Panama Canal: Transiting a Fantastic Feat of Engineering

A Man. A Plan. A Canal. Panama. A perfect palindrome being the same whether spelled forward or backward for a remarkable achievement that still works today almost 100 years after its completion. Can we say the same thing about many modern pieces of equipment? When our 7-year-old convection oven was ruined by a power surge in September, we learned that the part needed to repair the oven and the oven itself were obsolete. Long live the Panama Canal! It's only change in 100 years will be the completion of the expansion for new 6.1 kilometer Pacific Access Channel to accommodate wider and deeper ships, which is set to be finished in 2014, the 100th anniversary of the canal. The new third set of locks will be the size of four football fields. More than one million ships from all over the world have transited the canal since its official inauguration on August 15, 1914. The canal cost more than $375 million to complete, and cruise ships pay more than $100,000 to pass through the 47.9-mile canal, which takes eight to 10 hours. But this sure beats the alternative of going around Cape Horn!

Ken and I have been half-way through the canal twice. Along with Punxsutawney Phil, we celebrated was our third time through the entire canal. Every time the entire canal is transited, the cruise director's staff invites everyone to construct a poster to wave when we pass the grandstand before the second Miraflores Locks near the Pacific side of the canal, where residents and tourists gather to wave at the passengers and crew on the ships. We had decided not to make a poster celebrating Punxsutawney Phil's love for the Panama Canal but the day before I yielded to temptation and gave Phil his just dues with a cartoon caricature of him, expressing his love. Walking around with the poster gave us the opportunity to share the gospel truth about the world's most famous weather-forecasting groundhog. It always amazes me that so many people have never heard about him!

The route through the canal is southeast from Colon to Panama City. We entered the first of the three Gatun locks at 7:20 p.m., sailed through Gatun Lake, passed under the Centennial Bridge, cleared the Pedro Miguel Locks, sailed through Miraflores Lake, waved to the largest crowd of onlookers we have ever seen at the grandstand, cleared the two Miraflores locks, passed under the Bridge of the Americas and exited the canal with an outstanding view of the modern high-rise buildings in Panama City by 4:30 p.m.

If you have transited the Panama Canal, you know that the weather is usually hot and humid. Deborah, our port lecturer, told us that some people have actually developed pneumonia after their voyage because they had spent too much time in the sun and became dehydrated. She warned us to stay out of the sun and drink plenty of water. We enjoyed the most spectacular day ever with warm (low 80s) temperatures and comfortable humidity.

The perfect transit of the Panama Canal had a perfect conclusion at the first performance of the Pacific Princess Singers and Dancers in Cinematastic. For those on the 2010 World Cruise, we welcomed back Stephanie, in her new position of dance captain. The show was originally scheduled for Sunday night but was postponed due to the wild and wicked waves of the sea. That was a good thing. At the end of the production, Stephanie threw herself from a platform into the waiting arms of the four male dancers. On Sunday, we are not sure that they would have been able to catch her and who knows where she would have landed! The show was fantastic with the singers and dancers receiving a well-deserved standing ovation.

Cartegena: A Charming Change in Itinerary

On our second day aboard, the captain announced over the loud speaker that we would have an early change of itinerary. That evening we received the letter under the door confirming the news, "Last week, there were incidents of drug-related violence in Santa Marta, Columbia. All transportation and business was paralyzed for more than two days and dozens of gang members were arrested. As the safety and security of our passengers and crew is our priority, we have made the decision to cancel our call in Santa Marta. In its place we will add a call to Cartegena."

Two years ago when we visited Cartegena, we had taken a ship's tour called the "Best of Cartegena" so we had seen it all--the giant San Felipe de Barajas Fortress, the walled Old City (both named a UNESCO World Heritage Site), the Inquisition Palace, the San Pedro Claver church built in 1730 that was named after the Catholic priest who was the Patron Saint of Slaves for baptizing more than 300,000 of them and Las Bovedas, the former dungeons that are now homes to boutiques and tourist shops. Because our visit would end at 12:30 p.m. so we could keep the same time for the ship's transit of the Panama Canal the next day, we signed up for a ship's tour recommended by Deborah, our port lecturer, that offered a part-guided, part-on-your-own tour of the Old City. She thought that the nicest way to learn about the Old City was to wander around and take photographs of the colorful atmosphere and ornate architecture. After we had committed to the tour, we learned that a group of people in Cruise Critic were going into town on their own. Thanks to the skillful negotiations of Noemi, who speaks fluent Spanish, they commandeered an entire bus for 22 people at $12 each that took them to almost all of the places listed plus the Conventa de La Popa monastery built on the foundation of an Indian temple that sits on top the highest point in Cartegena. They even bargained for emerald jewelry. What a deal!

However, our tour was great, thanks to our guide David, who pronounced his name Da-Ved. He told us that Cartegena experiences two seasons, rainy and dry with January being in the dry season, and two temperatures, hot and hotter with today being hot. No one ever perspires on David's tours but instead pours out "holy water." This city with 1,200,000 inhabitants has 11 percent unemployment so the vendors are very aggressive. More than 30 percent of the population does not make the minimum wage and are classified as the poor living in poverty. David recommended that we negotiate a price of about 1/2 what a vendor originally asks. He also warned us to avoid the guides who would tell us that their services were free and then inform us that we owe them $40 at the end of the free tour. If we needed directions, we should ask a police officer. On the motorbikes that are often used as taxis, it is best to ask for service with no air conditioning because the air conditioning is 100 miles per hour. To keep track of us, he gave us name badges with "My name is David."

When we stopped at the fortress for a photo opportunity, David told us that the main reason it was built in 1533 was to protect the gold, silver and emeralds that were found in Peru and brought to Cartegena for storage before being shipped to Europe. The origin of the name of the
bay, which then became the name of the city, is its similarity to Cartegena Bay in Spain. The complete name of the city is Cartagena de Indias because the settlers assumed that they were in India rather than a new continent.

The Old Town, a completely walled city with its original wall, has only 12 traffic lights but the drivers seemed to ignore them thinking they must be Christmas decorations of red and green. David's traffic lesson for us was to look to the right, look to the left and then go for it! Also, if we wanted to purchase any fruit, we should be sure that the vendors peeled it in front of us or the fruit may have been peeled yesterday. Because the churches were the tallest buildings in the city, they had lookout towers to help guard the city. The sundials on the buildings are extremely accurate when the sun is shining.

The major square in the city is named after Simon Bolivar, the George Washington of South America. His dream of giving liberty to all the countries of South America unfortunately died after his death at the age of 47, at which point he had liberated five countries. The history of Cartegena is divided into three periods: Spanish Domination; Liberation that occurred twice on November 11, 1811, and October 10, 1821, in between which the residents paid dearly with the death of 6,000 people and most of the survivors emigrating to other other countries where they died rather than surrendered; and the Republic.

The two things that Cartegena wants to forget are the Inquisition and slavery. In the Museum of the Inquisition are replicas of the instruments of torture because the citizens wanted to rid the city of those two tarnishing marks. However, that knowledge did not stop us from touring the museum again. The Inquisition was established by the Catholics who executed people whom they thought were suspicious and accused them of witchcraft. If a person weighed more than 70 kilos, he or she had the devil inside. If a person weighed fewer than 40 kilos, he or she was a witch who was light enough to fly. Potential witches and warlocks also were asked 33 interrogation questions. We put Punxsutawney Phil on the scales and were certain that he weighed less than 40. We also took many photographs of him with instruments of torture. I had Ken stand behind the guillotine and said that I would yell, "Cut," and then take his picture. He refused to put his head in it. In the beautiful courtyard with a variety of trees behind the museum was the La Horca for hanging. We also admired the painting by Ernesto Recuirco of Ken in a former life as an executioner.

We walked back the street to the wall of the city where Ken climbed the stairs so he could view the ocean. Because the first step was so steep, I decided to look through one of the holes in the wall and was rewarded with a nice view of the beach. Then we walked back to the cathedral to meet our fellow passengers and negotiated with a vendor who had approached me when we started our self-guided tour for several necklaces of what he promised was black coral and genuine, uncut, semi-precious stones. He told me to remember him by his cap with a Canadian maple leaf. If a vendor tells you to find him or her on your way back, don't worry because that vendor will find you! We cannot guarantee that the black coral is not glass beads and the pearls are not plastic but the necklaces do make nice gifts for friends.

Our bus took us back to the ship through the new town, where 85 percent of the population lives. It is a modern city with skyscrapers and shiny new office buildings. We learned from our fellow passengers who had not visited Cartegena is many years that they remembered it as a dirty, back-woods town that was rather scary and were surprised how the new mayor had cleaned it up. David explained that the wrought-iron fences in front of many homes were not to keep the burglars out but were for decoration.

That afternoon, the Pacific Princess hosted a meet-and-greet with a champagne toast for all passengers returning from the 2011 World Cruise. We are 44 or 45 strong. It was great to get together with everyone again. The party was crashed by a woman whom none of us knew who was on the 2008 World Cruise and thought the invitation was for everyone who had ever gone around the world. We feel very lucky to be back on board for a third trip around the world!

Aruba: One Happy Island for Butterfly Magic

Aruba's citizens work hard to live up to the slogan of One Happy Island. The sun shone brightly over the welcoming turquoise, teal and navy blue waters from the shore to the horizon as we headed to the bus station with Noemi and Sergio to take the Marmol bus to the Butterfly Farm. After stopping at an ATM that was out of service, we were delighted to learn from the bus driver that the buses accepted US currency for the $1.30 each fare. We were lucky again when the man sitting behind Noemi lived at the same stop where we needed to get off. Even the lack of air conditioning on the bus did not make us uncomfortable because a cooling breeze came in from the open windows. Friendly locals were very happy to provide directions for those of us from the ship who were like the blind leading the blind on this island paradise. Several passengers from the ship who were heading for Arashi Beach for snorkeling were proud that they knew what SCUBA meant--Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. My Floridian college students had taught me that.

According to the owner who is a native of Silver Springs, Maryland, the Butterfly Farm is one of a handful of farms in the world that breeds butterflies, none of which are in North America. He is a friend of Tony, who owns the butterfly facility in Key West. When we paid our $15 each admission fee, he told us that we could come back anytime during our stay in Aruba but should really try to be there the next morning when the up to 100 butterflies are born each day. While watching this miracle of nature would not have cost us a second entrance fee, we would need to pay for the airfare to Cartagena, Columbia, to catch our ship so we decided to pass on his kind offer. All around the entrance area, which also served as the gift shop, were signs with "Welcome. We're all a flutter that you are here."

First time visitors are given a complimentary tour. Yara, our tour guide, lived up to her name that means "butterfly" in her birthplace in the Netherlands. Her slender body acted like a butterfly as she flitted, flirted, fluttered and flew through her energetic and enthusiastic commentary about the lives and loves of butterflies. Her rules for us were simple: stay on the sandy path, watch where you step so you do not tramp on resting butterflies, do not touch the butterfly's super fragile wings because you could erase the scales, go between the front legs of a butterfly that lands on you to lead it off and check your clothes when exiting to be sure that a butterfly is not hitchhiking on you. Yara told us she would join us inside the garden. We later determined that this was her way to give us time to acclimate to the whirling wonderland that welcomed us. When we entered the enchanted garden of butterflies circling, weaving and dancing, Sergio, Noemi and Ken started snapping pictures wildly. I was glad that my main responsibility was to take notes so that I could concentrate on the beautiful colors of the butterflies' wings, appreciate the concerto playing softly in the background, observe the colorful fish swimming in the pond, and admire the butterflies' version of the Panorama Buffet with apples, oranges and bananas. I learned later from Yara that my favorite, as well as hers, was the owl butterfly with the inside wings being aqua and the outside wings looking like an owl's face with its big eyes as it flew by.

When Yara joined us, she presented an animated and entertaining presentation of the these fascinating creatures from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. The caterpillar eats so much that it becomes twice its size every day. It starts eating the leaf, progresses to the stem, makes its journey to a safe spot, hangs upside down while shedding its skin for one last time and uses its mouth to make a cuppa chrysalis, which is a perfectly symmetrical work of art that camouflages the future butterfly. Every time we looked at the chrysalis, we saw something different. Yara told us about an old Indian belief that in the chrysalis one sees the spirit that protects the butterfly.

Now for the million-dollar question of the day: What happens inside the chrysalis? Yara related the latest theory of metamorphosis that the coiled caterpillar begins to liquefy into a red gooey soup-like substance that starts to develop as a butterfly. In the process, the DNA is modified. Could this also happen with humans? In 10 to 15 days, a rather ugly butterfly breaks through and then hangs on to the chrysalis until it can pump up to the size it is destined to be. Then the butterfly flies away without ever having a flying lesson. It looks for two things: food in flowers that it can intake through its straw-like proboscis and a mate. The extremely picky female chooses the male because she will only mate once and wants the best male possible. The male can mate up to 45 times. She dances with many possible suitors, selects her favorite and beginning the mating process in air with her on the top and the male on the bottom, relaxing completely as the female carries him around and around. This process can last from two to 48 hours. Any similarity between this ritual and the mating process of human is probably more than coincidental. Once impregnated, the female can lay up to 50 to 100 eggs.

Yara used a beautiful spiritual metaphor to describe the lives of butterflies and humans. In the egg stage, an idea is born but is not yet developed. Then the caterpillar works to shed its skin because it wants to become something that it never was before. In the chrysalis stage, the caterpillar visualizes being able to fly. The moment it breaks out of its shell, the butterfly can fly and achieves freedom. Yara's enriching commentary was well worth the price of admission. (Resolution for 2012: When we return home in May, I plan to buy a feeder and cultivate the butterfly garden started by the former owners of our home. But will the dogs next door hurt or help this process?)

The staff at the butterfly farm suggested that we take a self-guided tour of a bird sanctuary close by and loaned us umbrellas because the sky looked threatening. We did not think we would need them because Aruba is a desert and January is not the rainy season. Now naive we tourists can be! After walking around the preserve and spotting very few birds but several iguanas, we decided to go back to the butterfly farm. Then the skies opened with an incredible downpour. The handle of Noemi's umbrella, the first masculine plaid umbrella that I have ever seen, broke off, making it almost impossible for her to use it. However, it didn't really matter because the rain was being blown sideways, and we all got soaked. We ran across the street to a awning-covered area in front of the windmill resort and waited out the storm.

When we finally returned to the butterfly farm, we were greeted by our 40 new best friends on the Pacific Princess' tour. Yara told us to wait five minutes and they all would be gone. With the water from the rain and the bright sunshine, the farm had a different feel. Our favorite activity was to soak our pointer fingers in banana or orange juices to put under the proboscis and belly of the butterfly and watch the featherweight creature eat from our fingers. Of course, we took many more pictures of this process, including one that seems as if Ken is kissing the butterfly. What at perfectly magical day we had enjoying butterfly farm magic in Aruba!

We launch January 13th!!!

Well, it's that time again.  We board the Pacific Princess for the third time on January 13, 2012.  This will be our third consecutive world cruise.  I still can't believe we're doing it all again.  Just very lucky, I suppose.  Hope you all will join us on our third adventure of a lifetime!!!

Kuala Lumpur: A City We Should Not Overlook

To see the record straight, we visited Kuala Lumpur on March 14. Then we had one day to pack for our seven-night overland trip in India. Writing an entry for the blog or packing for a trip of a lifetime, which should one pick? Right, we concentrated on our extended visit to India. However, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, deserves its due. Better late than never.

We received our wake-up call at 6:15 a.m. for our nine-hour, ship-sponsored tour to Kuala Lumpur (from here on abbreviated as KL), which included three hours for the trip to and from the city. Once again we boarded an absolutely gorgeous bus. The United States should definitely hire decorators from Thailand and Malaysia to design their tour buses. We were delighted with the gold pleated draperies and tasseled valances, the burgundy with bright colored designed seats, and the use of that material on the ceilings and around the vents and light fixtures.

Our tour guide Suzy was wonderful and would keep us abreast of how far women have progressed in the third-largest Muslim country in the world (Morocco is first while Istanbul is second). We learned that Malaysia did not suffer from earthquakes, tsunamis or volcanoes. The biggest threat was the heavy rainfalls that caused flooding at the end of the year. The temperatures were hot, hotter and hottest. Friday was the holy day. While some countries do not allow women in the mosques because beautiful women, even with veils, could distract the men, Malaysian mosques at least had a separate section for women. However, a woman should not expose any part below her knee to the other sex in a mosque. But the ladies do wear very colorful clothes.

What turned into a warning flag for us was that Suzy did mention her government more than usual, which reminded us of our trip in China. She also told us about a male friend from another country, where the men could only see the eyes of a woman, who told her that he could tell if a woman was pretty from her eyes. But after he chose, there are no refunds.

The major sources of export income for Malaysia were petroleum, television and radio semiconductor components, and palm oil. Gas was cheap so most households in Malaysia owned an average of 2.5 cars that they purchased through nine years of installment payments. Between 30 and 40 percent of the land was cultivated for palm trees with four pounds of fruits producing one pound of palm oil, which is used for cooking and cosmetics. The country suffers from a shortage of sugar, and Malaysians liked to eat very sweet desserts and use at least two spoons of sugar in their cups coffee and tea. While timber used to be exported, the country was running out of timber so it was now expensive to live in a wooden house. Malaysia used to be one of the world's largest exporter of tin but now it was running out of tin. Alcohol and cigarettes were very costly because of the heavy taxes by the government, plus as a Muslim country, drinking was discouraged.

Education was free with most thinking it was an offense to the government if families did not sent their children to school. In the past, the students used to go abroad for their university education but now many go to the universities run by the government in Malaysia, which offered four-year degrees. When Suzy's bother went to the United States for his university education, he drank beer like water. Suzie finished her university education in Australia and New Zealand.

Most Malaysians did not speak English until they were forced to do so. If dealing with the government, one should speak Malaysian because the government would put a person on hold if he or she did not. If a person spoke English, that person was considered "stuck up." The government encouraged citizens to own homes with the a 500-square-foot home averaging about $4,500 US. The average family income was between $3,500 and $4,500 US with many citizens wanting to achieve a $10,000 US annual income.

Suzy described KL as being a concrete forest. Our first stop was the National Museum, which traced Malaysia's history from the Stone Age to when the Dutch arrived in the 1600s to when it was British colony for a century until 53 years ago when the country declared its independence from Great Britain. Then we drove to the National War Memorial where Suzy told us that the government does not allow the citizens to speak too much. The memorial was dedicated "to our glorious dead" from World War I and II and from the communists from 1948 to 1960. The National Monument which was "dedicated to the heroic fighters in the cause of peace and freedom," was dedicated to the heroes who fought during the Japanese occupation and communism. The monument featured five soldiers with the two fallen soldiers being communists. "May the blessing of Allah be upon them."

Suzy told us about her grandmother who lived during WWII and did not want to be captured by the Japanese and sold into slavery. In a coffee shop, she found a man to marry her who told her that he was very rich. Three days after the wedding, he asked her to return the wedding ring because he was not rich and had borrowed the ring. The grandmother tried to run away from him but broke her leg in the process. Eventually she became pregnant and had nine children.

We stopped at the railway station. The architect from England had been asked why the roof of the station was built that way. How could it endure the heavy snow? (Not a concern in Malaysia.) We also saw Independence Square and Club 125, celebrating its 125th anniversary. This club was started for white men only. The English ladies used to walk their spotted dogs around the club in search of their husbands. We saw the Anglican Church that was built in 1903 and then drove through Chinatown and Little India, where the government did not want to demolish the buildings because of their culture but sometimes only saved the front facades. We viewed the Petronas Twin Towers in the city center. A bridge connected the two towers with visitors starting to line up at 2 a.m. to cross it. At 452 meters high, these building were the tallest in Malaysia and the third tallest in the world. In Malaysia, transporting drugs and murder resulted in the stiff penalty of being hung until dead. While the king can grant a pardon, very few pardons have been given. One of the signs in the downtown area warned us to "Beware of Snatch Thief." The cutout on the sign was a woman whose purse was being snatched.

Suzy told us to eat lunch with our hands because touching the food with our fingers causes the fingers to send signals to our brains that make the food taste better. Our last stop was the 276-meter KL Tower built in 1996. At the top, we enjoyed panoramic views from 12 different points. When we tried to match up the buildings at the 12 points on the audio tour, we realized that the maps has been created when the tower was open and much had been changed since then. KL was a work in progress.