Panama City - day 15 - Portobelo

Today we drove across Panama from the Pacific side to the Caribbean/Atlantic side. We thought we would visit Portobelo, a sleepy and impoverished town that was once one of the most important ports of the Spanish empire. Here we were able to visit Castillo Santiago de la Gloria, a fort now in ruins that folks say never did protect the town very well.

The drive was particularly interesting, as we drove along the coastline of the Caribbean, passing thru many small towns. After visiting one of the souvenir shops, and walking thru the fort, we found a nice quiet place on the beach for lunch. The town was rather quiet today, probably since it was Tuesday. The weather was rather cloudy, and it misted off and on while in town.

After soaking in the scenery including the wave actions along the beach, we headed back towards Panama City. We would have liked to go on into the town of Colon, but we have heard that it is not a safe town to travel to. Colon was one of the stops we made when we took a cruise a few weeks ago, but we did not venture out beyond the cruise terminal. We heard of a few reports of the cruise passengers having trouble while in town, so we decided that we could very easily skip seeing Colon.

Here are a few pics of Portobelo......

Driving back we stopped at the Parque Natural Metropolitano, which is a tropical forest right on the city limits of Panama City. After getting information on the many trails available to explore, we decided to leave that for some future morning when it would be a bit cooler.

In order to get back to the apartments, we had to once again drive thur the gauntlet of downtown traffic. I finally got my groove on, and started to blow the horn on that little Sentra like a mad man. It felt good!

One a side note, we have been fortunate enough to see various wildlife while here. We have seen a monkey, a few capybara's, a crocodile, but no sloth yet. Well on the drive to Portobelo, we saw our first sloth, but unfortunately he must of been too slow to cross the road, and had ended up as road kill on the side. Poor fellow.

Panama City - day 14 - Trump Tower

Today was an off day. We jumped into our Nissan Sentra and went out looking for the Trump Tower. Apparently there is another ferry service out to the Pearl Islands that leaves from the dock at the Trump Tower. Previous attempts to find the dock failed, so this time we decided to park in the Trump Tower garage and do some looking. Finding the lady selling the ferry tickets, we made a reservation for Thursday. Yea, that part was done.

We then found a nice little restaurant on the Amador Causeway selling Texas Longhorn BBQ. But not at lunchtime, so we'll have to go back later after 6pm to sample the BBQ. While having lunch, we watched a tanker pass by the docked sailboats on its way up the canal.

Panamaniac Rules of the Road

1. No matter what speed you are driving, you are going too slow.
2. Regardless of the posted speed limit, you are going too slow.
3. If the road is marked for 2 lanes, there is room for at least 4 abreast. Plus a bike or two.
4. When the light turns green, blow your horn repeatedly no matter how far back you are.
5. When the light turns red, there's time for 3 more cars to go thru.
6. When in doubt, blow your horn.
7. If you are on a motorcycle, there are no rules.
8. If you need to park, just pullover and park, regardless of where you are.
9. Just because an emergency vehicle is behind you with lights flashing, you are still in a bigger hurry than they are.
10. And the number 10 rule of the road, pray and then GO FOR IT!

Panama City - day 13 - El Valle de Anton

Has it been 13 days already? Our trip is more than half over, and as much as we wish to be home, we are still enjoying our 'total' immersion of living in Panama. There are still a few places we want to visit.

This morning we drove about 2 hours to get to El Valle de Anton. This is another mountainous area that has a big mercado on Sundays. Jan and I went there last year when we visited Panama in January 2012, and we noticed that not much has changed. There is a huge fruit and vegetable market, along with numerous vendors selling their wares. After picking up a fresh pineapple and onion, we bought a few trinkets, then headed out of town. On the way out we found a little coffee shop so we dropped in for a quick waker upper.

Coffee Shop

After getting back down to the highway, we stopped by a new condominium that had an 'Open House' sign out front. We tried to explain to the guard that we were interested in the open house sign, but he did not speak any english. Somehow we got it across that we wanted to 'see' the condos. He smiled and let us in. But it was Sunday, so no-one was there. Bummer. We may go back next Wednesday.

Off we went to Coronado to see the beach. We drove to a gated community and explained to the guard that we were going to the Coronado Resort and Hotel, and they let us in. We picked up that little trick from the Moon Panama guide. Otherwise the guard will not let you in unless you are a resident. Eventually we found a path to the beach between two houses. What a disappointment. One kool thing is that the beach was black sand.

Black sand beaches

Heading back home we stopped by for a refreshing refreshment.....a cold coconut with a straw..

Enjoying a cold coconut drink

Panama City - day 12 - Panama City

We took a day off today, and decided to just do some walking in the area. We walked maybe 3/4 mile to the Wyndham Veneto hotel which is where we stayed for a couple of nights last year. There are some nice restaurants nearby and plenty of shopping. There is also a super mercado close by that we had driven to before. Jan was a real trooper and walked uphill and downhill and made it with no problems.

We had lunch at Manolo's which is right across from the Veneto. I think Manolo's translated means "served with head attached". When we walked by one table, there was the whole fish on the plate, head and tail and all. Hmmm, I thought. After gazing at the menu for awhile, I ordered shrimp in garlic sauce. Head and all. Little beady eyes staring right at me. But, they were Tasty with a Capitol T.

After returning back to the apartment, we decided to go out and try to find the marina that the boat to Isla Perlas leaves out of. If we book a trip and have to be there at 7 am sharp, then I need to know exactly how to get there beforehand, especially with this traffic. Actually it was easy to find, and we got there in 20 minutes. At the marina we found a bar/restaurant that had a menu that said "Longhorn Texas Pit BBQ". We will go back sometime to sample the BBQ.

We soon found a bench along the marina walkway, and while staring out at the boats, we noticed what looked like a city bus out in the bay. It cruised right by us and then drove right up the ramp and out on the road. We were not expecting to see that.

Panama City - day 11 - Altos del Maria amid Punte Chame

We went house hunting today. Well, maybe not house hunting, but areas that we think we might like to live in. We went high, then we went low.

First on the agenda was Altos del Maria, a very nice gated community in the mountains near Chame. This was about a hour and a half drive outside of Panama City along a very nice but busy highway.

Once we got to the sales office, a very nice gentleman who spoke very little English gave us some maps of the subdivision and floor plans, and sent us on our way. We drove down to the gate and told the man there that we just wanted to look the area over. Then the fun began. This subdivision is right on the sides of the mountains. I felt at times that I needed a four wheel drive truck just to get up the driveway of some of the houses. The brakes on my little Nissan Sentra started to heat up and burn, so I had to take it a little easy getting around.

The first house we looked at was a nice 2 bedroom with no garage, and a short driveway at a 65 degree angle. The yard was small, and the only patio was on the front porch. Nothing in the back. Nice, but wouldn't work for us.

Here are a few pics of the Altos del Maria area, and the house we looked at.

Model Home

We soon found a cafe and went in to eat, and almost immediately started talking with a resident there. Andy and his wife Sandy have lived there for 6 years. A little startling since we found more empty lots for sale than houses.

After lunch we headed down the mountain and towards the beach at Punta Chame. We had a cervazas at Punta Chame Villas and chatted awhile with the manager George. This was a real nice hotel with a pool right on the beach. George gave us some info on some condomeniums, and off we went. We found a real nice condo right on the beach for a good price, BUT, there was no garage, and the place looked vacant since most of the residents only come by a few days out of the year. I did not get any pics of this place, but I sure would like living there right on the beach.

Beach at Punta Chame

Panama City - day 10 - Gamboa

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.

One lane bridge heading into Gamboa

Capybara

Caiman

View of Canal from observation deck