Adventures with David & Gail

Panama City! - Wow! It's been a month since the last posting. We really have been busy. So let's see if we can get caught up. We had only a few real plans now that we had made the crossing to Bocas and the trip through the canal. First was to go visit Panama City and do some exploring and then second go back to Miami for the Miami Boat Show. We were in Panama City as a result of transiting the canal to the Pacific side and relatively close to the airport for the trip home. WD was snugly docked in Bocas and safe. So we had a two carefree days to look around.

The main tourist attractions are the old city or Casco Viejo (much like every other old Caribbean island and country) and the Mira Flores canal locks museum and visitor center. Two days and two locations. Seemed like a plan.

The old city was walking distance from the Cruiser's Casa where we were staying. The main harbor area downtown is going through a transformation called Cinto Costero with wide sidewalks, parks, fountains, playgrounds and vistas all along Balboa Avenue. So we took our time and stopped to check the vistas and marina sometimes walking around and through the construction areas. The advertisements were showing the end result was going to be very nice.

We made our way to the fish market and docks. What a place! Crowded and of course with the odor of a fish market! It was early and the market was bustling with people cleaning, packing, and displaying their catch. Along the docks people were rafted up in their pangas loading their purchases. The tides on the Pacific side run typically over 10 feet so they were taking advantage of the "close" proximity to the docks while they could. We saw later as we were walking back, that the boats were sitting on the bottom and the boat people were waiting for the next high tide to leave.

Into the old city, we wandered around the narrow streets. The Panamanian "White House" or presidential home is located right here. It was blocked off with high security but you could get close enough to see the grounds. The rest of the area is going through extensive restoration and construction was everywhere. But again it was easy to get by and the finished results were worth the trouble. We was visited the Panama Canal museum which focused heavily on the cultural aspects and historical attempts to build the canal. Nearby was the plaza and memorial to the French attempt and dedicated to the lives of so many men who died of disease during their construction in the 1880's.

And finally, we were impressed by the old Church of Santa Domingo with its Arco Chato (flat arch) supports for the upper story. Only one still exists (and it actually fell a few years ago but was rebuilt) and it spans over 45 feet unsupported across the church. Since it is was about 350 years old at the time, designers of the canal and proponents of the Panamanian vs Nicaraguan canal used the arch as an example of the greater land stability in Panama and it helped convince the US Congress to fund the American attempt in the early 1900's.

At one of the plazas, we broke down and bought a photo from a street vendor. The picture was of a red frog on a leaf. We are staying at Red Frog Marina but have not seen one in the wild so we thought it appropriate to get a picture and it was only $5. As we walked along another street we met two nice ladies from Washington DC carrying another picture from the same guy. We struck up a conversation about the photos and in passing they gave us a suggestion about a place to go for cocktails at sunset. It was a roof top bar near their hotel with a great view of the city. They were waiting for more family to arrive and were then going backpacking and camping on an island on the Pacific side (which impressed us). We did meet later and regaled them with our story of sailing the Caribbean. Nice how these thing just happen.

It was back through the fish market and construction again to the condo for supper. We tried to pick up a cab but all the streets were being closed as workers were setting up the venue for Carnival which was starting that weekend. You could see how Balboa Avenue was going to be completely closed and four stage areas were set up for the live entertainment. So, we walked all the way back. Not bad but a long day.

Our second tour was to the Mira Flores locks. We had been through on the water and we wanted to see what it was like from the land and visit their museum as well. We caught a cab with Attilla (that's right-her name is Atilla), from "Bettie", and her dad from Yellville, Arkansas, who were also staying at the Cruiser Casa. This is a big tourist destination with the cruise ships and other arranged tours. It is a four story building built along the last lock and with an overlook from the Pedro Miguel Locks to the Pacific. It was where we had the problem the week before with Giggles with everyone looking on from the gallery. But it is still a must do place and very interesting especially since we knew the experience firsthand! Their museum is slanted more to the US efforts and the construction techniques, and gave an insight into the new canal locks being built not far away.

From there it was back to the condo and on to Miami the next day. Compressing the trip back into one sentence, it was a good visit and we both worked the show even though neither of us took any orders for a new boat. Oh, well. We made some good contacts and are still following up. We flew back to Panama on the 26th and went directly to the bus terminal to make the trip back in reverse and overnight. But there were no seats available until the next day! A quick call to Deb and we were successful in getting a room for the night and a place to hang out until we went back to the bus terminal in the evening.

A nice surprise was that Ben and Anya from "Giggles" also showed up. Anya had fallen and broken her wrist. They needed to visit the doctor and she needed to get off the boat after being stuck onboard for about 10 days. So we said good bye to them again and left for the bus.

In reverse, the bus leaves at 8:00pm and has only two stops. But the main topic of conversation is the temperature. Seems as though they keep all the buses colder at night and this one had a thermometer showing about 60 deg. Gail was bundled in four layers of clothes and we had a shared blanket. Needless to say, we did not get a lot of sleep. Back to Almirante by 6:30 am, taxi to the water taxi, water taxi back to Bocas, panga back to Red Frog, and back to WD. Oh, did I mention we had 3 roller duffle bags that each weighed about 48 pounds (under the 50 pound airline limit), two backpacks and our carry bag with jackets and blanket for the bus ride! Ugh! So, we hit the sack and got a quick nap in before we started our live aboard routine again.