May 1 to May 31

Friday May 1, was Labor Day in Panama, therefore many institutions such as banks were closed.  There were more people in the beaches for the long weekend. (though it is never THAT crowded here at our beach)

This a warning we received from CASA:

The National System of Civil Protection issued a warning to advise of the occurrence of strong waves on the Pacific coast of Panama, the warning is issued from 10:00 am on Tuesday, April 28 to 10 on the night of May 5, 2015. 

These waves are expected to rise far beyond the limit of high tide, which will increase the probability of record flooding to communities near the Pacific coast.  As per experts these waves are considered as the "largest swells of 2015," therefore, strong currents are expected. The size of the waves are expected to range from 8-13 feet high. 

It was a pretty high tide and even at “low tide” it was way up on the beach. Here is a photo we took on the beach of some damage from the tides. Other areas up the coast got it worse than on our beach.

the wall just split

 Sandwich Tern

 Spotted Sandpiper

 Pelicans

Little Green Heron

Our trail walks have been interesting with lots of young birds. Streaked Flycatchers that had young and I watched one feed a huge dragonfly to the young one. Lots of Streaked Saltators flying spastically. We are still hearing the baby Motmots cooing in the nest. Though we did see a fledgling in a different area that looks like there were nests in that area too. The ones we hear are right beside the trail. Several different times we have watched one of the adults take food into the nest. It flies in fast and comes back out fast probably in search of more food.

 Streaked Flycather

 baby Streaked Flycatcher

 Streaked Flycatchers

 Blue-crowned Motmot nest

 close-up of the nest

 adult Motmot with food

 going into the nest

just out of the nest

fledgling Motmot, the don't get the rackets in the tail until they are older

The Lance-tailed Manakins are quite active in their courtship singing and dancing.

 

It’s rare to see a Potoo in the daytime, but I spooked one and it flew to a pretty close high tree branch. Greg got some great shots of it. It’s the second one we have seen on the trail.

 Common Potoo

 

Here are some other shots from the trail and the pond:

 Red-legged Honeycreeper

 Grey-headed Chachalaca

 Fork-tailed Flycatcher

 Hummingbird

 female Barred-Antshrile

 

 They put up a new sign for the trail, might be part of a wall that had paintings on it that was falling apart. Hopefully, they are replacing all the panels.

 Greg on the trail

cool bug 

 flowering tree

 the large lizards are back

 Caimans at the pond

 

Finally, the World Cruise itineraries have come out for 2017. First Holland America’s came out. It looked to be a good itinerary. Our biggest issue is the ship that always does the World only has balconies on suites (not regular cabins), so the cost was almost double what we paid for a balcony on Princess. While a balcony isn’t a necessity it really is nice on a long cruise. Princess released theirs a couple of days later. Princess finally started doing round trip World Cruises instead of leaving you in Venice to fly home. (or similar) So, there was a choice to do the trip round trip Los Angeles or round trip Ft. Lauderdale. It also had a lot of different ports. In the past the cruises have been almost identical to the one we took in 2013. So, we found a great rate with our favorite travel agent and we are booked!

There are 43 ports, 66 sea days and 3 canal days. (Panama and an overnight on the Suez Canal in 111 days. 24 of the ports will be new for us and 18 are repeats and around 10 new countries. It’s the same ship we were on in 2013.

Here is the itinerary:

PACIFIC PRINCESS Itinerary

 

Cruise Line : PRINCESS CRUISES Date : Tue 03 Jan 2017

Cruise Length : 111 Nights

 

Date	Port	Arrival	Boarding	Departure		Remark
Tue 03 Jan	FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA		12:30PM	4:00PM		CHECK IN 12:30PM-3:00PM
Wed 04 Jan	AT SEA
Thu 05 Jan	AT SEA
Fri 06 Jan	ARUBA	12:00PM	7:30PM	8:00PM
Sat 07 Jan	AT SEA
Sun 08 Jan	SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA	7:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Mon 09 Jan	AT SEA
Tue 10 Jan	PANAMA CANAL, PANAMA	5:00AM	4:00PM	4:30PM		SCENIC CRUISING
Wed 11 Jan	AT SEA
Thu 12 Jan	SAN JUAN DEL SUR, NICARAGUA	7:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM		TR TENDER REQUIRED
Fri 13 Jan	ACAJUTLA, EL SALVADOR	10:00AM	6:30PM	7:00PM
Sat 14 Jan	AT SEA
Sun 15 Jan	AT SEA
Mon 16 Jan	AT SEA
Tue 17 Jan	LA PAZ, MEXICO	7:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Wed 18 Jan	AT SEA
Thu 19 Jan	AT SEA
Fri 20 Jan	LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA	7:00AM	1:00PM	4:00PM
Sat 21 Jan	AT SEA
Sun 22 Jan	AT SEA
Mon 23 Jan	AT SEA
Tue 24 Jan	AT SEA
Wed 25 Jan	AT SEA
Thu 26 Jan	HONOLULU, HAWAII	7:00AM	7:30PM	8:00PM
Fri 27 Jan	AT SEA
Sat 28 Jan	AT SEA
Sun 29 Jan	AT SEA
Mon 30 Jan	AT SEA
Tue 31 Jan	AT SEA
Wed 01 Feb	PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA	8:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Thu 02 Feb	CROSS INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE	12:00PM	12:30PM	1:00PM		CROSS INT'L DATELINE
Sat 04 Feb	NUKU'ALOFA, TONGA	8:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Sun 05 Feb	AT SEA
Mon 06 Feb	AT SEA
Tue 07 Feb	BAY OF ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND	8:00AM	5:30PM	6:00PM		TR TENDER REQUIRED
Wed 08 Feb	AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND	7:00AM	9:30PM	10:00PM
Thu 09 Feb	AT SEA
Fri 10 Feb	AT SEA
Sat 11 Feb	AT SEA
Sun 12 Feb	SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA	7:00AM	12:00PM	6:00PM
Mon 13 Feb	AT SEA
Tue 14 Feb	AT SEA
Wed 15 Feb	AT SEA
Thu 16 Feb	CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA	7:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Fri 17 Feb	AT SEA
Sat 18 Feb	AT SEA
Sun 19 Feb	RABAUL, PAPUA NEW GUINEA	8:00AM	5:30PM	6:00PM
Mon 20 Feb	AT SEA
Tue 21 Feb	AT SEA
Wed 22 Feb	AT SEA
Thu 23 Feb	YAP, MICRONESIA	8:00AM	5:30PM	6:00PM
Fri 24 Feb	AT SEA
Sat 25 Feb	AT SEA
Sun 26 Feb	AT SEA
Mon 27 Feb	KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN	6:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Tue 28 Feb	AT SEA
Wed 01 Mar	HONG KONG, CHINA	7:00AM				ON OVERNIGHT
Thu 02 Mar	HONG KONG, CHINA		2:00PM	10:00PM
Fri 03 Mar	AT SEA
Sat 04 Mar	SANYA, CHINA	7:00AM	3:30PM	4:00PM
Sun 05 Mar	AT SEA
Mon 06 Mar	AT SEA
Tue 07 Mar	SINGAPORE	10:00AM				ON OVERNIGHT
Wed 08 Mar	SINGAPORE		5:30PM	6:00PM
Thu 09 Mar	AT SEA
Fri 10 Mar	PHUKET, THAILAND	7:00AM	5:30PM	6:00PM
Sat 11 Mar	AT SEA
Sun 12 Mar	AT SEA
Mon 13 Mar	AT SEA
Tue 14 Mar	COCHIN, INDIA	8:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Wed 15 Mar	AT SEA
Thu 16 Mar	MUMBAI, INDIA	7:00AM	7:30PM	8:00PM
Fri 17 Mar	AT SEA
Sat 18 Mar	AT SEA
Sun 19 Mar	DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	1:00PM				ON OVERNIGHT
Mon 20 Mar	DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES		1:00PM	8:00PM
Tue 21 Mar	AT SEA
Wed 22 Mar	AT SEA
Thu 23 Mar	AT SEA
Fri 24 Mar	AT SEA
Sat 25 Mar	AT SEA
Sun 26 Mar	AT SEA
Mon 27 Mar	AT SEA
Tue 28 Mar	AQABA (FOR PETRA), JORDAN	7:00AM	6:30PM	7:00PM
Wed 29 Mar	SUEZ CANAL, EGYPT	7:00PM				SCENIC CRUISING OVERNIGHT
Thu 30 Mar	SUEZ CANAL, EGYPT		4:30PM	5:00PM		SCENIC CRUISING
Fri 31 Mar	AT SEA
Sat 01 Apr	BODRUM, TURKEY	7:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Sun 02 Apr	CHANIA, GREECE	8:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Mon 03 Apr	ZAKINTHOS, GREECE	7:00AM	3:30PM	4:00PM		TR TENDER REQUIRED
Tue 04 Apr	BARI, ITALY	9:00AM	6:30PM	7:00PM
Wed 05 Apr	HVAR, CROATIA	7:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM		TR TENDER REQUIRED
Thu 06 Apr	VENICE, ITALY	9:00AM				ON OVERNIGHT
Fri 07 Apr	VENICE, ITALY		1:00PM	6:00PM
Sat 08 Apr	SIBENIK, CROATIA	9:00AM	5:30PM	6:00PM
Sun 09 Apr	AT SEA
Mon 10 Apr	VALLETTA, MALTA	8:00AM	7:30PM	8:00PM
Tue 11 Apr	SICILY (TRAPANI), ITALY	8:00AM	5:30PM	6:00PM
Wed 12 Apr	AT SEA
Thu 13 Apr	AT SEA
Fri 14 Apr	GIBRALTAR, GREAT BRITAIN	7:00AM	7:30PM	8:00PM
Sat 15 Apr	ALGARVE COAST (PORTIMAO), PORTUGAL	8:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Sun 16 Apr	AT SEA
Mon 17 Apr	AT SEA
Tue 18 Apr	AT SEA
Wed 19 Apr	AT SEA
Thu 20 Apr	AT SEA
Fri 21 Apr	AT SEA
Sat 22 Apr	BERMUDA (HAMILTON)	9:00AM	4:30PM	5:00PM
Sun 23 Apr	AT SEA
Mon 24 Apr	AT SEA
Tue 25 Apr	FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA	7:00AM

 Of course we have already started looking at what we will do in each port. Like usual I will set up as many private tours as possible. It saves a ton on money over the ship excursions, besides seeing twice as much since the groups are small and not the huge busloads of the ship’s tours.

Meanwhile, we are getting excited for our African Safari in August. Next month we will do a “practice packing” since we are limited to 33 lbs combined weight of carryon and a backpack each. Of course for the international flight we can carry more luggage, but we have a leg in Africa from Tanzania to Rwanda that is on a small plane, so we need to pack for that. Just over 9 weeks to go!

Until next time.....