After a night of revelry in Panama City's Casco Viejo........

a morning cafe on the balcony............

We depart for Colon on the Atlantic/Caribbean end of the famed Panama Canal to check-in and board our cruise ship.

Daniel picked us up right on time; "yourmaninpanama.com."

For some reason he took us on the scenic route. We did see some of the back country, and feel the pot-holes along the way. But yours truly, being of an age slightly older than 21 was fatigued from the previous night's bar hopping and soon fell asleep in the front seat of the van. If D. hadn't noticed and verbally awakened me I would soon have fallen into Daniel's lap.

The boarding of 2500 cruise goers was done as orderly as I think possible. The staff were fantastic in assisting we gringos to fill out the paper work and get us through the lines in a relatively quick and efficient manor; We were in our staterooms by 1300.

we leave Colon and wave goodbye

to the ships exiting the Panama Canal and the adventure begins:

We are off to Cartagena,
Columbia!