Florence the Zebra takes on the Panama Canal and the Island Princess!

[Rootie8715]

I'm not getting jealous or anything, but my rhinoceros Charlotte has been looking foreword to her trip on the Coral next month. She has visited six continents and is looking forward to visiting Colombia.

 

 

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[Rootie8715]

And she can't spell well either.

 

 

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[Retiring cajun]

Thx for tips[emoji4]

 

 

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[jennybenny]

And she can't spell well either.

 

 

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She's bigger than Florence. Does she travel well? [emoji2]

 

 

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[ar1950]

...............................

That evening’s showtime was Duncan Tuck................................

 

There's a name from the past. I wondered what became of him. I knew him from years ago back in Denver.

 

 

Thanks for doing the review.

[bluenoser2]

And she can't spell well either.

 

 

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Lol.....she'd get along really well with Florence who can't space well! Thanks for introducing her. I'll make sure Florence sees her pic when she wakes up.

[bluenoser2]

February 21, Tuesday: LAND HO! ARUBA!

 

Two days Atsea is enough for The Mr., which is why he will never be seen on a cruise to Hawaii or a Trans-Atlantic. I guess Florence and I will have to find another companion if we want to do that. But who would fix everything? Who would……..I think I’ll just pass on those itineraries for now. Florence can tag along with someone else.

And now, a word about our shower. If I had a shower later in the morning there was loads of hot water, but if, like this morning, I got up early, there was none to be had. I think the water must come from Horizon Court, and just gets tired by the time it gets to our room. Some days it was fine, and others, it was….like this morning. Bracing. I do not like bracing in the morning. I like Embracing, but not BRACING. If I wanted BRACING, I could have just stayed home and gone outside.

Being situated where our cabin was, we were among a gaggle of suites, and there was a whole lot of room service going on this morning. Not for us hardy passengers! We joined the masses in the buffet and had a hearty breakfast….but without tea. No telling when I’d be able to use facilities, or what they’d be like….and well, I’m particular. So, no tea. The gangway was clear by 7:00 am and our tour was to meet at 7:30.

Oh. Right. I’m on CC. And I have to now admit with great embarrassment and chagrin that we did ALL Princess tours on this cruise. We don’t usually do this, I want to make that clear. It’s just how it worked out for us this time. Unfamiliar territory, illness, keeping things simple……. have I got enough of your sympathy for you to stay with me? I’m sorry. I will continue to apologize for caving and using ship tours, throughout the rest of this review. I AM CANADIAN. I WILL APOLOGIZE whenever I feel like it. Sorry. That was kind of aggressive. Please don’t leave now.

Anyway……..The adventurous snorkeling tour goers we were. Nestled amidst the beach going tours in the dining room meeting place. There were about 40 of us on our tour (suck those disapproving gasps back in – I know that’s a big tour but it never seemed bad, because everyone on that tour could walk unaided and we kept saying “we are the adventurous snorkelers” as if to convince ourselves of how adventurous we indeed were. (Some of us were a little skeptical of our own personal adventurous spirit.)

We briefly stood ON LAND while leaderless, shepherdless, lost and alone – if 40 people with pink group #5 stickers and bright green waiver sheets can feel alone – until an employee showed up, called a tour number none of us really remembered, and briskly led us the 20 feet or so through the gate to board our catamaran. That was our land portion of our tour. The catamaran Rumba was our vessel for the remainder of the excursion. We had a fantastic crew, Randy was the voice of the ocean as it were, fun and funny, but able to bartend/lifeguard and guide simultaneously. Well, maybe not simultaneously, but pretty close.

We had proudly remembered to bring Florence along (there’s been many a vacation where we accidentally left her in our room for most of the trip), a little concerned that there was no life vest for her, and brought her out as we set off for some photo ops. The couple across from us exclaimed with delight and I thought “Oh! It’s finally happened! A Florence fan from CC is going to want her autograph!” But no, she proceeded to pull Monty the Monkey out of her bag, and the two little ones had enough time to exchange e-mail addresses and promise to friend each other on FB before their guardians whisked them away.

We lined up and received our snorkeling gear while we sailed to our destination. Only juice and soda were provided at the bar on the way to eliminate possible inebriation-induced hallucinations while snorkeling.

 

 

The “sail” to our first destination was lovely -the weather was perfect and the conditions on the boat were comfortable, and we didn’t feel crowded at all. First destination was the shipwreck spot. This is where I had to muster all my courage and try to remember how to put my face in salt water without spluttering, gagging, or any other embarrassing reaction. We took the “easy way” off the cat – which meant by the time we waited for all the other easy people to get off, we were pretty much the last to get into the water. The cool refreshing clear blue water. Once in and determined, I was fine, and it all came back to me except that the floaty vest we had to wear was a little too floaty and kept coming up around my neck in a most unattractive way. No matter, I floated around, and gazed at the fishies below and the wreck. There were a few other tour boats in the area (not sunken, they were above the water line), but everyone had room to maneuver easily.

Back on the boat, we travelled a short distance this time, and were close off shore for more clear blue water, sandy beaches (if you got that far which we didn’t) and more little pretty fishes to gaze at. Choosing the more adventurous route to get off the boat (because after all, we WERE the adventurous snorkelers), I attempted a graceful jump off the back, avoiding the even more adventurous entry via the water slide off the back. Note “attempted”. Graceful does not include the gasping upon surfacing, and spitting salt water out of one’s mouth and, well, I won’t lie, nose. Graceful does not include the hacking, coughing and snorting one suffers to sever ties with salt water inhaled and ingested. I looked ahead to the front of the boat, where everyone going in “the easy way” had long since entered the water. Sigh. Adventure reigns.

Florence briefly considers the waterslide, then decides she would rather not get her bow mussed.

[AF-1]

keep em coming. still love the zebra

[bluenoser2]

I’m all for appreciating those pretty little fishies. Unless they came too close. Then I didn’t gaze. I paddled strongly in a totally non-plussed way. To get them to go a leeeeeetle further away from my face. It really was very relaxing and a lot of fun. Unless you forgot to look where you were going. And ran into someone’s fin. Ortheir elbow. I normally wear fairly strong prescription lenses, so when under water I could see more than I thoughtI would be able to, but when I joined all the bobbing heads above the water, it was a little difficult to determine who The Mr. was. So I calmly just stayed with the pack and made no possibly embarrassing overtures to anyone.

 

 

 

After enjoying ourselves to the max, we returned to the boat and gave up our incredibly stylish snorkeling gear. Tea or no tea, it was imperative that I use some facilities, whatever their state. IMPORTANT TIP: If you are a woman, and you think there’s any chance you may need to use facilities during your excursion – opt for a two piece suit – seems obvious, but just sayin’. (I did.) So it was down the hatch I went to visit the girls’ room. It’s always good to have a standard to measure with. My standard ofmeasurement is Russian toilets. So really, nothing can bother me. I wouldn’t go back for a repeat visit to the loo on board the Rumba, but once my business there was finished, and I returned to my bag for my hand sanitizer (since the tap in said loo weren’t operational), I was good to go. To the open bar. For a rum punch. To get the salt out of my system. Yep. The Mr. opted for a Coke, and Florence was just transfixed by the sparkly hand sanitizer in the bag where she resided.

 

Another enjoyable passage back to the ship, with happy music playing, and lots of room to sit or stretch out in the sun – whatever your heart desired. The Mr.’s heart apparently desired to take pictures. Totally unflattering picturesof me, that will not be seen in this review. All that scenery, and he has to take pictures of me…taking pictures of Florence? And drinking? And……anyway.

 

 

With our short port stay, everyone was getting back to the ship at the same time, so there was a lineup all the way through the port shop to get back on. I grabbed a bill from The Mr. and quickly found a magnet to purchase, and stepped back into line with him and soon we were back “home”, just minutes before12:00 noon which was the all aboard time. (That’s just my subtle way of saying I was glad to be on a ship tour this time…next time I’d take a taxi and see the land.)

 

After quick refreshing showers, we decided it was a good day to try out Alfredo’s Pizza which is in Sabatini’s at lunch time on some of the days. Not all. It pays to read your patter. This was a great option as no one seems to know about it or maybe they just don’t like pizza. There were only a few people in the restaurant and we gobbled our pizzas after all that water sport. On the other ships where there is an actual Alfredo’s pizza place in the atrium, the menu is a little more extensive. This was just several types of pizza.

Sooooo….that meant we could go have dessert elsewhere, right? Right. We first went to our secret deck at the back and watched as Aruba faded into the distance, then headed for dessert at the buffet. Uh oh…today there was apricot crumble with that vanilla sauce. Our overworked waiter from last night in the dining room was our server at the buffet and he seemed so happy to see us, and he was far more relaxed today.

[bluenoser2]

Objects in photograph appear larger than they really are. Really. REALLY!

After having totally enough sun in the morning, we headed down to the Atrium to do some reading, and experience some air conditioning, but then of course I got chilly,so we went in search of loungers on the Promenade deck, which, after a little diligent searching we found. The 2 loungers together, not the promenade deck. I alternated reading with snoozing, and thankfully The Mr. didn’t have his camera ready to take pics of THAT!

 

Tonight we were seated at table #44, a table we would get to re-visit a few times along the way. This was a nice area, and the waiters were good – all the waiters were good, just to be clear – we just didn’t connect with any of them such that we would request being at their table always and forever.

 

Tonight there was asparagus (party streamers and applause from inside my head) for an app so I was a happy camper…er…cruiser. Love my asparagus. The Mr. of course had….anyone want to hazard a guess? Yup, you guessed it – fettucine. There was a shrimp and scallop cocktail he also partook of with the teeny tiniest little scallops we had ever seen! There was a pork chop for him for main course and tilapia with orange hollandaise sauce for me. Oh, I said the H word….hollandaise. I would eat anything with hollandaise on top. Or on the bottom. Or just in a bowl by itself. I’m a pretty saucy kinda girl. I have to have crème brulee once in a cruise, so this was the night (and Princess does do this better than Carnival in my humble opinion.)

 

We had learned by this time that it is indeed imperative to get to the theatre early for seats together so you aren’t one of the Lost, entering 10 minutes before and having to be separated from your dear ones as you all scramble for single seats. And on a night like tonight when there were 2 shows instead of 3, it was even more important to get there early,with puzzles, games or drinks in hand to occupy oneself with for the wait.

 

“The Piano Man” presentation was a lot of fun and well done. I am never sure whether to be embarrassed by the fact that I know every word to every Barry Manilow song and that they all make me so happy, but so be it. Billy Joel and Elton John were the other piano men paid tribute to.

 

We decided we really ought to experience Ray Cousins’ piano stylings in Crooners since we always seemed to end up in entirely different places on the ship this time of night, so we sat for awhile to listen to him. He’s good, but just not our style of entertainment. Others certainly enjoy his presentation.

 

After checking out the desserts in Horizon, we ambled over to the Love boat Disco Deck Party. After many unsuccessful tries at getting their multi-media presentation to work, it did finally and wasn’t really worth the wait, but fun to see the actors from The Love Boat on screen wishing us a happy time. And the Princess dancers came out to help with the passengers dancing – there WERE more participating now than at Sailaway – I guess everyone had loosened up and truly begun to embrace vacation mode.

As fun as the music of the seventies was, we were tuckered out and headed off to our room, without doing TOO many John Travolta poses along the way. Or BeeGee’s impersonations. Just the right amount.

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review and the nice photos.

[perfect match]

I'm glad to see that Florence was able to join you on your snorkeling tour, and she was even able to make a new friend in Monty the Monkey! :D

 

I really am enjoying the entire review, Marla, not just the adventures of Florence the Zebra. We will be stopping at Aruba for our first visit there on our next cruise. I am considering a similar snorkeling excursion as one of our choices, so I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it and that it didn't seem too crowded to you. Thank you for sharing.

[bluenoser2]

February 22, Wednesday: Cartagena, Columbia

 

It’s a new day, a new dawn, a new….CONTINENT for us! Omelettes all around this morning before sneaking out to the front secret deck (stop shaking your heads at me – I know you all know where the secret decks are) to view the approach to Cartagena.

With the ship not getting into port until 9:00 we had a leisurely time to get ready. Final comfort stops were made, sunscreen and repellant applied, and we were off to meet our (yeah, Princess) group at 9:00.

This was a very popular tour as we knew it would be and since it didn’t require a huge amount of athletic ability, we could not label ourselves adventurous today. After the torturously slow passage down the stairs to get off the ship, we found our way to the coach, received our silver badges, AND we all got “Eddie” stickers today. Eddie, a 74 year old bundle of energy and information would be our guide, known and loved everywhere we went.

 

Our first stop was the fortress where we made our way up to the top (“Take your time, take yourtime….”) ever so slowly, which was alright since the heat wasn’t inviting any unnecessary movement. We venturedthrough tunnels that were very dark (especially when one forgets to exchange one’s prescription sunglasses for regulars) with the instructions “Single file – PASSIT ON”. Single file was a pretty obvious choice.

 

 

Near the top therewas a bugle/trumpet player dressed in period costume. Able to play the first line of “God BlessAmerica”, he would quickly switch to an incorrect version of the first line of “O Canada” before going to “Yellow Submarine” in case there were any British in the throngs.

 

If you were to ask what the most memorable thing about Cartagena was for me, it would be that it wins for the most persistent and somewhat aggressive vendors. Not in a way that would make me fear for my life, just for my sanity and good-naturedness. As much as Florence whined to get her picture taken with a lady with a fruit basket on her head, I told her sternly that there was no way I was spendinga dollar for that, thus inviting every other fruit bearing woman to expect the same. Tough love.

 

 

(We took Florence to see the horsies since we wouldn't let her pose with the fruit)

“The Price is Going Down” and “Almost Free” were refrains that stuck in our heads long after our departure, but I digress. Back tothe tour.

 

After the fortress, a short drive took us to the market – now we could be hot AND crowded. I believe there were something like 21 shops along this little road, all air conditioned. All guarded by the ever present outdoor vendors selling belts and purses. We figured out the plot…..they are all employed by the same conglomerate – but some have to stay outside and be the annoying “in your face” vendors that drive you to go inside…where you will spend more money than you would have outside. Clever. Very clever. We saw right through their scheme and purchased ONE, yes ONE magnet.

 

[Bonnie1750]

We are less than a week away from the start of our adventure on the Island. We are enjoying your narrative so much.

 

 

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[Sackat60]

I am loving your narrative! The light-hearted style and great pics are very enjoyable and are getting me even more excited for our cruise coming up fast! We are leaving from SF on the 15th for the reverse cruise. Thank you for posting!

[Posaune]

There seem to be a lot of us on the March 15th cruise that are following your posts! Thank you very much.

[bluenoser2]

Cartagena, Continued......

(Apparently even in my unfocussed vision, I was just a blur...going so quickly...yes, that's it.)

We drove a little more until we got out for a walk in the Old City. Here I did get suckered in for some cheap artwork because I just had so much fun watching him create a painting on mirrored glass in less than 3 minutes. And it was 2 for $10 so I didn’t feel like I had parted with my life savings. Florence complained a little about having to share her cramped space with my “stuff” (I liked to call it Local Artisan creation) but got over it. She’s like that.

 

 

Everywhere we went people would call out “Eddie!” and at one spot we got to be entertained by a group of street kids that he knew, who were fantastic dancers. It was a treat, especially since it was in a shady area. (I am NOT complaining aboutthe heat….just to be clear.)

 

 

OK, if you’relooking for place names and such, I kind of took a vacation from remembering the names of most of the places we visited this day, so if you see something you recognize please feel free to share its name with me. Which is to say we went inside a church courtyard, and then on in to the church. In the courtyard, we were entertained by two brightly coloured parakeets that were kissing each other, and as a couple each held one on their arm and kissed each other, the birds would kiss too. Cute. We abstained from participating in this one.

 

 

Inside the church, we sat for a few minutes, while Eddie explained about the relic encased there. We are not people of the relic, so there will be no picture of that here. Though The Mr. did take one.

 

Well that was quite a work out, so we were just plain sweaty by now. We were treated to the part of the tour called a “folkloric show” – the best part of this was the ice-cold water bottle we were each presented with. And a chair to sit down in for a few minutes. We didn’t actually stay for the whole “show”, just a couple of songs and then filed out – that was more than enough for everyone.

 

 

As we walked downa street, towards our “free time” meeting spot, Eddie, ever the guide, was pointing out everything. At one point he was silent for a few seconds, then burst out with “Italian Restaurant over here!” Ok. Thanks. Since we don’t drink coffee, we weren’t tempted by the “best” places to buy beans, and we weren’t planning on any jewel purchases, so we just went for a walk at our own speed, dodging vendors. As we returned up the street Eddie had previously toured us through (when we laughed because of his pointing out the restaurant) I said “HEY. GELATO!” and we delightedly purchased our favourite souvenir, a strawberry gelato to take to the meeting place, where we were greeted with jealous, but slightly admiring stares from our fellow tour-ites.

[bluenoser2]

Yes, we're still on Cartagena day...my apologies.....CC is having ongoing troubles apparently with the "I'm not a Robot" page which, while most entertaining - finding all the pictures with trees, or street signs - is highly annoying. And a little stressful. Did I get them all? Does that count as a sign? Every time I labor over my little post, it eats it up and sends it to some black hole in cyber space never to be seen again. In fact, as I forgot to save this paragraph, I've had to re-type it again, since it gobbled this post up. So far, just the once. That and the spacing are driving me to distraction. This then, is my LABOR of love. On with it then......

Back to the bus,the air conditioned bus we went, and Eddie guided us all the way back to theship with tales of every statue and building we passed.

When we reached our destination we were greeted as we were every day, with those lovely cold damp washcloths and water to refresh us as we lined up to get back on the ship. We got back on board at 2:15 and all aboard was 2:30.

 

Apparently everyone on the ship got back at the same time, and all went for lunch as soon as getting back because this was the only time I remember the horizon court being crowded. The Mr. stood patiently in line at the grill to get us both hamburgers while I found a table and salad for us.

 

 

The Lotus pool was our hangout for the remainder of the afternoon, just to relax and swim, read,write, puzzle…..I’m pretty certain there was some napping in there as well.

 

 

Tonight we decidedto throw caution to the wind and try something different. Not dining at 5:00! I know! We’re such radical cruisers! You’re waiting with bated breath aren’t you? You just wonder “what will those crazy Canucks do next?” Well, having eaten lunch at 3:00 we didn’t feel the need to eat that early and we, using a carefully thought out bio-geometric calculation, determined that 7:30 would be the safer time to show up at the dining room if we weren’t going at the very beginning.

 

 

To confuse our systems even more, we really mixed things up by going to the 5:45 showtime. Just as crowded as the other times (though we never did make it to the 9:30 shows….just too late for usearly risers!), we showed up in plenty of time to get our treasured aisle seats. Scott Wyler was the comedian tonight and we really enjoyed his “dry humour”.

 

 

Upon our arrivalin the dining room at 7:20 we were told solemnly that there were 8 parties of 2 (Florence took room service again) waiting for tables. For those of you who request tables for 2, do you ever feel like you've just made EVERYONE's life more difficult? While those willing to share a table are smiled upon and fawned over with effusive thank-yous, we, the TableForTwo-ers (lack of spacing intentional) are waved off with barely a glance, as if our very existence has the potential for spreading disease to the head waiter. But I digress.

We said waiting was fine, and took our pager, happily enjoying the string quartet in the atrium. We might have waited 20 minutes, and then were escorted to a table by the window (my excitement over a window table was quickly subdued by the fact that after I was seated – and yes, only AFTER – I realized it was already dark out) in a totally different part of the restaurant.

 

Our sweet waiter that night spent most of his time apologizing to us - except for the accent, he might have been Canadian. And have you ever noticed that there are very few servers who pull off the Italian Gondolier shirt with any style? It’s a look that becomes no one I think. Our server did not pull off the look. But he was sweet, even with all the unnecessary apologizing. Oh! Maybe he sensed we were Canadians and just wanted us to feel at home.

 

 

Have I mentioned how much The Mr. likes fettucine? Yes? OK, tonight I got to have honey mustard dressing, which I only like when on Princess. Gotta get me a recipe like that one. After the heat of the day, I immensely enjoyed a peach bellini as well. When I had ordered, our server seemed to be really excited by my choice of veal scaloppini. The Mr., who cannot say no when a menu item lists scallops, had scallops and shrimp.

When my scaloppini arrived, it came with murmurs of awe and wonder by our waiter, as he exclaimed quietly “Mmmmmmmmm……wonderful scaloppini”. As he did 6 more times at a nearby table for6 where they had all ordered it. And as he did at the table for four behind us. It was MY favourite dish of the dining room. I believe my mother would have been happy – there was NO meat left on my plate.

The Mr. finished off his meal with The Love Boat Dream…..(notice anything? My pastry-chef in training daughter was horrified when I sent her this picture)

 

 

 

 

 

And I had tiramisu…it WAS after all, Italian Night.

 

 

 

 

That was it. That was the Day in Columbia. There was no more for us to accomplish in this day except to go watch part of a movie in our room and get ready for tomorrow’s excitement, whatever that would be. Panama Canal here we come!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Wonderful review, thank you!

 

 

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[bluenoser2]

February 23, Thursday PANAMA CANAL LOCKS

Up and at’em early today. We attempted a hearty breakfast at 6:30 a.m. hoping it would last us the day as we had a long and potentially foodless day ahead on our tour. I also made sure there was no tea in my system because we were not assured of any reputable facilities along the way. What a day of adventure this would be! This would be a day to test various bodily staminas for me. I do not believe staminas is a word, but you can figure it out. Intestinal fortitude. Literally. That’s what it would be. Intestinal. Fortitude.

We, people of the inside cabin, took great delight in scampering (really, everything’s relative –and in relation to many of the passengers, we WERE scampering) up to the front deck to watch the approach to the Panama Canal. A fantastic view of not only the canal, but the sunrise. A marvelous place to photograph everything,as The Mr. certainly did.

Once we were into the second step of the set of locks we would be experiencing, we dashed back to the rear deck viewing area with the dexterity of Olympic hurdle racers, dodging room stewards’ carts and room service trays along the way, while at the same time being ever so polite and cheerful as we did so. Now we watched the ship behind us preparing to enter the locks, and got a totally different experience here, seeing much of what we couldn’t see under the bow of the ship.

There’s something poignant about that little tiny rowboat with the 2 men in it that fearlessly approach the great ships to get the line from them to secure to the ‘mules’ on land.

They just looked so tiny and vulnerable out there. All in a day’s work though I suppose. Glad it’s not my day. (Can you see them there? Looking tiny and vulnerable?)

(See them again? Looking even tinier and....er...vulnerabler?)

 

(Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work they go....)

When we had reached our saturation point of canal observing, we retreated to our cabin for one last comfort stop, repellent and sunscreen application before heading down to Explorer’s Lounge for, you guessed it, a Princess tour. Though to be fair, one could ONLY do Princess tours at this stop, so we were fully justified, and guilt-free as we collected our spots and stickers. We had chosen the Embera Indian Village tour.

[suzyed]

Loving your review and your really funny explanations of your experiences! Could you please share what kind of currency you used in Columbia and other ports? For items purchased on the street and in stores and tips?

Thanks!

[bluenoser2]

Loving your review and your really funny explanations of your experiences! Could you please share what kind of currency you used in Columbia and other ports? For items purchased on the street and in stores and tips?

Thanks!

 

Thanks for your encouraging words! We only used U.S. currency in all our exchanges in any port etc. In Cartagena sometimes the price would be quoted in their local currency which we had been told at the time was 2900 pesos to the American dollar, so we would do the mental math and give them the appropriate amount and they seemed alright with it, but didn't offer change, hence the value of having small bills!

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review and the beautiful photos!

[suzyed]

Thanks for your encouraging words! We only used U.S. currency in all our exchanges in any port etc. In Cartagena sometimes the price would be quoted in their local currency which we had been told at the time was 2900 pesos to the American dollar, so we would do the mental math and give them the appropriate amount and they seemed alright with it, but didn't offer change, hence the value of having small bills!

Thanks! Very helpful!

[bluenoser2]

The Embera Indian Village Tour

 

 

It wasn’t until 10:00 a.m. that the Island Princess was in place for tender debarkation for tour goers. I of course, was beginning to feel hungry by now, and by the time we had loaded into the tender, I was also fantasizing about indoor plumbing and toilets. Fortunately, and much to my surprise and delight, there were fine washrooms awaiting us when we left the tender and proceeded to meet, on land, our most excellent guide for the day, Alex.

 

 

 

I cleverly and deftly made my way (using the serpentining diversionary tactics learned in the ship hallways) to the washroom BEFORE the line-up of women began, and was oh so happy once again. I, like Florence, am easily placated. Once on the bus, I managed to stay awake and well, if not noisy with stomach growls, and it was The Mr. who began to feel somewhat bus-sick. Alex told us the stories of the history of the Panama Canal and was amusing, interactive, and full of facts, without being exhausting about them. I was duly entertained, and appreciative.

 

 

After almost an hour’s drive, we arrived at the San Juan de Something River, where severa young men in bright red loincloths awaited us, with 4 dugout canoes. 12 intrepid passengers to a canoe, we donned life jackets, and carefully seated ourselves. Operative word: carefully. The canoe we used at the beginning of our trek seated everyone 2 to a bench, with one young lad at the front with a pole for detecting shallow areas, or pushing around rocks, and the other at the rear with the outboard motor operation. They spoke no English, but were obviously adept at their responsibilities.

 

I loved the trip to their village – and I do not have an adventure gene in my body. Anywhere. At one point where there was a small patch of rough-ish water and rocks, I did wonder how many tourists have capsized because they failed to lean the right way, because these canoes are not super stable if one were to suddenly lean to the side! (Don’t get any ideas you who plan this excursion – I will deny all knowledge of this thought.)

 

We arrived at the village unscathed. Visions of crazy-amazing wildlife dancing in our heads pre-trip were vanquished when the only thing swimming in the river along our way was a very docile looking dog. There were however, birds a plenty in the vicinity. The hot and humid vicinity. Not that I was complaining. Just stating a fact. Even Florence was glowing.

 

As we docked (our canoe came in first place – just sayin….) and were relieved of our oh-so-stylish life vests, we were greeted by a group of young men playing musical instruments, all fashioned from local reeds, or other vegetation. We proceeded up a little hill under a welcoming arch with flowers woven into it, to a large covered open“building”, that was lined all around the edges with the crafts the village folk make to sell.