Carlos Santana and the Panama Canal

Today we took a taxi down to Casco Viejo, which is where Panama City was rebuilt in the 1600's after Henry Morgan sacked and burned the original city. Some of the architecture is very reminiscent of New Orleans. I was able to talk with our taxi driver, Arroyo, enough to understand some of the history and current political stories. He was a wonderful guide and seemed to hold a deep feeling of reverence for the history of the city and what it means to Central America. He took us into a cathedral that has an enormous gold altar and drove by some very decrepit yet beautiful ruins that are in the process of being restored. It was interesting to see the combination of the poor people living barrio-style in these old buildings, and the expensive restorations going on right next door that will transform the original structures into shiny high-priced office spaces. One building that hasn't been restored yet has a large tree growing out of the top of what looks like a chimney.

We walked the promenade all along the waterfront which is a high defensive wall built to protect the new city from pirates. There we met a very cute guy from Germany, so Dad was able to dust off his German skills a little bit which are much better than his Spanish! We also met a wonderful fellow named Carlos Santana (seriously) who sells Panama Hats in the Plaza. He didn't speak any English, but we were able to communicate and have fun - he had a great sense of humor and when I asked to take his picture he wanted Dad in it with him. We were only out there about an hour, but when we got back to our rooms we realized we were both sunburned pretty good. When the sun's behind the clouds it's easy to forget we're only a few degrees from the equator. Ouch...

After a little siesta, we headed down to the Miraflores Locks of the Canal. We arrived just in time to see the last transit in good daylight. Although I wasn't terribly excited about going to see the canal at first, it really was quite fascinating and huge. The ships that transit just barely keep from scraping the sides of the locks. They are pulled along by tiny tug-trains on each side to keep it centered. The mechanics of the whole operation are just awesome. (Grampa would love this!)

We had a great dinner on the patio at the restaurant above the locks which offered a great view of all the action. For all the foodies out there (and you know who you are!), Dad had Greek lemon chicken and I had more corvina or sea bass, this time in a Thai coconut curry sauce. Yum, yum, yum. Oh, yeah, there were a few Pina Coladas before dinner, too!

Today Jennifer had a big lesson in letting go of material things. As I was taking pictures of the ships going through the locks, the storage card in my digital camera glitched and I lost all the pictures I'd taken since we arrived, almost 200 beautiful shots (sorry, Mom, the birds and monkeys will have to wait awhile). I was looking forward to sending some great photos as soon as we had access to a computer I could hook the camera to. I was really angry and moped for a bit, but I decided it wasn't worth ruining our dinner or the rest of the evening. If we have time before we fly home, we'll visit Casco Viejo again. Hopefully Carlos will still be there in the Plaza.

Tonight we re-squished everything into our bags to get ready for an early flight tomorrow morning to David (Dah-veed). From there we will rent a car and drive up into the Chiriqui Highlands to Boquete where we'll stay for 4 nights. I'm not sure of the availability of a computer for a few days, so Adios for now...

Tropical Sunset

Last night Dad & I went out on Amador Causeway for dinner. The Panamanian dancing restaurant was all booked up until Friday, so we made other last minute plans. It's funny how these things can turn out so much better than what we try to "plan" in the first place. We took a taxi out to the causeway; the Bay of Panama is on one side and the canal locks begin on the other side. We went to a wonderful open air restaurant called Mi Ranchito. Our table had a thatched roof and we had an amazing view of Panama City behind us and a little marina in front of us. There was a warm tropical breeze the entire evening and diving pelicans for our entertainment. Dad had langostinos (jumbo shrimps) and I had corvina (sea bass) in an incredible garlic sauce. I tried the patacones (fried plantain) which was fun, but not my favorite. Everything was delicious!

The sun sets at about 6:00 and there isn't much dusky time, it just gets dark quickly. Our taxi driver did not show up as promised, so after dinner we walked down the causeway a bit, then just sat and enjoyed the Panama City skyline across the bay (which is beautiful) and listened to lounge music. It was so nice and refreshing not to be in a hurry and feel like we needed to rush off to do something else. As soon as we decided we were ready to go, a taxi drove right up so we didn't have to flag one down. When we returned to La Estancia we sat on the veranda playing cards and watched a fireworks show that we're convinced was our Welcome to Panama!



Being able to let go and see what comes our way instead of trying to make things happen can be difficult sometimes, but the rewards are wonderful!