The Traveling Widower

Category: hiking

  • A Whole New Meaning to a Dead End

    A hillside cemetery with numerous gravestones set on green grass, surrounded by a low white wall and palm trees under a cloudy sky.
    Unexpected excursion!

    March 21, 2026

    I’m skipping most of what was another good day in Panama, to focus just one brief but amusing incident which occurred on our way to where our little group of pre-voyage adventurers (17 of us) was to board the National Geographic/Lindblad Quest, to begin our cruise through the canal and then on to Costa Rica.

    We had spent the day visiting a National Park (Castillo de San Lorenzo) and then visited the first lock on the Caribbean side of the new canal channel. We then had a relatively short drive to get to the docks in Colon. We were very close, moving along on a small road when we hit a police roadblock – apparently there were repairs in progress on the road, and the police pointed us on to a detour. But, we immediately noticed that the detour was an entry to a cemetary. Really. Not just a little cemetary, a huge cemetary, which included a separate Jewish cemetary. It was kind of interesting, but very weird to be driving in a bus, on our way to board a cruise ship, and winding our way through an overgrown but still active burial ground. We also passed some very large, extremley delapidated buildings which someone noticed happened to be a prison. Even better. A real adventure!

    A police vehicle parked on a residential road, lined with palm trees and a church in the background. They were blocking the exit, which was locked, forcing everyone to turn around
    A view of a cemetery with various tombstones and grave markers surrounded by grass and trees.

    So we continued on down the road, wondering where it was leading, until we hit the main road we had been on. Where there was a locked gate, and two police cars. The two officers were unable to open the gate, so they indicated that we should turn around and head back But by that time, there was a line of cars and buses behind us. Quite the show. So, our fearless driver managed to turn the bus around without driving over a grave, and we headed back to where we first entered the cemetary. By this time, we were giving our trip lead a very hard time about this unannounced excursion on our itinerary. Others wanted to know if we could stop and take pictures (just kidding). We got to pass the prison again, and someone noticed that the inmates were hanging out the windows, waving to us. I guess everone got a good laugh out of this. 

    The very active prison, next to the cemetery. Inmates hung out the windows to wave at all the cars and buses.

    So we had to back track a bit to take a different road into town, and we eventually made it to the ship. We were just a little late. And I had another good story to tell.

  • This Trip Will Be A Little Different

    A blood pressure monitor, a bottle of Bayer low dose aspirin, a prescription medication bottle, and a small black and silver object arranged on a countertop.

    March 14, 2026

    I’m four days away from my next trip, and I’m just about packed and ready to go. I’ve been really good the past weeks since I returned from Baja – no wine or martini’s (#!@&*!!!), over-hydrating resulting in many late night trips (no details necessary…if you are over 65, you get it), and I’ve been mostly avoiding over exerting myself. I’ve even started meditation, and monitoring my EKG pulse and blood pressure every day. I’m really acting like an old man. I guess I’m acting my age. Bah. 

    Packing was really weird – the trip offers a lot of water activities: paddle boarding, kayaking and snorkeling. I’m not packing gear for any of those, so there’s a lot more room in my luggage. I am carrying a few new, small items. A blood pressure cuff, and my Kardia EKG device. There is a ship’s physician, but I’d like to do a daily check on my own, without letting the ship staff know about my condition. The last thing I need is to have the staff watching me all the time. I’m concerned a bit, but not really that worried (I’m not supposed to do that either). My BP and BMP have been kind of weird the past two weeks, but I’ve been relatively active without any issues. I’m willing to take the risk.

    So, in a few days I’ll be off to Panama City. I’ve seen a bunch of videos of the canal crossing, and that does look interesting, as does pretty much everything on the itinerary. It will be nice to photograph something other than ice and snow – a bit of color would be wonderful. 

    Speaking of which, with a little bit of luck, I might get to photograph the extremely rare Costa Rican River Penguins.

    AI generated picture of a group of colorful penguins standing by the riverbank in a lush rainforest, with palm trees and greenery in the background. Wishful thinking

    Peace