Panama Canal cruise review

After 4799 nm I am back in America.  It was a great trip, and I visited three new countries too!

Highs:

·       Panama Canal passage
·       Guatemala
 
Lows:
·       room noise; the coughing next door was awful!
·       needed more sea day activities
·       long bus rides to get to excursions

Day 5: Cartagena, Colombia

I am going out on my own today with a local guide, Dora the Explorer and her team Diego (driver) and Emma (guide).  I found her online, and she had fabulous reviews.  I am actually joining a group that she had but we are only 3 people total so that will be nice!  I usually stick with cruise ship tours because if your tour is late; they will wait, but today I am taking a chance.  Some fun facts from Dora as we drove to our first stop:

• Discovered by Spaniards in 1533
• Slave port in colonial days
• Weather is consistent at mid 80° with 90% humidity

At 7:30am when I got off ship the weather was 86° with 90% humidity.

First Stop:  Convento de la Popa (La Popa Monastery)

Beautiful chapel and monastery with great views of the city from the highest point in Cartagena.

Our ship is on the left; seems so small.

Next Stop:  Castle San Felipe de Barajas

Spanish colonial fortress built in 1536 one of oldest and most important in the Americas.  I was happy it was just a snap a photo stop and not hike to the top stop.  

Then:  City Wall and Dungeons

The city was walled with 11km to protect the city.  It was named a UNESCO site in 1984.  Now the walls and dungeons are filled with handcraft shops of local crafts and crap.  I did have my first Colombian coffee.  It was coffee.

 

Next Stop:  walk around old town 

The vendors were everywhere . . . it was a bit annoying but they left you alone when you told them no thanks.

Final Stop:  Church of San Pedro Claver

Church is dedicated to Saint Peter Claver who dedicated his life to serving slaves in Cartagena in the 17^th century.  He advocated for their humane treatment and baptized over 300,000 slaves.

   

Quick Stop:  Getsemani

We took a quick walk around the area which is a vibrant neighborhood full of restaurants and very artsy colorful streets.  It was a bit dead during the day but they said it is hopping after dark . . . not sure I would go there at that time!

It was back to the port with plenty of time to enjoy the Port Oasis Eco Park.  It is sanctuary for animals before some are released back to their natural habitat after rehabilitation.  It is at the cruise port and has over 700 animals of 74 species.  It was pretty cool to walk around and see all the critters.  I was amazed at how close you could get to them.  Of course crazy people were trying to pet them.  I did notice a first aide station so apparently dumb tourist people have been injured and needed treatment.

 

Summer 2015 review

And just like that Summer of 2015 is officially over!  Each year I say we are going to stay closer to home and each year we spend more time away from home that actually at home.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  If I could there are a couple things I would change but hindsight is always 20-20.  Each place we visit is unique and always so hard to pick my top three . . . and Colin's always makes me laugh because he usually remembers total random specific things . . . so here is a run down of our favorite moments from this summer . . .

Colin
1.  Maine . . . eating all the shrimp
2.  Peru . . . especially the Inca Berries and rafting
3.  cousins . . . spending time with them especially the ones moving to Germany


Heidi
1.  Peru
2.  Road Trip through New England states
3.  evening strolls on the beach in Florida and collecting shells

Peru Trip Review

Words can not justify what an amazing time we both had in Peru but here were our top three choices!

Colin's Favorite Moments
1.  rafting on the Urubamba River

2.  the white llama gift exchange
3.  feeding the llamas and alpacas AND finding a Dr. Pepper there too

Heidi's Favorite Moments
1.  that first sight of Machu Picchu when you turn the corner . . . total WOW moment

2.  the people; so friendly and hard working
3.  experiencing a new culture especially shanty town; oh and the food was good too

While we could have visited most of these places on our own, the expertise of both guides with their personal narratives, stories, and history made this trip even better.  So many times they would tell us something that we would not have known without them saying it.  I have traveled to a lot of amazing places in my 41 years . . . this trip ranks as one of the best yet!

On our first full day of the trip when we introduced our family we had to tell one thing we were most looking forward to while in Peru.  Colin said rafting.  I said that I wanted to see a llama roaming around Machu Picchu . . .

Yes, it was that awesome!

Peru day 11

Today is the last day of our trip . . . at least we have the entire day before we fly home on the red-eye.  While in Cuscso we stayed at the Palacio del Inka which was beautiful and really nice . . . as you entered the check in/front desk area . . .

. . . and the view from our room.  While it isn't spectacular it was much prettier at night with all the lights . . .

We did not leave the hotel until 8:30am.  It took 10 minutes to drive to the airport, 5 minutes to clear security, and our flight boarded at 9:00am.  Can you imagine trying to arrive that late for a flight in the US?  The flight to Lima was easy and just as beautiful . . . I did not have a window seat but Colin and I were seated together.

It is Sunday and the center of Lima is full of people.  As we arrive the Changing of the Guards is starting.  It is a lot different from the one we attended last week as there are horse mounted guards all over the place.

It is very festive and lively.  We only stay for a few minutes and then move on to our lunch location.  We are welcomed inside of the Casa Aliaga and quickly met with a tray of drinks and hors d'oeuvres.  The drink tray had about a dozen drinks and I pointed to one asking what it was . . . all I heard was a local drink that taste like Bailey's; sold!  It was strong so quickly ate some hors d' oeuvres.  Casa del Aliaga is the oldest colonial mansion in Lima.  The carved 'A' on the wooden door is amazing . . .

The house has been owned and lived in by the Aliaga family and their descendants since around 1535.  It was very nice.  Before we could explore the casa and eat, we had some local musicians and dancers perform for us . . .

 

While the mask were a tad scary it was fun to watch them.  We were then shown to the dining room . . .

. . .  where we had an amazing meal!  The food was so yummy.  We were given time to roam the casa which is where this family lives . . . sort of weird as there are family pictures all around and we are just walking around . . .

I can't imagine what this must have cost.  It was back on the bus . . . but wait there's more . . . we placed Jeopardy on the way back to the hotel because the traffic was awful!  I was on team Cuy and we lost to team Inca Kola.  It was fun to see how much we remembered from the trip . . . we lost on the bonus question but had fun.  We arrived back at the JW Marriott Lima and the tour is officially over but we are provided with a  hotel room for the night.  Most families were staying an extra day but we are flying out at 11:30pm.  We said good-bye to our guides . . .

. . . and head out for one last churro . . .

. . . and back to the room to relax, shower, and change clothes before heading to the airport.  We are on our own now.  When the taxi pulled up to the airport we are back to reality and hauling our own luggage to check in.  It was a great 11 days.

Peru day 10

It is starting to become obvious that our time in Peru is coming to an end.  Our group morning meeting times are getting later and later each day and our activities become less and less frequent too.  Our only organized activity today is to tour The Stones of Sacsayhuaman (it sounds like sexy woman when pronounced) . . . and every time the guide said it the youngest boy of the group would giggle.  One phrase we have heard often is "go when you can not when you need" . . . so before entering we take a restroom break.  One of the males came out laughing about a sign above the toilet in the men's restroom . . .

. . . apparently they do not like creative ways to use the toilet and it is funny!  So inside we go to explore Sacsayhuaman also known as 'Sexy Woman' . . .

And of course these guys call this place home and didn't even seem to notice us . . .

I know it is hard to tell just how large the boulder below is but this is the biggest carved boulder of the first wall and is estimated to weigh between 70-100 tons and each wall has 10 faces; sounds like a math lesson in the making.  Oh and this big boulder was brought here from a quarry that is 3 km away; can you imagine moving that thing?  It is hard to tell but I bet it is about 25-30 feet tall.

. . . and one more thing there is no mortar between the stones!  Some say the stones are so tightly arranged that it would be hard to slide a sheet of paper between the stones.  We hiked to the top with some beautiful views of downtown Cusco . . .

. . . and the Junior Adventurers practiced their best yoga poses . . .

. . . and then back on the bus where we were dropped off in the center of Cusco to enjoy the rest of the day on our own.

While I do enjoy the free time, I also enjoy the busy schedule and would have loved to had something organized for the afternoon!  As we arrived there was a parade . . .

We decided to go eat lunch at a place some other families ate last night called Incanto.  I had yellow potato gnocchi with a fresh tomato sauce, and Colin had pizza.  Can you tell we have had enough Peruvian food?  The local food in Peru is good but the change is nice too.  While the pizza and gnocchi were good, it was no where near as good as the food we had last night!  After we ate, we wandered around a bit and headed back to the hotel to take a nap . . . well, I took a nap and Colin played games.  I left him in the hotel room while I ran out to buy the rest of my 'White Llama' gift for tonight.  I arrived back at the hotel in time to change for dinner and head down stairs with gifts in tow.  Colin was so excited!  The kids managed to sit all together and the adults enjoyed our meal too.  It was show time and ready for our 'White Llama' gift exchange.  We played with some rules . . . could only be stolen 3 times; could not take back an item if already had it; went in reverse number order so number 1 went last.  Bummer because I was number 17.  The best part was the guide would open the item first and then give a little chat about the item without giving it away.  I think this made the game so much more fun as it sure did build up the anticipation and usually had us laughing.  It was about the story he told and seeing the big reveal . . . time to get our 'White Llama' gift exchange started . . .

I got two crappy magnets . . . I mean they weren't that bad but . . .

Colin got a stuffed cuy (guinea pig) with fork and knife taped to it . . .

. . . it was hilarious and everyone was laughing.  It was probably the most creative gift of the night.  It was quickly stolen and the second pick he got an Inca warrior pendant made out of llama bone . . .

Why the shower cap?  This gift gets the award for best wrapping!  It was wrapped in the hotel shower cap and tucked back into the small box!  We all had so much fun with the creative gifts.  Tomorrow we head back to Lima which means the trip will soon end.  I am not ready to return home.