October 2011

Ah, the hot steamy air of Aruba, shopping only a block from the dock, so convenient.  I was on my usual quest for postcards and coins, and found both quickly. Rick and I pant in the heat, our clothes sticking to us.  Jewelry stores line both sides of the street.  If one is in the market for diamonds, tanzanite, pearls, and emeralds, Aruba is the place to find them. 

I duck into every other jewelry store, peering into the glass cases with their displays of expensive rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces.  Sighing contentedly, I smile at the clerks closing in on me like seagulls spotting a beached fish.  “Just looking”, I say, pausing here and there, and then ducking out the door again to be slammed against the wall and swallowed by the sultry humidity.

Rick is having memories of his tour of duty in the sweltering tropical heat of Vietnam.

Crowds are weaving in and out of stores, eyes bright, faces flushed; everyone on the hunt...

After a night in the Bay of Panama within sight of Panama City, the Island Princess lined up for her turn to go through the Miraflores Locks.  Rick and I spent most of the day hanging out and over our balcony, snapping pictures of the ingenious lock system of the Panama Canal.  A fully loaded freighter was in line for the lock beside our ship.  We could see how the lock doors opened, the “mules” (powerful engines with ropes fore and aft to the ship) pulled the ship forward into the lock, the doors close and the water rises.  The ship moved from one level to the next, like a giant water elevator for ships.  The freighter and Island Princess entered the Pedro Miguel Locks to rise again and then sail through the infamous Culebra Cut where thousands of workers died. 

Men have dreamed of a passage way from the Atlantic to the Pacific for centuries, but it was “Le Grand Francais” (Ferdinand de Lesseps), builder of the Suez Canal who made the first...

After four soothing days on the blue Pacific, the Island Princess pulled into Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, “the land of trees”.  The air was sultry, just the way I like it.  Rick and I embarked on a day trip to Antigua, an UNESCO World Heritage site surrounded by mountains.  On the drive up, we passed two volcanoes and saw another in the distance with a plume of smoke.  If you’re interested in seeing volcanoes, forget Hawaii.  Come to Guatemala where there are thirty-seven!  

We crossed over ravines recently widened by rain washing down from the mountains and arrived safely at our first stop, the Jade Factory, run by an American couple who re-discovered the value of jade to Guatemala where ancient Mayans considered it an eternal stone.  After an interesting tour and sojourn in the tourist shop, we set off on a walking tour, winding our way along narrow, cobbled streets lined with buildings and small tucked-away shops.

Each time our...