Bit Hitchcockian

What was that? No, we are talking about birds, Blue Footed Boobies to be exact. This was actually our day to transit the Panama Canal. Before we headed that way, however, we had a few hours to fit in a few short activities. We chose the 6:30 am skiff tour to see, to paraphrase the commercial, more birds than you have ever seen before. And yes, we actually got up early enough for a 6:30 am departure, but it was well worth it!

We were at the Pearl Islands which are an uninhabited group of islands north of the Darien jungle. One island has the only fresh water in the area and is one of the largest breeding grounds for frigate birds, pelicans, and several other species, including Blue-Footed Boobies! We had no idea you could see them anywhere other than the Galapagos, but there they were, blue feet and all.

Blue Footed Boobies!

The sun hadn’t been up for long, same as us, but it was hiding behind clouds so it was quite dark out with intermittent rain. Just like home! Wait, no, it was actually warm out so despite it being so early and dark, we were quite comfortable in shorts and no jacket. From the ship we could see thousands and thousands of large birds circling and wheeling above the rocky island. It had the look of a sci-fi movie with the masses of dark birds against the gloomy skies above the isolated island. Tami was imagining some maniacal monster deep in the island manipulating strange levers letting the masses of birds in and out. Or something.

On the skiffs we were able to come in very close to the islands and see the boobies perched on the sides of the cliffs. The pelicans preferred to either perch in the trees or on the very tops of the rocks. The frigate birds, which are kleptoparasites (love that name – had to work it in somehow), were continually circling above all the others presumably waiting to snatch someone else’s catch. Taking pictures was extremely difficult as the boat was pitching, it was quite dark out, and the raindrops were persistent, but we did get a few to share.

Pelicans

Pelican eyeing saint

Birds on the beach

Frigate bird

Pelican

Soon we had to head back to the ship for breakfast and we opted not to do the quick visit to a beach for snorkeling since the weather was still iffy. Instead we took the opportunity to catch up on blogging and finally take a look at our pictures so far. And wait for the next delicious meal, of course.

Next we headed back to Panama City to get in line to enter the Panama Canal, where it seemed that half the freighters in the world were hanging around waiting to go through. We joined the queue and waited several hours until it was our turn, but at last we were up!

See the drone flying with the birds? – film crew on board was using drone for shots of ship!

The ship’s crew served an outdoor grilled dinner on the top deck to celebrate our passage through the canal and it was like a garden party with the best view ever.

Having dinner on top with our friend Doug

The bar!

So the first thing that happens when we get to the first set of locks is that a guy comes out in a rowboat to bring a line to the ship. You’re surrounded by huge lock walls and high tech-looking mechanical mules and a guy comes out in a row boat. But it was a nice looking rowboat and those guys are pretty accurate with the rope throwing, evidenced by the practice target.

Entering canal under the landmark Bridge of the Americas

Pointing us to open lock

So we got hitched up to our big mules on tracks, bow and stern, and proceeded into the first lock. These locks make the Ballard Locks look like toys. Our companion in the lock was the Planet V. It was certainly bigger than we were. The gates closed behind us, water started flowing in and up we went, very quickly.

Electric mule – these are not to pull us through (we use our own power), but rather two on each side guide us and keep us under control

Front mule with line to ship – mule in front of that is working with Planet V

The sun was setting but the bright lights of the locks helped illuminate our transit through the second lock, a short trip through Miraflores Lake, and on to the third lock.

Following the third lock there is a long channel, Culebra Cut, about eight miles long, that leads to Gatun Lake and then entry into the three locks that take you back down to sea level and the Caribbean Sea. We exited the initial three locks about 9 pm and were not expected to reach the final three locks until about two in the morning. The big topic of discussion became how late to stay up, whether to set an alarm for the middle of the night, and of course, how delicious dinner was and how many times did you go back for more shrimp?

Just about that time the captain came on and said that there was thick fog in Gatun Lake and we were not able to proceed. Discussions were in progress with authorities to find us a place to dock and we did not know when we might be able continue. Well. Stuck in the Panama Canal. We had no idea that could happen, but we were actually excited at the prospect of continuing the transit during daylight. We retired early to our cabin and as we lay in bed we could hear the loud grinding noises that we assumed were reverse thrusters as we were maneuvered to shore. Being on the first deck, when we finally checked out our window we could see the boards of a dock up close and personal against our window. The big question would be when we might finally leave that dock.