Panama City - day 8 - Miraflores Locks

Today we went to the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal. We had been once before last year, but arrived late in the afternoon and did not get to see the whole museum. Today we were able to take our time and see the whole gambit. Lots of little facts that we missed the last time. We were able to watch two tankers go from the Atlantic side to the Caribbean side (which is the direction in the mornings) and then we watched as 4 sailboats and a tour boat went the other direction (which is the direction allowed in the afternoon). We were also able to see the enormous expansion that is being done on the canal which is expected to complete in 2014.

Later this afternoon we drove down to the Amador causeway that juts out from the city. The weather was beautiful, with a nice cool breeze blowing. We stopped for some 'Pan con ajo' and a few Panama cervazas along the marina, and dreamed of winning the lottery so we could live aboard one of the million dollar yachts docked there. With the Panama City skyline in the background, it was a beautiful ending to a long day.

We are starting to get used to the traffic here downtown. How do you spell Krazy? Try

P A N A M A N I A C. . . OMG! I love it.

When we got back to the apartment, we discovered that our in-room safe had been installed, so we could safely lock up valuables whilst gone during the day. Also we got our laundry back that we had dropped off this morning, 2 bags full, and the total cost was $6. Not bad.

We also stopped by a tour operator to get info on getting a boat ride over to Isla Perlas, the Pearl Islands. This is just under a 2 hour boat ride that we are looking forward to. Maybe we can get signed up for a Survivor adventure?