Belize City, Belize February 24, 2009

We have had a terrific cruise, despite that the weather has been rainy once we reached the Atlantic Ocean.  Right now, we are in Belize City, Belize, and we had an unbeliezeable adventure cave tubing, where we floated down a stream and 3/4 mile through a cave, wearing headlamps because it was so dark.  The city is pretty dumpy with a lot of crazy people running around.  It has about 20 years to go before becoming a tourist mecca.  We'll be returning to the ship this afternoon, then two days at sea before arriving in Ft. Lauderdale this Friday.

At Sea February 23, 2009

I write this while in the Caribbean Sea on the Seabourn Legend, heading north from Honduras to Belize (British Honduras as I learned it in school) at latitude N 17 degrees 23 minutes, longitude 88 degrees 11 minutes.   Of late the weather has been unseasonably cool and rainy.  The temperature today was about 72 degrees, quite pleasant really but much less than the normal mid 80's.  Our time on the beach yesterday in Ruatan, Honduras was curtailed by rain, and events of today were cancelled for the same reason – very unusual.  We really have no complaints, though, and the experience of traversing the Panama Canal on Wednesday February 18 is unforgettable.    We entered the canal at Panama City on the Pacific side, and within 45 minutes went though the two locks at Mira Flores, rising about 52 feet above sea level – no pumps, using only the force of gravity and movement of river water flowing down from the interior of Panama to the ocean.  After going through a third lock, we traversed Gatun Lake, a large lake created by the damming of the Chagres River, elevated about 84 feet above sea level. We then went through three consecutive locks back to sea level before entering the Caribbean Sea, 48 miles and 8 hours from when we started. I've taken both photos and videos of the passage and will be happy to share it with anyone who has the patience to view it after we return.   I have very limited internet access and can get in on board for $.50/minute but will attempt to provide more dispatches as time allows.

Panama Canal, February 18, 2009

We are presently traversing the Panama Canal, and I write this from the Seabourn Legend.  You might be able to see our ship  by clicking on www.pancanal.com. We started the traverse in Panama City, and we are almost to the Atlantic Ocean.  We then head north sailing the western Caribbean toward Ft. Lauderdale. The ship we are on is terrific, with only 180 passengers, absolutely top service, gourmet food, unlimited drinks of all kinds, but most on board are older than even Pinky and I are!

Central America Adventure

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
February 14, 2009


Pinky and I survived Costa Rica and are now in our first day on the Sobourn Legend, a 205 passenger cruise ship moored at San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. Our four days in Costa Rica were truly incredible, and I can't begin to tell you all of our adventures with Allen and Diana Winston. I have been taking both digital photos and HD videos, so we will have much to share with you when we return. We are healthy and have more than survived hiking in the rain forest, horse back riding through fields of surgar cane and across rivers, riding in a Land Cruiser over miles of Costa Rican roads and zip lining 50 feet + above the jungle floor. A bottle of cerveza at the end of the day hasn't tasted better! I will report more when I return to an internet cafe.