Blogs from Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 3

When I last left off, I was waiting for my first flight. Since then, a lot has happened. I caught that flight and sat next to a nice guy who was flying home to florida. Somehow, conversations always seem to end up on politics during election season. This guy was for Obama. When I hopped off of that flight, I was hungry and really hoping for one last big fat diet coke to carry me through the next six months (you see, Panama only has Coca-Cola Light, which doesn't even hold a candle to good 'ol USA Diet Coke). Unfortunately, the Fort Lauderdale airport only has Pepsi products, so I choked down a turkey sandwhich and a diet pepsi with a coffee lid on it of $11. I waited for an hour and a half, reconnected ... read more

Hello from Fuerte Amador (Fort Amador), here at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. This is a special day being the 8th anniversary of us becoming grandparents. You see, today is Alex Chinn’s 8thbirthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX! We anchored in the bay, along with a couple of dozen other ships waiting to go through the canal. However we are staying here all day and will not go through until tomorrow. Fuerte Amador is actually a man-made peninsula made by building a long causeway out to two islands (it gave them something to do with part of the material dredged from the cana)l. It also provides shelter for several marinas of private boats from either visiting tourists or wealthy locals. Janet’s cold developed into quite a persistent cough much of the night, so she did not ... read more

Made it to Panama City! My last stop in central America. I'm staying in Casco Viejo, which is the "old town" region across the bay over looking the city's skyline. I was very surprised when I first saw this city. I don't feel like I am in Central America. It feels more like Miami with large skyscrapers, fancy shops, people from all over the world, and super nice houses & cars. Not to mention its hot and humid here. It's a very nice and lively big city where you can go out to clubs any night of the week and still get away with having meals for under $3. I've stayed a total of 5 nights in this city. Probably more than I have in any other city thus far. I'm staying at a place called ... read more

17 hours to go before take off.. I am finally packed, an Olympic feat worthy of a gold medal. While I am limited to 50 pounds for the first flight, I am further restricted to 20 pounds on the in-country flight on Air-Holy Crap. As some of you know I hate to fly so the in-country flight to my first destination has me a little worried. I had convinced myself it would be okay until I received the ticket; hand written and it included my cost of the fuel based on body weight. If at first glance this aircraft looks like it was pulled out of a museum or built by a 13 year old in his garage, then I will surely opt for the 14 hour bus ride. The buses are old, converted school buses ... read more

Panama, the first stop on our mammoth tour of South America turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Of course, we’d expected the skyscrapers but what shocked us was the sheer amount of them. It was a jungle of glass and concrete set against a backdrop of tropical jungle and blue ocean. It looked like Miami or perhaps Hong Kong without the hills. We were impressed as we headed in from the airport. The next morning Angela was annoyed with me because we were lost and it was all my fault. I’d foolishly suggested we go out for an early morning wander even though we were due to be picked up less than an hour later for a tour of the city. I told Angela that we had plenty of time, words which would later haunt ... read more