WELCOME TO PANAMA 2013

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In Panama,  you can watch the sun rise & set over the Pacific Ocean!

Dec 31, we left IL bright & early for our trip to Panama.  This was a new adventure for us, since we had spent the last 3 winters in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  We really liked it there, and had met some wonderful people, but felt it was time for a change.  Of course, we brought Snuggles with us.  They make you jump thru a lot of hoops to bring a dog into Panama, but we had followed them explicitly!  However, as we’ve come to find out, when traveling to other countries, just because we do what we’re supposed to, doesn’t always mean things will do smooth. 


Collins & Snuggles take a nap at the airport

Our trip on Copa Airlines was great.  They were even nice enough to give us the whole row, even tho the plane was practically full.  Snuggles was great, she slept most of the way & was well behaved.  When we arrived in Panama, they took Collins & Snuggles to a little room & the fun began.  For almost an hour and a half, they gave us the run around.  Since we don’t speak Spanish & they didn’t speak English, there was a definite communications problem.  Finally, they got a pilot who spoke both languages to get things squared away.  Apparently, the dog is supposed to be examined by their vet when you arrive, even tho you have to do that just before you leave the US & have it certified by the US Dept of Agriculture, then send it to the Panamanian Embassy in Washington, DC, get it stamped & returned, then emailed to Panama itself.  anyway, the vet decided to leave early that day.  After a lot of discussion & help from the pilot, they finally decided to take $16 & let us go.
We’re an hour & a half from the airport, so by the time we finally arrived at our complex it was around 6pm.  We had been up at 4AM, so needless to say we were tired.  We didn’t stop at the grocery store on the way in because the cars were all backed up there & it looked really crowded.  Big Mistake!!  There are 3 small restaurants close to here so we decided to go to one for dinner.  It was New Year’s Eve & even tho it was still early they wouldn’t seat us because we didn’t have a reservation, same at the second.  The 3rd is a pizza place & just as we got to the door, they were closing.  Our only hope at that point was a very small store located close to the condo.  We stopped in there.  They didn’t carry any refrigerated items, so we bought some milk, beer & soda & came back to the condo.  I had thrown a bag of chips in the suitcase so we had beer & chips for New Year’s Eve Dinner.  I had also thrown a bag of cereal in the suitcase, so we were able to have breakfast the next day.  When we tried to get a cab to the grocery store, we were told the cab drivers weren’t working that day.  Needless to say, our meals for New Year’s Day were hit & miss.

It’s been a bit of an adjustment here for us.  The temperatures are warmer than Punta Cana, but the humidity is the same or a little less.  We’re on the 20th floor of a high rise & we’re used to being on the first floor of a 3 story building.  The wind blows almost constantly, which is a good thing because it does keep things cooler.  However, forget your hair, step outside & any style you were trying to achieve is gone!!
We were shocked the first day we went out to the beach. 

Our Beach

There are no hotels, shops or restaurants along the beach.  Unfortunately, we also don’t have beach chairs here.  That isn’t a big problem for us, since we’re really pool people.  We do like to walk on the beach, which you can easily do here with no one to bother you. They have some black sand, which makes for interesting patterns on the beach.  Snuggles likes it, because she can run with no people getting in her way.

All Private homes along the beach

Our condo is in the background
 

Snuggles likes the beach

Looking straight out our balcony

Our condo is very nice.  After what we’ve had in Punta Cana, this is paradise.  The few things we’ve needed, our property manager has been great about taking care of.  From our balcony we can see the ocean & the mountains. 

Looking to the left from our balcony

The biggest problem with our balcony is that it is very narrow.  Since Collins has vertigo, he can't sit there & look out at the view.  When he does sit out there, he has to put his back to the railing.  We don't go out very often.

Looking to the right from our balcony

Our biggest complaint is  they do a lot of burning around here; mostly it’s grass & leaves, but some of the locals still burn garbage, even tho they aren’t supposed to.

There are 3 large grocery stores within about 2 miles of us.  They all have a pretty good selection, but if you see something you think you might want you’d better buy it because you might not find it again for awhile.  I bought sour cream right after we got here, but haven’t been able to get it since.  The prices are higher than the US, but about equal to Punta Cana. 

Chicken Anyone? - They had already cut the head off this one!

We pretty much stick to chicken & pork because for the most part, the beef isn’t that great.  I was surprised one day when I wanted to buy a whole chicken – in that particular store you got “The whole chicken” – head, feet all attached!!  They were plucked however!!

We’ve met some nice people here – 99% are Canadians, even more than Punta Cana.  We have a rooftop pool & large area with couches, tables, etc.  We started drinks on the roof at 6pm.  Some nights there are 6 of us, other nights there are 20 or more.  We've had a lot of laughs & it's a good way to meet people.

We started Happy Hour with these two- Sally & Allan

It’s also a good place to watch the sun set while we’re there. 

Collins R & R's at the rooftop Pool

During the day, everyone pretty much keeps to themselves.  Since there are 3 pool areas, people have their favorite spots.  We like the roof because it’s cooler with the wind blowing thru. 

Roof top

More rooftop social area

They have a nice gym here & you can see the ocean from the windows.  We're trying to work out every other day.

One Saturday, they had a Barbeque cookoff at the Polo Club close by, so we went with some of the people we had met here.  It was sponsored by some of the Panama BBQ restaurants.

After the food was cooked & judged, they passed out free samples of their cooking.

Pig Roast

 

We’ve actually done some sightseeing here.  When we first got here, we went on a Panama City Tour with our neighbors.  We hired a driver, who spoke excellent English, had a sense of humor & was very knowledgeable of the area.   He took us to the parts of downtown where the military had stayed when the US ran the canal.  Most of the buildings are still being used for other things today. 

We went to the highest point in Panama City, Ancon Hill, where we could look down on the bay & all the new high rises in Panama City.  It was here, the Command Center was set during the building of the Canal & the hospital was located  & the upper level people had  their homes. 

We went to an older part of the city called Casco Viejo, which they are totally rehabbing.  If you didn’t know better, you’d think you were in New Orleans! 

Downtown Panama City has huge high rise buildings & looks like any major city in the US. 

We made a stop at the Amador Causeway, which was build from rock excavated during the Panama Canal construction.  It serves as a breakwater at the entrance to the canal. There are some beautiful Yachts docked there.

We also went to the Mira Flores Locks & Museum.  That was really interesting.  It gave you a lot of information about the building of the Panama Canal. 

You could also go on the observation deck & watch the ships entering the Locks.

When the large ships enter the locks, they are guided by several electric locomotives & a tug boat to keep them from hitting the sides or the locks themselves.

They usually have 2 or three of these locomotvies on each side of the large ships as they go thru the locks.










We did very little, but enjoy the pool until our friends arrived from TX.  As most of you know, Sue – my best friend since 8th grade, usually spends 2 weeks with us wherever we go.  This year, she came for a week, then her husband, Dan, came for the second week.  He originally wanted to go fishing while he was here, but unknown to us when they booked the trip, Dan arrived during Carnival.  Everything shuts down & many of the locals leave the city & head to the beach areas.  Unfortunately, where he was going to go fishing there was nothing available.  We ended up renting a car & doing some day trips while he was here. 

One day we went to a little town in the mountains called EL Valle.  They have some craft shops & an outdoor market.  It wasn’t far from where we’re staying.  However, we couldn’t find anywhere to buy a map, couldn’t get a gps with the car & the signs on the road are small & easy to pass.  Needless to say, we ended up taking the “scenic route” to get there.  Oh well, we didn’t have anything else to do that day & Dan isn’t one for sitting around the pool too much.  We did stop for lunch at a little restaurant that had a pet monekey. 

It took a liking to Collins.  In fact, it's hard to tell by this picture, but it crawled all over him. It was too fast for me to get a good pic.  Good thing it didn't try to climb on me, I probably would have swatted it!  I don't really go for that kind of thing.

Another day we decided to do what they call a “partial transit” on the Panama Canal.  We left our condo just before sunrise, so we could arrive at the dock by 8AM.

We took a bus to Lake Gatun, then got on a boat for a trip thru 3 of the 6 locks on the Canal.   











Our friends, Sue & Dan Hollingsworth

Us as we cruise the Panama Canal

 

We're entering the locks

Other boats entering the lock

Gates are opening

There are two sets of gates at each lock

The lock gates are the original ones used when the canal was built.

Lock Gate

Gates are open to the canal

The history there is so interesting.  The trip is long, but it’s amazing when you realize that system has been in operation for 100 years.  Right now about 45 ships (not including small sail boats, etc) a day pass thru there.  Some ships are charged by the foot, others by weight.  Our small boat, which held about 100 passengers, cost $3800 to pass.  They said the most expensive ship paid $480,000 to pass thru.  Sometimes they have to wait as long as 3 days to enter the locks.  We could see the ships lined up in the water.  From midnight to noon, they allow the ships to enter from the Pacific.  From noon to midnight, they enter from the Caribbean side.  They’re building a new lock for the bigger ships that can’t fit now.  Once that is done, they will be able to accommodate about 100 ships a day.  Every ship passing thru the Canal has to be piloted by a special pilot trained to go thru the Canal.  They board the ship when they enter the Canal,and stay aboard until they finish the passing, which can take up to 12 hours.

We passed thru the Calebra Cut, which was one of the most difficult parts of building the Panama Canal.  They had to go from 193' to 40' above sea level in order to make the plan work. In addition to it being mostly rock, there were constant landslides, sometimes filling more than they had removed.  Many thought they would never be able to complete the canal, due to the difficulty this area presented.

 Even today, they are constantly dredging the area.

We passed several Freighter Ships going the opposite direction.  It's amazing to see how much cargo passes thru the canal each day.

Dan, Sue, Karen & Collins at Observation Deck

Chagres River

The last day Sue & Dan were here, we went to one of the National Park Rain Forests.  We took a tram up to an observation deck, where you could see out over the forest. 

On the way up, we saw a couple of black & yellow toucans & a sloth.  We also saw a green snake that hissed at us when we took it’s picture.  It was harmless!

Rainforest Flower

This is a parasetic ant nest built on a tree trunk

It was hard to believe 2 weeks had passed so quickly.  We certainly did enjoy all the places we saw & having Sue & Dan join our sightseeing.

March 14. We’re still in Panama, but will be returning to the US 2 weeks from today.  Since our friends went back to TX, we’ve been pretty lazy.  We did take a couple of day trips into the city, just to a very large mall & a couple other areas.  We took the public bus from the stop near our shopping area.  It should take about an hour & 20 minutes but 2 times we ended up going thru some little towns coming back & that was a 2 hour trip.  Thankfully, the buses are clean & comfortable. Collins reminded me “it’s not the destination, but the journey!”  Yeah Right!! 

Mostly we’ve just done a lot of reading & being lazy. 










It has gotten warmer & they have been doing more burning around us.  We decided a few days ago, that we will not return here. 

We’ve loved our condo, & the people we’ve met & our “Rooftop Happy Hours”.  However, this just isn’t the place for us.  Not exactly sure where we’re headed next year, but it won’t be Panama.

View from our bed

View from our bedroom window
 

We’ll be in IL for about 2 1/2 weeks, then go back to Washington for the RV.  We’ll be there about a month before we start our trip thru Canada & Alaska.  We’re going to take a cruise on the Inside Passage of Alaska before we take the RV.  Everyone told us to be sure to see the inside passage when we took our trip, but after looking at the cost to move us, the RV & the car on the BC or Alaskan Ferry, we took someone’s advice & booked a cruise.  We’ll do that the first week of May.  I’ll keep you posted as we start that journey!!