Our Last Two days in Panama

Saturday, March 24, 2012:

We were indeed awake at 5:45 for a walk on the beach to watch the morning sun rise.  The interesting thing is that we are on the Pacific coast and watching the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean  I wouldn’t want to do that every morning but today was fine for this one morning.

After breakfast we drove to the town of El Valle – it is a town situated in an immense dormant volcano.  It is not an ordinary town – it is a place with lots of summer/vacation homes as well as permanent homes of the wealthy.  We also went to their artisan market for those who wanted to shop. 

Vegetables at the Market

Mola at the Market

Girls at the Market

The afternoon was spent here at the Resort – a nap and in the pool. Actually it was cooler today as the sky was cloudy.     

Not much has happened today and we decided to post this blog before we go to dinner tonight.  

Sunday March 25, 2012:

After a leisurely breakfast we said goodbye to the Royalton Resort on the Pacific Ocean.

We drove to a market place that specialized in Kura Indian crafts.  The Kura Indians use a sewing technique called mola.  Molas are designs depicting rain forest animals, flowers, birds and marine life that are sewn in layers – 2 to 7 layers of fabric.  We saw the native Kura ladies dressed in native attire actually sewing. 

Mola at the Market

Lady Making Mola

Lady in Native Dress

Lunch was at a Marina at the end of the Amador Causeway.  We had a beautiful view of the modern Panama City skyline. 

After leaving the Marina we visited a small museum dedicated to the beautiful national dresses of Panama, the Pollera. These dresses are made with yards of fabric plus hours of hand stitching – appliqué or embroidery.  They were beautiful dresses. This museum also had several buildings depicting a Panama village of the past.

We had several hours at the hotel in Panama City before our farewell dinner.  The location of the farewell dinner was not disclosed to us until we made the final turn, however due to the direction we were driving numerous of us had a sneaking suspicion it was at the Miraflores Locks.  Sure enough we had a lovely dinner overlooking the Miraflores Locks – the same place as we had our first lunch at the beginning of the tour. The sun was setting so we saw the locks and canal at nighttime.  It was light up! What a way to finish the tour.  Numerous ships went through the lock during the evening.  It was interesting to see on each ship their ‘country of origin’, and the type of cargo they were carrying.

We had a buffet dinner so between courses we would go out on the balcony to watch what was transpiring. At one point, those watching, saw a metal cable break, others saw a ship scrape the side of the locks. 

After dinner we watched a folk dance presentation by a Panama group who has won national competitions.  The women were wearing their national dresses – similar to the ones we saw at the museum this afternoon.  It was a lovely evening, and a fitting conclusion to our 8 days in Panama.  During the week there were several other dance performances, but we enjoyed this one the most.

Cal with One of the Dancers

Cal and Rachel Overlooking the Canal

Our month in Central America is over!  We have seen and experienced a lot!  Each country was a different experience.  Guatemala and the medical mission seem so long ago.  After the mission we enjoyed exploring on our own in Guatemala.  In Costa Rico we experience such diverse activities with Caravan tours – wildlife, rain forest and then the dry Pacific side of the Continental Divide.  In Panama we not only ‘saw’ but ‘felt’ the Panama Canal – considered the 8^th wonder of the world. 

The Nova film we saw on the history of the Panama Canal is “A Man, a Plan, a Canal – Panama!”  This is the name of the movie we watched the night before we went on a cruise of the canal. The title can be said both backward and forward!  Interesting!

Monday, March 26, 2012:

The alarm was set and rang at 4:30am!!! Our flight was leaving Panama City at 7:00 am so we were on the 5:00 shuttle from the hotel to the airport.

Our flight home was via Miami, Chicago and Cedar Rapids.  All went very well and our daughter Cherie was there to meet us. It is always good to return home!

From The Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean Beach

Friday, March 23, 2012:

The first activity this morning was visiting an indigenous village along a river that flows into the Lake supplying water to the Panama Canal Locks.  We had a 15 minute boat ride before arriving at a village along the riverbank.  The homes were built on stilts and had thatched roofs.  The residents greeted us by playing their drums.  We had been warned that their clothing were not western wear. They were definitely dressed as you would imagine indigenous peoples would be dressed. Thankfully the women’s chests were covered with pieces of bead work. Also they paint themselves with a black dye/paint made from plants – we could have gotten tattoos that would last 10-14 days!! We passed!

The thing about this group of people is that in 1958 this village was begun for the sole purpose of training US Military to survive in the jungle. Later NASA individuals were included in the training courses.  Jungle survival is an important part of training. The original indigenous man who began working for the US government passed away this past year at the age of 97.  He taught thousands of our military men how to survive for days in the jungle (if their plane was shot down or if NASA returned to earth in the wrong location) - how to collect drinkable water, what plants to eat, what roots to dig and eat, etc. This village even if it is now located in a National Park has continued in his honor, and several tours now include a visit here. They sell crafts made by the indigenous families to help support the village. They told us about their life and their crafts. The little kids were so cute (those too young for school) – see photos – as we were leaving one little guy grabbed my hand and didn’t want to let go.  I finally coaxed him (without speaking his language) to return to his little friends. When they are school age they go by boat on the 15 minute ride and then by bus to school. We were glad to know they sent their kids to school.  I think they learn Spanish at that point, as they have their own language, and some of the adults did not seem to understand Spanish. They live a very simple life. It was an interesting morning.  

Embera Indian Villagers Welcoming us to their Village - Katuma

Welcoming with Native Instruments

Village Houses - Exterior

Village House - Interior

Men's Native Attire

Woman's Attire with Paint

Mother with Child

Cal with Village Chief and his Wife

We arrived at the Royalton Resort on the Pacific coast by 1:30. LOVELY resort!  We are in a full apartment – maybe timeshare unit. After lunch we sat around a table in the pool drinking margaritas in the shade of the thatched hut!! This is an all inclusive hotel situation! By 4:00 when the sun was not so bright Cal & I began walking the beach.  I found a few shells here whereas in Costa Rica I found NO shells.

Royalton Resort on the Pacific Ocean

What we do every day in Iowa!!!

    

This resort is on the Pacific coastline southwest of Panama City and you would think we would see the evening sunset. WRONG! We will see the sunrise over the water of the Pacific. It just doesn’t seem right!  We have set the alarm for early in the morning so we can hopefully see the sunrise.  Tomorrow we are going to a village where they make special fabric crafts.   

    

We cannot believe our time in Central America is coming to an end.  We are going to enjoy the resort before returning to Panama City for one night before flying home. 

Saturday, March 24, 2012:

We were indeed awake at 5:45 for a walk on the beach to watch the morning sun arise.  I wouldn’t want to do that every morning but today was fine.

Sunrise over the Pacific Ocean

After breakfast we drove to the town of El Valle – it is a town situated in an immense dormant volcano.  It is not an ordinary town – it is a place with lots of summer/vacation homes as well as permanent homes of the wealthy.  We also went to their artisan market for those who wanted to shop. 

Flowers at the Market

  

Vegetables at the Market

Textiles at the Market

Two Young Shoppers

The afternoon was spent here at the Resort – a nap and in the pool. Actually it was cooler today as the sky was cloudy.     

Not much has happened today and we decided to post this blog before we go to dinner tonight.   

Riding Through The Panama Canal - Partial Passage

This Caravan Tours of Panama is a total immersion of the Canal.  We have viewed two locks, one set on the Pacific side of Panama and the other on the Caribbean side, last night we viewed a Nova film on the history/building, and now today we were on a tourist boat going through the locks.  What an interesting day!  We boarded a tourist boat with other tourist this morning outside of Panama City.  Six hours later we had gone through the Miraflores Locks, Pedro Miguel Locks, and passed through the Culebra Cut.  We have not just ‘seen’ the Canal, but we have ‘felt’ the Canal.  

Another aspect that we did not realize – the country of Panama is an isthmus going east and west (we naturally think it goes north and south)  – due to its location, the sun actually comes up over the Pacific Ocean at Panama City and points along the Pacific coast – it is unreal, but true.     

Pictures will hopefully show you some of our experience. 

Approaching the Locks

Entering the Lock (Notice the water level)

Lock Gates Closing (Notice the Double Gates for Safety)

Water Level Rising

Leaving the Lock

The Culebra Cut

Container Ships moving through the Canal

Leaving Our Ship

Vacuum Dredge

Bucket Dredge

Dredge Connected to Drainage Pipes

Tomorrow we are heading to Resort on the Pacific beach.  Before we know it will be flying home to Iowa.   

Gatun Locks and Gatun Lake

We drove to the city of Colon on the Caribbean coast first thing this morning.  We visited the Gatun locks near Colon, and saw where they are putting in the new set of locks that they hope to have finished by 2014 – 100 years after the original opening. 

Gatun is a system of three locks.  Again it was interesting to watch the big Panamax’ed vessels – vessels that are so big there is only 2 ft of space on each side of the lock channel. The width of the canal limits the size of ships to less than 110 ft across, Panamax.  We actually witnessed more activity today than yesterday, and tomorrow we sail through the lock system. 

Gatun Locks - Caribbean entrance (Mules guiding the Ship)

Cal with a Mule - Electronic Engines that Guide, "Not Pull", the Ships Through The Canal

Gates Closing Behind a Ship

Ships Going Opposite Directions Through The Locks

Gates Opening For the Ship to Move Forward into the next Lock

Ship Moving Forward

Rachel and The Ship

This afternoon we took a boat trip on the Gatun Lake in the Panama rainforest area, looking for wildlife.  We saw the white faced monkey up close and personal.  The captain of our small boats feed the monkeys (7 or 8) grapes, so that they were actually jumping onto our boats. As we approached the captain would whistle for them and sure enough they were coming for food. Really it is awful to feed wild game like this, but we did see them close.      

White-faced Monkey