The Traveling Widower

Tag: Panama-canal

  • Please Let Me In Your Country

    AI generated image of a distressed man with gray hair and glasses is speaking to an immigration officer at an airport, while a line of passengers waits in the background. The officer appears to be gesturing to the man, who is showing visible emotion.
    Not real, AI generated

    March 19th, 2026

    I really did not think I would have much to write about on my travel day to Panama City. I definitely could have lived without this one incident – yet another major stress.

    The flight out of Houston was OK – about 4 ½ hours of boredom, although I spend some time on an introduction for a book I’ve been thinking of pulling together for the past year. And, I had a window seat, so I of course took a few photo’s, especially once we got to Panama and approached Panama City. You pass over the Pacific side of the canal, and can see all the ships waiting to enter. Pretty amazing. Panama City is also huge and very modern, with some incredible architecture. I hope to get a few pictures this week.

    Aerial view of a coastal city featuring a skyline of tall buildings and a small island in the foreground with waterfront properties.
    Aerial view of a coastal landscape featuring multiple waterways, boats in the water, and a town along the shore, with lush green hills and scattered clouds in the background.
    Aerial view of numerous cargo ships anchored in a calm sea, with an island in the background.
    Aerial view of Panama City with numerous high-rise buildings, surrounded by water and mountains under a blue sky with scattered clouds.

    At any rate, unlike most of the other airports I’ve been to, you exit from the plane right out to a very large concourse. I was expecting that a foreign flight would have a separate, cordoned off passage directly to immigration. Nope. I had no idea where I was going, and noticed a sign which point to Terminal 1 baggage and immigration. So, off I went on yet another airport hike. When I got to immigration, one of the guards asked me what airline I flew in on, and told me I had to go all the way back to Terminal 2. Another airport hike. I was already nervous about the exit flight thing that I experienced with the airline. And of course, it was a problem with the Panama immigration as well. The officer did not speak much English, and was confused when I told him I was boarding a cruise ship and going to Costa Rica. We went back and forth on this for a while, and he eventually found another officer who spoke some English. I pulled out my itinerary for the trip, which had National Geographic in big letters on it, and the guy looked through it – he started asking what we do on the trip. I told him about going to the National Parks, and then cruising through the islands and he seemed to think this was a research or educational ship. He looked at my camera bag and I told him I was a photographer. So, they both went off to the immigration office, and probably told them I was a National Geographic photographer, and they approved my entry, I was not going to disagree. I was really concerned that they were not going to let me in – I was close to getting down on my knees and pleading, but I would have to use Google Translate, and who knows how that would come out –  I could wind up in an El Salvador prison.

    I grabbed my passport after he stamped it, said Muchas gracias, and sped off to get my luggage. I was the only person coming in on this flight, so there was only one person waiting over by the doors with a NatGeo/Lindlbad sign. Fortunately, I noticed him and off we went to the Waldorf Astoria. Success. I made it here alive. Not too bad a hotel room either – it will be hard switching over to the small cabin on the ship after this level of luxury.

    Beautiful room at the Panama City Waldorf Astoria hotel.
    If only the ship cabin was like this…

    I’m going to chill for a while, then go to our group welcome dinner. Tomorrow we tour around the city and the Canal. I’ll be trying out that new lens tomorrow for sure. No more stress. I’ve had enough today.

    Peace

  • 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