A whale of a tale in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

From Zihuatanejo we continued our way north up the Pacific coast of Mexico to our next port of call, Puerto Vallarta. There we were in for a special treat as our excursion this day would be whale watching.

Whale watching season in Mexico, at least for the species that migrate to the area, runs from December through March. Humpback and Gray Whales travel upwards of 6,000 miles as they make their way here from the northern Pacific and Bering Sea. They come to breed, give birth, and feed their young in the plentiful waters.

Our excursion was on Zodiac inflatable boats that held about 30 people and were speedy enough to be able to whisk us from spot to spot depending on where the whales are. And they need to cover a lot of ground (or water!) as the Bay of Banderas (Bay of Flags) that surrounds Puerto Vallarta is huge. We had the option to go whale watching via more traditional boats and catamarans and were very glad we picked the speedier Zodiacs as they really made the difference in being able to whisk us from one whale sighting to the next.

From Puerto Vallarta our Zodiac headed northward toward Punta de Mita which is about 10 miles from Puerto Vallarta. The trick to whale watching is twofold. One way is to watch for the telltale water vapor that looks like steam that the whales send up when they surface and exhale. These 'clouds' of vapor are very distinct against a clear blue sky  and are a giveaway that a whale is in the vicinity. The other way, unfortunately, is to simply eyeball where all the other whale watching boats already are and head their direction. Fortunately our Zodiac captain relied on the first method as he had 30 plus tourists all craning their heads 360 degrees anxiously watching for the whales to blow. This mostly allowed us to see whales without the crowd of other boats around. On the few occasions where there were other boats nearby it made me feel we really were encroaching on the whale's space though to their credit we never saw any boats attempt to get all that close to any whales we saw.

All of the whales we saw this day were Humpbacks though there are many other species, including Orcas, in the bay. Humpbacks are large, growing to an average of 40-60 feet in length and weighing as much as 44 tons. Mostly dark gray or black in color their tail flukes do have individualized white patterns that can identify a particular whale. These patterns are used internationally to help track whales as they migrate through several international databases and Humpbacks are of course famous for their underwater songs.

We saw several pods of up to four whales swimming together and saw several mothers with their calf. As you'll see in the video below we were fortunate enough to see many different whales, whale tails, and fin slaps. It really was a special time on the water, completely different from anything we had done before. In fact, we enjoyed it so much we did it again at our next port of call, Cabo San Lucas. But that's a whale tale for another day...

Zihuatanejo, Mexico

I'm writing this blog sitting in the White Tank Regional Library on a rainy Arizona day. I'm physically in Arizona to work Baseball Spring Training at Surprise Stadium but on a day like today its easy to be transported back just a couple of weeks when I was heading out, at about this time of day, on a snorkeling excursion in the Pacific town of Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Just for fun I looked up the weather there today and its 86 degrees and sunny and as nice as Arizona weather can be, Zihuatanejo has it beat.

Our stop in Zihuatanejo was a return to just having plain old fun in the sun after having played tourist in Columbia, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. I loved having the chance to see, and learn lots about, all those beautiful countries but hey, going on a cruise also involves sitting back, soaking in rays, and simply taking a dip in the ocean.

Welcome to Mexico!

Mexico has been taking care of sun-loving tourists for a long time and they certainly know how to do it right. From the lovely ladies who serenaded us when we came on shore to the fun-loving crew of the catamaran Picante all you had to do was relax and enjoy.

The sail from Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala had seen some rough weather which you'll see a sample of in the video below. We also had an unscheduled detour to Acapulco so that a passenger who had taken ill could be taken off the ship and to a hospital. There is, of course, an infirmary on board most cruise ships and many are well equipped but they're meant primarily to treat minor health issues and to stabilize for transport those in more serious need of advanced care. We learned a lesson though. Apparently, from what we were told from some passengers who have utilized the shipboard medical services, the ship infirmary does not accept insurance so if you use these services you must pay up front and then submit a claim once you are home and hope for reimbursement. I can only imagine the expenses incurred for this unfortunate passenger who had to be evacuated from the ship and will take to heart our travel agent's recommendation to get additional coverage when traveling abroad in the future.

Tenders act as water taxis

But back to more fun things. Zihuatanejo is a beautiful town nestled in a nice harbor that is too small to dock cruise ships of the size we were on (and our ship, the Norwegian Gem, is relatively small compared to some of the behemoths sailing these waters today) so we were shuttled (or in nautical terms 'tendered') ashore in the ship's life boats. These life boats (AKA 'tenders') made for fine water taxis but I wouldn't want to spend hours or days rocking to and fro in one of these cramped vessels in an emergency. Once ashore we transferred to the catamaran Picante and soon found ourselves sailing back out to sea and around the point to our snorkeling spot. Water temps were delightfully warm, the waters were crystal clear, and the life beneath the waves were colorful and abundant. Lots of tropical fish and I got to get up close and personal with some Brittle Sea Stars. All in all, not a bad way to spend a day. And I'd go back in an instant...

Here's a hint why:

Shop 'til you drop Guatemala Style

Having never been to Guatemala we had no idea what to expect. We had heard it was a beautiful country and it certainly lived up to that. Like almost all of Central America its more modern history (last five hundred years or so, but who's counting?) is closely tied to the Spanish conquistadors and priests who laid such a strong imprint upon the lands they conquered.

We arrived at the port of Puerto Quetzal on a lovely, warm, and calm morning. Looking landward we could see a very distinctive haze all along the coast. Volcanic peaks poked over the haze and beckoned us ashore. The haze was from burning sugar cane fields and is normal at this time of year as the farmers get ready for the growth of new sugar cane. Puerto Quetzal is a working port which means it largely hosts and services large container ships. There is a shopping market right as you get off the cruise ship which if we had thought about it (or known at the time) would set the tone for our shore excursion to the historic town of Antigua which is about an hour and a half drive and an increase of 5,000 feet in elevation. The elevation almost made us feel at home as Denver is known as the 'Mile High City' but the lush rain forest and luxuriant foliage (and volcanoes!) quickly let us know we weren't in Colorado.

As with most of the tour bus rides we took during the cruise the tour guide spent the travel time sharing insights and history of their country. Being a tour guide is considered a very good job in these countries proving yet again that being bilingual is a valuable commodity anywhere in the world and that I should have paid more attention in junior high Spanish class.

The streets of Antigua are largely cobblestone and are too narrow to accommodate large tour buses so we were shuttled in on minivans leaving the tour bus parked outside of town. Guatemala is home to the Mayan civilization which flourished from before 2,000 BC until their unfortunate introduction to Europeans in the 1500's. The last Mayan city of Nojpeten fell to the Spanish in 1697 which if you think about it is really not that long ago (Harvard University, in Massachusetts was founded in 1636). Makes you wonder what the Maya, and all the other indigenous peoples of the America's, would be like today if they had been left to determine their own fate.

Guatemala has its share of volcanoes and we could see several spouting steam and smoke as we made the drive to Antigua. The town itself is lovely and would be a stroller's paradise. Today, however, the most visible presence of the Maya has been reduced to Mayan women selling trinkets to la turista. They deserve kudos for being the most persistent vendors we came across during our whole trip. In some countries a gentle "Gracias, No" had been sufficient to let the vendors know we weren't interested, in other countries you just had to walk away and they would drop off, but in Antigua we had some of these sturdy Mayan ladies follow us the entire half-day tour. It wasn't so much that they were overly pushy or rude; in fact they brought a stoicism to their work that was admirable. Their focus tended to be the ladies of our group and you could tell many were getting annoyed and flustered by the continual attention. Most of our tour guides on these excursions acted as somewhat of a buffer when the attentions of the local merchants became too forceful but not our tour guide this day. She seemed oblivious as the size of her tour at almost doubled with the trailing group of merchants tagging along.  Make no mistake: I understand completely how desperate some of these local vendors are for the tourist dollars but sometimes a softer sales approach yields more results and our guide could do some educating of the local merchants on this subtle point. As it was, I saw very few tourists parting company with their cash during this excursion and it was largely because the vendors were simply trying way too hard.

I did notice that most of the Mayan ladies had cell phones so their sales efforts must be reaping rewards so I'll leave it be that they know their business. Still, it was a little disconcerting to see Mayan ladies decked out in their finery talking, texting, and taking selfies right along with the rest of us. If the Spanish left their imprint 500 years ago suffice it to say Norte Americanos are doing the same today. Says the man writing a blog on a laptop.

Anyway, Guatemala was a wonderful place to visit and Antigua has all the grace and charm one would expect of a traditional Spanish Colonial town. Beautiful churches and beautiful town squares and cobblestone streets that make you wonder who walked in your steps all those hundreds of years ago. Here's a quick video snapshot of our time in Guatemala:

what to make of Nicaragua...

When it comes to planning a vacation trip Nicaragua may not come to mind. So we were curious when we found out we'd be stopping at the port of Corinto and then taking a shore excursion inland to the town of Leon. Nicaragua certainly has a troubled military past and it remains the second poorest country in the Americas (Haiti is the poorest).

Tourism is only starting to get a real foothold in the country and it doesn't seem to have trickled down to most of the population as of yet. It was the only country where we could wander one of the main squares in town and not be constantly approached by vendors pushing their wares on us. There was a market in the square but it seemed lowkey and laid back. The people seemed friendly but hesitant as if still not quite sure what to make of the horde of cruise ship tourists descending on their town. America's not-so-subtle role in their military conflicts probably has something to do with some remaining distrust of norteamericanos but the average age in Nicaragua is just 27 so perhaps time will yet heal that wound.

It is no doubt a beautiful country and has the added attraction of having many volcanoes, nine of which are still active. Nicaragua also has a rich and varied history that equals what we saw in our other stops. And if you get to the town of Leon, visit the Cathedral and take the tour to the rooftop. Its something you definitely don't see every day. In short, if you get the chance to visit, Nicaragua may well be worth a stop. Here's a short video of some of what we saw in our time there.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica: Pura Vida!

Pura Vida... simply translated it means simple life or pure life.  Costa Ricans (Ticos) use this term to say hello, to say goodbye, to say everything’s great, to say everything’s cool.  They say it’s an emotion, it’s an attitude, it’s happiness, and it’s a way of life. We weren't in Costa Rica long enough to fully appreciate Pura Vida in its entirety but the people we met certainly gave us a glimpse of its true meaning.

We came to Puntarenas, Costa Rica two days after transiting the Panama Canal and like several other ports of call on this trip it was our first visit. Our shore excursion included a Forest Skywalk on suspended bridges and a boat ecotour of the Tarcoles river featuring beautiful birds and intimidating crocodiles.Here's a quick video snapshot of some of the highlights of our too-short visit to Costa Rica...

Ahhh, Panama!

The short video below highlights our transit of the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific aboard the cruise ship Norwegian Gem. I think for most passengers, including myself and my wife, transiting the canal was the reason we picked this particular cruise. Lots of cruises go through one ocean's set of locks into Gatun Lake and then turn around but we wanted to go all the way through.

Transiting the canal was an all day affair. We were up before dawn and we finally reached the Pacific late afternoon. Kudos to my better half for being such a trooper as she really never left the forward viewing deck the entire day. Panama in January is hot and I give Norwegian Cruise Lines for taking mighty good care of us. During the day they made sure to provide ice cold wash cloths to cool our heads, ice cold beverages to cool our throats, and even lunch was served on the viewing deck during this special day.

I'm reading about the turmoil the Chinese corona virus is now causing for the cruise lines and their passengers. Both Norwegian and Royal Caribbean are quarantining thousands of passengers as well as prohibiting Chinese nationals from boarding their ships. Its quite a mess (picture being told to stay in your cabin for 14 days while meals are brought to you once a day) and thank goodness we didn't have to experience anything remotely close to what is happening now. Interestingly, on our first cruise several years ago, Royal Caribbean delayed our ship's (the Legend of the Seas) departure six hours while they disinfected the entire vessel after several passengers on the prior cruise had exhibited symptoms of Legionnaire's disease.

Regardless, transiting the Panama Canal is a trip of a lifetime and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have been able to do it. The history behind, and the blood, sweat, and tears - and yes, thousands of deaths - that went into its construction, bear witness to how important the Canal has played since its completion a century ago.

Put this one on your bucket list!

A city I'd visit again... and again,,, and again

I knew Cartagena, Columbia had a long and illustrious history dating back to its founding by the Spanish in 1533 but I had no idea how beautiful a city it is. From a majestic modern skyline to a colorful walled old city Cartagena deserves far more than the seven hours our port call gave us. Still, we tried to pack as much as we could into those few short hours as you'll see in the video below. Enjoy!