Sailing Toward Nuka Hiva

Wednesday January 13, 2016

You know, it’s the little things that really can get to me. Take for instance tonight. We brought our tuxedos on this cruise as I think I already mentioned and with the tuxedos we brought (or I thought we brought) four sets of ties and cummerbunds. Two of the bow ties were pre-tied and two of them were loose. I was the one who chose to bring the loose ones even though I am none too sure on how to tie a bow tie. I knew, sort of, at one point, a while ago but I photographed nevertheless directions on how to tie a bow tie with my phone before we left just in case. God forbid people should see me in a pre-tied bow tie. They might assume that I don’t know how to tie a bow tie (never mind the fact that this would be completely accurate) and then obviously they would think much less of my sartorial savoir-faire.

Don't our belts look nice!

Well, on the first Gala night I wimped out and went with one of the pre-tied bow ties because I just didn’t feel like struggling with tying one but tonight I was unable to do that because Russell had very generously offered one of our bow ties to another gentleman on the cruise who had forgotten to bring his. I was hoping that this guy would select one of the loose ties but of course he chose one of the pre-tied ones so now it was unavoidable -- I was going to have to struggle with tying a bow tie.

Breakfast al fresco the other morning

Well, struggle I did. Let me tell you. Forty-five minutes of cursing and sweating and damning both Russell and the guy who borrowed the tie and myself for being so grandiose as to bring a loose tie when deep down I knew that I didn’t know how to properly tie a bow tie. I, of course, did look on my phone for the photo that I supposedly had taken of directions on how to tie a bow tie but it wasn’t there. Surprise! Either I never took the photo or I didn’t take it properly. It hardly mattered. Directions I did not have.

Needlepointing 

Russell called the concierge to see if she knew someone who could tie a bow tie. No luck. He even braved the oh-so-frustrating Wi-Fi on this ship to find a couple of diagrams online. Well, the pictures were fuzzy (no way to read the directions) and I tried to follow them but I was looking at my reflection in a mirror and trying to consult these fuzzy images and I simply could not wrap my brain around the directions let alone try to fulfill the intricate movements that the directions appeared to require.

R's making progress

Long story short -- I never did get the tie tied. In fact, I ruined the damn thing with all the contortions that I put it through. It simply started to rip and fray in one spot. Stupid tie. Stupid dinner. Stupid me.

Marionettes from Phillip Huber

So, now I am nose-diving straight into rage and depression (a most excellent combination and one that I seem to be particularly fond of). We are now late for dinner and the plans that I had for a photo session with the ship’s photographer before dinner have long been abandoned. R doesn’t know what to say because I am going to bite his head off no matter what. And things are not looking good.

As for the solution to the shirt dilemma – I wore a new white tone on tone paisley shirt from Robert Graham that is quite stunning but too big for me (R bought it for himself) with my tuxedo jacket and pants. No tie at all. I felt a little foolish but hey so what. As for my mood, well a solution for that was not quite so easily found. I ruined (by pouting) the photo that Russell wanted to take of me and just for good measure I also ruined the picture of him (by deliberately not bothering to wait for the camera to properly focus). Then I told the professional photographer to buzz off.

A very interesting behind-the-scenes talk we attended given by Phillip Huber

Russell was very patient and understanding but he too got frustrated when he spilled a bowl of olive oil all over the tablecloth. And the night’s mishaps continued apace. Our favorite Asian soup arrived and it tasted nothing like it had on previous evenings. It was woefully inadequate in the taste department lacking both lemongrass and cilantro. My entrée arrived and I had thought that I ordered one thing (Vegetable Tempura -- yummy) but when presented with something different I realized that I had changed my mind at te last minute and ordered skewers of tofu and vegetables with barbeque sauce (clearly I was unaware of the mood that I would be in when I placed my dinner order last night). R was given no entrée at all because no one had bothered to ask him at the start of meal what he wanted for a main dish. So thus was our “Black and Silver” Gala dinner: an olive oil slick, one surly, self-pitying diner, a too large white shirt with no tie, one ruined bow tie, a tasteless soup and squares of sponge (I mean tofu) drowned in a sickie sweet red sauce.

Now I am sitting here writing to you and I realize how stupid all this petty stuff sounds (so please no “stiff upper lip”/pep talk e-mails required). But it is, as I said, the little stuff that can get to me sometimes. I loose perspective. I begin to think things matter when really they don’t. And I forget to breathe. Just breathe. And pause. And let go.

Panama City, Panama

Monday, January 11, 2016

Today we visited Panama City. I had thought that we had been here before but I must confess that not a lot of what I saw today seemed familiar to me so I am beginning to wonder whether we did stop here or not. Russell thinks that we were supposed to have stopped here but that something (either a late arrival or perhaps bad weather) prevented us from going into the city. Either way, it all seemed new to me.

Tendering

Panama City from the water

Our tour was described as “A Walk Around Old Panama.” This proved to be a fairly accurate description of what we did. However, what the title failed to mention is that there are two Old Panamas – one is entitled Panama Viejo (Old Panama) and the other Casco Antiguo (Old Quarter). Panama Viejo is the older of the two but it was the second we visited.

Bad Bus Photo of the Day (that is supposed to be the Frank Gehry designed Museum off Biodiversity)

Casco Viejo

Our first walking tour was of Casco Antiguo which is an old section of Panama City located by the Pacific (actually the whole city fronts the Pacific). It is a section of the city with small streets, little parking, old colonial buildings with decorative ironwork and balconies. Think of it as a more tropical version of the French Quarter in New Orleans. It’s also mostly a residential rather than commercial area. Many of the buildings remain un-renovated and Russell enjoyed the contrast between renovated and occupied buildings next to un-renovated and frequently abandoned properties.

Big tidal difference

R's favorite balcony (actually Ruben Blades (singer/musician) house)

Cathedral 

Back in our “bus,” which consisted of twenty narrow seats with a tiny aisle down the middle and a transmission that sounded as if we were going to blow the engine at any minute, we headed off for a drive to the other side of Panama City. Along the way we were able to glimpse modern Panama City which consists primarily of countless high-rise condominium buildings. There are less than four million people in Panama and only one million five hundred thousand live in the capital but I am pretty sure each and every one of them owns at least one condominium! Each of the buildings was more forgettable than the last with only a couple of exceptions (the Frank Gehry designed Museum of Biodiversity and the “Screwdriver”).  There is also not much street life – shopping, restaurants, etc. It would seem that Panamanians do all their shopping in malls and get from one place to another via air-conditioned cars only (I didn’t see much evidence of walkers or public transportation).

Lots of forgettable architecture 

This one was interesting-- it's called the screwdriver by locals

Our second stop was a small museum that displayed artifacts recovered from the site of Old Panama. The Old Panama site is the original location of Panama City. It burned down in 16XX and the city was moved further to the west where it was re-built. The ruins of Old Panama were raided for building material of Casco Antiguo so what remains at Panama Viejo is just a partially disassembled wall here, a re-built bell tower there, etc. However the site is large and even in some parts shaded. It’s location is not far from the sea though you cannot see the water from the ruins (too much vegetation in the way).

Museum of Old Panama

Old Panama ruins

Back in the circus bus we returned to our tender pier. We had to tender in because the tidal difference, which is quite dramatic, makes, I imagine, building a deep-water port impractical. The tour lasted over five hours. It was supposed to last only for four.

Good pic Russell!

Our tour guide, Jorge, was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Plus he said that we as a group had taught him something. He had encouraged us not to visit the Cathedral in the Casco Antigua (“not worth it” he said) but we were sitting in front of the building waiting for our bus to pick us up for a while so a few members of the group went inside and encouraged others to do the same and later the group told Jorge that visiting the cathedral was worthwhile and that he should not be ashamed to show it off as he indeed seemed to be. He said that he would never again be embarrassed about the state of the Cathedral and that was nice to hear. No sense in doing that. It is what it is. (Truthfully, the Cathedral isn’t much. It appears to have been stripped of all its decoration except for a carved wooden altarpiece. I could understand why he was uncomfortable with people visiting it as it is not like some Spanish colonial churches that are richly decorated. Still I encouraged him to show it off along with the others because its simplicity and humble nature reflect the surrounding community. Of course, perhaps that is precisely what he was afraid of.)

Cathedral interior

Back on the boat we passed our usual afternoon and evening. We did however attend tonight’s entertainment -- a highly touted marionette performance. We probably would not have gone had we not met the marionette artist himself. We told him that we would be there to support him. Well, he hardly needed our support. The theatre was packed when we arrived twenty minutes before show time. And, his skill as a marionette master was quite impressive. His “dolls” each had their own personalities and he handled them with extreme sensitivity. I felt like a kid while watching the show and at the end he received a standing ovation.

Sorry this photo didn't turn out so well -- I took it with my phone

Fuerte Amador, Panama

Sunday January 10, 2016

Today we transited the Panama Canal. We are now in the Pacific Ocean, at anchor near the entrance to the canal from the west. This was our third time visiting the Panama Canal. We transited the canal once before and we entered the canal but then turned around and went out the same way we came in once before.

Approaching first set of locks

Getting closer -- that is the Zuiderdam already in the locks -- we sailed on that ship in the Mediterranean this summer

Not too much competition for a position at the rail

We had to get up early to witness the first set of locks. Fortunately, the number of people on board this ship for whom this was their first transit of the canal was probably less than fifty percent so that made it easier to find a good viewing point in one of the public areas.

Canal administration building

Second set of locks

Panamanians and tourists waving and cheering as we went through another set of locks

The weather was hot and steamy though as it always seems to be in Panama. We pretty quickly retreated to have breakfast in the air conditioning. After breakfast, we found a good new spot to needlepoint. It was in the Explorations Café which is the coffee shop/game room/computer area/library of the ship. We found two Eames chairs with ottomans right by the window and we planted ourselves there for the morning. It was a fairly public spot so there was definitely more “And what are you working on?” for my taste but R was in his element.

Headed toward the Pacific

Digging the new canal

After lunch we did the usual – I worked out, R watched a movie and then we met up and went to a lecture on the history of banquets and banqueting at three pm. The woman who has been giving these food history lectures is getting off the ship tomorrow so I will be curious to see what/who replaces her. Later we sat outside on our veranda and needlepointed but eventually it started to rain so we went in and got ready for dinner.

Today's needlepoint spot

At dinner tonight everyone was given a Panama hat and Russell and I had a beautiful spot for watching the setting of the sun over the Pacific. It wasn’t the most spectacular sunset ever as there were thick clouds obscuring our view of the actual setting sun but I still enjoyed the sun’s pink reflection off the gray-blue clouds. We finished the day with a visit to the GLBT group up in the “Crow’s Nest” but decided to skip this evening’s entertainment -- a harpsichordist.

Frank Gehry designed museum

View of Panama City from our boat this evening 

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Saturday January 9, 2016

Today we made our first stop. Puerto Limon, Costa Rica is surely not a tourist mecca. It is visited by cruise ships because it is a convenient distance from the Panama Canal and I imagine having Costa Rica on a cruise ship itinerary helps to sell it. The port is large but very much industrial in nature. All the bananas produced in Costa Rica are shipped through this port. Also all of the petroleum that the country uses comes through this port, having arrived from Venezuela.

View from veranda this morning 

Ready to tour

The town is pretty ugly in a tropical sort of way. In some places, the vegetation is so thick it looks like if you stand in one place too long some relentless vine or giant philodendron might swallow you up. Yards are mostly dirt and there are bars on every window and balcony. The streets are wide and paved but the general appearance of the town is forlorn, make shift and lethargic.

Bad Bus picture of the day

Eco-Train

Nice antique car

Having said all that, Russell and I had a really nice day in Puerto Limon. This was largely due to the fact that we had a most enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide named Percy (yes that is right – Percy). For those of you that have never cruised before, there is a whole procedure to going on a “shore excursion.” Usually, one has to gather in the theatre and wait for your tour to be called. Then, there is a mad dash only slightly disguised by a veneer of civility as everyone tries first to get a sticker (your assigned bus number) and then to get to the bus so that you can obtain a “good” seat. Definitions of a good seat vary according to the individual but as far as Russell and I are concerned a good seat has no obstructions (no window pillars or curtains in the way), is usually toward the back of the bus but is far away from the bathroom (funny story – the tour guide was explaining how he wanted people to behave on the bus today and he mentioned that there was a bathroom on board but that it was for emergency “number one” use only, then he said that if you have a number two emergency or even a number “one and three quarters emergency” (never heard of that one before) to tell him and they would be sure to get you to a proper toilet.)

Lots of vegetation 

Nice photo Russell!

River on which we cruised

Anyways, our tour was advertised as an eco-train and jungle cruise. This may have stretched the truth a bit as the extremely slow eco-train went mostly through industrial areas of the town and ended after only a couple of miles. Still we did see along the way sloths and howler monkeys (at least I saw the howler monkeys because I had binoculars). Also northern raccoons (isn’t that weird? I mean who knew raccoons were so adaptable?).

Open air but covered

After the train ride we got back on the bus and rode to the boat venue. We were served fresh fruit and beverages before boarding an open air but covered party barge type boat. We went up and down a murky river past abandoned enterprises and houses in varying states of decay. But again it was all good because a.) the breeze from the boat moving was refreshing, as it was extremely humid and eighty-five degrees and b.) because our tour guide and the boat operator were enthusiastic and sighted numerous birds (yellow crowned night heron, little blue heron, snowy egret, great kiskadee, kingfisher, oriole, vulture) also sloths (both three- and two-toe), howler monkeys, and bats. It was a successful but relatively short river cruise.

Sleeping Little Blue Heron

Best view of sloth was this guy who climbed up one side of a fence, navigated the razor wire, and went down the other side

Big stalks of bananas in blue bags (used to protect fruit from bugs and bruising, also to promote ripening)

Back on the bus our last stop was the Del Monte banana processing plant. This may not sound like an interesting stop to some people but it was very interesting for Russell and I because we both enjoy behind-the-scenes looks at the way things are made. Not that they were making bananas but you get my point. We watched as the big stalks of bananas were cut, sorted, washed, stickered, bagged and packed. The jobs at the packing plant are considered plum assignments. The workers make about three dollars and fifty cents an hour and they work forty-eight hours a week for an average pay of seven hundred dollars a month (which is above the national average of six hundred dollars a month).

Banana processing

Red Eyed Green Tree Frog

More banana processing 

We were back on the ship at around one o’clock. We went to a lecture on the history of herbs and spices in the afternoon. I worked out. We did some needlepoint. You know, the usual.

Cocoa

As I re-read this entry I am struck that what I’ve described doesn’t sound too appealing and frankly I would have to agree that Puerto Limon is not the sort of place one would come to for a vacation. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth visiting. I believe pretty much any place is worth visiting if only to see how people live in other parts of the world. And Puerto Limon was more than that – we saw a lot of nature, met a charming and entertaining Costa Rican (Percy) and ate a Lady Finger banana that had ripened on the tree.