Five Years!

Tim and I just got back from a Cruise that we treated ourselves to for our Five Year Anniversary. We had a really nice and relaxing trip. Our Ports of Call were Colon Panama, Limon Costa Rica, and Belize City Belize.

In Colon, Panama, we went on a tour that took us to Portobelo Bay, a stronghold for the Spanish where they would hold the Gold and other exports from throughout South America until they were ready to be transported to Spain. We visited the Customs Building and San Jeronimo Fort, one of three forts that guarded the Bay. The forts were built entirely out of coral! In Portobelo we also got to do a little shopping, the locals set up little souvenier stands and we bought a few of the handmade items.

From there we went to a private beach where we enjoyed a delicious lunch and open bar. They served their Rum and Coke's light on the coke, so it was an extra good deal!

Our final stop in Panama was the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal. It is known as the 8th Wonder of the World, and it was very impressive. We got to see a massive ship finish it's trip through the lock. Later in the week we happened to catch a documentary on the Canal, and the new portion they are building, which was nice timing and answered some of the questions we had about how it works.

The next day in Limon, Costa Rica, we took another guided tour and we did so much! We stopped at a roadside fruit stand where we got to sample bananas, pineapple, and mangos. Then we went to the Del Monte Banana Plantation and saw the long process for getting bananas from the fields to the delivery boxes. While we were there we also got to see a 3 toed sloth, it really did move sooooo slowly, it was unreal.

From there we went on a boat tour of The Tortuguero Canal through the rain forest. We saw several types of birds in the wild and made a stop to see a baby alligator! From the boat tour we made one last stop at a wildlife preserve where I held a Maccaw.

In Belize City, Belize we took a tender out to Banister Island and enjoyed some time in the sun at the private beach. The weather and the water were beautiful! From the island, we went snorkeling at the Barrier Reef, the second largest in the World. The puffer fish in the picture below was ENORMOUS, it was probably 3 feet long!

We agreed that we were glad we visited each port, but also agreed that there was no need to go to Panama or Costa Rica again, unless we went to the West Coast of each, which is apparently completely different, with Sky Scrapers and all.

It was a wonderful trip but we were so happy to get home and get back to Timmy! He had a nice vacation too, taking turns being spoiled by all of his grandparents. :)