Category: Ecuador, Columbia, Panama and Costa Rica 2017

This morning we set the alarm and got up early. The Panama Canal Railway only has one passenger train going each way per day and we wanted to catch the 7:15 north bound train.

The train ride only took a little over an hour to get to the town of Colon on the Caribbean side of Panama but it was a fascinating ride. We saw lots of impenetrable jungle. We saw several ships transiting the canal. And we saw Gatun Lake which was created when the canal builders dammed the Chagres River. It was fascinating.

In Colon we took a taxi to the visitor center at the new locks. The new locks are massive. They are 180 feet wide as compared to 110 feet wide for the old locks. And they have rolling gates that slide in and out of a cut in the wall. We got to watch a big liquid natural gas carrier go through the first lock.

From Colon we took a bus back to Panama City. The whole time we were on the Caribbean side it was raining but when we got back to Panama City it was overcast but not raining We have been told that this is typical of Panama weather.

In Panama City we picked up our bags at our hotel and went to the dock to catch the ferry to Taboga Island just a few miles out in Panama Harbor

Tonight we are in an idyllic spot overlooking the bay and watching all the ships waiting to go through the canal. The Island has only a few residents and is very quiet. We are sitting on our deck overlooking the harbor it is pleasantly warm and humid and very peaceful.

A few days ago I finished reading David McCullough’s book The Path Between the Seas. The book is about the building of the Panama Canal. It’s a fascinating book and I was left with an enormous appreciation for the amazing accomplishment that was the building of the canal. So actually getting to see the Canal today was so cool!

We decided to do the Hop on Hop off bus tour of Panama City. We saw some of the houses that were used to house canal workers during the building of the canal and drove by the canal headquarters building.

Then we arrived at the Canal visitors center. As we walked out on the observation platform a big ship was just entering the Mira Flores lock in front of us. We watched for a long time. Before the ship exited the lock a thunderstorm came in and a there was thunder, lightening and a tropical downpour.

We toured the museum, had coffee on the deck of the restaurant and watched the movie.

When we left the visitor center the bus took us by the Biomuseo which is the only building in Central America designed by the architect Frank Gerry.

We got off the bus in the Casco Antigua or Old Town where we explored a bit and then had beers overlooking the Bay and the city. Then we took a cab back to our hotel.

For dinner we walked from our hotel a ways to a wonderful Italian Restaurant called La Vespa. We had a delicious pizza and cheesecake for desert.

Today we got up early to catch an 8:30am flight from Bogotá to Panama City. It is kind of nice to be down at sea level where there is a lot of air!! It also much more hot and humid here.

Panama City has a lot more high rises than I expected. This is the view from our hotel.

We ate a good dinner at an outside cafe not far from the hotel.

Today we visited the Columbia National Museum. The museum is located in a former prison.

They had many interesting exhibits including about the history of Columbia and the recent peace process.

After touring the museum we had coffee in the courtyard.

For our last dinner in South America we had a wonderful meal on the top floor of a nearby hotel. The restaurant is called Carpaccio. First we shared a fried mozzarella appetizer then we had squash soup with blue cheese. For the main course we had pasta and for desert chocolate. It was all wonderful.

It is Saturday night and there were two big parties at nearby tables. One was a Birthday. We assumed it was for this princess

The other party was bigger and more formal. It was an elegant quincenera. In the picture below you can see the family getting ready to make their entrance.

There was also live music. The people watching was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we fly to Panama.

Today we took a cab into central Bogotá and visited El Museo de Oro ( the museum of Gold). The museum presents the history of metallurgy throughout the world and has exhibits of metal work from all the different regions of Columbia. The descriptions are in English and Spanish and we also had an English audio guide. It was fascinating and there were some beautiful pieces.

Next we walked around the streets a bit.

And then finally went to the Emerald Museum. They mine a lot of emeralds in Columbia. Although we couldn’t take pictures the young guide was very good. The museum is on the 23rd floor of a bank building.