Cruisin' the Panama Canal

 I've said before- You can either live life or you can blog about it.  It's hard to do both!   That's not completely true, but I am very behind on this blog.  But we've had a lot of fun living life lately, so I'll use that excuse.

In November, over Thanksgiving, Ken and I and Don and Ada went on an 11-day cruise to the Panama Canal.

The ship was all decked out for Thanksgiving.

Sail Away Selfie from our balcony

Sunset

Our home away from home!

Some of the yummy food we ate.

The pastry chef onboard did a series of chocolate desserts that were absolutely amazing.  The best was the chocolate cheesecake.  It was by far the best cheesecake I've ever had.

This was another of those amazing chocolate treats.

In the evenings, we enjoyed going to the shows and entertainment onboard, playing games together, and visiting.  

Artie.  This guy was in his 80's and was a great entertainer every night in one of the bars.  He would sing and play and talk about Broadway.  He knew all the history.  He taught a couple of daytime seminars on Cole Porter and Irving Berlin.  He also led the multi-denominational church service on Sunday.  

Don and Ada's deck at the back of the ship.

ARUBA

 We were in Aruba on Sunday.  We took a taxi to church and had a great experience there.  We had interpreters for all three meetings.

This nice guy interpreted for us in sacrament meeting over headphones and then in Sunday School.  A sister interpreted for us in Relief Society.  Everyone was so kind.

Cartegena, Columbia

Visiting Columbia may not be on my list of things I want to do, but it ended up being a nice stop, though extremely humid and hot.  At the pier, they had developed this wonderful, little preserve where there were many native species of birds and animals.  

This guy wanted Ken's shirt button.  Here he's stealing it.

Got it!

This peacock was furious at this pigeon and was giving him the talking to of his life.  The pigeon just cowered.

A turtle

Ken saw monkeys there, too.

We took a taxi tour with a driver who spoke NO English and a lady guide who supposedly spoke English.  It was a wild adventure.  Driving in the streets of that city  was CRAZY!!!  I was surprised, though by the beautiful architecture and vibrant colors of the city.

We  saw an ancient fort.  

And the streets and buildings of Cartegena.  

A selfie with my tag identifying me as one in Monica's tour.  You can see how hot I was.

Street vendors

I sat up front with the taxi driver.  He was so cute.  He would say, "Lady!" and when he got my attention would motion for me to take a picture and then he'd point to what it was he thought I needed a picture of.  So I took lots of pictures that I have no idea what they were.  

This was some famous wall.  They kept talking about the wall.

The cab driver greased the palm of this policeman and he let us drive on the" walk only" streets of old town.

Wares set up to sell.

This was the arsenol- whatever that is.  

A famous bridge

We shopped at a market that used to be dungeons called Las Bovedas. 

I was amazed that the ocean is right by the streets and the water comes up on the streets.

The other fort was visible as we left the port.

A fisherman in the harbor.

The other fort

Goodbye Columbia!

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal adventure starts with small boats pulling alongside the cruise ship and people getting on the ship.  The cruise ship captain does not guide the boat through the canal, but these men hired to do just that all day every day.  

We approach the canal.

The first lock.

We enter the first lock.  I was amazed at how narrow it was.

You can see the water level in the next lock.  

This little train is hooked to our ship and guides it through.  It's called a mule.

Better get off of there, Dude!  This is one of the photographers from the ship!

Ken and Don went on a canoe trip to visit a native Embera Indian village.  They were in hopes of seeing  lots of bird species, but were a bit disappointed.

But they did see pretty flowers.  

And lots of little naked children

Don and Ken loaned their binoculars to these little boys who were absolutely fascinated with them.  

The natives put on a show for the tourists.  The lighting was terrible for pictures.

The entire village came out to say goodbye.

After they got back, we all went out shopping.  This is one of the native crafts of the Embera Indian.  This little lady was selling her work.  I bought a small embroidered piece.  

Costa Rica

On Costa Rica, Ken and Don hired a taxi to take them into the jungle in pursuit of birds.  Don is the bird photographer, so I have no pictures of the birds, but Ken did take some of other wildlife.

This poisonous snake was right by the trail they were on.  Why are they yellow?  They hide in bananas.  They are so well camouflaged in there that those who harvest and carry the bananas can't see them. They come out and bite the harvesters/ carriers and their bite is deadly.  

To prevent the snakes from getting into the bananas, they put these blue bags over the banana bunches.  

Chameleon

While the guys went to the jungle, Ada and I went shopping at a flea market.  It was HOT, but we both found some nice things.  I was glad to get back on the air conditioned ship!  

That evening was our Thanksgiving dinner.  This waiter from the Phillipines was our entertainment.  He sang what a waiter sang to us on the last cruise, "You Raise Me Up." 

This was our Thanksgiving dinner.  Not quite like at home, but it was okay.

We told our waitress that we were used to mashed potatoes and gravy on Thanksgiving, so this is what we got.  

Grand Cayman

The Grand Cayman stop was the main reason we chose this cruise.  Ken went on a cruise in the spring with all of the partners and they went to Grand Cayman.  There, they went on an excursion to the Sting Ray sandbar where they got to hold a stingray.  I want to do that so bad.  So I found this cruise and we signed up and talked Don and Ada into joining us.  

I guess the three days before we got to Grand Cayman, no ships had even been allowed to anchor there as the surf was too strong.  We were allowed to anchor, but that tender ride was pretty rocky.  When we got off the tender, we were informed that the government had closed the sting ray sand bar and our excursion was cancelled.  I was sad.  But we still had a nice time.  We hired a taxi to take us on a tour.  The highlight was watching the dolphin encounter.  This tiny little girl was so brave to paddle out and let the dolphins push her back.  

We went to this lovely beach.  

It was a very fun trip.  Thank you, Don and Ada!

All the Live Little Things

All the Little Live Things by Wallace Stegner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The title implies that the book will be happy and light and maybe give the peace and joy that Joe and his wife, Ruth are seeking when they move to California. They are dealing with the death (and apparent suicide) of their son and hope to find peace in the countryside. Instead, they- or at least he- finds aggravation and more sorrow, but they also get the chance to love someone truly special in the character of Marian. As I read, I was so frustrated that only Joe and me seemed to think it was NOT okay for a hippie commune be set up on his property- stealing land, power, and water and making a mess of his property and of innocent lives. Everyone else in the story seemed to think it was just youth, and let’s just live and let live, and “you’re just mad because he reminds you of your son.” At one point, I was so frustrated, I considered emailing Mr. Alston and telling him he was in the right, and that I supported him, and then I remembered he wasn’t real and that the book was set in the ‘60s, long before email was invented. But that’s how real Stegner’s books are. You can’t observe on the sidelines- the reader, in spite of himself, becomes deeply emotionally involved. The book also deals with death and preparing for death and with the sacrifice of a mother, which Joe simply can’t understand. So the book is full of conflict and pain and frustration. But, as in Stegner’s other books, he gets inside the human soul and heart in a way few others are able to do. At times in the book, I was literally sobbing in grief. But as Joe says, “I shall be richer all my life for this sorrow.” I truly believe that each of Stegner’s books make me richer.



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He Is the Gift

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Book #13 in the series.
Mr. Smith immerses the reader so thoroughly in the Botswana culture, that you simply must slow your pace, relax, and sip at something while you read this series of books. There definitely is a “formula” to each of the books: several difficult challenges or conflicts are presented in the early chapters, then, slowly and surely, each of those conflicts are resolved and all is well again with the world. . . until the next book. I usually tire of a series, especially one as long as this. But I’m still enjoying them, so I’ll keep reading them.




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Garlic and Sapphires

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I absolutely loved this book. It’s Ruth Reichl’s experiences as The New York Times restaurant critic. I loved reading about her disguises and how each revealed different parts of her personality. I loved reading about fine dining in New York City and all of the delicious and fancy dishes. I was fascinated with the restaurant culture and how differently she was treated, depending on her disguise. The book even contains recipes that I’m anxious to try. I read this while on a cruise, so the timing was perfect. She would describe a dish and then I’d get to try it! The author has written several books and I can’t wait to read more.



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