English but I was surprised at how much rudimentary Spanish I remembered and I had a good meal.  On the way home I stopped at a convenience store and, still ravenously thirsty, bought Diet Coke (“Sin Calorias”), a couple of bottles of Pellegrino water and a fruit pop.

Entrance to my hotel, the Bristol.

Saturday, April 15- Panama Canal Transit

I woke up at a reasonable hour and when I saw the breakfast buffet (included in the room rate), I immediately regretted sleeping so late that I missed it the day before!  Oh, well, I guess I needed a rest.

Before boarding the ship for our transit through the Panama Canal,  we were taken to the Visitor's Center, which showcased the most recent additions to the Canal, meant to take on additional traffic and bigger ships.

Visitors' Center

A mega-ship being pulled into the Canal by tugboats.

We began our transit around 8 PM.  I'd thought that this transit would be a "nice-to-have" experience and found later that this was a Bucket List item for many people.  It was fascinating.

Locks closing behind us.

Our compartment filling with water.

Wind turbine blades being transported by another ship.

When I first found that the trip started with a transit through the Panama Canal, I knew I had to deposit some of Ron's ashes there.  I later discovered that a childhood friend of Ron’s had scattered some of the ashes of another of their friends in the Panama Canal a few years ago.

I waited till we were in the first lock, went off to a quiet spot on one side of the ship, said a few prayers and dropped the packet overboard, watching it disappear.  

We finally reached the Atlantic side at 1 AM.  I have to confess I'd gone to bed way before then.  I needed my rest for all the adventures ahead!

Sunday, April 16- Isla Iguana

This was Easter Sunday but didn't feel like it out in the middle of Nature.

Isla Iguana is a National Park and many people come in from the mainland to enjoy the swimming and hiking.

We didn’t see iguanas but saw plenty of hermit crabs, black vultures, frigates, a yellow warbler, ans brown pelicans.  A sign pointed to a crater from WW II bomb testing.  Training for Vietnam occurred here, too. 

Sign pointing to a site where the US tested bombs in WW II.

The crater.

Sign pointing to remains of lighthouse ("faro")

Probably the remains of the lighthouse.

Selfie in my room.  I loved to read and look out the window.

The deck.  Sometimes it felt like my own private yacht.

The low-tech, friendly way to let the crew know whether you were on or off the boat.  "Don't forget to move your magnets!"  I was in 207.