Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a 48 mile ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic and Pacific and is a key  conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, annual traffic has risen from about

Closing the locks behind our ship 

1,000 ships in the early days to 15,000 vessels in 2010.

A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco travels 5,900 miles, well under half the 14,000 route around Cape Horn.  An enlargement was needed and approved by the Government of Panama. This will allow for a greater number of transits and the ability to handle larger ships. It officially opened June 26, 2016 at the estimated cost of US$6.20 million. The project has doubled the canal's capacity and allows more traffic and the traffic of longer and wider ships.

ON THE MOVE AGAIN! Santa Marta, Colombia

This is the third day at sea and we had our first tour today. Up until now we have been rocking and rolling. The seas have had huge waves and the Captain said in his noon update that we have been in a gale.  What has been causing the waves is we have had 44 mph winds. No one has been sea sick that I have heard of but it has been so hard to walk across the room or to walk down the halls.  We just laugh when we fall in a person's arms coming down the hall from the opposite direction and we haven't met them yet.

Today on tour we were taken to see the highlights of Santa Marta.  It is situated on the picturesque Colombian coast looking out across the Caribbean Sea.  We saw the city's original cathedral, which holds the ashes of the town's founder, Rodrigo de Bastidas. We then went to the Bank of the Republic to visit the Gold Museum - home to an exhibit that details the customs of the pre-Colombian community as well as a small but priceless collection of Tayrona gold and pottery pieces. Next we went outside the city to visit San Pedro de Alejandrino Villa.  Built in the 17th century, this iconic estate is now a National Monument with the interior of the house completely restored.