Guatemala and the Panama Canal

When we docked in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala we realized there is literally nothing there. It’s not a real dock, it’s in the middle of nowhere we wanted an adventure. So Lucy, Eric, Sarah and I set off to find one. We started by meeting four older folks, guests from our ship and decided to split a van cab 8 ways. It was a fun start since the one older gentleman who had to sit in the back with us couldn’t hear, so he talked (or rather, yelled) the whole way whilst asking questions to our taxi guide. The guide quickly tired of this gentleman and stopped talking altogether. We headed into Antigua, Guatemala through gorgeous countryside. It was dotted with Coffee plantations and active volcanoes. Upon our arrival in Antigua, we were circled by children selling their handcrafted goods and trying to rip us off. Poor Eric who is usually so kind to everyone ended up telling a 15 year old girl off. We walked the old city which is beautiful and went through a jade factory, to a former nunnery and botanical garden then ended up in the Central Parque to people watch. We barely made it back to the ship in time for work. The rain and an accident on the road ahead of us on a busy Friday afternoon made it a 1 ¾ hour trip instead of 45 minutes.

Panama Canal morning was to be a busy day for the cruise staff. We woke up at five a.m. to start our day of socializing and viewing the Bridge of the Americas. Unfortunately, we didn’t actually get there until 7 a.m. and by then we were incoherent. The day was a long at hot one, but I can’t say it wasn’t an experience of a lifetime. The fact that the canal which took so many lives and lifetimes to achieve, was still doing it’s job with the technology of 1914 is mind-boggling. The fact that our ship and most ships in the world are built just within the limits to fit through the Canal and you can literally reach your arm and touch the wall because it is less than two feet on either side for leeway. We saw one alligator (or croc?) and some wild boar as the Canal is cut through a tropical jungle.