Travel – Page 6 – Todd and Cindy's Travel Blog

Hawaiian Adventure Maui Post 1

So they say things come in threes, thank goodness that’s not true because 2 bumps to the start of our vacation is enough… Bump 1 – We had an hour delay on the plane in Toronto because the water system was frozen on the plane (-20 °C outside) and for some reason loading the luggage was behind schedule. Not a big deal, as we did have a 1 1/2hr. layover in Chicago. The flight from Chicago to Maui was long, but we were in First Class and the scenery along the way was beautiful – fluffy clouds, Rocky Mountains, and finally Maui.

Bump 2 – In all our years of travel and numerous trips throughout, we have never had a lost or delayed bag….until now. The suitcase with ALL my clothing, my toiletries, some sweets, the coffee, and other “necessary” items was delayed (???) and not scheduled to show up until later at night. On the positive, it is only delayed and not lost. Note to self – split up clothing into both suitcases from now on… Not sure if customs delayed it as you can see they were good enough to give us back the lock they cut off ! Todd says they probably though the 12 pack of toilet paper we brought (to avoid buying it in USD when we get there) was a bomb !

After being up almost 20 hours, we arrived at our condo for the next 27 nights in Lahaina. We are right on the water…so beautiful, and we arrived in time to experience the sunset. We are in Paradise!

We have spent a very low-key first week here in Lahaina. Our condo unit is oceanfront (so spoiled by the amazing views). Each morning we sit on the lanai drinking our coffee and watching the developing rainbow.

Countless humpback whales swimming by, keep us hooked as they breach and slap their tails.

We did do a couple of drives. One day we headed north towards Napili and a bit beyond. On our way back, we stopped at the Maui Brewing Pub to quench our growing thirst. The bar was very unique – it had a frosted edge around the inside perimeter to keep the drinks cold and stop the glasses from condensation.

Lahaina has a micro-brewery, Kohola Brewery. It looks like it is in a former Maui Brewing building because the logo can still be seen on a part of the building. The bar offers a range of beers, but not really any IPAs for Todd.

Thursday, we took a drive to the Maui Tropical Plantation. We walked the grounds (versus paying $20 ea to ride the tram). Not many plants were flowering, but it was a good walk and we did get a few nice pics of the plants that were flowering.

On our way back to Lahaina, we took a detour to Kihei to compare it with the area we are staying – much more spread out. Once we got back to the highway (the only road in to Lahaina from this side of the island), we hit a traffic standstill. We travelled 1 mile in 1 hour…enough of that…so we joined a few of the other drivers who decided to turn around. We drove back to Kihea and found a bar we were familiar with from Waikiki – Moose McGillycuddy’s. We stopped in for some food and drink (and a bathroom break). Turns out the road was completely closed due to an accident. After an hour and a bit, when the road finally opened, we started home again – movement was really slow (1 ½ hours to go less than 20 miles), but at least traffic was moving.

Friday night was a potluck / meet ‘n greet at the condo. There was a ton of food and lots of variety. About 75% of the units here are occupied with renters….lots of older folks who return year after year. We met a group from Winnipeg and ended up chatting with them long after others retired for the night.

We are totally enjoying ourselves in this laidback lifestyle as we spend our time in Lahaina. The plan is to go and explore some more of the island in the coming days…just as long as we are back on the lanai for the beautiful sunset.

Panama Adventure Final Blog

Day 10

We were picked up at 9am by our guide, Fabio, for a tour of Panama City. First stop was Miraflores Locks. We are very fortunate to see the workings of the canal from both an onboard experience and a land experience at two different locations.

Next we visited Old Panama (Casco Antiguo) for a museum visit and then to the old city compound.

The area dates back to the late 1600s. Many remnants of the original buildings (homes and churches) remain and are being restored.

We climbed the cathedral tower.

Views of old and new from the top of the tower.

Driving through the city, Todd spotted a sign advertising Christmas trees from Canada, lol.

Lunch was at a local Panamanian restaurant in the new section of the city, Tinajas. Food was very tasty (and filling). Todd ate chicken and rice (Panamanian specialty) and I had shredded beef.

After lunch, we returned to the area of the city where we are staying, Casco Viejo, for a walking tour. Our first visit was to the Augustinian temple, San José. The golden Alter seen at the back was hidden from the pirate attack back in 1671. The alter was dismantled then and re-assembled and gold leafed in this church.

Our tour continued to some of the places we had already explored when we first arrived, but it was interesting getting more historical information on the places. Below is the French Embassy located by the French Park. (The French were the first visionaries for the Panama Canal and their influence can be seen in the architecture of buildings throughout the city).

We ended our day with dinner at the Fish Market. Todd enjoyed fish tacos while I had Thai Green Curry Chicken (the only non-fish/seafood dish on the menu).

Day 11

We took a morning flight from Panama City to David, where we were met by a driver who transported us to the Panamonte Inn in Boquete. The room is huge with a kind of rustic, old-world charm.

Our patio door opens to beautiful gardens.

We walked to the downtown area and found a craft brewery (they are popping up everywhere). It opened this past February. The brewery has a few picnic tables and bar stools inviting patrons to sit and chat while enjoying some of their beers.

Boquete Brewing uses small fermenting tanks to brew small batches of craft beer. They up to 10 kinds of beer to try.

Their back windows open up to a number of hummingbird feeders at the building’s edge. It is quite amazing watching them, they got very active as darkness was setting in

Dinner was next door at the Art Café. We had some of our best meals in Panama yet. Todd thoroughly enjoyed his almond crusted local trout, rice and veggies.

I totally yummed up my pork with mushroom sauce, whipped potatoes, and veggies. One of the owners introduced herself. Nicole, originally from the US, has been in business here for 15 months with her partner Daniel.

Day 12

This morning, Raul picked us up is his 1992 Toyota Land Cruiser – definitely need a 4×4 to explore this part of the Panamanian countryside. We went to one of the local coffee farms (very old-school).

We walked through some of the fields of coffee plants, learning about the different kinds of plants and some of the care needed for an optimum crop yield.

This is not a modern facility. The owner is very good at creating and tweaking the equipment he needs to get the job done.

He built a small roasting machine to test small batches (front piece is from the headlight of an old jeep).

Video Clip

We watched as beans roasted light, medium, and dark, then sampled some coffee.

He even silk screens the labels on his coffee bags. He sells coffee as far away as Japan.

Before going to Boquete Central Park for the Lighting of the Tree, we stopped in at Boquete Brewing Company. Perfect timing – the sky opened up and the torrential rains kept us at the brewery for a couple.

Fortunately, for the town, the rain didn’t last so the weather did not put a damper on the evening’s festivities. The park lit up with Christmas lights followed by fireworks.

Day 13

After breakfast, we walked to the park to see the Christmas decorations in the daylight.

For football Sunday, we found Mike’s Global Grill. It was filled with expats. Beers were $1 a bottle (best deal ever!) and food was cheap and good. We had a great time being part of the football crowd watching my Seahawks kick-butt.

Days 14 and 15

This afternoon we fly back to Panama City for one last night. Boquete was a nice alternative to Panama City (24,000 people vs. 2 million, so much quieter).

The climate was cooler and less humid, and there was an abundance of flowering plants.

We finished our Panama visit back at the American Trade Hotel in Panama City. It was a great end to a great vacation.

Observations:

Amazingly, hardly anyone smokes here (at least out in the public).

Old licence plates are for sale all over or used as part of the décor because new ones need to be purchased every year (not just a sticker, like home).

Most people tended to be reserved, not very friendly (maybe the language gap??)

Considering this country has a lot of jungle and wildlife, there does not seem to be a big priority on environmental issues.

There appears to be a lot of trash in the streets and even in visited remote areas.

Most municipal sewage system dumps un-processed sewage into the oceans.

Panama Adventure Blog 3

Day 6

We woke up ready to begin our journey north through the canal. The captain had to wait for the pilot to board the catamaran. All vessels that transfer through the canal must have a canal official called the pilot on board.

We followed a large cargo ship into the Miraflores Locks.

The large cargo ship was guided by tugboats into the locks where it was attached by cables to train cars for its transport through the locks.

Lots of people watched from the Miraflores Observation Deck as we entered the lock, water lifted our vessel, and we began our transit.

The Miraflores Locks are two-step system. Shortly after exiting those locks, we entered the Pedro Miguel Locks (one-step) following the same cargo ship.

We were raised 85 feet above sea level by the time we left the locks and began our way to Gatun Lake. (Since we were not continuing our transit today, the pilot left)

We had a brief boat tour with our guide Wendy along the shore area of Barro Colorado. She explained the history of the area and we saw some wildlife.

We saw many trees like this one. Although the tree looks alive from a distance, it is actually dead. The greenery you see are scavenger plants and vines that have attached to the trunk and branches. Birds nest here because they are well protected from land predators. After the tour we spent the night anchored in Gatun Lake.

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Day 7

Gatun Lake is a manmade lake created for the canal with many islands. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Center is on one of the larger islands, Barro Colorado.

After breakfast, we took a small boat to the island and were met by our guide. He is one of the many scientists doing research on the island.

On the walk we spotted hummingbirds,

monkeys,

a pair of wild turkeys,

some bats,

and an agouti.

We unfortunately saw a dead toucan that had already been someone’s dinner (no picture gross). The island is also home to crocodiles, sloths, tapirs and iguanas, but we didn’t see any of them.

As we headed to the dock area we looked out to where our catamaran was anchored just as a Celebrity Cruise Ship was passing by.

After lunch, another pilot boarded our catamaran and we continued our journey north to the final lock system, Gatun Locks, where we exited the Panama Canal and entered the Caribbean Sea.

This time we were at the front of the lock followed by a large crane ship. It must have been heavy, there was 8 locomotives connected with cables to guide it through the locks. Four at the bow and four at the stern of the ship.

At the Gatun Locks we lowered down in 3 stages back to sea level.

We docked at a marina by the break-wall just outside the locks for the night.

Day 8

After a short, early morning, bumpy ride in the Atlantic Ocean (6am – felt like being in a water bed), we anchored in the Chagres River, had breakfast and took a small boat tour of the water’s edge where Howler monkeys were having their breakfast.

Sandpiper-like birds sunned themselves.

We saw the Gatun dam up close.

And on our way back to the catamaran, Todd spotted a young sloth feeding up in one of the trees.

In the afternoon we hiked up a trail to Fort San Lorenzo. On the hike we saw beetles,

Bullet ants (nasty biters) and leaf-cutter ants.

Click to See Video Clip of Ants

Fort San Lorenzo is located on a cliff at the mouth of the Chagres River.

The fort was built in the 16th century by the Spanish.

Its purpose was to defend their treasures coming from the Pacific side.

One of the creatures of the Fort walls

We were supposed to sail to Portobello in the afternoon for the next day’s visit to more ruins, but the rough waters dictated “Plan B”. We once again sailed the rough (really, really rough) Atlantic waters (chairs were knocked over, utensils flew to the floor, dishes crashed in the kitchen – it was definitely “exciting” – had to hold tight onto our beer glasses, lol), before anchoring once again at the marina.

Our final dinner consisted of Paella (accept for me – I had a chicken stir-fry). Lovers of seafood thought it was delicious.

Day 9

Plan B had us taking a van to see the Gatun Locks from a land perspective.

We spent about 30 minutes viewing a transit.

The current locks are 304.8m long and 33.5m wide.

Next we went to view the construction of the new locks – 427m long and 55m wide. This picture shows the new rolling gates, the right one is extended and left one is retracted. The 16 gates were manufactured in Italy and weigh approx. 3200 tons each

The new set of locks has water saving basins to save over 60% of the water.

It is pretty impressive. It was to have been completed last year for the Panama Canal’s 100th birthday; now the goal is June 2016.

The 21 passengers had a final lunch together. When you travel with a group, you never know how you will gel – ideally, we hope to engage with others and share stories and laughter. Happily we had that on this trip. Justina and Bruce, John, and Ellen and Gary were great company. And Todd practiced some of his German with the German tourists.

Justina, Bruce, and John didn’t join us for the train ride from Colon to Panama City because they needed to depart earlier for their flight back to England. Ellen, Gary, us, and the German tourists enjoyed the hour long ride through the countryside.

Then it was time to say final goodbyes. Most are leaving tomorrow for their flights home. We are staying in Panama to see more of the area.