David our driver from Panama City picked us up at Sarah's in Coronado at noon. 90 minutes later we were in the city. Our first stop was at Ancon Hill, where at 600' we had a sweeping view of Panama City, the Pacific Ocean, the Panama Canal, and old town.
Afterward we drove into Casco Viejo (old town) where the renovation of the old Spanish buildings continues. Many of the Panamanians have been relocated, because the government is gentrifying this UNESCO site.
David then drove us to Cherie and Bill's 23rd floor condo. They have the entire floor! Their building has 25 floors and 25 units, each with a different floor plan. Cherie, Marie, and I visited for several hours and then we all had dinner at their favorite Peruvian restaurant.
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| Road up to Ancon Hill, highest point in Panama City |
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| Bridge of the Americas spanning entrance to Panama Canal |
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Old Town taken from Anton Hill. Note ring encircling it.
This will be a new roadway bypassing a barrio.
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| Panama City from Anton Hill |
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| Toucan on Anton Hill. No kidding! Ya in the city! |
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| Last of Panamanians holding on in Old Town |
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| Renovation still underway |
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| Renovated apartment just to the left of the above photo |
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Controversial roadway being built around Old Town may
jeopardize its UNESCO site designation |
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| Cherie's breakfast room 23 floors up. Yep, the windows open! |
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| Cherie and Bill's apartment building from street |
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| Our room with private bath at Cherie and Bill's |
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Tree serves as host to vines growing
down its trunk. Eventually the host
is strangled and the tree must be
cut down before it falls into the street.
The jungle is alive and well in the
middle of Panama City. |
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| Cherie and Bill's kitchen—ultra modern |
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Dining room in foreground and living room in background.
Can you believe the size of this place? It's 3000 square feet.
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| Night sky from Cherie's breakfast room |
Today, July 24th, we visited the Panama Canal, doing the tourist thing by having the buffet lunch, wandering through all four levels of the Mira Flora Museum (it's well done and each exhibit takes you up another floor until you end at an outdoor observation deck five stories above the Canal) and ending our four hour visit by watching two 750 foot container ships move into the locks.
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This big crane was the first thing
we saw go through the locks |
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Here's a close up of the crane. It's name is Goliath. For some
scale, see if you can see the guy on deck.
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| Goliath on the way out and the Hanjin Dusseldorf on its way in |
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| Dusseldorf being nudged into the lock by tugboat |
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Once in the mules pull the ship the rest of the way in. This
container ship is 750 feet long. |
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| Two mules pulling container ship forward. There were three to its port and starboard |
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| You can see the lines connected to the mule in this pic |
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Beyond the Mira Flora locks the second set of locks is under
construction. This new set of locks will take ships that cannot
fit into the 1000' long and 100' wide current locks. |
The video below shows mules pulling the Dusseldorf to the front of the lock. It has two more levels to drop before being released and sailing into the Pacific.
Today we had breakfast at the Executive Hotel, because Bill and Cherie like their buffet. Afterward Cherie dropped off Bill and took us to find some Kuna (indigenous tribe that lives on islands in the Caribbean but flies to Panama City to sell their work) artisan shops in the Canal Zone and along the Amador Causeway. We followed up this authentic experience with a trip to Albrook Mall, an enormous complex that serves most of Central America. Folks from Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and even Nicaragua arrive in air conditioned busses where they shop till they drop. There's even a hotel at the mall.
You'll get a feel for the enormity of this place from the pictures and video I took. Keep in mind we were there on a Thursday around 1PM and the place was jammed. Every name brand we've heard of, and some we haven't, are there, and if that isn't enough, every kind of western fast food joint is available. Of course, we avoided those.
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| The joys of Europe; in other words high-end stuff |
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| We came in at the Kangeroo entrance. See banner |
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| The eagle entrance |
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| If you're hungry |
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| Marie and our host Cherie |
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| Guess what entrance Marie found? |
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| And me? What a brilliant way to help shoppers stay oriented. |
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| Purchase shoes or a new truck if you like |
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| One of the many wings of Albrook Mall |
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Entrance to Kuna artisan mall on the Amador Causeway. The
van is parked at the entrance and the "mall" is just on the first
floor. The orange building is a restaurant.
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| There's everything from fine hand crafted stuff to chotski |
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| Panama City has a rainforest in the city |
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The natural park (rainforest) has a road running through it
connecting the Panama Zone, Albrook Mall, and city center.
The video below show conspicuous consumers doing
their thing. |
Last entry. We're sitting at the gate in Tocumen International and I thought I'd post pictures of our hosts Cherie and Bill and our driver, David.
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| Cherie and Bill, our fabulous hosts |
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| David is the man and I'd recommend him as a driver to anyone |
