Panama!

Don't tell Mom

Don't tell Mom but I've been running around the locks of Panama shooting video for the Ms Statendam's cruise ship videos. It's been a lot of fun and yes it is dangerous. At 5am while the ship is at sea Kenny, my South African roomate, and I climb out of the side of the ship and board a pilot boat. The pilot boat takes us to a pier where a local driver takes us to each of the three sets of Panamanian locks. The cruise ship is pulled through the locks by what looks like locamotive trains. We have a guide inside the canal who tells us where we can and cannot step as there is high voltage and moving trains to deal with. We wear hard hats and safety vests while shooting. Kenny is shooting the stills that will be sold later in the gallery. On one of the sets of locks we get the local driver to take us to the top of a hill where I shoot time lapse video of the ship as it goes through the locks. We do this process every cruise as the weather is always different and the idea behind the videos is that it is all filmed this cruise. It's quite the adventure. I heard from security that the first time we went through the canal that a man lost the tips of his fingers on a cable. Yikes. I got to walk across one of the locks to get to the other side. It is a very narrow catwalk with large gaps between the railings. It was a about a 200 foot drop to the bottom. Sorry Mom! I'm being careful and I'm very well fed on the ship.

Every day is a Big Day when you are on the Road

Photo: Huatulco, Mexico

September 27th, Thursday - SAN DIEGO

My first stop somewhere warm! I was halving palm tree withdraw and it was finally cured. It felt sooooo goooood to be in sunny California. I reserved a bike from the ship and went around shooting some destination video. I rode by the Hyatt Manchester and wondered which one of my VRX buddies has photographed that one. The very first shot I did was of a Marina. In the background was the Hyatt and a Hilton. Life is surreal sometimes! I only had a couple of hours but I managed to do a quick pit stop and bought myself a nice San Diego hood from a surf shop.

Saturday - PUERTO VALLARTA

Also affectionately known by the crew as Puerto Walmarta. A massive Walmart is steps away from the ship. It was quite lively in there. No elevator music like in the States. Dance music was pumping from the produce section as I bought a massive bag of fresh limes for less than a dollar. It's important to have proper limes. A Mai Tai is not a Mai Tai without quality limes.

I shot video and stills of a bus tour of the area along with an active cooking demonstration at a local restaurant. Puerto Vallarta is very developed and apartments are only $200 a month! A Serbian girl who works on the ship says apartments there are the same price. Another guy on the ship who lives in Macedonia says apartments are only $150 per month! Bitoli is where he is from. One of the guests on the ship mistook me for him as we both have light green eyes and shaved heads. I have heard that my ancestry is possibly Greek and I'm wondering if it is actually Macedonian? The two countries border each other. If I do another contract I might take some time off there. Who knows?

Tuesday - HUATULCO, MEXICO

I had not swam in a warm ocean for about three years. It was one of the things that I was looking forward to the moment I got this contract. It felt great to walk off the ship and jump in. It was warm. Far warmer than any swimming pool I'd ever been in. I tested out some shots with my new underwater camera before going on another tour. The tour was a Catamaran Party boat tour of the local bays followed by a bus tour through the area that only stopped for photos. Back to the ship. Back to work. 

Wednesday - PUERTO CHIAPAS, MEXICO

No tours due to mandatory safety training. Had two naps. A first. I usually don't get any.

Thursday - PUERTO QUETZAL, GUATAMALA

What a great tour I just went on! I had to be outside for 5:45 am! I shot a group photo of the guests and climbed aboard a small bus that drove us through the jungle. Three large and pointy volcanos where on the horizon and one of them was smoking! We arrived at a coffee plantation and boarded a large military vehicle which drove us up a bumpy road to the top of a mountain. We were surrounded by coffee plants. We did a photo stop and I approached a coffee plant and picked my first real coffee bean! I learned that coffee plants are grafted, just like grape vines for vineyards. At the top of the mountain we went zip lining. Since I was the camera man I got to go first. I had never gone ziplining before and had to hold a large video camera in one had. I was a hoot! The guest loved it. After a boxed lunch and a real Guatamalan espresso we drove through Antigua and stopped in a chocolate shop where I bought some dried cocoa bark. It makes fantastic tea! It tastes like … well, chocolate tea. After quickly touring the European looking town of Antigua we were off. The are also known for their rum. Next time. I had one of the most embarrassing moments of my life today. I thought it would be thoughtful to get a shot of my wonderful tour guide with her native flag. I asked her to hold up her Nicaraguan flag. The moment the words passed my lips I sank inside. It's Guatamala. I apologized profusely and dug myself out of that one. By the end of the day she was trying to set me up with her sister.

Friday - CORNITO, NICARAGUA

A couple of times a year the Captain and crew of the Ms Statendam load up trolleys full of construction supplies and head off to a local school to paint it and do maintenance. I spent the hot morning documenting the experience on video and shooting lots of stills with the lively kids. It was a little girls eighth birthday so they had presents and the kids all smashed a pinata. It was really amazing. I'm making a documentary out of it for the ship. Around noon we were finished and I had an amazing lunch in a small local restaurant with a few crew members. I had some delicious pork in hot sauce with hand made tortillas, a spicy pickled salsa, some mild soft cheese, and a fried banana for $1.50! It was fantastic. I was so happy eating that. Plus the local beers were a dollar. We are not coming back to Nicaragua until April and I only had about an hour before we sailed so I ran back to the ship for some more money. I picked up 25 cuban cigars and a pound of unground dark roast Nicaraguan coffee for $20! Plus an excellent bottle of aged Havana Club Cuban rum for $19. Amazing. Back on the ship it was formal night which meant I was shooting stills in the restaurant and doing portraits outside for about six hours straight. Plus set up and tear down and shooting video of the black and white ball. Also my manager is sick and is quarantined so our usual team of five or six was down to three! Needless to say I rewarded myself with a beautiful glass of 100% Blue Agave Tequila for getting through the day! 

No rest for the wicked. Tomorrow is ...

Sunday - PANAMA CANAL - I get to board a jet boat in the wee hours of the morning and jump of the ship with Kenny to shoot the ship as it transits the Panama Canal. Should be an adventure!

Coming soon ...

Tuesday - ORANJESTAD, ARUBA

Friday - FORT LAUDERDALE