New Year's Day, we spent on the cruise ship relaxing as the ship had a day at sea. It was so nice to have a day to just watch a movie, (No Time to Die, James Bond), play a trivia game, eat good food, and just relax.
On January 2nd, we docked in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. A very tropical paradise. But lovely and very warm. A nice change of pace from the winter weather we had back home.
We were greeted on the dock by a great raggae band. They were a fun group to listen to. After our day was over and we were returning to the ship, they were still performing, so we stopped and listen to them for a while and a few people were dancing and singing along. It was a mini party on the dock.
We boarded a bus for our day-long excursion and were treated to a local street food faire. A small pocket turnover filled with a spicy meat mixture. The locals eat this almost every day.
We were taken to a train station, where we boarded an open-air vintage train. During the ride, our tour guide pointed out all the banana trees and explained to us how the bananas grow. He showed us a small banana pod and opened it up to expose little bananas that were starting to form. He explained that as the pod grew bigger and the banans grew larger, eventually the pod would be about 5 to 6 feet long. Then the farmers would cover the pods with protective blue netting to keep the bugs and animals from eating the bananas. He also explained that in the wild, monkeys DO NOT eat bananas. As we road through the countryside, we noticed that every house had banana trees, coconut trees, and a garden. Their houses were small but very neat and tidy. During the ride, there were lots of monkeys in the trees, they were chattering to the tourist on the train, but Dave and I just couldn't see them no matter how hard we looked. Other people on the train would point to them and say, "I see them, right there". And laugh about how cute they were. After a long day, we were tired and ready to return to the ship.
On January 3rd, we docked in Colon, Panama. A very busy and very modern county. Our ship did not pass thru the panama canal, but...
We took an excursion that did. We boarded a smaller boat and set sail for the canal. Along the way, (a 2-hour tour), we learned many facts about the building of the canal and the upkeep involved in maintaining the canal. The ships that pass thru the canal must apply for passage long before they arrive and the cost is based upon the size of the ship, how much cargo, and how many passengers are on board. Some ships will pay up to 1 million dollars. The smallest fee ever paid was for a small boat that had 1 person on board, and the fee was $15.
There are many shipyards along the sides of the canal to load and unload cargo ships. Once we arrived at the canal and took our place to enter, it was a slow move thru the canal. And even though we were in a small boat, it was a tight fit, and one could feel a little claustrophobic. During the trip, you could see hundreds of workers on the sides, doing maintenance work, and landscaping work. It is amazing the amount of work it takes to keep the locks in working order. When we returned to our ship, we were definately tired and ready for dinner.
On January 4th, we were supposed to dock at Cartagena, Colombia. However, the night before, our ship's captain received word that Colombia had changed their COVID protecal, and any tourist entering the country via ship would need to have a negative Covid test no more than 2 days before entering the country. And since the ship did not have the notice in time to test all 1,500 passengers, we would be unable to dock in Colombia. And instead would have an extra day at sea, and make passage to our next stop.
On January 6th, we docked at Oranjestad, Aruba. A modern city on the outskirts, with older Hispanic influence on the inner city. Very clean and neat. We boarded an air-conditioned bus for our day excursion.
Our first stop was at an Aloe farm. We learned how the aloe plant is grown, harvested, and used in medicine, cosmetics, and food. We saw acres and acres of aloes in many different sizes, one plant was well over 6 feet tall and4 feet wide. Our guide took one of the aloe leaves, sliced it open, and showed us the 4 different parts to the inside of the aloe, and how it can be used for different applications.
Our next stop was to a historic lighthouse that was over 500 years old. It reminded me of the historic lighthouse in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was mid-day, and the heat was starting to beat down on us, so we didn't spend too much time out at the lighthouse, we quickly got back on the air-conditioned bus. Our next stop was at the natural bridge, (a rock formation formed into a bridge by the ocean). It very much reminded me of the formations we saw in Hawaii.
We then toured around the town and saw some of the sights and hear some of the histories. It so reminded me of Cabo and made me want to return to Cabo soon.
When we returned back to the ship, it was good to be back in the air conditioning and it was almost dinner time.
Our ship had another day at Arub. Most people went into town to shop and some spent their time on the beach, but Dave and I stay on board and relaxed. I now wished we had walked into town and got a couple of t-shirts.
On January 7th and 8th, our ship sailed toward home. Two days of relaxation again. There was certainly never any lack of wonderful desserts or good food during the final days at sea. We enjoyed the pool, the live entertainment, movies, and games, and every night we fell into bed exhausted.
On the morning of January 9th, we docked in Miami, Florida. After breakfast in the dining room, we boarded a bus for one final excursion to an aligator farm. We rode an airboat into the swamps, where they looked for some aligators. They had an alligator wrangler that showed us 2 large gators' and explained their habits, lifestyles, mating habits, etc. We then had a light lunch and headed to the airport to catch our plane and come home, (home sweet home).
Unfortunately, I have to end the month on a sad note. Dave's niece, (Pam, Jeanne's daughter from her 1st marriage), passed away on January 24th from thyroid cancer. She had been battling this disease for many years, and her body finally couldn't fight back anymore. Her family will be having a celebration of her light for family and friends on Saturday, February 12th, in Arizona, where she lived and worked. She died way too young,
