Our planning started out with me, my brother Joel and his wife Susan. But, in the end, we had an extended group of 15 aboard ship. And I expanded the adventure at both ends, making a pre-trip to a Panamanian island resort with friends George and Barbara, and a post-trip to a Costa Rican volcano and rainforest with Brigitte and Bob.
The population of Panama is 3.3 million, and nearly half of those people live in Panama City. High-rise buildings appear to be sprouting from the ground, some of them accommodating American retirees.
Turns out that Panama Hats are actually made in Ecuador, but we saw them everywhere.
Our pre-cruise resort, Casa Cayuco (casacayuco.com), was a 45-minute boat ride from Bocas Town in Bocas del Toro, an island archipelago that's a one-hour flight from Panama City. We made a stop at the gas dock (pictured)
The resort has just four cabins, and we took two of them. This was mine.
One excursion we made was to an isolated beach, where we spent an afternoon surfing and boogie boarding. Cayuco is the name for the canoes natives carve from trees, and they were lined-up on the beach.
It was so good to see the 150-passenger Windstar again; she's always a beautiful sight!
The San Blas Islands were our first stop on the cruise. They were remote, primitive and very colorful.
Transiting the Panama Canal in the small ship really gave the locks some scale. That canal; what an engineering achievement, and what a story.
Joel and I joined a two-tank SCUBA dive trip at Isla de Coiba. The island is a marine preserve and UNESCO site, with some of the best diving in Central America. We probably saw 40 sharks! And we took a break between dives on this idyllic beach.
The ship carries all kinds of toys, including snorkel gear, kayaks and paddle boards. I water-skied behind an inflatable, and Joel and Susan went tubing.
When the floating mats were out it was time to swim off the stern.
There were fishing boats with lots of character in the former banana port of Golfito. And we'll always remember that we were there when we heard the news that niece Lacey's son Brody had been born.
That's Bob and Brigitte (in hats) with Bob's cousin Pat and his wife Karen (my new friends!). Pat was my water ski buddy.
Sunset was always my favorite time aboard.
Back on land, every room at the Nayara (arenalnayara.com), near the Arenal Volcano (see it?), had a private deck with curtained, two-person whirlpool tub, as well as an outdoor shower. Ahhhhhh . . .
Bob and I went on an 'extreme' zip-line excursion that included seven segments. One was 650 feet off the rainforest floor, and another was a half-mile long. That's Bob in the photo.
Yahooooo . . .
I also did a 'hanging bridges' hike, and saw monkeys in the canopy and snakes and frogs on the ground.
I swam at the bottom of this waterfall. It had wave action like the ocean.
And on our last day we took a 'safari' rafting trip where we floated past monkeys and sloths, plus herons, egrets, kingfishers and other birds, and so many butterflies.
We can't get enough of Windstar, so we're looking at 2013 itineraries in the Caribbean. It's a great experience every time, with 'high thread-count' cabins and dining superior to most big ships. And things will get better still as they put $18 million into renovations for the three-ship fleet this year.
I'm not done with Panama and Costa Rica, either. The natural beauty and wildlife are incredible, and the people are so warm and engaging. English is spoken everywhere, and U.S. dollars are used more than their own currency. And you can drink the water and eat the food without any concern whatsoever. I'm not moving anywhere; it was gorgeous and and nearly 80 degrees for my return home. But it's not wonder so many Americans are retiring in Panama and Costa Rica!
No comments:
Post a Comment