Panama Canal

One of my Trips to Central America is to Panama. The country is rich in its people and is known for their great strengths in Logistics. One such achievement in their supremacy in logistics is the upkeep and operation of the Panama Canal.

One of the most amazing feats in the world is this massive man-made canal that allows ships of a certain size (Panamax) and smaller to traverse from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and onto the Atlantic without passing south. This marvel was opened to the public in 1914, charging its users a toll to travel through its four (4) locks. In addition to it being a transportation marvel, it has been transformed into a tourist attraction.

I went to the Mira Flores Locks to view the locks in operation as well as having a guided tour of their facility. It was truly an informative tour, I noticed that there are also plans to upgrade the Canal to allow the transportation of much larger vessels through its gates.

What other marvellous places have you been to recently and which places should I go to next?

Coral Castle - Miami

On one of my trips to Miami, I decided to see the sights. My cousin, brother, a friend and I decided to do our research and see what there’s to see close by. We found out about a small installation known as the Coral Castle.

Edward Leedskalnin from Latvia, was to be wed to a woman but she called it off early. Heartbroken, he migrated to the United States in New York. He worked as a construction worker, till he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He heard somewhere that the cure is several hours in the sun every day. He then moved to Florida where he could get this much needed sun. He decided to build a castle here out of Coral at South Dixie Highway.

This one guy worked only at night to avoid prying eyes, created large structures using the same coral that was extracted from the ground during construction. He created large statues, tables with chairs, a well, a monolith, a primal telescope and a 3 ton and 9 ton gates that can be moved with the gentlest of fingertips. Over time however several engineers were contracted to repair the gate to is freely moving system however to this date it could no longer be brought to its original state.

The guy had a very old fashioned look on life and built his castle with thrones for him to be the king, one for his would be queen, and children even though he never married. He turned the castle into a tourist attraction where guests would either pay with 25 cents or bring a meal for him.

Have you ever been to the Coral Castle? Are there any amazing sites to see in Florida, I’d Like to visit them?

Minus 5 Degrees Bar - Cayman Islands

On one of my cruise travels I found myself in the Cayman Islands wandering around the city with my family. We have a routine about experiencing local bars in within the islands. While walking about, I came across this bar aptly named "Minus 5 Degrees".

This bar is unique as the actual temperature within the bar is below -5 Degrees Centigrade in addition to the furniture and sculptures within this establishment to be made completely out of ice.

To enter the bar, one must don an ice room coat with gloves. You usually pay for entry with a complimentary shot or drink, but there are additional packages and you can get additional drinks when inside. The shot comes in a ice shot glass, it was a shame the drinks didn't come in ice as well but I'm sure the glass may melt before the drink can be consumed.

I know there's a couple of these establishments within the United States as well. How do they match up to the Minus 5 in Cayman Islands.

Mayan Ruins of Tulum - Mexico

Now I’m an avid Carnival Cruiser (Gold member working on a Diamond membership). Almost every year I am on a ship since 2012. On my first ever cruise, one of the stops were to Cozumel Mexico. I, being excited of the fact of going on a cruise looked at the tours that can be seen on this island. To my surprise, there was a Mayan Ruin tour at Tulum, Mexico.

I made my mind to pay for this tour. The morning we docked into Cozumel, my family and I ensured to have an early breakfast, as this is a full day tour. We lined up out at the port as we had to board an additional ferry to the Mainland of Mexico. The trip took 45 minutes of travel to what seemed like the western horizon.

As we arrived to the mainland at Playa Del Carmen, we were required to board a tour bus to carry us to Tulum. There was a nice stop at a local store that sold artifacts from the Mayan and Azetec Culture.

Within a half an hour we were on the way again to the ruins. On arrival to the ruin, we were given a small background of the ruins and the nature of the Mayans. There’s a particular ruin called the "Temple of the Descending God" on the coast in which on summer solstice,June 21st, the sunrise falls directly in between the small slotted window. The Mayans praised the moon and the sun and carefully understood their patterns.

The group was divided into smaller groups with an associated guide to show you the sites and give you a history as you go along. At the end of the guided tour, you are welcome to tour the ground freely but at the time we were not allowed to climb the pyramid  L. Maybe they have finished their restorative work and its possible now.

Be Careful when roaming these ruins freely, the ruins are vastly populated by large iguanas. These iguanas are not like the garden varieties that are local to Trinidad and Tobago where our people hunt and cook them. No, these guys believe there on the top of the food chain here as no one hunts them in Mexico. In addition to that they are considered territorial and have taken up residence in the separate ruins and they have been known to attack people but fear not, theres a medical unit on the ruin to deal with any bites or scratches from the grey friends. Our guide actually said to us, “The bigger the ruin space, the greater the amount of female companions the iguana will have”. Sugar Iguana anyone??

Having seen all the beautiful sites and avoided attacks from the iguanas, there one of the most beautiful beaches in which you can take a small bath before getting ready for the trip back to the ship.

Have you ever been to a Mayan or Aztec ruin? How was it? If so which one and where is it located?