12/10/11 Roatan, Honduras

OUR LAST PORT!  It is bitter-sweet to write those words. I think most people are feeling the way I do; sad about leaving this wonderful little community we have formed, but excited to see our families and friends and to return to the comfort of our homes. It will be fun to give Christmas gifts from all around the world, and I can't wait to be able to bake in my very own kitchen again!

The initial itinerary had Cuba (with an asterisk behind it) listed as our last port, IF we could get permission from the US Department of State. After that fell through - causing large amounts of disappointment - plan B was to go to Guatemala. Shortly after we had gotten used to that idea, the US government sent out an advisory not to travel to Guatemala due to the increasing levels of crime and violence that are currently an issue there. We were told that trying to find other options in Central America that were not equally worrisome was difficult. That's how we ended up on the resort island of Roatan.

Our first day I was not on call and excited about a lazy day in the sun without the chance of being called back to the ship. We hooked up with some friends (the Baker family from CA has a son Reade's age and a daughter Tate's age, and we've all become great friends) and headed to the beach. We got there in time to have fabulous fish tacos on the beach and catch about one hour worth of sun rays before it started raining. When it rains in Honduras, it POURS!  We huddled around a table with a thatched umbrella roof for a couple of hours, hoping the storm would pass. The kids were unfazed by the rain, and ran back and forth between the ocean and the resort pool where we were allowed access. As the rain water flooded the whole resort area and it became clear that we would not be seeing the sun again that day, we packed up our stuff and left. We wasted some time in a gift shop and then had a very early dinner before returning to the ship. We asked our cab driver what the locals do when it rains, and he told us that they just stay home.

I was on-call our second day and we woke to... you guessed it! Rain! Lots of cold rain, this time accompanied by wind. We went back to the same fabulous fish taco restaurant and had more fabulous food for lunch and then wasted more time in touristy gift shops. At about 2:30 pm I got called back to the ship to deal with an injury, but none of us were too sad to have to call it a day and return to our dry ship/home. After a long night working in the clinic, I'm writing this blog as the ship sets sail towards the USA where we will dock in two short days!

12/7/11 Panama Canal

Today we sailed through the locks of the Panama Canal. It was very interesting seeing how the brilliant engineers of this canal managed to raise us up 65 feet and then back down 85 feet once we had crossed the land. It takes about 9 hours and we spent much of the day sitting around outside watching the whole process. If you would like to see us going through the canal in about 5 minutes of time-lapse photography, go to Jeff's website at: http://jeffwarnerphoto.blogspot.com and click on the December 7th posting. That's probably the best way to get a feel for how it works. I'm glad I got to experience it.

12/5/11 Costa Rica

Wow!  Costa Rica is such a cool place!  In addition to being warm, green and gorgeous, Costa Ricans have decided to protect their natural environment by setting aside huge amounts of land as National Parks, thereby protecting their impressive biodiversity. They've also chosen to invest in their people by providing free education to all persons instead of funding a military. As a result, 96% of the population is literate, a much higher rate than is seen in the USA. Unfortunately, poverty does still exist in Costa Rica, but is much less prevalent than in many of it's neighboring Central American nations. 

We went to a cloud forest one day, and hiked up to the crater of an active volcano named Poas. Unfortunately, it was raining and very cloudy (duh!), so we were not able to see into the volcano crater. We did see many coffee farms and learned about the arduous process of producing coffee. The scenery that day was just gorgeous. Another day we hired a cab driver to show us around. He took us to the property of a lady who feeds the multitude of monkeys that live on her property. Therefore, they are accustomed to people, and allowed us to hand feed them and touch them. Some had tiny infants on their backs who did not fall off (miraculously) when their mothers abruptly leaped between trees. We bought both cookies and banana slices to give them, and some were picky. Some preferred bananas and would squawk at us impatiently if we tried to feed them crackers, unless crackers were all we had. It was great fun. Then we went to a bridge where we saw about a dozen crocodiles hanging out in the river right below us. They are such freaky, prehistoric looking creatures.

About that time, I got called back to the ship to care for a shipmate who had fallen off a horse and broken her arm. The fracture was of a type that needs surgical fixation, so I went with the patient and her husband to a hospital in San Jose, about 1+ hours away. She had surgery that night. Luckily she was able to return to the ship the next day and did not need to fly home to deal with her situation. I was able to return to the ship as soon as I got her all settled in at the hospital that evening.  Costa Rica has become a big medical tourism destination and the health care in San Jose is excellent and much less expensive than in the USA. If you have to have surgery while circling the globe, Costa Rica is a lucky spot to get injured. 

My biggest regret about Costa Rica was that we did not have nearly enough time to explore that amazing place. It is on the top of my list of places to which I hope to return.