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| Buckskin Lily enjoying the Panama Canal |
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Huatalco, Mexico
Puerto Chiapas, Mexico
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
Corinto, Nicaragua
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Transiting the Panama Canal
Cartagena, Colombia
Here are some of the highlights of our journey:
In Puerto Vallarta, we visited the Zoologico de Vallarta. This was one of the best zoos I've ever visited! Guests are given a bag of food that includes carrot and bread sticks, peanuts, dried corn and food pellets along with instructions on which food to feed the different animals. I fed an ostrich (it liked the bread sticks the best!)
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Ostrich eating breadstick
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I also got to feed a giraffe (carrot sticks preferred this time!)
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Giraffe eating carrot stick
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My favorite was the Japanese macaque, or snow monkey, who ate my entire bag of peanuts! He took them from me one at a time with his little people fingers! I was having such a good time feeding him (or her), I forgot to get a photo!!
But the highlight of the entire visit was holding the lion and jaguar cubs. I was expecting kitten- (or at least cat-sized) cubs, but the lady brought out this half-grown lion who obviously had no desire to be held on my lap!
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| Irritated lion "cub" |
However, the jaguar cub wanted even less to do with me than the lion. Here is a photo of me attempting to pet it on the head as if it were a little kitten. About two seconds later it reached around and bit me on the finger before I knew what was happening. The handler took him and whisked him away immediately. Luckily, he just gave me a "love bite." I had a small puncture wound on my finger that went away in about a week! No scar. Darn! Would have made a better story!!
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| The jaguar cub |
In Huatalco, we went on a bird watching tour, and saw lots of birds, including three types of hummingbirds (cinnamon, ruby-throated, green), lots of Chachalacas, and the yellow cacique. Sadly, they were all too far away for me to get any good photos, so that trip will need to live only in my memory.
Our visit to Chiapas was another highlight. We walked off the ship and hooked up with a local tour agency to take a 4 1/2 hour tour of the nearest town, Tapachula, as well as the Mayan ruins of Izapa, and a visit to an artisanal chocolate "factory" and living history museum where we met the wonderful Inez.
In the town of Tapachula we first visited the cathedral where mass was in session (I didn't get too close!!)
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| Cathedral in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico |
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| Outside of Tapachula Market |
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| Inside of Tapachula Market |
After some free time in town, we were taken to the ancient Mayan site of Izapa. The site was at its peak between 850 to 100 BCE. And it is believed to have been inhabited as early as 1500 BCE. It was not a burial site, but our guide said it is believed the site was used as a center for celebrating the winter solstice due to the alignment of the pyramids at the site. Here are a few photos of what we saw:
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Noah & Buckskin on top of an Izapan pyramid (feeling the vibes!)
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Another Izapa pyramid
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One of the Izapan stelas
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Our last stop of the day in Chiapas was my favorite. We went to a living history museum preserving Mayan culture, arts, crafts, and chocolate-making traditions. We were greeted by Inez and her daughter who sang us a song, and then I was presented with a ginger flower.
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| Ms. Inez (on right) and her daughter greeting us |
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| Buckskin's ginger blossom |
We then had a quick lesson on artisanal chocolate making. We were shown how cocoa beans were originally ground with a volcano rock mano and matate. (Lots of tasting was involved!
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| Hand grinding the cocoa beans |
And finally, we attended a workshop on weaving. Under Inez's instructions, we all wove bookmarks from dried palm leaves (here's Noah showing off his handiwork!!)
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| Noah's excellent hand-woven bookmark! |
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| Pedicab drivers with their rigs in Corinto, Nicaragua |
This is a shot of downtown Corinto:
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| Main street of Corinto, Nicaragua |
And here's me at the beach:
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| Buckskin beachside in Nicaragua |
We stopped to watch some fishermen cleaning their catch, and I took an (attempted artistic) photo of a colorful beachside restaurant.
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| Fisherman cleaning his catch of sting rays & shovel-nosed sharks |
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| Colorful restaurant on the beach |
It was quite hot, so we stopped to buy a bottle of water. Here's Noah at the shop door. Business was conducted through a hole in the steel door. No one was allowed inside.
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| Noah buying water through an iron grate (and checking the exchange rate for cordobas on his phone!) |
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| Buckskin beginning her "sky walk" |
Sadly, the wildlife was hiding the day we were there, but we were treated to some beautiful views:
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| View from the top of the "Sky Walk" |
And we did get to walk across the "sky walks" (suspended pedestrian bridges in the forest), so that was fun:
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| Buckskin crossing one of the "sky walks" in Costa Rica |
The best thing we saw was the leaf-cutter ants. I had always pictured them as much larger (they were the size of regular California ants), but they were cutting and carrying leaves back to their nest (where the farmer ants use them to grow fungus to feed the colony.) Fascinating!
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| Leaf-cutter ants in the rain forest of Costa Rica |
As we were returning to the ship, our tour bus crossed over a bridge and we saw 10 crocodiles basking in the river below! They have beware of crocodile signs on the roads!
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| Beware of crocodile signs in Costa Rica! Oh, my! |
The day after Costa Rica, we did our Panama Canal Transit. The best part for me was being able to see it from the upper deck of the gym while doing spin class! There was a hard-core group of six passengers (me included) who were up at the crack of dawn every day to do spin class. We talked our teacher into moving the spin bikes out onto the gym balcony the day of the transit and doing class there. Luckily, it was a relatively cool morning and we were in the shade. So we were able to exercise, listen to loud music and have a front-row seat as the ship passed through the first lock heading east. (Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, so no photos. ( Boo!)
After a day at sea, we reached our final destination: Cartagena, Colombia. We once again opted to hire a local tour guide to show us around the city. Our first stop was the Castle of San Felipe de Barajas, a 16th century fort.
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| Noah and the Castle of San Felipe (trying to avoid the incredibly aggressive street vendors!) |
Next, we visited the dungeons which were built between 1792 and 1796 and hidden inside the thick city walls. They were used by the Spanish as storerooms for munitions & provisions and later as jails. They are now shops.
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| Noah (not) enjoying the crowds at the dungeons, now tourist shops |
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| Me & my new friend. (She only charged me $1 for this photo!) |
From there we were taken to the walled city of old Cartagena:
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| Section of the wall around old Cartagena with the spire of the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria visible in the background. |
Inside the walled city we walked along the cobbled streets and admired the colonial architecture:
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| A street in walled city of old Cartagena |
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| Arched door in blue wall that I thought looked neat |
Our guide pointed out many of the city's highlights including a dwelling where Sir Francis Drake lived:
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| Sir Francis Drake lived here! |
The Inquisition Palace (didn't want to go in there!):
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| As close to the Inquisition Palace as I was willing to get! |
The Plaza Bolivar with its statue of Simon Bolivar, the George Washington of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and Peru:
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| Simon Bolivar Plaza |
The Plaza of St. Peter Claver, and it's church with the nifty front door:
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| Pano of St. Peter Claver Cathedral (couldn't get the top in!) |
And, last but not least, this statue. This photo is supposed to bring Noah two years of good luck. He could have gotten three, but...well, nevermind!
That concludes this entry. We are spending the next four days here in Ft. Lauderdale sightseeing. Then it's onto our next cruise: seven days around the Eastern Caribbean on Holland America's Oosterdam. Look for the details of that trip to be posted on February 2nd. Until then, Noah and I wish you well!
Hugs and Kisses,
Buckskin Lily
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| I told you this church had a nifty door!! |
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