May 29, 2019–Day 2 of the great adventure
We were picked up early by Roberto and Fabio.  He was an amazing guide for the day.  His command of the English language was remarkable —he could literally answer any question we threw at him, add SO much information about everything we saw and were going to see, and more.  He identified birds and animals by their sounds, made great lunch suggestions, and really was a perfect way to enjoy this day.

We started off with a train ride from Panama City to Colon.  The train traveled along the canal, through the rainforest, over part of the lake which makes up part of the canal, and all parts between.  Fabio and Roberto did not ride the train but met us at the station as the rest of our day was from there and they drove us where we had scheduled to go.

First stop was the Agua Clara Locks which is a newer channel to accommodate BIGGER cargo vessels.  The timing was perfect as a ginormous container vessel happened to be entering.  Some of these vessels carry 40,000 containers!  That is not a typo!  We watched it enter the 1st lock, watched the gates close (not a typical “V” but just straight out) and the water lowered as did the ship—-amazing!  It entered the 2nd lock and same thing, and also the 3rd.  We left at this point to explore more of the area.  This addition was needed as so many vessels need to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the Pacific to the Atlantic.  While we were watching this, another ship was in the “older” channel.  Most of the economy in this area is dependent on the canal and the shipping industry.  The logistics is hard to even wrap your head around!

We then took a ferry across the canal to our next adventure, to visit the fortress of San Lorenzo.  San Lorenzo was located on a cliff above the mouth of the river that was the trade route most used to get to Panama City.  It wasn’t easy per se but it was easier that’s sailing all the way around South America!  Pirates often frequented the area including one Captain Morgan, known also for growing sugar can and rum in Jamaica.  :). Apparently he had MANY pirates follow him which was unusual and his men attacked San Lorenzo on their way to Panama City.  It was the most interesting drive to get there—-think BUMPY roads and driving all over the road to avoid the potholes and such.  The rainforest is a 2nd generation forest so there isn’t a tall canopy again/yet.  The American military used this area in the 60s to train for the Vietnam war so much of it was destroyed or reduced.  It was still pretty and thick and green!  Lots of birds, and we saw howler monkeys and a the Panamanian white-faced capuchin monkey.  One of the howlers had a little one it held while crawling around.  It was fun and it looked like they were checking us out!  The guide that was leading the other tour at San Lorenzo showed Fabio a picture of a boa (as in BIG snake) they’d seen on the road in; it was gone when we drove back out.

We ate at a marina—-it was a lively place but most of the people there stopped in as they were boating by.  We had sea bass ceviche as an appetizer and squid for our entree.   We then got to drive across two of the gates of the Clara locks!!!!  There is a bridge that is completed but they are working on the roads leading up to it, so we had to take the ferry to the fortress and national park (the fort is in the park) but we could drive across the gates on the way back over.  Fabio saved that bit of news as a surprise.  It was incredible to see another ship passing but from the “lower end”—-85 feet lower to be exact.

What a day.  We ended by having them drop us off in “historic” Panama City so we could wander around.  The architecture here was reminiscent of Europe with its French and Spanish influence.  We walked back to our hotel to get ready for our journey home tomorrow.

Fabio said it was very interesting that we didn’t get rained on either day as it usually rains.  They are entering their “dry” season but that just means it rains less.  :). They typically have quite a few tourists during our winters so this was their less busy season.   Apparently the government tourism division is working on marketing all of what Panama has to offer, not just the canal.  We thought the canal was incredible, truly an engineering marvel.

Here are some pics of the day.