Columbia, Costa Rico and Panama Canal

Today is the 9th day of our cruise and still not much to talk about. Our first stop after Key West was Santa Marta, Columbia. Our ship docked at an industrial port on a very hot, sunny day. We hadn’t booked a tour so around noon Pete, Sharon, Ed and I (hereafter referred to as “the 4 of us”) took a shuttle into town. Santa Marta obviously doesn’t have many tourists because no one tried to sell us anything. We walked through the local market and didn’t see a thing to buy anyway. The shops seemed to be selling mostly cell phones, baby clothes, and small appliances. Pete and I looked into the local church on the square while Ed and Sharon, having “seen enough churches to last a lifetime”, waited outside. It was extremely hot and humid so we decided to walk to the beach to cool off. It was Sunday and the total population of the island had had the same idea we did, so the black sand beach was covered with little brown bodies in various stages of undress. We flicked a few pictures and headed back to the bus. So that was Santa Marta.
The next day we anchored off an island called Isla de Providencia, also in Columbia. There weren’t n any tours offered on this island because tourism doesn’t seem to have reached there yet. We decided to go see what it was all about and went to get a “tender ticket” because we had to take a boat from our ship to the island. We waited about a half an hour, all the time watching a tender boat hovering just a few yards from the ship, bobbing up and down in the water, with a few passengers on board. One curious person went to see why we were waiting so long and reported that there were apparently a couple of tenders with engine trouble. Since being stranded on a bouncing tender wasn’t our cup of tea, we concluded that staying on the ship was our destiny for the day. We changed into our swimsuits and went out to our newly refurbished back pool deck and had a lovely afternoon. And that was Isla de Providencia.
Next came Puerta Limon, Costa Rica. We had all been to Costa Rica a few times and we didn’t book an excursion there either, so, except for being bombarded with Costa Rican natives wanting to take us on various expeditions and journeys around the island, this was basically the same as Santa Marta. We just walked around town in the heat. Sharon and I did get a $15 pedicure and foot/leg massage at a makeshift salon that some Costa Rican girls had set up on the pier. That was the highlight of the day.
Today we’re transiting the Panama Canal which is always interesting but we have a bit of a “been there, done that” attitude.
Ship life is getting more fun. Ed and I are taking dancing lessons. We’ve now learned the waltz and the rumba. Tonight we’ll go dancing in the Ocean Bar and wow the crowd!! The 4 of us and another couple we’ve met, named Romeo and Joyce, have been playing trivia every day. It’s always fun and hopefully keeps our brains from atrophying (is that a word?). Our entertainment has been pretty good and there are game shows most nights that we enjoy, too.
That’s all for now. Things should get more interesting as we get deeper into South America. Let’s hope, anyway.