Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Special Moments

On the Panama Canal.

This week, Tina Schell asks us to consider sharing “…Moments that you want to save forever in your heart of hearts.” She goes on to note examples such as the birth of a child, wedding vows, and less personal ones like that perfect sunrise. You can read her entire challenge post here. One of my dreams for many years included a cruise through the Panama Canal. Regular readers know I am a fan of cruising, and in the wake of the pandemic, I’ve had to cancel two cruises that would have brought me and my wife many special moments on our first trips on the European continent. For this challenge-response, I will share some of my special moments captured on that cruise through the Panama Canal.

Honduran Artistry – A Cameo Appearance

Isla Roatan, Honduras.

The craftsman in the opening image isn’t wearing a mask because of the pandemic. He’s an artist working to create cameo designs. I’ve always thought of cameos as small sculpted medallions worn around the neck. What I learned at this cameo shop was to change my notion completely. Let’s start with Marriam-Webster’s definition:

cameo (noun)

1a: a gem carved in relief (see relief entry 1 sense 6) especially: a small piece of sculpture on a stone or shell cut in relief in one layer with another contrasting layer serving as background
b: a small medallion (see medallion sense 2) with a profiled head in relief
2:   a carving or sculpture made in the manner of a cameo

Atlantis Submarine Tour – We Don’t Live There… and It’s Not Yellow

Cozumel, Mexico.

Before we started our cruise to the southern Caribbean, I hadn’t heard of the Mesoamerican Reef system. I’m still no expert, but I’ve seen the northern and southern ends of the reef up close and personal. Readers of last week’s Travel Tuesday post “rode along” with us in a glass-bottom boat. This week, we go as low as 100 feet (30 m) underwater in the submarine Atlantis. As I noted last week, if you wish to visit the reef only once, my recommendation would be via this submarine. For more on the specifics of the reef and its treasures, and view some more undersea images of the Mesoamerican Reef, my original post is here. This post is all about the excursion.

Isla Roatán – Glass Bottom Boat and Island Tour

Isla Roatán, Honduras.

Just before the pandemic struck the world and was just beginning to be understood as a problem for Wuhan China, we boarded the Carnival Conquest for a cruise to the southern Caribbean. On our first visit to Mahogany Bay and Honduras, we were introduced to the Mesoamerican Reef, an undersea wonder that rivals the Great Australian Barrier Reef. You may recall photos of our visits to the reef from a post I published in March here. Our excursion for the day at Mahogany Bay included a tour of the island and the aforementioned visit to view the reef via a glass-bottomed boat. The image above was captured as we sat on the cruise ship dock awaiting our ship’s customs check and debarkation for our visit.

Cayman Crystal Caves – From Pirate Hideout to Tourist Attraction

Grand Cayman Island.

About thirty years ago, a young man from Denmark moved to Grand Cayman and followed in his father’s footsteps. Christian Sorensen spent time searching the island for suitable caves to build a tourist attraction in the same manner as his father, Ole Sorensen, who was already successful in the development of Harrison’s Caves in Barbados. Unlike some of the cave attractions in the Caribbean that are complete with pirate “skeletons” and fake treasures, you won’t find any of that in Crystal Caves. From those early explorations, it took Christian Sorensen twenty years to purchase and develop the property into what it is today.

Mesoamerican Reef – Largest Reef System in the Western Hemisphere

The Caribbean Sea.

On a recent cruise, we visited the Mesoamerican Reef, the western hemisphere’s largest barrier reef. At almost 700 miles (1126 km) in length, it is the one of the largest barrier reefs in the world. Second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, it stretches from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico to the islands off Honduras. At some locations, the reef is barely below the surface of the water. At Isla Roatan, we sat in the bottom of a V-hulled boat with viewing windows to observe the reef and its inhabitants. In the opening photo, the tiny bubbles near the top right of the image are an indicator of how shallow the water is off this Honduran Bay island.

Cellpic Sunday – 1 March 2020

Mahogany Bay, Roatan.

On our recent Carnival Conquest cruise of the Western Caribbean, we stopped at Isla Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras. This idyllic tropical island’s cruise ship port has two shipwrecks that are visible from the decks of the cruise ships that dock there. The large freighter in the center of the image ran aground in the area known as Dixon Cove.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Future

Miami, Florida.

This week, Ann-Christine asks us to look into the future. She writes in her post on Leya, quoting Frank Herbert, “The future remains uncertain and so it should, for it is the canvas upon which we paint our desires. Thus always the human condition faces a beautifully empty canvas.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

And so it is. We can only hope and plan for the future which may or may not come in the manner that we expect. This week, I am writing this on a cruise ship that’s docked in Cozumel, Mexico. I hope to get the post done before the day is out. I have a future excursion starting in a short couple of hours. The photo above, though, takes me back to February 8, just a few days ago when the Carnival Conquest left the dock at the Port of Miami.

But I Digress – Cruising Photo Favorites

December 31, 2019.

In the late 1990’s, my wife Lynn, daughter Carrie, and I departed Miami for an Eastern Caribbean cruise. It was our first. We enjoyed it, but times being what they were, it would be 2007 before we would make our second cruise. Since then, it’s become our favorite way of vacationing. In the next 16 years, we’ve visited the Caribbean islands twice, Hawaii, Fanning Island (Tabuaeran), went through the Panama Canal twice, and as the photo above implies, we departed Seattle for Alaska (you can tell by the tiny Space Needle in the far right background of this image captured on the Norwegian Pearl.)

Natuwa – Wildlife Rescue in Costa Rica

Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica.

On our first visit to Costa Rica in 2013 after crossing the Panama Canal, our first stop was Puntarenas. Back then, we opted for a jungle cruise and train ride. We had so much fun on the jungle cruise, we elected to do it again. Fortunately for us, that excursion was sold out by the time we went to reserve our excursions for the trip. It was indeed fortunate as we elected instead to visit Natuwa. We would have missed a visit to a fascinating place.