The good ship Galaxy (on the right)

We left Toronto for Houston Texas one day early. Although a good method to use on a cruise, you need to be close to something if you have an afternoon and an evening to spare. We were 60 dollars from downtown Houston and there was little to do at the motel. We chose to get a taxi to Humble Texas, a few miles away and actually had a good time shopping and going to a show. The next day, we picked up our shuttle to Galveston, about a two hour drive away, to catch the Galaxy.

Playa del Carmen

After a sea day, we arrived at Cozumel. Due to the hurricane damage, the docks were completely destroyed. Since we had a trip to the Mayan ruins at Tulum, we were picked up from the side of the Galaxy by sea ferry which took us to Playa del Carmen on the coast of Mexico. We commenced our tour at this point. The waters between the ship and the mainland were quite rough.

The Castle at Tulum

Tulum is located about an hours drive from Playa del Carmen and about 130 miles south of Cancun. Tulum is a major Mayan archeological site dating from ~300 AD but, its heyday was between 1200 and 1521 AD. By the 1500's the Mayan tribes were in disarray and were easily conquered by the Spaniards. This is the Castle or El Castillo, the main ceremonial building. Tulum was a walled city and also faced the ocean for protection. Tulum means "wall" in Mayan.

The Temple of the Descending Gods (on the left)

In general Tulum is considered to date from 317 AD however, the pre-classical period dated as far back as 1500 BC. The Mayan calendar was invented in 353 AD and this building contained a sundial which gave the Mayan people precise times of the solar phenomena (the equinoxes) The best archeological and sculptural works were done during the classical period, AD 317 to AD 889. The Mayan empire covered 259,000 sq kms and the famous city of Chichen-Itza also flourished at this time.

Downtown Cozumel

Downtown Cozumel is coming back from the damage caused by hurricane Wilma only a few weeks ago (Oct 2005). We had very little time here as the ferry returned us to Cozumel at the central docks which are for smaller vessels. The international docks, which were completely destroyed, were about five miles away. Luckily we found out from one of the ship's officers and took a taxi to the right pier. We managed to get to the last tender in time but sat for a half hour or more before it left. Hint .... If you cruise, never get the last tender!

Damage by Hurricaine Wilma

Hurricane Wilma was the twenty-first named storm, twelfth hurricane, and sixth major hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

Wilma set numerous records for both strength and seasonal activity. At its peak, it was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin (sustained winds of 280 Km/hr). It was the third Category 5 hurricane of the season, the only time this has happened in the Atlantic, and only the third Category 5 to develop in October. Wilma was the second 21st storm in any season, and the earliest-forming 21st storm by nearly a month.

Wilma made several landfalls, with the most destructive effects felt in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Cuba, and the U.S. state of Florida.

The above from Wikipedia

Damage by Hurricaine Wilma 2

We felt quite lucky to even get to Cozumel. The week before, no ships were going. The international docks were completely destroyed, thus the need to tender. You can see the extent of the damage from the last two photos.

Edificio 24

It is known that two American archaeologists visited various Mayan ruins including Tulum in the 1840's. Stevens in his book, "Incidents of Travel in Yucatan" wrote the details and his partner, Catherwood did the illustrations of the temples and frescoes which were found. I could find no good reference on who did the original restoration work however it is now headed by the Mexican History and Anthropological National Institute who probably worked on this site referred to as Chacchoben or Place of Red Corn in Mayan. This is the Temple nearest the entrance.

West wall of the Gran Basamento

As we walked through the rain forest, we realized that Chacchoben was completely different than Tulum. It was more of a mystery and certainly less "touristy." Again, I could find little history on the actual archeological restoration of this site however, we were told it is quite recent, perhaps the 1970's, and was found using satellite imagery. Much of Chacchoben is still being excavated. This area of the west wall is one temple built upon another over hundreds of years. All Mayan sites were ceremonial and the Basamento was an area for the gathering of priests and other high ranking officials. Ritual sacrifices were often made here.

Large tree trunk

This large tree trunk is one of many found around the site. The closest I can come to identifying the tree is that it is either a Cohune Palm or a Ramon Tree. It certainly is unusual.

Templo 1

This is the Temple at the front of the Gran Basamento. To give you an idea of what the Mayan's were like, I have provided this information that I feel is accurate. It is from the internet and describes the things we heard on our tour.

The Maya had a highly developed, and to modern eyes, a highly bizarre aesthetic sense. "Slightly crossed eyes were held in great esteem," writes Yale anthropologist Michael Coe in his book The Maya. "Parents attempted to induce the condition by hanging small beads over the noses of their children." The Maya also seemed to go in for shaping their children's skulls: they liked to flatten them (although this may have simply been the inadvertent result of strapping babies to cradle boards) or squeeze them into a cone. Some Mayan experts speculate that the conehead effect was the result of trying to approximate the shape of an ear of corn.

The Maya filed their teeth (it's unclear whether they used an anesthetic), sometimes into a T shape and sometimes to a point. They also inlaid their teeth with small, round plaques of jade or pyrite. Young men painted themselves black until marriage and later engaged in ritual tattooing and scarring.

Las Vasijas

This small temple is slightly to the right of Templo 1. Why these pyramids were so named is a mystery in the research I have done. You have probably heard that the Mayan civilization no longer exists however, this is not true. Many Mexicans in the area are the descendants of this culture and are highly proud of it. According to modern day archaeologists, the decline of the Mayan civilization was due mainly to over population which caused wars between tribes and to the Spanish invasions of the 18th century. The Spanish not only invaded but brought European diseases for which the Mayans had no immunity.

The Beach at Costa Maya

Our visit to Costa Maya was brief as the ship docked only for the morning and we were off on the tour to Chacchoben. Costa Maya is one of the newer resorts in Mexico and is in the process of building for tourism. It was not affected by the hurricaine.

Baby Bananas

Our next stop was Costa Rica and the city of Puerto Limon. Many of the houses were poor and our walk around the central square left us a bit concerned however, our excursion by bus to a river into the rain forest to a banana plantation and on the old railroad was fantastic. Our guides everywhere on our trips were excellent and this young lady was no exception. She is showing what baby bananas look like. Next time you buy bananas that are Dole, Del Monte or Chiquita and they are from Costa Rica, they may be from the plantation we visited.

River Cruise

After the plantation we were taken aboard these boats into the rain forest. We encountered quite a few birds and a sloth hanging in a tree. It's a bit hard to see the sloth but, have a look in the oval I lightened in the next shot. We were told that a sloth will leave the tree once per week to go to the bathroom and it takes a week fom the sloth to do what he needs to do and return to the tree.

Sloth. I think it has three toes, maybe two

Black Crowned Night Heron

Caiman

Apparently, we were quite lucky to see this caiman sleeping on the shore. They are actually a type of crocodile and have a nasty temperament. Swimming in this river is not recommended. The spelling of caiman is correct. It is not cayman like the island however the island of Grand Cayman is named for this reptile. More on that later.

On the old Plantation Train

Eleanor and I traveled with friends this time. We posed on the old train that used to run through the island hauling bananas. Harold Knox and I were in the Royal Regiment together back in our teens 40 years ago. Harold just retired as a Captain with Air Canada. He and Donna recently spent five months in Australia. From left to right ... Eleanor and I, Mary (Donna's mom), Donna (Harold's wife), Minea (Harold's sister from Vancouver), Harold, Rose (Donna's sister) and her boyfriend Frank.

6am in the Canal

It was about 6am when we entered the Panama Canal. This is a shot off to the right from the deck. Since it is a rainforest, there is lots of moisture in the air.

Following the Coral Princess

The Panama Canal has three entry locks and three exit ones. The locks raise and lower the ships about 85 feet. In between is Gatun Lake which, at one time, was the largest man made lake in the world. In front of us is the Coral Princess, which has the record for being charged the most money to navigate the Panama Canal at $276,000. The lowest was a swimmer who was charged 26 cents to swim in one of the locks. The Coral Princess is about 88,000 tons; the Galaxy about 78,000.

Powerful trains

This is a picture of one of the powerful new trains that pull the ships along the canal. There are usually four for each ship, two in front and two in back. You can see the Galaxy barely makes it with a foot or so to spare. The Coral Princes actually touches the side and needs a re-paint after every time through. The US wishes to expand the locks to take larger ships however, the Panama government, who now has control of the canal, would like it to remain the same. Don't count on Panama winning this one.

Side by side

Ships have a choice: traverse the canal and pay the fees required to do so or go around South America. It is 50 miles through the canal and almost 8,000 for the alternate. We were told it would be the difference between paying about $200,000 and about $2 million. Also, eight hours or three weeks. There are three locks in and three out and each lock has two sides. They travel one way in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

Your tender is your lifeboat

Surprisingly, there are only 13 or 14 lifeboats on each ship but, they each hold 200 people. I'm not sure I would like to be stranded on one of these for any length of time however, they lower two or more to take passengers to shore when no docking is available. On this cruise we tendered to Cozumel because the docks were destroyed. Here in Panama, we tendered because we will go on a shore excursion and meet up with the ship after it returns through the locks (We did not go all the way through) Grand Cayman also has no large docking facilities so we needed a tender here too. At least we know some of the lifeboats work.

Butterfly Conservatory

After the lifeboat ride to shore (about ten minutes) we took a rather nice air conditioned bus with a guide to the Gamboa Rainforest. It took about an hour and a half and our guide was very informative. At the Rainforest Resort we visited a Butterfly Conservatory first.

Woman making masks

Women were hand making masks and other native crafts.

Orchid

Gamboa Rainforest Tram

Part of our tour was a ride on the Gamboa Rainforest Tram. It was actually a ski lift however we saw a number of different tree species, some termite nests, a few birds but, no monkeys today. A guide goes with you and explains what you are seeing.

Windjammer in the canal

From the top, we saw this ship which we have seen on another cruise. I believe it is a Windjammer. It is going through the narrowest part of the Panama Canal. Just below, and to the left, is the river that feeds Lake Gatun.

Gamboa Rainforest Resort

A very wealthy resident bought a group of old American army living quarters and then built this resort looking out on the river. The cost to stay at the main hotel is around $140 dollars or so which seems to be quite reasonable. Most American military no longer live in Panama. They were there to control the canal but handed it over to the Panamanian government.

Downtown

Hurricane Ivan, in September of 2004, damaged much of Grand Cayman. We did see quite a bit of reconstruction. It is surprising what a year can bring.

On his fourth and final voyage to the new world in 1503 Columbus stopped here and called the island Los Tortugas for the abundance of Sea Turtles he found. Later, the island was called Lagartos meaning alligator and then Caymanas, a Carib word meaning marine crocodile. When Drake came in 1503, it was Sunday sport to shoot these creatures. Few remain. Grand Cayman used to rely on turtling for its main income however, they are farmed now under controlled conditions. The main industry here today is tourism and finance. The average Caymanite earns $35,000 per year.

Hell, Grand Cayman

There is a post office on the island in a town they call Hell. You can send a postcard from here and many do. It was so named because an Englishman was shooting at something and missed. He shouted, "Oh Hell" and the name stuck. These unusual rock formations helped.

We saw a lot of Iguanas

We saw quite a few of these fellows at every stop we made on our trip. At least one in each port.

Baby turtles

We visited a turtle farm and were surprised that these protected animals are also sold for meat. On the island they sell for about $5.50 per lb. Some are kept for breeding stock, others released, some enjoyed by the locals. The cafeteria had Turtle Chili. We shared a hot dog which was not made of turtle .... We hope.

Eleanor meets a turtle

If you rub them under the neck, they relax otherwise they squirm around quite a bit and flap their flippers.

Cheers

Martinis are 4 Oz. Ummmmmmm!

Our dinner table