VACATIONS FROM HOME: PANAMA CITY AND CANAL

FROM BEATING DRUMS TO BUSTLING CITY

Our final full day of sailing in the Pacific Ocean along the Central American coasts of Costa Rica and Panama could not have been more serene. The M/S Panorama, sailing under the Greek flag with Variety Cruises, anchored off Playa Muerto in the Darien Province and there we were immersed in the Embera culture, an indigenous people previously unknown to us. After our tour we sailed for the Pearl Islands, for a final swim in the Pacific. A cluster of 200 islands and islets, many uninhabited, the Pearl Islands are 30 miles off the coast and have been a popular location for several seasons of the reality TV show Survivor.

EMBERA GIRL

Well, no one voted us off the boat and we ate our final dinner at sea and drank martinis as we watched the sun set, and when we finally retired to our berth the world was tranquil and peaceful and quiet. Most of our sailing on this trip was at night and when we awoke this final day we had left behind a world of rainforests, exotic animals and indigenous people and arose to a world of commerce and commotion. We had moored at Flamenco Marina on the Amador Causeway in the capital, Panama City, our final destination

SO MUCH … SO LITTLE TIME!

Our travels along the Central American coast allowed us to experience some of the unique natural beauty of the area and now it was our chance to see how that nature had been changed for the benefit of man. Beyond the marina’s breakwater massive cargo ships were awaiting their chance to enter the Panama Canal and the skyline of a very modern looking Panama City glinted in the sunlight. It was surreal. As quiet and remote every other place in Panama had been for us, there was this jolt back to reality that most of the world is a tumult of activity and it is forever churning.

FLAMENCO MARINA WITH PANAMA CITY

We had one full day on the Panorama while docked at the marina before we had to disembark and we took a last guided tour offered by Variety Cruises. In the blistering heat of midday, we were herded into a van to see the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal and then a short tour of Casco Viejo Panama City. That was a lot to see in four hours. The magnitude and history of the Panama Canal alone was enough to inspire a second trip to the area and later a brief foray into the Old Quarter of Panama City left us wanting to do more.

THE BIG DIG

Admission to the Miraflores Locks visitor center and museum was included in our $80 tour fee and we crowded onto the topmost of the three terraces that looked down into the lock to watch a number of smaller ships pass at the same time. There were more people crowded into the visitor center to see this engineering marvel up close than we had seen throughout all of our travels in Panama. It was packed and space at the rail for an unobstructed view was rare.

OUR VIEW AT MIRAFLORES

The water in the lock will raise, or lower, a ship approximately 27 feet, depending on the travel direction. Tolls for the Panama Canal are based on the ship’s weight. The average fee is around $150,000, but can be much more for the larger ships.

Our tour guide told us to take an hour to watch the ships and then walk through the museum which was four floors of displays about the history and workings of the “BIG DIG”. Little models of past equipment used were particularly fascinating as was the interactive facsimile of a cargo ship wheelhouse that showed the normally 8-to-10-hour trip through the canal in about 3 minutes on screens. Kids spun the wheel and honked the horn incessantly as the cargo ship zipped through the locks.

A NEO-PANAMAX SHIP

While at the Miraflores viewing terrace, we saw in the distance a massive Neo-Panamax cargo ship, nearly double the capacity previously allowed at the Miraflores Locks. This expansion of the Panama Canal system is sometimes called the “Third Set of Locks Project” and was completed in 2016 greatly improving the flow of ships through the canal. The massive ship seemingly slid along the ground easily. We could not see the locks from our great distance.

At this visitor center there was also an IMAX theater that was not included in our tour, and there were two gift shops; one in the museum and the other in the IMAX lobby. All the prices were listed in United States Dollars.

CLOSE UP OF MIRAFLORES LOCKS

FENCE OF SHAME

Back in the van our guide pointed out buildings that were once part of the Panama Canal Zone administration, neglecting to speak of Martyr’s Day a day of mourning in the country. On January 9, 1964 anti-American riots over sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone broke out when several students crossed the “fence of shame” to erect a Panamanian flag in the zone. The fence was a safety barrier along a busy highway that also served as the border between the zone and Panama. In the ensuing clashes a number of people were killed.

Another sight he pointed out was the Bridge of the America’s that crosses over the Panama Canal, connecting North and South America. It is part of the Pan-American Highway system and erected in 1962 and quickly became overcrowded with traffic. The Centennial Bridge meant to alleviate the bottleneck of this necessary roadway was completed in 2003, 9 miles north. We drove beneath the Bridge of the America’s on our way to the old city, Casco Viejo.

STREET CORNER EL CHORRILLO

NO MAS!

Casco Viejo means “old quarter” and it is a very popular tourist destination, but to get there we had to drive through a dubious neighborhood. Our guide said we would find the best Panamanian food here in El Chorrillo, but it would be wise to get it “to go”. Once street gangs ruled the streets of this area, filling a vacuum in the illegal drug market created when Manuel Noriega was ousted in Operation Just Cause in 1989. Noriega was from el Chorrillo and his neighborhood was mercilessly bombed in the United States invasion. For years the gangs controlled El Chorrillo and though they are still a presence, many gang members work in the tourism industry as guides. Another notable resident from this still impoverished neighborhood is the actor Ruben Blades and the "Hands of Stone" Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran was raised here.

CASTILLIA DEL ORO

Panama City was the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific coast. Established in 1519 and known originally as Castillia del Oro, the city quickly became the launching point for many expeditions including the plundering of gold and silver in Peru by the Spanish. By 1671 there were over 10,000 inhabitants of Panama City when it was attacked and razed by the pirate Henry Morgan. The ruins of Panama Viejo remain as a popular tourist attraction, but on our short tour we traveled only to Casco Viejo (Old Quarter).

STREET SCENE CASCO VIEJO

When Panama City was rebuilt a few years after Morgan’s attack the city was relocated here, on a peninsula. Today the official name of this section of town is called San Felipe but commonly called Casco Viejo. It is a few miles southwest of the original Panama City site. This old colonial area of narrow winding streets was declared a World Heritage site in 1997 and t is a popular tourist destination of shops, trendy boutique hotels, tapas bars and nightclubs. The architecture is old Spanish and French colonial buildings, many now renovated to their original splendor. The area is quite beautiful, but we did not have a lot of time to explore there.

GOLDEN ALTAR

The van dropped us off at the Church of San Jose home to a golden altar that escaped the plundering of Morgan and his pirates through the chicanery of a priest who painted it black. Eventually the gold leaf altar was transported to Casco Viejo. It was a popular stop for many tourists and we were elbow to elbow admiring the ornate altar. Next on our mini-tour was a short walk to the lovely Independence Square where we had 20 minutes to step inside the magnificent Panama Metropolitan Cathedral. We ignored the café just across the street; we had no time.

Afterwards we briefly stopped in a Panama Hat store and then stopped by the famed ruins of el Arco Chato, the flat arch that swayed the Americans into keeping the canal in Panama. Erected in 1678 as the Santo Domingo convent, the building was ravaged by two fires which toppled the tower and the interior walls, but the exterior walls and the arch remained. When the United States was pondering Nicaragua as a place to dig a canal, the very presence of this arch standing for hundreds of years proved there was no excess seismic activity and the area deemed more stable for such a massive project like the canal.

EL ARCO CHATO

Our final stop on this woefully short excursion was at the Plaza de Francia which commemorates France’s failed attempt at digging the canal. The economic losses for France were in the billions, but it is estimated that 22,000 human souls were lost while France tried to cross the isthmus, including 10,000 French laborers. Many died from accidents but most from diseases like malaria and yellow fever. The beautiful plaza was erected as a tribute to those lost in this monumental effort. We mounted the stairs that circled an obelisk that had a French Rooster atop it and walked the promenade where there were a lot of merchants selling tourist items like t shirts and key chains and colorful molas, the cloth artwork fashioned by the indigenous Kuna people. Ahead was the gleaming modern Panama City glinting in the sunlight and to our right was the Cinta Costera an odd beltway that connects the Pan-American highway with the rest of Panama City, alleviating traffic and preserving the World Heritage status of Casco Viejo.

METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL

MAS?

That was it for our tour. After milling about the merchant stands for a while the van picked us up and brought us back to the Panorama. We were left wanting more time to explore this area of the city.

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg