We got up at 7 AM for the entrance to the canal. We stayed on deck 4, lower down and not as crowded. Richard spoke to a Canadian canal pilot, he was the third pilot, watching the back of the ship, and commanding the rear "mules", locomotives, to keep the ship centered in the lock. There are only a couple of feet on each side of the ship!
After lunch, we waited one hour for our tour, a nature walk. The tour was down a trashy dirt road, we saw a two toed sloth, and a three toed sloth, but only a few birds, disappointing. We did see a "Common black hawk", a new bird for us. Our guide was Gustavo Schultz, OK, but handicapped by the location and the group. We saw some of the old Canal zone buildings, some abandoned, some in use. We ended up going through Colon city in rush hour, chaotic.
At the dock, there were many shops, and indians selling their wares. We saw some heavily tatooed indians, including bare-breasted women. We bought a small "Mola", a piece of fabric art, for $10, which was all Richard had in his wallet.
Wednesday was a sea day. Richard attended a lecture on Sir Francis Drake, who was variously a pirate and an English admiral, and was the first Englishman to sail around the world. Drake sacked the city of Cartegena, our next stop.
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