Blogs from Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 4

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Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama Canal December 15th 2018

Thurs 13 – Sun 16 December - Day 48 of tour but Day 60 total - Panama City to Brisbane by 18 December 2018 Today we headed to David where we had a short flight to Panama City. In the minivan on the way to the airport, we watched the beautiful sunrise thinking that this might be the last sunrise I see for a while! As usual, Alfredo had organised a seamless negotiation onto our flight, and no sooner we were up in the air with Panama Air, we started our descent. As soon as we arrived at the airport, we knew this was going to be the most developed city we had visited during our whole 60 days away. Even the minivan that picked us up was new and had a covered trailer for our ... read more
Balboa beer the local beer of Panama
Our final dinner in Panama City (1)
Panama City Christmas Lights (1)

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá December 12th 2018

Nach den ganzen Reisestrapazen in Südamerika war es nun an der Zeit mal ein wenig zu relaxen und für längere Zeit, nämlich ganze 5 Tage, mal am gleichen Ort zu bleiben. Ich habe mich dabei für Panama entschieden. Nach einem relativ kurzen Flug von Lima war ich dann auch schon in Panama und erfreut dass es nicht regnete, denn der Wetterbericht für die nächsten paar Tage zeigte durchgehend Regen an. Panama Stadt ist ein Paradies für Architekturinstressierte, denn in der Stadt wimmelt es nur so von Hochhäusern. Doch auch die Tierwelt kommt nicht zu kurz. Wenn man der schönen Meerpromenade entlang läuft, muss man nicht lange warten und man sieht Kormorane, Pelikane und viele andere Vögel. Aber am berühmtesten ist Panama natürlich durch den Panama Kanal. Dieses Bauwerk ist extrem wichtig für die Schifffahrt, da der ... read more
Panama Kanal
Historischer Stadtteil und Hochhäuser im Hintergrund
Casco Viejo

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City December 2nd 2018

Friday morning we awoke early to find we were alreaady entering the Panama Canal. On Deck 3 forward they were serving coffee and a crowd had gathered to watch as we approached the first set of locks. These are the Gatun Locks and there was a cruise ship ahead of us. We watched as the Norwegian Jade gradually rose in front of us. It was a slow process so after coffee I retreated back to the cabin to watch from our balcony.I was not feeling the best and once we were through the first set of locks and into the large lake I went back to bed while Fletcher headed upstairs for some breakfast. I could still see the passing scenery through our floor to ceiling windows.Traversing the canal takes all day so we discovred back ... read more
One of the tugboats
The Norwegian Jade in the first lock
View of the lock and the "mules"

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá October 26th 2018

The first hotel we stayed at was in the modern part of the city, the financial district. What struck us was the skyline. Very tall buildings with interesting and unusual designs. My favorite was the one our taxi driver referred to as the screw (but our guide called it tthe corkscrew. We then moved to a hotel in the Casco Viejo to join our tour group. This is the older part of the city, my favorite part. A little bit of history first. The following descrption I found on the internet as I do not have the writing to describe these accurately. Panama Viejo Founded on August 15, 1519, by Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias de Ávila, the city of Panamá was the first European settlement along the Pacific. For 150 years it flourished as Spain exported ... read more
Panama Viejo-Cathedral tower
Ruins in Panama Viejo
Presidential Palace in Casco Viejo

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Taboga Island October 21st 2018

21 octobre 2018 : Nous allons passer la journée sur l'île de Taboga, appelé l'île aux fleurs. Il fait chaud le matin mais la pluie arrive en cours d'après-midi et nous rentrons à l'hôtel... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama Canal October 20th 2018

20 octobre 2018 : Nous nous levons à 6H30. Le temps est plus clément ce matin. Nous prenons un petit déjeuner très copieux. Nous allons à l'arrêt de bus (il est situé en face de l'hôtel juste de l'autre côté de la rue) mais nous le loupons de 5 minutes. Le gars qui s'occupe des bus, pour que nous ne perdions pas de temps, nous emmène avec sa voiture jusqu'au canal. Merci monsieur, c'est super sympa. Nous arrivons donc au canal à 9H30 et assistons à une projection expliquant toute la construction du canal. Très intéressant. L'après-midi, nous retournons d'abord à l'hôtel, puis nous découvrons le vieux centre-ville, grâce au système de bus touristique que l'on trouve maintenant dans toutes les villes importantes.... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City October 19th 2018

17 octobre 2018 : Visite de la clinique de Jorge comme tous les jours puis l'après-midi nous descendons à San José, la capitale. 18 octobre 2018 : Visite de San José, musée national, musée de jade, musée de l'or. Toutes les photos sur mon téléphone tombé en panne après notre retour en Espagne, et toutes les photos perdues. 19 octobre 2018 : Nous décollons de San José à 6H11 et arrivons à Panama à 8H20. nous allons tout de suite déposer nos bagages à l'hôtel Plaza Paitilla Inn à 9H30. Le midi nous mangeons dans un centre commercial à un Lenos et Carbon à 12H30. Il se met à tomber une pluie diluvienne. Impossible de voir quoi que ce soit. Nous avions pris un bus pour visiter la ville, mais nous rentrons à l'hôtel un peu ... read more
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The only thing we want to do in Panama is see the canal and fortunately that’s pretty easy to do from Panama City as it’s only 5km from the main bus station to the Miraflores lock visitor centre. In order to see something interesting we need to hang around for a couple of hours, but are then rewarded by the bulk carrier “Pretty Sight” and the car transporter “Courageous Ace” heading south through the locks towards the Pacific. The viewing platform is next to the original locks built in 1913, but there are now a new and larger set about 1km west of where we are built to take longer and wider vessels. Panama City is quite unlike anywhere else we have been in Central America with an impressive skyline of modern tower blocks. There is ... read more


Donnerstag, den 10. Mai, kamen Rebecka und ich nach einer langen und ermüdenden 10-stündigen Busfahrt um 4h morgens in Panama City an. Zum Glück hatte Rebecka darauf bestanden ein Bett im Hostel für die Nacht vorher zu buchen, so dass, als wir gegen 5h ankamen, wir sofort ins Bett gehen konnten und noch ein paar Stunden schlafen konnten. Am nächsten Tag bin ich gegen 8h30 aufgestanden und - zu meiner großen Überraschung - saß am Frühstückstisch Nathalie aus England, die ich in Copán, Honduras, kennengelernt hatte. Wir haben zusammen gefrühstückt und dann hat sie mich begleitet, einen Ort zu finden, an dem ich meine nächste Tollwutimpfung bekommen kann. Wir sind zu verschiedenen Apotheken und Krankenhäusern gegangen, aber die Antwort war überall die gleiche : die Tollwutimpfung bekommt man nur im Gesundheitsministerium. Frustriert sind wir dann zum ... read more
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It's about 6am and almost light outside. There are a number of large ships off our starboard side. They appear to be just sitting in the water, probably waiting for permission to enter the Canal but we are rolling right along. We've been through the Panama Canal back in 2012 on the Zuiderdam and we understand the operation of this transport system but it's a fascinating piece of history I'm eager to revisit. Karen can't understand such excitement this early in the day but quietly prepares for the day. I'm out the door and up to Deck 9 aft to take a few pictures of the new bridge crossing the Atlantic end of the canal, the Centennial Bridge. The one at the Pacific side has been there for many years, part of the Pan American Highway. ... read more
Centennial Bridge Nearing Completion
Entering the Canal
Our First Lock




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