Panama City & Canal, Panama

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We made it to Central America!! Panama City was VERY MUCH appreciated after the craziness we got ourselves into crossing overland from Colombia to Panama. It was heavenly to see concrete floors and brick walls!!!

After heavy interrogation from Immigration at the airport we grabbed a taxi to Luna Castle Hostel in the historic district (Casco Viejo) of Panama City. It was a perfect hostel, so we decided to stay there until Josh (Johns brother) flew in to visit us!! We were both soooo excited to see a familiar face. Both of us have been really missing our friends and family.

For 6 days we just lounged around, read books, listened to music, drank beer, played guitar, ate free pancakes, played ku-handle, walked around the city, watched the new Terminator movie and caught up on some sleep. One of our favorite days included a visit to the local Mall!! We had not been to a Mall in over 6months! It was quite the treat! Especially the food court. John had his first Wendy's burger in over 6months!! I had pizza of course!!

On June 18th Josh arrived!! We were so happy to see him!! We loaded up on a Diablo Rojo (pimped out old school bus) and dropped his pack back at the hostel. After a quick tour of Casco Viejo we grabbed another bus headed for the Miraflores Lock of the Panama Canal. We got there about 45 min before closing time and got to see 2 boats negotiate the channel. It was pretty amazing to see the giant ships squeeze thru. The ships pay anywhere between $90,000 to $200,00 to pass!! They base it on the value of their cargo! Pretty expensive eh?

We eventually made our way back to the bus station that evening, for an overnight ride to Bocas del Toro! It was nice to have Josh and his energy with us as we prepared to pack in as much as possible over the next week of his visit.

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Photos

Ships fit tightly
The guy was touching the wall of the canal!