Beautiful View on the New River in Columbia

I had the pleasure of riding with Hurtigruten from Miami Florida through Belize, Columbia, and Panama. We had a little bit of a hiccup because of Hurricane Ian hitting Florida that week. We had to stay overnight in Miami at the port on the ship while they waited for supplies for their journey all the way to Antarctica after we got off at Panama.

Our first stop was Belize city, Belize. We had a great excursion to the Lamanai Ruins and a fast boat ride down the New River. They served us some traditional Brazilian lunch after our walk around the ruins. 

Next we stopped at Isle of Providencia, Columbia, they had been hit by a level 5 hurricane in 2020 but have made big strides to repair the island. We got a grand tour around the whole island with a trip to their beach where we could snorkel, enjoy an authentic lunch, see local artisans, and watch a beachfront horse race. 

Our next stop was the San Andreas Island, Columbia. We had to park on the other side of the island than originally planned because of some weather going thru. We were greeted by great locals to take us to see their island and a beach were you could rent jet skis, pontoons, and boat tours. There was a small beach where you could swim and a small island off of it to swim too as well. 

Next stop was Bocas del Toro, Panama. It was raining that day but still a beautiful town to adventure in. It had lots of great little boutique hotels, restaurants and bars that you could even drive a small boat up to. We did a snorkeling tour and the reef was beautiful! It would have been even more vibrant if the sun was out. We also made a stop at the National Rainforest Island to do a jungle tour on the island. Some of the guests went snorkeling right off the island and said it was beautiful. We walked thru the lush jungle and even saw a sloth up in a tree. Our guide cut up two fresh coconuts for us to try and they were delicious! Bocas would be a beautiful place to spend more time at. You can take a round trip flight from Panama city to get there and back. 

Our last stop was Colon, Panama. We decided to stay a few days in Panama City and check out the Dreams Resort Playa Bonita. It is a resort with Beautiful grounds. They host quite a few weddings there. Overall the resort needs some maintenance and repairs to get it back in tip top shape. The staff was very friendly. The food was decent for an all inclusive. 

We booked an excursion with Barefoot Tours for the panama canal, monkey island and indigenous tribes. It was a great tour. They picked us up at the hotel and took us to the boat. We drove by the panama canal to several little islands to see 4 different types of monkeys. A few jumped on to our boat to grab a banana for a snack. Then we went to the indigenous tribe to do a jungle tour, see all their handmade crafts, learn about their rituals and customs. Our guide Guido was very knowledgeable. We stopped at a local area on the way back for lunch before returning to our hotel. 

It was a great trip with lots of hidden gems found to point out for future clients wanting to go explore Central America. The Hurtigruten Roald Amundsen was a beautiful ship with a great staff and so much to offer for trips!

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