Wherever we go I am always on the lookout for beautiful sunrises and sunsets. They are one of my favorite things. Cruising has given me an entirely new view of them.
We visited Aruba, sailed north between Cuba and Hispaniola and landed in Fort Lauderdale. This was the disembarkation point for most of the passengers but a few of us were going to make the return journey to San Pedro. One or two couples were actually going to make four passages through the canal. There are some people who practically live on cruise ships.
We decided to take a tour of Fort Lauderdale and were in for quite a shock. We have driven by the town several times on our travels but have never stopped to look around. We had no idea that Fort Lauderdale is called the “Yachting Capital of the World.” We were amazed to learn that there are more than 300 miles of canals and navigable waterways in the area. Some of the very rich, including some Hollywood people, have homes here.
There are huge yachts here almost everywhere you look.
This one belongs to some Hollywood dude. It may be the largest one here.
Almost as large as the last one but not quite.
And then you may see one that I may be able to afford.
Even looks like me at the helm.
We were told that this beauty was built in Italy and could do 45 knots. We were not told how much fuel it would burn at that speed but if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
Here is our yacht, even if it was just for a few weeks.
On our way out of port looking north. There are hotels and condos as far as you can see (and probably all the way to Maine).
We headed south. Our first stop was in Aruba. We took a tour of the island which was much smaller than we had imagined. It turned out to be crowded and mostly desert.
We went aboard a tour boat that was built so that you could go below and look out windows that were below the surface of the water. We could see an old German freighter that was sunk by her captain at the start of WWII so that he and his crew could stay here and not go back to Germany.
If you could not find anything else to do you could always take a ride on the Banana Bus. Please don’t ask. I don’t know.
Continuing our trip, we sailed into the harbor at Cartagena, Columbia, the emerald capital of the world. We went to a few jewelry stores to see if they were giving away any free samples but the only thing that was free was the looking. Emeralds are one of the world’s most beautiful gems but even here, near their source, they were way out of our price range. There were even emeralds for sale in the cruise port terminal.
Near the Atlantic entrance to the canal there are a lot of ships waiting their turn to go through, just like on the Pacific side.
The port at the canal entrance.
Here are four gates, built in Italy, that will be installed in the new locks.
In this photo of the northern most locks, I was standing on the stern of our ship and looking north towards the Atlantic entrance of the canal.
As we were exiting the northern locks, ready to enter the huge lake that is this part of the canal, I saw what I thought was the ugliest ship I have ever seen. I believe it is a car carrier. Notice the ships in the background. They are anchored in the lake and waiting to go through the locks.
A view of the lake part of the canal.
A tugboat saying howdy.
There are several visitor centers along the canal and we were always a big attraction.
At the Pacific exit of the canal is Panama City, Panama. Cruise ships usually do not stop here because the harbor is so shallow, so far out, the tender rides would be too long.
One strange building near the city. I believe it is a museum of some sort.
We took a tour in Costa Rica up to a volcano but we could not see much because of the clouds. We did see some big leaves and some great flowers.
A rooftop lunch carrier.
A guard dog.
Your good smelling cup of coffee starts out looking like this.
We stopped in a town that is famous for their hand painted ox carts.
Yes, I said “hand painted”. It is hard to believe someone could do this with just a small brush.
In the same town was this beautiful church.
When sailing into Cabo San Lucas we picked up a non-paying passenger. No one seemed to mind.
Who said ships don’t leave tracks.
We reluctantly disembarked at our starting point in San Pedro. We somewhat envied the people who were staying on board and going on the entire trip again, but it was time to move on to other things. We were going back to Surprise for two weeks and then heading for the northwest US. We got to thinking though, if we were already in the northwest, why don’t we hop on a ship and and take a round trip cruise to Alaska? Hummmmmmmm!!!!
