Panama, 10 days on a Caravan Tour.

This January Yvonne and I spent 10 days in Panama on a Caravan tour with our Barrhead County neighbours Ernie and Doreen. Stan and Cathy were also booked to come but unfortunately had to back out at the last minute.

Get comfy, you're going to read a lot about the Panama Canal in this blog entry. Quite frankly, if it wasn't for the canal and the benefits to the entire world in general, Panama would likely be a third world country or still be a small part of Columbia.  The concept of a waterway through the isthmus of Panama had been around for a long time. It was first tackled in earnest in 1880 by a French firm that had just finished the Suez Canal. But after 15 years of financial troubles and diseases the project was abandoned at only 30% complete. Shortly after Panama gained it's independence from Columbia in 1904 the US Government took over the construction of the canal. The Americans had bigger and better equipment and it was completed ten years later. The US solely managed the waterway until 1999 when it was officially handed over to the Country of Panama. Roughly half of the revenue stays with the Canal Authority for administration costs, maintenance and upgrades while the other half goes to the Country of Panama. Since 2000 Panama has done wonders with it's new-found wealth.

One of the indirect benefits of an independent and prosperous Panama is the fact that Panama refuses to cooperate with Columbia to complete the Pan American Highway. The road presently ends just South of Panama City in dense jungle. Why is that a good thing? According to the Panamanians the lack of a roadway has prevented the mass transportation of drugs northward by Columbian Drug Lords thus making Panama and Costa Rica much safer places for their citizens and tourists.

Our adventure begins at the Country Inn, two days prior to joining the Caravan Tour group.

Doreen and Ernie had the adjacent room. This made it extremely easy to plan our outings and happy hours.

The view from our rooms. Private boats moored at the Balboa Yacht Club and ocean going vessels entering the Panama Canal from the open waters of the Pacific Ocean.

On our first day we ventured out to the French Quarter where there are friendly locals and plenty of souvenir shopping.

 Huge restoration projects are underway in the French Quarter.

Some of the buildings are stripped down to the brickwork for restoration.

This fellow just appeared out of the shadows and started following us around. He provided  unsolicited advice on everything including Canadians, Americans and politics in general. He was informative but loud and annoying. Finally, Ernie paid him $5 to leave us alone. I was ready to throw in another $5 but he seemed happy. I picked up the next round of Balboa Cervezas.

Inside a Catholic church at the French Quarter in Panama City.

This looks like a good spot to wait for the girls.

Late lunch at the Balboa Yacht Club. Great food but we had to keep our glasses covered because of the flying insects that were attracted to the beer.

Shrimp like this can only be eaten with your hands.

This cat mysteriously appeared to watch as I ate my shrimp dish. Both the cat and the flies disappeared as soon as the table was cleared. 

On January 8th we made our way to the Marriott Courtyard Inn to join our Caravan Tour group and meet our bus driver Dario (L) and our tour director Gerardo (R).

Our Caravan tour bus turned heads everywhere we went because......

Panamanians are used to seeing busses like this. Known as the Red Devil Buses, they are refurbished old North American school busses that are repainted and decorated to the driver's taste with lots of chrome, bright decals and sponsored advertisements. Some are simply outrageous with shark fins on the roof and oversized exhaust pipes spewing exhaust skyward. They play loud rock-n-roll music and after dark they are lit up like christmas trees. The idea is to make the riders proud to be in a classy chassis. Apparently these busses are privately owned but the drivers must join the transportation union if they want access to the regular bus routes. It's common to see them broken down on the side of the highways. 

Check out the windshield and the space left for the driver to see through.

The Bridge of the Americas which theoretically links North and South America.

 The Gamboa Resort guest room towers.

Huge flying stork sculpture in the atrium of the Gamboa Rainforest Resort

I found this spiral staircase tucked away in a corner of the Gamboa Resort library.

A couple of the unique buildings in Panama City

Tourista Policia working the ruins of Old Panama

Parrot blanket made me think of Cathy.

This White Faced monkey startled everybody by jumping onto our boat from an overhanging tree. He then ran across the canvas canopy to our driver where he knew he'd be fed. He then scampered off with a couple grapes just as quickly while everybody was still screaming.

Satellite TV must be cheap in Panama.

So, why are we wearing life jackets on our bus? Read on...

Our first attempt at navigating the river to the Embera Indian Village failed because a massive accumulation of floating vegetation and water lilies had literally plugged off our access to the river near our hotel. Our small boats were powerless trying to push trough the weeds. Our quick thinking tour director Gerardo knew of a little-used dock further upstream, hopefully beyond the floating weed mass, so we abandoned the boats and boarded the bus still wearing our life jackets for a second attempt at going upstream. Gerardo called the village chief and he sent his boys to pick us up. They showed up with a dugout canoe and a river boat.

Doreen and Ernie were in the first boat to leave. We followed in the second.

I wished the grandkids were here to see this little cutie.

Primitive huts with no electricity.

Because the village is a regular stop for Caravan Tours the chief was provided with a cell phone and a way to keep it charged. The village also built some bathrooms for the tourists. The Embera Indian village is named Katuma and consists of 12 homes and 28 residents.

Embera Indian boys waiting for the last boat of visitors to arrive.

The background looks like snow but it most certainly is not. Not sure what it is.

Just browsing.

Gift shop wares

I saw several of these flying around in the rainforest and could no manage to take a decent picture. This is a picture of a picture I spotted at the Canal Museum at Miraflores.

Ernie has a knack for attracting girls. This lively dance troupe entertained us at the Marriott. Ernie participated in the Gangnam Style routine.

Gerardo at the center of attention.

Panamanian jails are apparently among the worst in the world.

Everywhere you look you see high-rise buildings. We were told that there are presently over 100 being planned or being built. The one that looks like a sail has Trump's name on it.

We boarded the Fantasia Del Mar for what's called a Half Transit of the Panama Canal. 

The trip started at Chagres River on Gatun Lake, crossed the Culebra Cut (the narrowest waterway and most difficult to excavate) and took us through the Pedro Miguel Locks and the Miraflores Locks and then onto the Pacific Ocean. Our "Half Transit" was approximately 22 miles long.

2 inch diameter nylon rope neatly coiled on the deck of our boat, the Fantasia Del Mar.

The Centennial Bridge spans the canal.

A Container Ship and a Cargo Tanker in a side-by-side transit at the Pedro Miguel Locks.

 

A  couple "mules" guiding a container ship through the lock.

This anchor looks a lot like the one I use on our boat. Mine weighs 20 lbs, this one weighs 750 lbs.

The Pedro Miguel Locks

Yvonne touching the inside wall of the lock. Apparently, doing so, ensures a long-happy married life.

Tugboats guiding a ship under the Bridge of Americas. We were told this container ship is too wide for the Panama locks so it will be pushed to a dock where the containers will be unloaded and placed on rail cars. Once the container trains are made up they will be rail transported to Colon at the other end of the Panama Canal where an empty ship is waiting. The new canal, expected to be finished in a 2017 will easily handle ships like this.

After seeing the movie "Captain Philips" I couldn't help thinking of Tom Hanks and I swear I saw him on the bridge

Presently all the existing locks are twinned with side-by-side transits. A third, much larger lock is being built alongside the Gatun Locks near Colon and the Miraflores Locks near Panama City. The new locks will provide a "third traffic lane" for larger ships with more cargo capacity.  If all goes well the new locks will be in service two years from now thus doubling the capacity of the canal.  

The existing Pedro Miguel Locks

The new gates will be sliding type instead of the hinged (existing) type

Artist rendition of the new Gatun Lock

Yvonne's tattoo.

January 12 & 13 were spent at the Westin Playa Bonita. This is a first-class all-inclusive hotel owned by the Bern Group and we had to wear lime colored plastic bracelets for as long as we ate and drank here.

Westin Playa Bonita lobby

One of the many eateries at the Westin Playa Bonita

The kind of beach debris you don't mind seeing.

Bird nests hanging from a tree

Westin Playa Bonita lobby.

Yvonne sweet-talked this policeman into posing for a picture.

The Panama Biodiversity Museum. This origami-like structure is the work of Toronto native Frank Gehry. Gerhy holds citizenship in both Canada and the United States.

Here's a look at some of the structural steel in the Biodiversity Museum Building. A structural Engineer's nightmare.

Gamboa rainforest spider

Our tour concluded on January 14th at the Intercontinental Miramar in downtown Panama City, another Bern hotel. Security was not over the top. The only annoyance was the need to swipe your room card to use the elevators.  The penthouse floor is off limits because the penthouse is apparently occupied by the President of Panama.