Seeing the Panama Canal was something I was always interested in doing, so on October 28 I hopped, or should I say rolled aboard a plane bound for Los Angeles. Upon arriving there, I was immediately warmed by the sunshine, which is always one of my favourite reasons for traveling south.
After picking up my only suitcase, I met a representative from Princess Cruises and she directed me to the bus which took me to the Coral Princess. It wasn’t as big as other ships I’d been on, but it is a Panama Class, which means it can navigate through the canal, and believe me, if it were bigger, well it just wouldn’t fit.
The second night on board the bearings in the caster column were sticking and needed to be replaced. I asked at the service desk if they could get someone to help me, which they said they couldn’t, so I asked other crew members for help, finally I talked to an engineer and explained the situation to him and asked him if he could just get me a ratchet and socket so I could at least loosen the pre-load on the bearings to allow them to move smoother. He brought me the tools and I adjusted them, which made it better, but not good. The next day we arrived in Los Cabos, and I spent my day wheeling all over town searching for bearings, which I was unable to find. That night on the ship I asked Arnold the room steward manager if he could take my wheelchair from my room in the morning to the engineers and have them check to see if they had the bearings, and if not then if they could grease them. They of course had no bearings, but did grease them, making them a little bit better. The drawback was I was stuck in bed for 6 hours waiting for the return of my wheelchair.
I had a plan to take $20 US into each town and buy six local beer to take back to the ship with me, then give the remaining change to someone nice who I met while wheeling around town.
The people in Los Cabos were mostly friendly and I enjoyed meeting many of them, so my plan went well.
Some sidewalks had curb cuts, but there were would be poles placed in the middle of a sidewalk, or they would all of a sudden become to narrow for the wheelchair, and I would have to hop off the curb and wheel on the street, which I decided to continue doing rather than get frustrated with problematic sidewalks.
The next few days were spent at sea which I really enjoyed because there is no timetable or limitation to the hours of freedom you have in port.
On the ship there is a multitude of entertainment, from games, shows, movies, language lessons, dance lessons, wine tastings, and many other things, and then of course, there is food…lots and lots of food.
Our next stop was San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua.
The people there were the poorest but the friendliest of any people I met on my trip, so finding a nice person to give my change to was not a problem.
The sidewalks were mostly non existent, and the roads were mainly dirt, with potholes and mud, making wheeling a bit of a challenge, but I managed to wheel throughout the town then over a suspension bridge and out into the country.
The next day we arrived at Puntarenas in Costa Rica. People here were very unfriendly, and although I smile and say, “Hola” to everyone, no one returned a smile or greeting, so my change went back to the ship with me.
Sidewalks were useless, and where there were curb cuts they were so steep I had go up backwards. Again, I just stayed on the roads, which were paved, but in rough shape, even lacking sewer grates in some places.
Overall it was a very dirty town, with flocks of buzzards in the streets, feeding on garbage, and men peeing on the sidewalks and streets.
As I arrived back at the ship, my wheelchair started feeling strange, so upon getting into my stateroom, I checked it out, and there was only one pin holding the rear axle on.
I got in touch with Arnold, and showed him the problem. This time he brought an engineer to my room, and I explained how it could be repaired with a bolt and lock nut.
He took the axle assembly, and returned with the wrong sort of bolt. I told him why it wouldn’t work, and off he went again with the axle assembly, but this time he came back with the proper bolt and I reassembled my wheelchair. That trapped me in my room for 5 ½ hours. One nice thing is, there are good movies on tv all day and night to watch.
Traversing the Panama Canal was the next experience, and it was truly amazing. The only wheeling I did that day was on the ship, which was so much nicer than on the streets. Ships are going steadily through the canal in both directions, and watching how the locks operate was fascinating.
Cartegena in Columbia was the next stop. It wasn’t wheelchair friendly, and neither were the people, my plan wasn’t working out very well.
Cars nearly brushed my arms as I wheeled to the Old Town, and checked out the Fort.
I went through many garbage strewn streets, and also a disgusting fish market. The edge of the road had piles of fish bits on it, and with the intense heat of the sun, the smell was revolting. People held cloths over their noses and mouths while walking through this area, but that wasn’t possible for me, fortunately it was only a couple of blocks long.
Our last port to visit was Aruba.
I found it to be a very touristy town, geared primarily to shopping, which is of no interest to me, so I just explored the surrounding area. The change from buying my six pack went back to the ship with me once again.
The streets were the only way to wheel, and crowded with cars and trucks, but they were much nicer and newer vehicles here, so at least if I got run over it may be by a Mercedes.
Upon arriving in Fort Lauderdale I took a taxi from the ship to the airport which cost me $15 including the tip.
I flew to Toronto and after a 3 hour stopover, went on another plane to fly onto Vancouver. It’s always nice to get away, but it’s also nice to come home.
A few suggestions I’d make for anyone travelling in a wheelchair, is to take some tools and some spare parts with you. Just simple things like a spare tube, flat repair kit, air pump, along with whatever wrenches your wheelchair requires. Most wheelchairs only need a few different tools to do any adjustments or repairs. Ask your provider what things they would take with them if they were reliant upon their wheelchair.
In the past I have always packed a separate suitcase for just my medical needs, but this time I only wanted to take one piece of luggage so I printed out an itinerary of all my stops, along with my name, address, phone number, and flight numbers as well, and placed it on top of my clothes in my suitcase. This way if it’s misplaced, all the airline has to do is open it and they would be able to forward it to me immediately.
Travelling by myself makes it a bit more challenging at times, but life can be a really cool adventure, if you are willing to get out there and see the world.
Don’t let things hold you back from living the best life you can.
