Map of our Adventure

Map of our Adventure

Day 8 – Saturday December 14, 2013 – Disembark and head for home



We were up at 6:30, finished packing, and put our suitcases outside our cabins.  I went up to watch the docking at Herradura.  The Marriott that we stayed in last March was right along the bay.  The captain seemed to have a bit of trouble getting the boat docked just right and took a few tries.  Our naturalists and everyone else lugged all the luggage up to the 2nd deck.  I felt sorry for them as some of the luggage was quite large.

The boat finally docked, but the tides were low, so the gangway wouldn’t fit on the second deck.  They had to hoist it up to the 3rd deck, and then all the crew did a fire brigade line to haul all the luggage up to the 3rd deck and down the gangway.

We had a final breakfast and then everyone hurried to get ready to disembark.  The group that was continuing on for a week land tour left at 8:15.  Those of us going to the airport boarded a bus at 8:30.  The day was sunny and pretty, and the 2 hour bus ride was pleasant.  

The airport formalities went well, and we were soon at our gate.  We had plenty of time to kill, so we mostly just read.  The flight to Houston was not a problem.  However, I have never seen such a huge, huge line for immigration.  There was a back and forth line at least 15 times and each section was at least 50 yards long.  It seemed to take forever!  We got our luggage, cleared customs, and rechecked the luggage.

Our flight to Raleigh from Houston was canceled, so we spent the night in a hotel and finally made it home on Sunday. 

It was a really fun trip.  We got to see some amazing things, and Bill finally made it through the Panama Canal. 



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