We left a snowy Michigan on February 2nd toward a warmer climate. After two days of travel, we found ourselves on the sandy beaches of Daytona Beach Florida.
The sand and surf were welcome sights compared to the snow and slush we leff behind.
After another overnight in Ft. Lauderdale, we were shuttled to the cruise port there and boarded the Holland America Oosterdam for a 17 day Panama Canal cruise.
The Oosterdam was much less ornate than all the Royal Caribbean ships we've sailed on but served our needs. The main focus of this trip was to transit the Panama Canal and there were very few choices of ships that made the full ocean to ocean voyage.
Our first stop was Holland America's private island "Half Moon Cay"
We walked the beach there and waded in the water. The water was a bit cool so we didn't end up swimming. It wasn't that cold but did take some getting used to. Truth be told, the water temperature was probably as warm as the Great Lakes ever get in the summer. Yes...we're whimps.
The next day was at sea and we had a nice crossing of the Caribbean to Aruba.
We had nothing planned for Aruba other than a stroll into town so enjoyed the port scene from the Observation deck.
We spent quite a bit of time up there. It was a great place to enjoy the ride. Top deck at the front of the ship with a 270° view.
The next day was our final day in the Caribbean Sea. The conditions became a bit "sporty".
Those conditions rocked the ship a bunch although the stabilizers do an amazing job at keeping the ship steady. The problem is the stabilizers cause a shuttering of the hull as they fight to counteract the movement. No question that we had a vibrating mattress all night.
The next morning we entered the Panama Canal. It was still dark as we passed under the Atlantic Bridge and near dawn when we approached the first set of locks.
This photo shows the first set of locks with the Atlantic Bridge in the background. There are three locks here then a transit through Gatun Lake before entering another single lock followed by a set of two locks where we then entered the Pacific Ocean.
Interestingly enough, there is still some low-tech solutions being used here.
These guys deliver the lines from the trains (called "mules") that pull the ship through the lock systems. They said they used outboards for a while, but they weren't as reliable as a set of oars so reverted back to the manual mode of propulsion.
It was an interesting day and we learned a lot of the history of the canal.
Another day at sea and we were in Costa Rica. We took an excursion here to an animal sanctuary. The main purpose here was to see the sloths.
This is the three toed sloth. They're the cute ones that the cartoon characters are modeled after. Below is the two-toed sloth. They're not quite as cute.
These animals sleep something like 20 hours per day. Most of the sloths in the sanctuary were just balls of fur hanging in a tree.
We then toured a botanical garden and then arrived at an ox cart factory. These ox carts were used to transport the bags of coffee beans from the mountains to the ports.
They are all painted and the wheel construction is very specialized. The wheels are assembled from a series of pie shaped pieces and then banded with metal. They have a process that's been used for hundreds of years.
The artwork on these things were amazing and all hand painted by the artists at the factory.
The ship then made several stops along the Pacific coast in Nicaragua, Guatamala, and Mexico. It's definitely third world and very poor. We got off the ship a couple times and didn't spend much time ashore. Nicaragua was the worst with hoard of panhandlers looking to make a dollar.
We did enjoy Puerto Vallarta.
It's a touristy town with a vibrant waterfront.
We took a bus to the "old town" section and browsed the shops and walked the beach. As the heat rose, we returned to the ship and enjoyed the harbor sights.
Speaking of heat...that was a major issue in Central America for us. From Panama to Mexico, every day was full sunshine and mid to upper 90° heat. Add oppressive humidity to that, and touring in anything but an air conditioned bus was miserable.
At the end of the cruise, we arranged a trip to the San Diego Zoo because our return flight to Florida wasn't until evening.
That zoo is quite nice. I'd recommend it to anyone visiting that area. I was most entertained in the bird aviary. You enter it and walk in the midst of the birds...which are everywhere.
I don't know what it is about the birds but looking at the lions, tigers, hippos, giraffes, etc. didn't catch my attention as the birds. And to watch the flamingos for a while was mesmerizing.
So that finished off the 17 days of cruise activity. After an overnight flight back to Ft. Lauderdale, we drove down to the Keys and spent a couple nights in Key Colony Beach near Marathon and visited Key West.
Then a drive up the Florida gulf coast gave us our final day on the sea shore at Treasure Island before heading inland.
Two more days visiting friends in central Florida and we ventured north to Virginia to visit family and then return home after 30 days out and about.
Next on the agenda is to fire up the RV and/or maybe get a little work done on the Sea Ray.
