The days are filled with sun and warmth. There is so much to do here in Panama City and I don't have the desire to get out of the big city as soon as possible, which is the often the case here in Central America. This is not only because of the safety factor (capitals are often the dodgiest) but also because there is generally not much to do there. This however is not the case in Panama City. There is a lot to do and a lot of history surrounding the Canal and the city itself.
The past few days have also been quite busy for Dan. Panama City is more or less the end of the road for driving. Colombia is very close but there are no navigable roads though, and if you were to make your way though the mire of the Darien Gap, the area beyond is full of rebels and other characters you best not mingle with. So that leads those who are driving to go through the hours worth of paper work and bureaucracy in order to put the vehicle in a shipping container and send it to Cartegena, Colombia. This is what has been taking up Dan's time over the past few days. Dan has teamed up with a really cool couple from France, and have been working through all the paper work that is needed for such an endeavor. Vincent and Marie have been driving around the world for the past year. They left France and made their way through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and are now making their way down from Vancouver.
I joined them on the first day while they were searching out some quotes from different companies, and then on the last day when we went to Colon to drop off the vehicles and finish off the paper work required for the shipping. This was interesting to see the huge port city and all that goes into the running of such a massive operation as the Panama Canal. For me, though the paperwork was really boring and involved a lot of sitting around, it was good for me to see what all has to go into the process of shipping, and hopefully one day I will be able to do the same thing and go through the same hassles that they have.
However, during the other days that they were doing all the "fun" stuff I decided to do a little sight seeing in the city on my own. I started off by walking Casco Viejo again and taking some photos of the area. I also went to a museum that chronicled the history of the area and they development of the Canal.
The next day I made my way by bus down to Panama Viejo, which is on the other side of town, and is the home of Old Panama, the original location of the cities settlement. The city was raided and sacked by the famous pirate Henry Morgan back in the 1600's, and all that was left after the burning of the city is some ruins. It is a very nice walk along the ocean seeing what is left of the city. I made my way to the church tower that was left standing after the raid and decided to climb up it. I apparently made it past the guards and needed to purchase a ticket to go up. But the guard at the bottom told me that if i just payed him $2 instead of the required $4 then he would let me pass... or I could go back and pay the full $4. I payed the man the $2 and continued on my way. The top of the tower had some beautiful views of the city and a chance to see a mix of the new and old.
The other highlight to the past few days has been the chance to see the Panama Canal and the Miraflores Locks. This is one of the main sets of locks in the Canal system and we have the opportunity to see some massive ships making their passage from the Caribbean to the Pacific. All the man power that went into the making and now managing of the canal is so impressive. It was interesting to learn that Panama didn't take over the running of the Canal until 2000, when the Americans finally turned over the power to the country. This because a massive source of pride for the Panamanian people. When they took over there was a lot of skepticism about their ability to run it, and to combat that they decided to look into developing the canal to handle bigger ships and more volume. This should be completed in the next few years and will have a significant impact on world trade. Quite an interesting day watching these massive ships passing right in front of you.
One thing that my mom dutifully reminded me of forgetting in the last post was that I have now been reunited with my debit card and have a flow of money again. This is quite nice and takes a lot of stress off me. Thanks to the help that the family gave to me, I was able to continue enjoying the trip. It was however a bit of a good experience because it showed me that it is possible to continue on and travel, and that you can do some of the more expensive countries on a respectively little amount of money, and not feel as though you are missing out on things.
I hope that you have enjoyed and if there are questions or comments please email me, and I will make sure to get back to you. Thanks for reading.
Bye for now
Mike
Showing posts with label Panama City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Panama City. Show all posts
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Scuba and the City
While in Bocas del Toro, Panama, Dan and I had originally planned on staying just a few days to check the local flavour and then continue moving on. However, this was not the case, and our plans changed. We played around with the idea of doing a scuba course in Bocas because it seemed to by a pretty popular thing to do with the tourists there, and there was supposed to be some good diving for reasonable prices. So we decided to shop around for a company that would give us the most bang for our buck. After some time walking around we decided to go with the company "The Dutch Pirate" ran by a Dutch man named Rob and his wife Carol. They were a really nice couple that really wanted us to have a good time while we were there. One of the nicest perks about going with them was that we were given a place to stay that was included in our fees, which made it the cheapest, and really, the best option for us.
Waking up to rainy skies was not the way that I imagined doing the course, but it seemed like this was going to be how I would have to do it. After meeting up at the dive shop and heading over to Isla Basimientos we started our course. The dive shop also served as our lodgings for the time that we were there, which was incredible. We were living on the water of a small Caribbean island, with not a whole lot around. The town was small and had a different feel from the more uptempo main island, Colon. It was a very relaxed stay while we lazed around and listened to the rain clattering off the tin roof of the shop.
The course itself was quite fun. Obviously there was a fair amount of theory to it, but you went through the motions and it passed by painlessly. The real thrill came when we actually got to dive. You roll off the boat into the warm waters of the Caribbean, with all of your gear ready to go. Floating on the surface waiting for the others to get in, I had the chance to peer to the sea floor below. Just seeing some simple starfish on the bottom was enough to make me grin from ear to ear. The first decent into the water was met with a few frantic gasps for air until you realize that this does you and that you can in fact breathe under water. That was such a foreign and exciting feeling to be under the water, on the see floor looking around as schools of fish swim by and starfish litter the ground around you. While underwater we worked on some skills in an attempt to master the art of moving underwater. Even these became fun. The highlight was the chance to go and swim through the corals that the area was famous for. It was incredible seeing those colours and all the different shapes of the coral. Beautiful to say the least. As well the different fish that lived among the coral only added to colour spectacle of the ocean. The whole time I was down there I was smiling and laughing along, as I took in this whole new world and all that it had to offer.
The next few days are full of similar things. Lessons and more diving. We had the chance to see some incredible things even though the visibility was poor due to all the rain. We even had the chance to see a ship wreck. In total, we were able to have 6 dives over 4 days, quite impressive and loads of fun. So now I am a certified open water scuba diver. It is neat because this is another thing that I didn't plan on doing but it turned out to being one of the best things so far.
After leaving Bocas in search of some sun we made our way back to the Pacific side. We stayed the night at Playa Las Lajas, which was nice to be back in the sun warmth, while we tried to dry out from 4 days of constantly being wet.
Only spending the night there we continued on, for a 6 hour trek down to Panama City. Finally making it there we crossed over the Bridge of the Americas which is the only solid object connecting the two sides. The view was incredible and Dan and I chatted with each other about how big a milestone this was for both of us. After trying to navigate the narrow one way street of Casco Viejo, which is the old section of Panama City, we make it to the hotel for the night. The one we originally book was full and so we had to settle for another for that night which was a rather shady place. Casco Viejo is an area with a lot of reclamation going on. The city is trying to turn these slums into a new and vibrant tourist destination, and it seems to be working. This old world architecture gives the city a bit of a European feel, mixed with some Havana-esque latin charm. This place, though sketchy and dangerous in sections has a lot of beauty to it, and right down the road from us is the residence of the President of Panama!
This time now is really for Dan to work on the details of shipping down to Colombia, and he has been putting in the hours with a French couple that he is shipping with. During the day they work themselves through the bureaucracy and paperwork that accompanies such a task. The past couple days for me have been relaxed as I walk round and take in the beauty of this very modern and built up city, with a skyline very similar to that of Toronto or any other major city in Canada or the States. Last night I had the chance to go to a professional Panama League baseball game. Though Im not the biggest fan of the sport, it was the chance to take in a big and popular part of the cultural make up of the area. The stadium was huge, but the game was rather poorly attended. However, the fans made there presence know by being loud and rowdy, with drums and other instruments, music and baseball filling the night.
So that is where the journey takes me so far. The next few days will have some more sight seeing such as the Canal Locks and Old Panama, and then I will continue my trip back north, parting ways with Dan.
If you have any questions or comments please send them through, I would be happy to talk with you able them.
Thanks for following
Bye for now
Mike
Waking up to rainy skies was not the way that I imagined doing the course, but it seemed like this was going to be how I would have to do it. After meeting up at the dive shop and heading over to Isla Basimientos we started our course. The dive shop also served as our lodgings for the time that we were there, which was incredible. We were living on the water of a small Caribbean island, with not a whole lot around. The town was small and had a different feel from the more uptempo main island, Colon. It was a very relaxed stay while we lazed around and listened to the rain clattering off the tin roof of the shop.
The course itself was quite fun. Obviously there was a fair amount of theory to it, but you went through the motions and it passed by painlessly. The real thrill came when we actually got to dive. You roll off the boat into the warm waters of the Caribbean, with all of your gear ready to go. Floating on the surface waiting for the others to get in, I had the chance to peer to the sea floor below. Just seeing some simple starfish on the bottom was enough to make me grin from ear to ear. The first decent into the water was met with a few frantic gasps for air until you realize that this does you and that you can in fact breathe under water. That was such a foreign and exciting feeling to be under the water, on the see floor looking around as schools of fish swim by and starfish litter the ground around you. While underwater we worked on some skills in an attempt to master the art of moving underwater. Even these became fun. The highlight was the chance to go and swim through the corals that the area was famous for. It was incredible seeing those colours and all the different shapes of the coral. Beautiful to say the least. As well the different fish that lived among the coral only added to colour spectacle of the ocean. The whole time I was down there I was smiling and laughing along, as I took in this whole new world and all that it had to offer.
The next few days are full of similar things. Lessons and more diving. We had the chance to see some incredible things even though the visibility was poor due to all the rain. We even had the chance to see a ship wreck. In total, we were able to have 6 dives over 4 days, quite impressive and loads of fun. So now I am a certified open water scuba diver. It is neat because this is another thing that I didn't plan on doing but it turned out to being one of the best things so far.
After leaving Bocas in search of some sun we made our way back to the Pacific side. We stayed the night at Playa Las Lajas, which was nice to be back in the sun warmth, while we tried to dry out from 4 days of constantly being wet.
Only spending the night there we continued on, for a 6 hour trek down to Panama City. Finally making it there we crossed over the Bridge of the Americas which is the only solid object connecting the two sides. The view was incredible and Dan and I chatted with each other about how big a milestone this was for both of us. After trying to navigate the narrow one way street of Casco Viejo, which is the old section of Panama City, we make it to the hotel for the night. The one we originally book was full and so we had to settle for another for that night which was a rather shady place. Casco Viejo is an area with a lot of reclamation going on. The city is trying to turn these slums into a new and vibrant tourist destination, and it seems to be working. This old world architecture gives the city a bit of a European feel, mixed with some Havana-esque latin charm. This place, though sketchy and dangerous in sections has a lot of beauty to it, and right down the road from us is the residence of the President of Panama!
This time now is really for Dan to work on the details of shipping down to Colombia, and he has been putting in the hours with a French couple that he is shipping with. During the day they work themselves through the bureaucracy and paperwork that accompanies such a task. The past couple days for me have been relaxed as I walk round and take in the beauty of this very modern and built up city, with a skyline very similar to that of Toronto or any other major city in Canada or the States. Last night I had the chance to go to a professional Panama League baseball game. Though Im not the biggest fan of the sport, it was the chance to take in a big and popular part of the cultural make up of the area. The stadium was huge, but the game was rather poorly attended. However, the fans made there presence know by being loud and rowdy, with drums and other instruments, music and baseball filling the night.
So that is where the journey takes me so far. The next few days will have some more sight seeing such as the Canal Locks and Old Panama, and then I will continue my trip back north, parting ways with Dan.
If you have any questions or comments please send them through, I would be happy to talk with you able them.
Thanks for following
Bye for now
Mike
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