PC Cruise - Shore Day in Panama

Before we left on the cruise we found a great blog by a couple who did our same cruise that really helped us prepare.    She listed private tour companies in Costa Rica and Panama that orovided a good experience.    We booked day tours with them and were glad we did.   The prices were similar to the Princess tours but instead of a greyhound bus full of people, we had a a group of 8.   My Friend Mario in Panama was our favorite, especially our guide, named Mario (but not the Mario).

First we drove across one of the last locks of the canal as the lock was opening and water came gushing through.    Then we drove through rainforest to Fort San Lorenzo.    There were howler monkeys in the trees and we spotted several but our pictures don't show them well, darn it.  

Princess has a suggested reading list for the cruise including Carribbean by James Michener.   Often as we had our stops, I would be reading about the history of that place.    The day before our Panama stop, I was reading about Sir Francis Drake and his siege of Panama City.    The first spanish fort along the way was Fort San Lorenzo.    A couple days later I was reading about Captain Henry Morgan the privateer that captured the Fort which is at the mouth of the Chagres River in the Carribbean Sea.    We stood where he stood 200 years ago.

On the way back to the ship our driver spotted two toed sloths in the trees and we stopped for pictures.     They move so slow that it was no problem getting good shots this time.