Panama Cruise Ports of Call
We recently returned from a 15-day cruise that included ports of call in Cartegena, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. Here are some highlights.
Old Town Cartegena
Cartagena's Old Town is one of South America's oldest colonial cities. Founded in 1533, its architecture is a blend of Spanish colonial and Caribbean influences. The city walls were built to protect against pirates.
The colorful doors and weighty door knockers caught my eye. I learned online the meaning to some of the knocker designs:
A knocker shaped as a fish or other sea creature meant the owner of the house was a member of the sea merchant community, or some other trade related to the sea. Lion head door knockers represented members of the army, militia leaders, and other protectors of the city. Lion heads are quite common, which is no surprise considering Cartagena’s history of fending off pirates and English armadas.
Panama
Our port of call was in Colon, Panama. The bright orange of this mid-century building through the tour bus window on the ride to the Agua Clara Visitor Center was a fun find.
At the visitor center we spent some time taking in the views of the wider lane of canal locks from an observation deck that also overlooked Gatun Lake.
Gatun Lake is an artificial fresh water lake 85 feet above sea level, created by damming the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal.
The wider lane of locks were completed in 2016 and allow larger ship passage. The original Panama Canal locks were completed in 1914.
Typical for its tropical location, the weather changed from sunshine to heavy rain and back while we were there.
Below, a couple of photos of the circular building and concrete seating overlooking the lake.
Another view of the lake and the rain chains hanging from the structure that offers views east towards the lake as well as the Caribbean Sea, the Canal Control Tower and the bridge to the east.
The next day our cruise ship went through the 3 locks that we saw at Agua Clara, the lake and another set of locks to the west towards reach the Pacific Ocean.
Guatemala
Our ground tour here was a 2-hour bus ride to the UNESCO city of Antigua Guatemala. The city sits in a valley surrounded by volcanoes; we saw several on our ride there.
We walked through town on cobblestone roads, peeking into beautiful entryways, such as the one below, that opened into courtyards.
Below, a section of brick and concrete wall surrounding an old church.
Iglesia de la Merced with its vibrant yellow and white façade is one of the most photographed spots in the city.
The Baroque design of the church includes intricate stucco details, columns, and statues of saints decorating the front. The church’s wide structure, thick walls, and low towers has helped it withstand natural disasters, such as earthquakes.
Costa Rica
I was surprised how much I enjoyed the crocodile safari that J. chose for our off-ship adventure in Costa Rica. Seeing all the wildlife such as iguanas crossing the dirt roads, colorful birds and monkeys eating mangoes in the trees as we headed to the riverboat set the stage quite nicely!
There were many crocodile sightings up close. We saw younger smaller crocs as well as larger mature ones. Often we saw only a portion of snout above the water but our guide got really excited about the size of the croc underwater that we couldn’t see 😉
As luck would have it, the skies darkened and it started to rain near the end of our river cruise but when we returned to shore it stopped.
Cabo San Lucas
In our brief time in port, we tendered to shore and hung out at Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Cantina. What’s not to like about abundant neon in the morning?
