The Traveling Widower

Tag: travel

Default category for all travel related posts.

  • Odds & Ends – Catching up on some busy days.

    A beverage dispenser filled with water and slices of citrus fruits, including grapefruit, lemon, lime, and orange. A sign nearby reads 'Not Today Scurvy.'
    No reason for showing this…

    March 23, 2026

    This is the first day since I arrived in Panama, where I have some free time to go through hundreds of photos, do backups, and write about some of the other places and activities I’ve experienced in the past few days. This is typical of the National Geographic tours – they keep you so busy that you never get a chance to rest unless you have a sea day. Well, today is one of those days. We spent the morning wandering around a village on a small island in the Gulf of Panama, and now we’re are heading north along the Panama coast for the rest of the day. Nap time! 

    Here’s what I’ve skipped over, that worth discussing:

    1 – Second extension day – visit to an old Spanish Fort

    2 – The new canal channel

    3 – Evening pass through the locks (in driving rain)

    4 – Some other random photo’s

    I’ll keep it short (that’s always hard for me), and focus more on the photos. 

    Castillo de San Lorenzo

    On the last day of the extension tour, we motored across the Isthmus to the Northern, Caribbean side. That’s one weird thing about Panama – the Pacific is on the South and the Caribbean on the North. Your tend to forget that the canal section is a skinny chunk of land running East-West. At any rate, the itinerary was to first visit this national park, visiting the old Spanish Fort and doing a short hike to look for beasties, then after lunch, visit a lock on the newest of the canal channels. Then finally, head over to the docks in Colon and board the ship. I’ve already posted about our special cemetery excursion.

    I’ve always had this thing for fortifications since I was a kid – we used to vacation in Lake George NY, and I looked forward to visiting the old forts from the Revolutionary War (and French-Indian War). So this was a highlight of sorts for me, and it met my expectations. This site has been around since the 1500’s and has been destroyed and rebuilt a few times. It has a rich history as a military installation, and even as a prison. The main portion of the last iteration of the fort has been restored and is well maintained, and other structure are in the process of being restored. There’s a nice museum indoors which explains the history of the location, and of course, a bunch of rusted cannons on the walls. And the view of the mouth of the Chagrin River is great….but you do have to watch out for crocodiles if you go near the water. If you are into history, this is definitely worth a stop.

    https://ppysl.org/sanlorenzo/index.html

    Warning sign indicating the presence of crocodiles, with instructions not to approach, enter the water, or feed them, surrounded by greenery.
    A vintage cannon positioned on a grassy area, facing a stone wall with greenery and trees in the background. This canon likely came from Captain Morgan, the famous privateer who captured the fort.
    View of a river through an archway with brick and stone walls, surrounded by greenery and a blue sky with clouds.
    Ruins of an old stone structure with exposed brick walls and wooden beams under a clear blue sky.
    View of a historical fort with stone walls, a grassy area, and clear blue skies with scattered clouds.
    A row of historical cannons on a stone wall against a backdrop of blue sky and lush green hills.
    A view of the land-side dry moat surrounding the fort
    A view of the open area approaching the entrance to Fort Lorenzo

    Agua Clara Canal Locks & Visitor Center

    The third and latest canal channel was completed a few years ago, and a visitor center was built for the locks which manage the transit between the Caribbean and Gatun Lake. This center is much smaller than the Miraflores center, no IMAX, and the viewing area is up on a rise, looking down at the locks – no close access at all, but still worth viewing since this is where the largest ships have to transit through the canal. The container ships are absolutely huge. A major difference is that tug boats are used to move the ship, not electric mules. The gates are different as well – they slide across. It’s quite an interesting “dance” to see the tugs positioning these enormous ships into the lock chamber. Worth checking out if you are interested in the canal.

    A large container ship labeled 'LNGPOWERED' navigates through a canal, assisted by a small tugboat, with port facilities visible in the background.
    A view of the lock gates, sliding across to close the lock after the ship entered the chamber. These gates are different than the ones on the original locks of the Panama Canal.
    A large container ship, labeled CMA CGM, navigates through a canal with colorful shipping containers stacked on its deck, under a cloudy sky.

    A Different View

    After boarding the Quest on Friday afternoon, we got a late start on entering the canal since: 1) My group was late getting through the cemetery 2) The pilots were late getting to the ship. So,  we wound up heading through the Eastern locks at night, which we were told is the best time to view the process, under the lights. For us, we had an added attraction – an incredibly heavy rainstorm. I knew there was a reason for packing a raincoat. Of course I forget the covers for my cameras, but I did have the waterproof case for my phone. I was all set. 

    There are three chambers on the locks, which get the ship up to lake level. This was the older channel, so the ship was hooked up to the electric mules to pull us through. Most of the passengers were packed on the bow, wearing rain coats, and one of the naturalists gave an endless blow-by-blow description of the process. It was like a big party. In the rain, without party food. And I can’t drink anyway.

    It takes a while to get through each lock, even though filling the chamber is pretty quick. There were boats in the front locks, so you have to wait until those are out before they can reset everything. I made it through one iteration. As they say, once you’ve seen one lock, you’ve seen them all. Maybe nobody says that. I was just kind of locked out, and ready for some shut-eye.

    Here’s a bunch of photo’s. I’ve added captions on each to explain what’s going on. Once I get home, I’ll add a video.

    View from a boat at night in a lock chamber, illuminated by artificial lights amid heavy rain.
    View of a canal lock at night, with illuminated buildings and boats on either side, reflecting in the water.

    Entering the lock in the rain.

    A view of a lock chamber at night, featuring a sloped concrete surface leading up to the electric “mule” and illuminated by bright lights.
    A nighttime view of a large gray locomotive positioned on a lock with various markings and measurements visible on the sides.
    Inside a lock with dark walls marked '15' and '16', water visible below, and mooring lines in view.

    The “mule” engine, and gate at the end of the lock

    A group of people on a boat in a lock at night, with the lock gates partially open and illuminated by overhead lights.
    Crowd on the bow, watching the show after the rain stopped.

    Odds & Ends

    Sometime last night, we went from Gatun Lake heading north through the canal, and passed through the narrowest portion of the passage – only one ship can pass through at a time. Once again, it was raining, but the lights were kind of cool, so I shot a few picture and videos for the fun of it.

    A view from the deck of a boat at night, showing a calm body of water reflecting colorful lights from nearby hills and a pier, with several people standing on the boat looking out.
    A nighttime view of a calm river or lake, illuminated by distant lights on the shoreline and reflecting colors on the water's surface.
    Nighttime view of a river reflecting various colored lights from nearby structures and traffic signals.

    This morning, we anchored at a small island in Panama Bay, Taboga – it has a cute village with a lot of shops, a very nice beach, and is a likely a hot spot on the weekends since there is a ferry from Panama Beach. It reminded me a lot of Capitola, along Monterey Bay in California. I also shot a few post-sunrise photos from the ship.

    A distant rock formation silhouetted against a gradient sunset sky with hues of orange and yellow, above calm ocean waters.
    A panoramic view of a calm sea during sunset, featuring a distant island with a mountainous silhouette and scattered clouds in the sky.
    Colorful 'TABOGA' sign by the waterfront in Taboga, Panama, with mountains and buildings in the background.
    Colorful wall mural of fish and marine life on a blue house exterior, featuring decorative elements like seashells and stars.
    A large fish sculpture stands at the edge of a waterfront, overlooking a calm blue sea and a small island in the background. A wooden pier is visible with several boats moored nearby, under a clear sky.
    A colorful rooster standing on the ground with green plants and soil in the background.

    I’ll probably add more photo’s later on…like we just ran out to the bow to watch dolphins jumping along our bow wake. We even had humpback whales breaching today. Having fun for sure.

    Peace

  • Birds and Monkeys…and Keep Your Hands in the Boat!!

    A group of unusual, spiky insects clinging to a tree trunk in a natural setting.
    Bats!!! Really.

    March 22, 2026

    Remember all the time honored warnings your parents used to give you when you were young? “Don’t run with scissors or a knife in your hand”, “Don’t play in the street” or “Don’t talk to strangers”. Well, one of the warnings you get on cruises, when you go off on small boats for activities, is “Please keep your hands inside the boat”. Now I know why. I’ll fill you in on that in a bit.

    Today was the first full day of activity since boarding the ship. We passed into the canal the previous night, an experience I’ll cover in another post. This has been a very busy trip, and it has been hard to keep up with writing new posts. Lo siento. After passing through the locks, the ship passed into Gatun Lake, which was created during the development of the canals – at the time (early 1900’s), it was the largest man-made lake. It’s still huge – check out a map of Panama and you’ll see for yourself. The boat anchored in a quiet bay, which gave us most of the day to explore along the islands and rainforest national parks around us. In the morning, I opted for a visit/hike to the Soberania National Park, which is a haven for bird watchers. We had a 30 minute ride in Pangas (small boats) to get there, which was fast and fun – you get to pass huge LNG and container ships, making their transit through the lake portion of the canal. The lake is also a tourist attraction, so their are a lot of small boats buzzing around, and this particular morning, a bunch of dragon boat teams out practicing.

    A group of people paddling in a boat on a calm river with green trees lining the shore and a building in the background.
    Low-angle view of an industrial bridge with pipes running along the structure, reflecting in the water below, under a partly cloudy sky.
    A tall industrial structure reflecting in calm water, surrounded by greenery and a cloudy sky.
    A large cargo ship with colorful containers on deck navigates a calm body of water under a cloudy sky.
    Large cargo ship named Corvette sailing on water under a cloudy sky.

    There is of course history behind the big crane in one of the photos – it was purchased from Germany before WWII – it was built for maintaining U-Boats. It is sort of a museum piece, but they don’t know what to do with it. The railroad bridge we went under also has a lot of history – it crosses the main river which feeds the lake, and is part of the line which crosses coast-to-coast. When the water in the lake gets to high, even the Pangas can’t go underneath (unless everyone ducks).

    We headed to Gamboa, which for a long time was a thriving town when the US owned the canal, but is now a ghost town with just few businesses keeping the lights on. But it does get some tourist traffic for the rainforest park – birders, hikers and even some cyclists. Our groups were headed first to a large observation tower where you can climb 170 or steps to an observation deck above the forest canopy. Yeah, another spiral staircase, just like the Moaning Cavern. It was fun and a good test of my heart, but we did not see much in the way of wildlife. 

    View of a spiral staircase with a concrete surface and a surrounding mesh railing, leading downwards, surrounded by greenery.
    View from a platform overlooking a dense green forest, with wooden pathways visible below and a person walking on the path.
    A panoramic view of a lush green forest under a partly cloudy sky.

    After descending, I opted to return back to the other attraction for the morning – a hummingbird viewing station. Now that was more like it. There are quite a few species of hummers in the rainforest, but this time of year, fewer show up at the feeders since all the plants are flowering. Too much too earth. But, a bunch of them still buzz over to the visitor center for an easy meal. It was amazing to see so many hummingbirds dividing around the feeders – there are literally swarms of hummers flying around, and they had little button feeders if you wanted to have them feed out of your hand. Which of course I did. I had two hummers and about 6 wasps on my hand. I quickly abandoned that effort. I wasted a lot of shots on the feeders, but focused on the birds when they sat in the trees. I managed to capture some incredible images, probably better than what I got from the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum last year. The hummingbird pictured below is a White Necked Jacobin. There were two other species, but I did not get any good photos of them.

    A vibrant blue and green hummingbird perched on a slender branch against a blurred green background.
    A vibrant hummingbird perched on a twig, showcasing its shimmering blue and green feathers in a natural setting.
    A vibrant hummingbird perched on a branch, showcasing iridescent blue and green plumage.

    That was about it for the morning excursion (that word has new meaning of late…no bombs involved). I think we were all soggy from the humidity, but it was a really beautiful and enjoyable experience in the jungle.

    The afternoon off-ship activity was a bit easier on the body – boat rides around what are referred to as the Monkey Islands….for obvious reasons. There are large numbers of four different species of monkeys on the islands. Duh. The rain forests all over Panama and Central America have a variety of resident wildlife, including monkeys. When the river valley was flooded to create the Gatun Lake, all the peaks of high hills became islands, each with family groups of monkeys. There is lots to eat, so the monkeys stayed and the populations pretty much stay in their isolated world (although they do swim). 

    We went off on the Pangas again and just cruised close to shore, looking for movement in the trees. And there was a. Lot of that. The Mantled Howler Monkeys are the easiest to spot, and we found one family group that provided some good photo opportunities. We had seen (and heard them) in the morning – their sound was used to create the T-Rex roars in Jurassic Park. You can hear them from far away.

    Two monkeys resting on a tree branch surrounded by green leaves.

    The next ones we spotted were these cute little monkeys (Geoffrey’s Tamarin), right along the shore. Here’s the rest of the story I teased about. The naturalist invited me up to the bow of the boat, so I could photograph the little beasties better. As I moved in, I grabbed the side of the boat, not realizing that the driver was intending to just ram the boat into the trees. My hand became a bumper between the boat and a tree. Fortunately, I screamed (more like a very loud curse) and the driver backed off before my fingers were crushed. Not much damage done – it hurt a lot, but only my little finger was bruised, and a small amount of blood from a cut. I kept on taking photographs for the monkeys…..it was worth the pain. The naturalist was more upset than I was.

    A close-up of a monkey sitting on a tree branch, looking attentively to the side with a blurred green background.
    A close-up image of a monkey sitting on a tree branch, surrounded by green foliage.

    We kept on cruising after that, and spotted another species of monkeys (White-Throated Capuchin Monkey) a Snail Kite that posed for us, an Anhinga drying it’s wings, a small alligator and some incredible tiny bats (cover photo). 

    A close-up of a capuchin monkey sitting among green leaves and branches, with a contemplative expression.
    A Snail Kite decided to pose for us
    An Anhinga, drying it’s wings

    I spent an hour or two reviewing and curating a few of the photos – I could leave today and be very satisfied with the results. High hopes for the rest of the trip. And I’ll keep my hands in the boat from now on.

    Peace