Today we visited a coffee plantation and the city of Antigua. Guatemala has many of the same problems as Nicaragua. Only about 70% of the children go to school. They have many poor and a few rich. But they seem to have avoided the worst of the poverty. We saw no horse drawn carts. The horses we saw were well fed. There were no human-powered 3-wheeled bicycle taxis. We saw several “motorized rickshaws” called Tuk-tuks. There was one picture I wanted but didn’t get. They use “Chicken Buses” for public transportation. These are retired US school buses. They paint them vivid colors. They add chrome bumpers, grills, and roof racks. They add running lights and signal lights. Sometimes the driver will paint his girl friend’s name on the bus. It’s the ultimate in bus bling.

On the way out, we saw one of the volcanoes smoking. A village along our route was destroyed by volcanic ash. About 5,000 people lived in the village. The government claimed that they saved 2,000 villagers and 1,000 died. Most people think the government purposely understated the number of deaths.

At the plantation, we saw the entire coffee process. This plantation sells most of their coffee to Starbucks. They roast a little of their coffee for local consumption. We picked a few coffee beans and tasted them. They taste sweet.We saw the entire process. Most of the processing is done by hand. I was quite surprised to see workers walking on the beans and shoveling them with sturdy shovels. After the tour, we had an excellent lunch at the plantation’s restaurant.

After lunch we went down the street to Antigua. We were continuously accosted by people wanting us to buy flutes, table runners, and coffee bean jewelry.

Tomorrow is an “at sea” day. We’ve enjoyed excellent weather so far. The forecast is for the winds to pick up tomorrow. We expect 20 to 50 MPH winds with 30 foot waves. They moved our next port to a different one with a more protective harbor.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

The day started with a lot of tension. I am administrator of our neighborhood website, snowdenoverlook.com. Our web site host provider decided to move our site to a new server while I was on vacation. This morning our site was moved. I had to make a few changes. But every time I tried to do something, the program I was trying to use decided it urgently needed an update. In the mean time, our ship had docked and right outside my window was a very loud, very enthusiastic, and not very good band. I’m sure it was a nice welcome and quite colorful, but what I needed was an internet connection that could at the very minimum download those updates just a little faster. All’s well that ends well, as they say. So far as I can see, our website was migrated successfully.

Our visit to Nicaragua was an eye opener. I’m sure everybody reading this knows that there are countries that aren’t as rich as the US. But Nicaragua’s poverty was an incredible shock. It was even more of a shock when our tour guide told us that the country used to be the richest in Central America. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a country that relies on horse drawn carts for some of their transportation. And the horses are emaciated. If a citizen wants a taxi, they are likely to take a 3-wheeled bicycle powered by a strong young man. This is a country that if a young couple, both employed, gets married and shares expenses, they can’t meet their basic living needs. It’s a country where only 70% of the children go to school. I was too embarrassed to ask what the literacy rate is. (It’s 97% for Costa Rica.) We saw a house without plumbing. These houses have a well, typically 40 to 60 feet deep. They put a bucket on a rope, hook the rope up to a horse, and have the horse pull up their drinking water.

We visited Leon, which has a very nice square. I would have a better picture, but pointing a camera at an individual is an invitation to offer tips. One of our first stops was at the Cathedral. We were delayed at the steps while children performed a “traditional dance”. The idea was to make fun of the Spanish. But there’s no doubt the children were more interested in the tips than in the authenticity of the dance, or any other part of their history. When we gained access to the roof of the Church, we had to remove our shoes because they had just painted part of the roof.

After visiting Leon, we visited a school run by the Cohen family, This is one of the richest families in the country. Their estate, if you can gain access, has beautiful horses, any one of which is worth more than the entire residence of 10 average families. As it turns out, the Cohen family is enlightened. They run a school that educates poor children and includes a pre-Colombian art museum. (That’s one school for the entire country. But hey, they also contribute to the cost of “one computer for every child”.”) Our tour guide was a very self-assured 14-year old female student who had an amazing knowledge of pre-Colombian artifacts. She doesn’t speak English, so our bus tour guide had to translate. One of the many things she explained was that the Spanish were very interested in gold when they arrived in South America. This was very confusing to the natives, because they valued jade over gold. Only royalty could own jade,.

I wish the best for our nameless tour guide, and for the entire country. I hope this finds everybody doing well

Yesterday was an “at sea” day. There was plenty to keep us busy. Today we stopped in Costa Rica. Danita and I took a Mangrove River wildlife tour. If you click the link to see the pictures, you will see my wildlife pics. I was amazed that any of them came out. I’m not going to try to identify the species of animals. Image 2744 is an iguana. 2726 is an 18 foot long crocodile. The rest are all birds.

It’s time to get ready for dinner. I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Today’s story begins with yesterday. We’re traveling with Ed and Lynne. Ed is really good at seeing things. He took us to the bow of the ship and showed us lots of flying fish. His theory is they were trying to get away from the ship. It’s impossible for me to photograph, but it was quite an impressive site. We spent quite a while watching flying fish, and gulls fishing.

Today we crossed the Panama Canal. It took 10 hours, which is typical. The thing that impressed me most was the lock doors, called leafs. The original leafs are still in use. They are massive. I think I heard 7,000 pounds, and I think I heard 9 tons. Either way, that’s heavy. However, they are hollow. They float. When the canal first opened in 1914, they were operated by 30 HP electric motors. Now they have hydraulic rams. Sometimes they refuse to open. When this happens, they can be opened by hand — just by turning a wheel.

It was all cool. It turns out that our lanai area was exactly where the pirates pilots boarded our ship. I was also impressed with the Culebra Cut, the toughest excavation and the site of numerous mud slides. Even today, it is narrow and crooked enough that ships prefer not to pass each other while in the cut. If you choose to look at the pictures, you will see many details of the canal.

After an exhausting day guiding the ship through the canal (and also enjoying a some wine, just as the French did when they were in Panama), it’s time to rest up for dinner. I hope this finds everybody doing well.