Fuerte Amador, Panama – January 10, 2018

Took the tender in to port about 9:30.  I was in the first group that did not need a tender ticket (tendering started at 6am and there were a number of early excursions).  It took about 15 minutes to get to port and another ten minutes to find the kiosk selling tickets for the Hop-on, Hop-off bus (there were no signs).  By that time the next bus was scheduled for 10:50.  I bought a coke and people watched to kill the time.

The bus was on-time and we drove through the old town of Panama City, the new high-rise section, past the huge mall (over 700 shops and 100 restaurants), and out to the Miraflores locks.  After returning to Fuerte Amador, I looked through the shops and bought a few souvenirs before getting in the long line for the tender (unfortunately some tour buses came in all at the same time). 

Was back on the ship by 2:15 where I grabbed a sandwich for a late lunch and then to afternoon trivia – only three of us played.  We had 11 correct and three teams tied with 15.

1)       What do frogs have in their mouths that toads do not?

2)       What does the average male have 3000 of?

3)       What wine is named for a town in northern Portugal?

4)       What is a group of ravens called?

After changing to go swimming, I watched the sail-away while enjoying my afternoon ice cream.  Then it was evening trivia time. We had a full team but only had 14 – the winning team had 16.

1)       Who wrote “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”?

2)       Albert Einstein left Germany and taught at which university?

3)       What was the first completely computer generated motion picture?

4)       The name of which sport means “empty hand”?

5)       Which of the Seven Dwarfs is last alphabetically?

I went directly to the pool after trivia and swam for an hour (very few people in the pool between 5:30 and 6:30).

Dinner was very good.  I had fresh fruit, chilled blueberry soup, spiced shrimp with cheesy grits, and fruit flan for dessert.

The program was Fred Moore who is a comedian and magician.  He did a number of good tricks.

Tomorrow is the first of eight sea days (love them).  We gain back the hour we lost a couple of days ago.

I can’t believe that we have already completed one week!

Here are street scenes taken from the bus...

Bridge of Americas from land

notice the man on the roof taking down his "Christmas tree"

couldn't resist this one

Balboa Union Church

a local cemetery

the Miraflores visitor center from the other side (see yesterday's pictures)

part of the huge shopping mall

former American housing for those working in the Canal Zone

we saw lots of these buses

Afternoon trivia…

1)teeth

2)facial hairs

3)Port

4)murder

Evening trivia…

1)Baum

2)Princeton

3)Toy Story

4)karate

5)Sneezy

Smooth sailing until next time!