Panama Canal Cruise 2020 - Day 4
Our ship cruised all night from Colon, Panama to the San Blas Islands. We dropped anchor at 7:30 am in a pristine harbor dotted with cruising sailboats. I am sure when they turned on their anchor lights last night they did not expect to see a small ship anchored next to them. At 432’ we could just as well be Bill Gates’ mega yacht.
The San Blas Islands are populated by the Guna Indians. They were here before Columbus. The Guna made first contact with the Spanish conquers. They managed to survive to this day. They live in very primitive conditions on the windward side of the islands. The windward side provides natural air conditioning and keeps the sand fleas to a minimum. They have no electricity or running water. They dig holes in the ground to access water. Their huts have no windows and they sleep on hammocks. They create decorative tapestries called Molas that they sell to tourists.
We went ashore at 9:15 am and spent the morning snorkeling and exploring the island with our Tauck naturalist. He described the life cycle of coconuts in great detail. Coconuts can sprout on the ground from any one the three eyes in the front. They quickly establish a tenacious root system that makes it hard to pull out.
The Tauck team set up a paradise on the beach with umbrellas, chairs and a bar that included a dugout canoe containing opened coconuts to mix the coconut water with Havana Club rum. Rum and coconut water is the perfect cocktail on a hot day.
We had a briefing regarding our transit of the Panama Canal tomorrow. We will arrive at the Gatun lock at 8:00 am and enter the lock at 9:45 am. The reservation for this transit was made one year ago. The cost of the transit is $90,000. That is $550 per person onboard. The locks will raise the ship 85’ to Gatun Lake. The ship will be pulled into the locks by locomotives. We will transit 50 miles to the Mira Flores locks and lock down 85’ to the Pacific Ocean and arrive at 6:45 pm.
A canal fun fact - each one way transit uses 52 million gallons of water. The water is recycled.
A view of the cruising sailors in the San Blas Islands.
A view of our ship from the beach.
This platform on the stern of the ship is called the marina.
John and Priscilla going ashore to go snorkeling.
Rum and coconut water.
My rum and coconut water.
Guna Indian huts on the windward side of the island.
Guna Indians face painting our Tauck naturalist
View of our ship from the beach.