Norwegian Sun 2007
welcome at Roatan, Honduras
getting ready to zipline
besides the ziplines, there were lots of rope bridges & ladders
next we visited an Iguana Farm
I think he's in love....
they were fun to feed
After that we headed to the beach for lunch and some snorkeling. While the snorkeling where we went was good, on subsequent trips we found a much better snorkeling spot and when you get back behind the reef it has some pristine corals & lots of fish.
flounder changed colors to blend in - from the above photo to the below photo
same flounder
Our next port was Belize and was our second visit to the island. We took a boat to Caye Caulker for snorkeling.
Caye Caulker
walking to the snorkel boat
We were supposed to visit Costa Maya, Mexico, but due to the recent hurricane damage we visited Cozumel instead. We always use Eagle Ray Divers for snorkeling, so I set that up.
blue chromis
spotted trunkfish
where we waded to shore from boat to have lunch and then snorkeled some more
Atlantic chain eel
Morey eel
Great Stirrup Cay - NCL Private Island
On rocks at Great Stirrup Cay
small ray near shore on our way back
Our next cruise was on the Coral Princess doing a partial Panama Canal transit. It stopped in Lake Gatun where we got off the ship after going through one set of locks and then were driven to a ferry boat so we could experience the rest of the transit through the locks in a small boat. It was nice to experience the difference.
We had been talking about retiring to Panama and while we didn't spend much time there other than to transit the canal it gave us a "taste". Of course, we now have transited the canal numerous times and while living in Panama we have driven over the bridges often and driven over the locks to get to the other side of the canal.
Coral Princess 2008
last formal night
Our first stop was Aruba (our 2nd time there)
bus to the snorkel boat
sail away from Aruba
Mt Hooiberg in distance
the next port was Cartagena, Colombia and it was our first visit - this is the sail in
views from La Popa Convent
La Popa Convent
Convent of Santa Cruz de la Popa
drive down from La Popa Convent
Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
Old Town Cartegena
Fernando Botero nude
Inquisition Museum
school kids at the museum
part of my tour group at lunch - they had us in tables of 4
San Felipe Fortress at sail away from Cartagena
up before dawn for the Panama Canal and secured a spot on "the secret balcony" in front of the ship
finally sunrise!
row boat that brings out the guide ropes
entering the first set of locks
almost in
view from our balcony - we could almost touch the walls with our toes
locks closing
finished that set
at the back of the ship
Cruise Critic group that joined various tours
Gatun locks where people on land watch us transit
getting on the tender in Lake Gatun to shore
view of the ship from the tender
cashew fruit
countryside from the bus to the ferry
ferry boat we took through the rest of the canal
Culebra Cut / Continental Divide (Gaillard's Cut)
Puente Centenario
ferry approaching the locks
touching the walls when we were deep in the canal (for luck)
Miraflores Locks
Puente de las Américas
Panama City from the ferry
arriving back at the port we were bussed back
Our next port was Limon, Costa Rica. We did a rainforest aerial tram and a boat ride down the Tortuguero Canal. We didn't see a lot of wildlife, but our guide was excited to show us a Great Egret. Most all of us were from Florida and we see them every day....
Tortuguero Canal - boy who helped spot wildlife on the boat
on the canal
basilisk lizard
small crab
Long-nosed bats on tree
Rey stopped to buy us bananas and pineapple
pineapple fields with Irazu Volcano in background
we had a nature walk before the tram
aerial tram through the rainforest
The only monkeys we saw were in the gift shop
countryside - it poured rain on our drive back to the port and Rey had us sit in the car while he ordered our lunch and he brought it out to us to eat it in the car. Very good chicken and rice and plantains.
port of Limon
Our last port was Ocho Rios, Jamaica - it was our second visit here - on our first visit we arrived to a port that had fences with beggars hanging on it and was in a very sketchy area, and this visit we arrived to a beautiful port with a Margaritaville.
Dunn's River Falls
the water was a bit cold and the force of the falls almost pushed us over
We went tubing
Jamaican in boat. Appeared to be naked....(hard to see in this small photo)
our tubing guide
raft for those that didn't want to take the tubes
Wasi Pottery
The Ruins Restaurant (me in black coverup)
Greg & the guide at lunch
Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville
Our next cruise in 2008 was on Holland America's Veendam out of Tampa. Our first stop was Key West and we just wandered since the weather wasn't great for snorkeling.
Key West Cemetery
they had a boat parade
street performer
me tipping him
at dinner - no I wasn't drunk....
needs no caption
Our next port was our 3rd visit to Belize. We took a small plane to Ambergris Caye for snorkeling.
plane from Belize to Ambergris Caye
views from the window
Ambergris Caye from the plane
arrival San Pedro airport Ambergris Caye
Greg in front of the airport
walking around the island
Ambergris Caye snorkel 2008
stingray buried in sand
Greg carrying our snorkel gear back to the plane
from the window
back in Belize
we stopped for a cold drink at the Wet Lizard
Our next port was Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala
Welcome center by the port for Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala
we had a couple of hours before the boat tour so we went for a walk to the nearest village (no other tourists to be seen)
barber shop
local market
no, they didn't want a dollar each to take their pic....
bakery
Naval base - they said I could take their photo
and the camera adds 10 lbs????
we did a boat trip on the Rio Dulce to AK Tenamit
supposed to be a cow????
dental office
her canoe was leaking
BAIL .... Bail .......
she came out to see us
lily pads
stop at the hot springs & cave area
into the cave
shrimp in water at bottom of cave
steps out of the cave - don't know who the lady is
Greg coming out of the cave
arrival to AK Tenamit
fire where they made the fresh tortillas and we got to enjoy one
sinks and food prep area
inside the school
cafeteria
walking tour of Livingston & lunch stop
park in Livingston
basketball anyone?
market
boat ride back to port
modern boats
hand carved boats
still looking for the cow?????
gas station
We were supposed to have a stop in Roatan, but they were having a peaceful strike against higher power bills, but since the roads were blocked the captain skipped the port and we had a sea day. I was pleasantly surprised that before I even sent an email to the snorkel boat guy I had a tour set up with automatically credited the credit card. Our next port was Costa Maya, Mexico that was now open after having to rebuild the port due to an earlier hurricane.
Costa Maya, Mexico - Tourism Village
Mahahual
Mahahual for snorkeling
bathroom sink at hotel where we met to snorkel
Greg wandering before boat leaves
snorkel boat
from the snorkel boat
walking around after snorkeling
Greg
we had lunch on the beach - the waiter ran back to the restaurant and brought out the food to the tables on the beach
lunch spot - good Mexican food
which boat are we on again? Oh, one of the 2 in the background...phew!
back at the port
Greg's view while I shopped
sunset from the ship - we were missing the locals dancing for the passengers on the other side of the ship before sail away, but we preferred the sunset with a cold drink as we sailed away
Here are the photo album links:
Next post will be our Baltic cruise on Holland America's Rotterdam.
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