Panama

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We wanted to spend some more time in Panama but we had already spent way more time in Central America and we were eager to reach Colombia. In Panama City we explored the old city which was destroyed by Captain Henry Morgan in the 1600s. Some of it had been rebuilt but there were a lot of buildings with collapsed floors either filled with garbage or quite contrastingly, plants and trees. Everywhere you looked there were stark contrasts. You would see a fine dining restaurant next to an ancient abandoned building, and next to that an equally decrepit crumbling building but with several families living in it. As beautiful as it was, it was quite a dangerous area where we could not go out at night. A group of 15 big guys were robbed at gunpoint the night before we came. The criminals here have no fear!

We visited the canal on the second day, quite impressive how they have to raise or lower each boat coming through to adjust for the different heights of the 2 oceans.

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