R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 57

Southern Caribbean Cruising — Panama City; Metropolitan Cathedral and other sights

Manuel Espinsa Batista in Independence Plaza

Continuing east along Avenida A takes you right by some really interesting ruins. The remaining structure is of intricate detail and constructed of brick and stone. These are the remains of Iglesia y Convento de la Compañía de Jesús (Church and Convent of the Society of Jesus), a Jesuit church and convent erected in 1741 that subsequently fell victim to both fire and earthquake.

Iglesia y Convento de la Compañía de Jesús Iglesia y Convento de ...

Southern Caribbean Cruising — Panama City; Iglesia de San José

Walking the streets in Panama City

After our visit to the Agua Clara locks our tour continued to Panama City. Here we alighted from the bus in the Old Town near Plaza Herrera, which was our first photo stop on today’s foot tour. The city itself is replete with contradictions between wealth and poverty, with poverty winning out in sheer numbers. The area around Plaza Herrera trended far into the poverty category even if the plaza itself belied that observation.

Plaza Herrera

The plaza tak...

Fun Photo Friday — Southern Caribbean; Panama Canal Favorites

Agua Clara Visitors Center Gatún Lake Looking south: New Agua Clara locks (left); old Gatún Locks (right) Getting a Raise Rusty Anchor Dripping Water

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Southern Caribbean Cruising — Panama Canal; Agua Clara Locks at Work

The new locks being moved into place during construction

Today we continue with our exploration of the Agua Clara locks at the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal expansion. I’ll be paying particular attention to the action of the locks themselves, as they are quite a departure from the pivoting locks used in the original system. In this first photo you can see the locks retracting into their side bays:

Agua Clara locks starting to open

It’s not a fast process. Here are the same lock...

Southern Caribbean Cruising — Panama Canal; Agua Clara Locks

Agua Clara locks of the new Panama Canal extension

The sight you see above is of the third set of locks installed at the Panama Canal. This new series of locks were completed in 2016, supplementing the older lock system completed in 1914. Specifically, these are the Agua Clara locks, and they handle entrance from the Atlantic side of the canal. The impressive bridge in the background is the Puente Atlántico, or Atlantic Bridge. Below is a view from the Atlantic Bridge of the original Gatún l...

Fun Photo Friday — Southern Caribbean; Grenadine Favorites

Next week I bring to you to two sites in Panama as Grandeur of the Seas took us to Colón, but we did not stay there. Instead, I’ll be showing you the new locks of the Panama Canal, and then we’re off on a tour of Panama City. Until then, here are today’s Fun Photo favorites of the Grenadines:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Southern Caribbean Cruising — Grenadines; Bequia

Port Elizabeth, Bequia, Grenadines

We left Port Elizabeth behind, but we would be back later that day after a beachside lunch. But for now we had places to go and things to do, so we headed west along the Bequia coastline. Along the way we passed some pretty impressive yachts:

Not quite Russian oligarch standards, but…

Our next sight was quite unique. It’s called Moonhole, and it has a fun history. It’s a 30-acre/12-ha site upon which a private rental community was founded in the 1960s...

Southern Caribbean Cruising — Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Welcome to Saint Vincent & the Grenadines

In late February Ursula and I boarded a series of flights that took us from El Paso to Dallas, to Miami, to Barbados. Once in Barbados we headed to the hotel as it was late, and we had a ship to catch the next day. That ship was Royal Caribbean’s ship Grandeur of the Seas, and it would take us on a fourteen-day journey to many destinations that Ursula and I had yet to visit in the Southern Caribbean. Our first stop would be in the Grenadines on the i...

Fun Food Friday — Goldie’s Conch House

Goldie’s Conch House — King of Conch

Both Ursula and I encountered cracked conch on a trip to Grand Cayman Island many years ago. It was at an all-you-can-eat (AYCE) place called, appropriately, The Cracked Conch. There is still a Cracked Conch restaurant on Grand Cayman, but it’s not at the previous location, and it may not be under the same ownership as it’s no longer AYCE. So, since the Bahamas are practically synonymous with cracked conch, Ursula decided we were going to have lunch in Na...

Transatlantic — Nassau at the port and along the Shore

As I indicated on Monday, this stop didn’t provide me with a lot of photographic opportunities. As such this week will have a Fun Food Friday rather than the more usual Fun Photo Friday. And since Friday’s article is a restaurant review, today will operate more like a Fun Photo Friday-style entry. If you’re wondering why I seem to be taking the easy way out this week, it’s because next week a rather labor-intensive series will begin on a recent (just last month) 14-day cruise in the souther...