It was time to get out of this city for the day. So we thought we would go check out the Gamboa area, which is a small town along the canal about halfway across the isthmus. Today Gamboa is where the dredging operations of the canal reside. They are responsible for keeping the canal deep enough for the tankers cruising up and down. This town also has the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, a real nice $$$$ hotel at the juncture of the canal and the Chagres river. You can book tours there, so we booked the arial tram that takes you thru the rainforest to a lookout point.
We rode in a four seater arial tram along with a guide that described the area in detail. Along the way we saw a small pond with caimans ( a type of crocodile), iguanas, one monkey, and lots of beautiful scenery. At the top of the summit, we had a 360 degree view of the area. The Chagres river flows into the canal and that fresh water is what feeds the locks on each end of the canal. Pretty remarkable when you realize that the lake in the middle is actually higher than each end of the canal. We also saw a few of the capybara's, the largest rodents in the world. They cooperated with the camera, the monkey did not.
The bridge leading into town is a one lane bridge that might scare a few folks driving across. We have a included a pic of that as well. The drive to Gamboa from Panama City was only about 45 minutes, and it was well worth it.
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| One lane bridge heading into Gamboa |
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| Capybara |
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| Caiman |
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| View of Canal from observation deck |
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