The afternoon temperature is 86F with 60% humidity under mostly sunny skies.
Historical/Background Info:
Colon is a sea port city on the Caribbean Sea (Atlantic) side of Panama and is just a few miles from the entrance to the Panama Canal. Ships will anchor here in Limon Bat waiting their turn to transit the canal. The city itself has a population of about 80,000 but 250,000 live in the metro area. Colon was actually founded by Americans in 1850 a terminal for the Panama Railroad. It was being constructed as a fast route to California during the gold rush. Much of the city was burned during the Colombian Civil War of 1885. (Remember Panama used to be part of Colombia) and burned again in 1915 during a massive fire. Colon used to be a thriving city but since the 1960 it has been in serious economic and social decline. The unemployment rate is around 40% and the poverty rate is even higher. Drug addiction and poverty have lead to crime and violence which the Panamanian government has not effectively addressed.
What We Did Last Night:
I asked for a nice red wine last night that would go well with my duck entree. This malbec from Argentina is what the sommelier suggested. It was a big wine for a malbec with aromas of black cherries and spices. It was one of the best red wines I have had in a long time. I had two bottles sent up to our suite in case they run our of it later in the cruise. Our duck was a little dry last night. Daniela, the Food & Beverage Director, stopped by our table to check on us. I showed her a picture on my phone of veal parmesean that I had prepared at home. I asked if the chef could prepare it for us tomorrow night (Saturday). She called the chef and had him come to our table. I showed him the photo and he said he would be happy to make it just like mine. So we will be having it tonight and I invited our friend, Susanne, to join us also. I also asked for fried calamari as appetizer and spaghetti marinara to go with the veal.
The "Dancing in the Streets" production show was best we have seen!!
What We Did Today:
As we were cruising in the morning on our way to Colon, we both met and passed several container ships on their way either to or from the Panama Canal.
These birds are "boobies". They have been flying along with the ship for the past few days. They soar along and are very curious of us. They sometimes when fishing, fold their wings back from 50 or so feet above the water and dive straight down into the ocean. A few seconds later they come back up to the surface and take off again. They are addictively fun to watch.
Of all our 5 or more transits of the Panama Canal, this is the first time we have called at the port of Colon. With what I said about crime and violence above, I am surprised we are stopping here from noon to midnight.
This is view of the pier in Colon where we are docked today. This is the view from deck 12 on opposite side of the ship of our suite.
Ships moored off the coast waiting to go through the Canal.
"Filler up with regular"!! Yes, we are "bunkering" this afternoon. Bunkering is what they call taking on fuel. This tanker is tied up next to us just outside our balcony. It will take several hours to fill our tanks.
Another crappy view of the container port from our balcony today. The Captain and Staff Captain were at table next to us at lunch and I told him we were getting some bad views.
Just off the ship today is this huge supermarket. I swear every crew member went here to get some supplies. I had to get something here too.
The pool deck buffet today featured this beef carving station, some grilled brats, fish tacos, to name a few.
I about fainted when Rebecca came back with this brat. She never eats something like that for lunch. BTW, she still has never left the ship!
From right to left: cherry pie, blueberry pie, and chocolate pear pie. I resisted the temptation.
After lunch I had a consultation with one of the massage therapists on board. I am having a tingling sensation running down my right arm occasionally. This started before the cruise and I saw a chiropractor 3 times about it. Seems to be increasing again. He wanted to do four 50 minute sessions at $125 per session. Don't think that is going to happen! That price was with a 25% discount.
No excursions for either of us today. I thought I could download photos faster this afternoon since most people are off the ship. Well, it's not much faster!! After dinner tonight, the show will be featuring local folkloric music and dancers. We'll experience music, costumes, and dances of the Panama region. We don't sail until midnight. We don't have very far to go before our transit of the Panama Canal tomorrow.
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