Panama - selections from the Carribean

Day 2 - at sea - and a formal dinner. 23°16.7'N 084°43.0'W, Moderate breeze / Sunny skies, 24°C

The post office at Hell, Cayman Islands

Day 3 - Grand Cayman. Sounds grand, doesn't it. Here we thrifty tourists decided to get a 'bus' - somewhat like the little buses in Turkey - to see the sights. At $15 each, we got a two-hour tour along the road that runs by 7 mile beach. It was a fine tour with stops for sampling the rum and rum cake along the way. As I reported earlier, Hell is a scheduled stop on this ride. From here we guessed at Grand Cayman postage and hoped the Easter card would be delivered even from Hell.

A hot day deserves a stop at the beach, but we were the only two to get off the bus there. We figured we could get a return taxi/bus for a few dollars. The water was excellent. Getting in was easy, one just slid down a sandy slope where the waves were breaking. Getting back onto the beach was another story. Fortunately two strong men visiting locally for snorkeling helped Diana get back onto terra firma.

7 mile beach

They also went to the parking lot and found that a bus had returned for a number of other swimmers who had also been on a tour and had been dropped off at the beach. The cost for getting back was five dollars each. Altogether a reasonable day. (Even cheaper if Diana had remembered to bring her Hat. But still the hat we bought is quite delightful and will be useful. Maybe we will give it away to someone who likes yellow ribbon.)

The only thing we didn't do was use the free shower on the beach. The sand was composed of coarse and somewhat sharp white granules which back in our stateroom caused a little consternation, but not much.

St Peter's Falmouth

Returning to the ship was a long process because of the tender, about half an hour. We unpacked the backpack and got the sand out of us then went upstairs to get ice cream, vanilla and coffee.

Day 4 - Jamaica, Falmouth. Here we likewise did our own thing. In this case a walk through town. We were accosted by one man who was determined to be our protector, but we said no thanks and he eventually left. He said we needed protection, but we didn't. We walked to St Peter's and back, about a mile and a half.

Day 5 - at sea 2017.04.11 15°49.1'N 073°44.8'W Fresh breeze / Cloudy skies, 28°C

Day 6 - Aruba - the sponsor of BBC News etc. Finally we get to see what it's all about. There are many resorts, some very grand, even pompous.

We were going to bring snorkel equipment, but it is too cumbersome to pack for such a journey.

Again we visited on our own, this time by public transit, a double fare pass for each of us. Renting an umbrella and chair on the beach for an hour or so. The Bugaloe beach hut did not have wifi as promised and the facilities cost a dollar. Not perfect but doable. (We found a good change room at the Hilton Aruba just a 100 or so meters from the beach.) More pictures here.

How do you stop a panorama when using an iphone?