Not Again, More Monkeys, and TSA at Houston

March 24th, 2026

I’ve been really pleased with the way things have gone on this trip so far, in terms of my health. I’ve been monitoring my BPM, taking my blood pressure daily, and trying my best not to stress out about anything. I did fine on the one hike early on that went up a five or six story circular staircase, and going up and down the stairs on the ship. Well, today did not start out too well. I started out OK, but then read an article about the 4 hours wait time to get through TSA at IAH. I’ve only got 2 hours between flights, and need to go through customs and TSA security again. I sent e-mail to the Lindblad travel agency, asking about switching to a flight the next day, and will probably go ahead with that. This morning I was scheduled to head over to a tropical island to hang on a beach and go kayaking. I was looking forward to that. I was sort of ready when I heard the call to board the Zodiacs to head to shore. Crap – I had to throw everything together in a hurry. I wound up at the end of the line, out of breath. And then the heart issue hit – dizzy, racing heart, palpitations. Double crap. I leaned against the wall, tried to relax, but much like the last time, it was not stopping. I was right next to my cabin, so I ducked in and sat down. What to do. I called for the ships doctor. She got there in a few minutes, checked my pulse which was going down, told me I definitely should not be snorkeling, and stayed with me for a bit. She said I should just relax, and go to the beach anyway. My BPM had creeped down below 100, and since I had already greased up with sunscreen, I figured what else could go wrong? Don’t answer that please.

I made the right choice. The beach was beautiful, just a 5 minute Zodiac ride, and with lots of chairs in the shade. If nothing else, I figured I could just take a snooze. But, after resting for 20 minutes, I wandered over to an empty kayak, and pushed off for a slow paddle around the bay. 

There was not really that much to see – the water was clear, but other than some really small fish, there was nothing worth sticking the GoPro underwater. I paddled across the bay where a bunch of other folks were hanging out – there were a couple of crocodiles sunning on a rock – none of us were interested in getting a closer look. They can swim much faster than any of us could paddle. And in my current condition, I would have been slowest kayak. Chomp.

After 30 minutes or so, I had enough sun, and figured it would be best to just rest. Something I’m not very good at. 

This island, Coiba used to be a notorious prison, especially during the Noriega days – anyone sentenced here basically disappeared. After things settled down in Panama years later, they made this into a protected national park, which is part of a very large marine ecological zone. These islands are linked with the Galapagos and other Pacific Islands, for quite a few fish and mammals – Hammerhead sharks, Whale Sharks and Humpback Whales migrate through here. So, this beach also had a small, somewhat primitive museum / visitor center, and access to the islands is very limited and controlled. Not that I was planning to do any hiking on jungle trails, wearing kayak shoes. There are lots of birds, and mammals on the islands including Howler and Capuchin monkeys. One Capuchin decided to check out the beach, and made for a good photo op – I wish I had brought one of the Sony’s, but the Pixel 10 worked fine.

There was also a large monitor lizard hanging around the museum, just asking for a selfie or two, and a friendly vulture stood in line waiting for the shower. 

Eventually, a Zodiac came to ferry us back to the ship, where I planned to just hang out and relax the rest of the day. The next few days will be all about hiking, and learning a bit about local culture. Hopefully, my heart will behave itself for the remainder of the trip.

One more photo – a moth settle outside one of the dining room windows. Made for an interesting composition.

Peace