Even before we docked at Balboa Port, we could see the ships waiting at sea for their turn to cross the Panama Canal.

Our morning tour took us to the BioMuseo and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Punta Culebra Nature Center, both located on the Amador Causeway in the former Canal Zone, just a few minutes from our docking spot. As we drove there, we passed what I thought was a parking lot – the cars and trucks there were waiting for drivers to take them across the Isthmus because it was cheaper to unload them, have someone drive them across, and put them back on a ship than to pay the freight to send them through the canal! I wonder if the odometers get reset?

BioMuseo

The BioMuseo was designed by Frank Gehry – inside, we learned about Panama’s natural history and its amazingly diverse wildlife.

The best part of the BioMuseo was spending time in the gardens outside, seeing the biodiversity in the real world.

And we couldn’t forget why we were in Panama – to explore connections, like the Bridge of the Americas, which connects North and South America over the Panama Canal, which connects the Atlantic and Paciifc Oceans.

Punta Culebra Nature Center (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute)

We got back on the bus and drove to the Nature Center – the Smithsonian was one of the groups on the tour, and the Director of STRI was one of the expert lecturers, so we were treated very well indeed!

We could see the remains of the old quarantine station (for yellow fever) just offshore.

When Noriega was the dictator of Panama, he used the aquarium here as a lounge – the bar is still here (but there was no beer to be had on the day we visited).

And of course, there was nature in profusion, like two-toed sloths

and a beautiful bird

and sea stars and sea cucumbers

and one BIG iguana!

Casco Viejo (San Felipe)

After lunch on the ship, we returned to the bus for a walking and shopping tour of the old city. John Meffert from the National Trust was our leader – we’ve traveled with John many times (in fact, we chose this trip because he was going to be the Trust’s leader), so we knew we were in good hands.

There’s a lot of construction going on in the old city – gentrification in some places, just maintenance in others.

John pointed out the sign offering “free entry” at the front of La Mayor – and explained that it was a brothel. Entry might be free, but….

We continued on to the Church of the Sisters of Mercy.

There’s an altar to Saint Hedwig inside – Panamaians pray for her intercession in their housing needs, and when their prayers are answered, they place a minature house on her altar. She must be good at interceding!

Gentrification and renovation are happening at a brisk pace, so you can see the new and the rather old side-by-side.

We stopped at Mosaico chocolate shop, which occupies the building which was the home of Tomás Arias, one of the founders of the Republic of Panama. The chocolate was excellent.

We wandered around the old city for a few more hours; many people, including Diane, bought Panama hats, but I didn’t need one – they’re actually made in Ecuador, and I’d bought one there in 2018.

We returned to the ship for trivia, dinner, and a show (“Frida”, about Frida Kahlo, told through dance and song). The docks stayed busy with ships making Canal transits; we would join them tomorrow.

We spent most of today onboard, enjoying delicious food and drink and attending lectures about Panama, the Smithsonian Tropical Institute (which we’ll visit tomorrow), and marine microbes.

Our only landfall was on Cébaco Island, Panama, which is far off the beaten path – we enjoyed the scenery and walked on the beach; the only wildlife we found were snails, hermit crabs, and fish.

We were the first group to leave the ship today, which meant we had to be on the tender at 6:30am. The tender took us to the town of Quépos, where we caught a bus to Manuel Antonio National Park and were met by our guide for the day, Luis.

We didn’t have to wait long to see wildlife – this three-toed sloth was waiting for us just inside the entrance.

The park was busy, even at 8am; fortunately, there were viewing platforms off the main path so we could look at wildlife without being trampled.

They have white-faced monkeys here, just like Curú — this one looked surprised to see us.

Luis didn’t carry his spotting scope in vain – we never would have seen this dragonfly without it.

We probably could have used the scope to see these baby bats better.

But this iguana was hard to miss.

Of course we took a selfie to prove we were here!

Hermit crabs enjoy having a nice beach.

There were nice flowers to look at even after we left the park on our way back to the bus, like this hibiscus.

Quépos itself is tourist-oriented, with shopping and services along the waterfront. They are also ecology-sensitive, turning thousands of plastic bottles into a sailfish sculpture.

We returned to the ship and sailed away, en route to Panama.

We got off to an early start today for a tour of Curú Wildlife Refuge; we were in the last group, so we didn’t have to leave the ship until the comparatively civilized hour of 7:45am. We were greeted with flowers upon arrival, like this one, bravely fighting off the depredations of the leafcutter ants.

Frank, our guide throughout Costa Rica, was there to meet us, too.

He helped us understand and appreciate what we were seeing and see what we would have missed, like this termite mound in the sky.

Or this “tree chicken” (black spiky iguana).

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Why did the crab-eating raccoon cross the road?

I don’t know – Frank didn’t tell us.

There were birds all over the place, but you had to look carefully to find them.

And sometimes, we needed to use Frank’s spotting scope to see the bird, like this Broadwinged Hawk.

But this white-faced monkey was easy to spot with the naked eye.

Our last view of Curú was from the Zodiac.

Naturally, we had to wear life vests any time we took the Zodiacs!

The Zodiac docked at the stern of the ship; we had arrived just in time for lunch, as if it had been planned that way!

They gave out snorkeling equipment right after lunch (we’d brought our own masks and snorkels, but we’re not picky enough to want to haul fins around!) and took us to Tortuga Island for some beach time. We were advised that the water wasn’t clear, so we didn’t snorkel, but we enjoyed wandering around the beach and checking out the shop.

The Captain’s Gala Dinner capped off the evening. They took advantage of the weather and did the introductions outside, letting us enjoy the scenery and the breeze instead of being cooped up in the dining room or auditorium as has been the case on most of the cruises we’ve taken.

We left the Royal Corin Hotel about 9am for our 60-mile journey to Villa Blanca Cloud Forest for a guided walk on the El Silencio Trail. Unlike yesterday, there were no hanging bridges to worry about, so I was ready to do the whole thing!

As we were driving to Villa Blanca, I kept seeing signs for Lands in Love Resort along the roadside. The signs were mostly in English, but quite a few were in Hebrew, which surprised me. Eventually, we got to the resort itself – it looked like it would be an interesting place to go if we ever return to Costa Rica.

The whole trip to Villa Blanca took us through lots of lush green countryside.

We arrived at Villa Blanca, disembarked, and met our guide for the walk, Candy.

The Hummingbird Garden was the first place we stopped on the trail – they don’t want to disappoint visitors, so they lure the hummingbirds with feeders. It works!

I was impressed with how colorful the vegetation was.

And there was wildlife, too, like this whiptail lizard:

Eventually, the trail ended and we found ourselves at the Chapel (a popular wedding destination).

We wandered around a little bit and found another oxcart on display.

After that, we walked back to the main hotel building for lunch, returned to the bus, and drove to Puerto Caldera to embark on the Dumont D’Urville, where we met the people who hadn’t gone on the pre-tour. There were briefings, the lifeboat drill, and dinner, but somehow I took no photos!