Blogs from Panama City, Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 17

Geo: 8.99427, -79.5188We met another wonderful couple from Canada today Heather and Phil---they're almost as wonderful as you! They're from Saskachawan and were on the Canal tour with us and 100 of our closest friends.We did what's called a partial transit--took a bus to Gamboa where we boarded our boat in the canal, then rode down through two locks to the Pacific ocean.It was FREAKING awesome. I was totally blown away by the magnitude of what we were witnessing. And me, who was really not excited at all about seeing the canal and only went to placate my adorable husband, was TOTALLY mesmerized by the big honking machinery and STUFF (real big-boy engineering stuff) we saw.To give you a little background about how the canal came into being (we're all about the back story)...a French politician ... read more

Cerro Ancon (Ancon Hill) is a 654-foot hill with a view to Panama City. It was under U.S. jurisdiction as a part of the Panama Canal Zone for much of the 20th century. When in 1671 the pirate Henry Morgan came to Panama City, first he climbed to Ancon Hill to see the local defenses. Nowadays you will get a wonderful view from Ancon Hill to the new city, constructed after Morgan's destruction of the old one (Panama Viejo). Also you will get a view to Panama Canal and Las Americas bridge. A Panamanian flag proudly flutters on the top of Cerro Ancon. There are a lot of birds flying over the Ancon hill. We met a group of people, doing some ecology project. They come to Ancon Hill EVERY DAY and make photos ... read more

When our plane finally landed we rented a car and got going to Puntarenas where our boat Samantha was at at the time. When we got there my dad had some shipping problems with both a hooka, a scuba diving item that we bought for the trip, and something that my dad brought down on a plane. Since we had to wait until Monday to get the stuff we thought we should go on a road trip to a National Park that was recommended for its wild life. The place was called Manuel Antonio. On the drive there were signs that first said 80 kilometers to the place we were going then 120 kilometers which was funny. We couldn't get there before dark so we stayed in a hotel and my bed was in a ... read more

Hola Bloggers, Greetings from beautiful Panama City. Arrived safely and made it to our lodgings, La Estancia. A nice boutique hotel in the former US occupied canal zone. Monkeys and paraketes right outside our balcony. Dinner last night at Mi Ranchito on the causway. We're taking a ferry this morning over to Isla Toboga which is about an hour away for a day on the beach, the tomorrow we rent a 4x4 and take off on the panamerican highway to see the rest of the country. We'll try to emain more later, Caio, David and Malialani... read more

So August 30th (day 347 on the road) and the mad dash for home begins. To be fair we still have 108 days before our flight from Cape Town to Heathrow which makes it sound like we have a lot of time left. However I say mad dash because our flight to South Africa is booked for Nov 12th from JFK in New York giving us 74 days to get from Panama city to JFK (which is a long way going overland) and the intention is to see every country in Central America (all 7 of them) then Mexico and the US and hopefully, if we can squeeze it in at some point, however its unlikely, Cuba. Panama City So anyway into Panama City we arrived and thankfully at least with our luggage this time, but ... read more