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Published: November 3rd 2014
We enjoyed our short stay in Panama City, the waterfront has a great walkway and the old town is under redevelopment. Some of the buildings in the old town have been lovingly restored but there are still many that are run down and we were advised some areas are a little unsafe, so we didn't hang around after dark.
We decided we couldn't visit Panama and not see the world famous canal so we took a taxi to the bus station and then a local bus to the Miraflores locks. The Panama canal is an 80km waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in one of the narrowest points of Panama. It saves ships huge amounts of time as they can avoid sailing around the bottom of Argentina. It opened in 1914 and has more than 14,000 ships pass through every year and more than a million ships since opening. As it has reached capacity and some of the newer, larger ships are too big to use the canal an expansion project is currently underway which will double capacity.
The canal uses a system of locks with two lanes that operate as water elevators. It raises the ships
from sea level to the level of Gatun lake, 26 meters above sea level, to allow the crossing through the Continental Divide, and then lowers the ships to sea level on the other side of the isthmus.
We arrived just as the last boat of the morning was going through the lock so we ran up to the top viewing area. We could see the massive ship being lifted up slowly by flooding the lock and then the gates opened and the ship sailed away. We took some more photos before watching the 3D movie and visiting the museum.
After a stop at a large shopping mall for lunch and a milkshake we went back to the hostel and made the most of the swimming pool. The pool had a net and balls so we had a game of pool volleyball where I showed Gary how it is done!
From Panama City we caught the bus to a small town called Boquete. In recent years it has become popular with American retirees for its pretty setting and relaxed lifestyle. Now there are many cafes and restaurants run by Americans that are producing some lovely food and have
menus in English as well as English speaking staff.
Boquete is approximately 1,200m above sea level so has a much cooler climate than Panama City and produces some good coffee.
The scenery around Boquete is very pretty so we decided to do a walk to a waterfall to check out a bit more of the area. We managed to catch a local combi van to the start of the trail and then headed off along the trail through the forest. The trail was popular with bird watches looking for the famous Quetzal, but unfortunately they were hiding when we visited.
When we reached the waterfall we didn't stay long as it was nothing spectacular as we have seen many along our travels now. We walked all the way back into town past coffee farms and following the river, about 16km in total for the day.
From Boquete we headed for Costa Rica.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
What a big boat!
When I get to the canal, I'm hoping to make some money taking much smaller yachts (like yours from Cartagena to Panama) through the boring (if you're on the boat) through the locks. How bizarre to be in a little sailing boat behind something this size! Boquete's cooler temperature and waterfall walk (and American food) sound tempting, so thanks for the tip, I'll definitely check it out. Good luck in supposedly gorgeous, expensive C.R.