Panama

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The helpful and friendly staff at my hotel in Panama City fixed me up with a map that inspired me to go for a little walk in the city. It took about an hour each way to get to the picturesqe waterfront through a commerical area that could best be described as aesthetically challenged or downright ugly. I couldn´t help but think that the so-called pedestrian mall that I traversed would be a good setting for a "Mad Max" movie. It started raining HARD when I got to the nice part of Casco Viejo so there I was stranded for about 45 minutes waiting for the rain to subside. I considered taking a cab back to my hotel but that would have been sheer folly because traffic was at a standstill due to the cloudburst. When the rain let up, I continued on to the waterfront where the souvenir vendors were effectively put out of business by the rain. Their stuff was there under plastic but nobody was around. I dont normally buy tourist junk but on this occasion I spotted some genuine Panamanian license plates that somebody was selling. I just had to have one of those for the little Scion that could and did! There was just one young girl present in the area so I had to ask her where to find the seller of the license plates before I could even begin the transaction. She led me to the mass of souvenir vendors who were having a party of sorts under an overpass while they waited for rain to stop and the tourists to return. I had to ask around a bit more before somebody pointed out the kid selling the license plates. I think he was duly impressed that I made the effort to find him and raised the price accordingly. Five Balboas sealed the deal.

I relocated to cheaper digs outside of the city in what had been the Canal Zone before the United States ceded it back to Panama. This was a tricky business because I didn´t know exactly where or how to find the place I wanted to stay. It´s lucky for me that things in the Canal Zone are organized in an American sort of way such that I was able to guess where to look. My new accomodation was only a short drive away from the Miraflores locks and visitor center for the Panama Canal. I went there late the next morning, watched the movie, and explored the museum but there wasn´t much doing in the locks as they were in the process of switching from Atlantic to Pacific bound traffic. I decided to return later after being assured that I could reenter the visitor center at a later time the same day without having to buy another ticket. This worked out nicely beause I went for a nice hike in Soberania National Park. It was yet another crazy drive through the jugle to get to a trailhead but it was well worth the effort. I saw a lot of birds, insects, and critters that I had not seen elsewhere. An ant-eater climbing around in a tree by the trail scared the crap out of me! I returned to the canal just in time to watch two "panamax" ships (vessels specifically designed to be as large as the canal can handle) traverse the locks. Wow! is all I have to say about that.

This done, I set about doing my laundry and preparing for the long road home...

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