Panama City 21 February 2024.

It was a pleasant morning and we decided we should go into Panama City an at least see the old town which is apparently very attractive.  Keith organised a taxi for 10.30am and Jonas and I finished servicing the generator by changing the fuel filter. I had spoken to John, the rigger, and I explained about the bolts coming loose on the propeller coupling and he said that I should use Loctite (glue) to secure them. I made a note to get some and I took our gas cylinder to be filled.

We left about 10.30 am and once out of the marina we were surrounded by jungle and an old American airbase of which the marina was part. There were old barrack huts and old now falling down buildings and the old runway as part of the road system. As time went on I realised the road just cuts through proper jungle with big trees, bushes, palm trees and banana trees. It looked lush and thick and you could imagine lots of wild animals within it. I know there are lots of howling monkeys in the trees near the marina.

The road from the marina took us over the Atlantic Bridge which passed over the canal channel from the breakwater and we could see the channel to the locks and the Gatun locks in the distance.  It was quite a sight from the bridge. We came across Colon which was not far from the breakwater and which was quite poor with lots of rubbish around, shacks and single-story buildings with people hording containers, plastic water carriers etc. We then came across a prison which was a large run down building a bit like a large warehouse with metal barriers over the windows and metal fences and barbed wire. There was an entrance which had a number of phone booths outside (presumably visitors can ring from the gate as they cannot meet face to face). It looked so run down and decrepit and very backward and you could see the inmates looking and hanging out the windows. It was typical South American scenery and poverty.   

From Colon we drove on toward Panama City and on a motorway with a reasonable amount of traffic. I noticed that a lot of the tucks were the American large trucks with two exhausts behind the enormous cabs they use. I also noticed that the buses were the US School bus shape albeit not yellow but painted very brightly with painted designs on the side. The journey took us about an hour and a half and the road cut through the jungle with thick jungle either side and there were a number of roadworks going on and you could see the soil being a dark rustic colour – like the Devon colour.

On the way we stopped at the Pedro Miguel lock, being the first lock going to the Pacific side which was interesting. There were no commercial ships but we saw three yachts rafting up to go through the locks.  We then approached Panama City and saw the skyscrapers and commercial buildings of a major city. They had built a motorway out in the sea which swung round toward the city and this meant the traffic did not have to go through the old city which remained on a promontory on its own. The old town had a different skyline of low-level buildings, church spires and monuments.

The driver dropped us off in the old town which was very attractive with old colonial style buildings with balconies and bougainvillea growing on them. `There were many run-down buildings with faded glory and many being restored. However there were lots of colourful buildings with upmarket shops selling clothes, Panama hats and generally upmarket goods. There were some poor old buildings but these were in tne minority. There were a number of government/state buildings which were impressive. I had heard that the residents were not too impressed by the buildings being restored and turned into shops rather than remaining as residences. I have never been to Cuba but it seemed to me that the area was the type of town you may see in Cuba.

We walked to the Canal Museum which was very interesting with Panama being created as an Independent nation through what was called the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty. Under this treaty the US agreed to build the canal and recognise Panama as a nation although all the land around the canal was deemed to be American. There was also quite a lot about the different workers on the canal and which involved many different nationalities with some workers being deemed to be Silver workers who wages were lower and whose conditions were worse from Gold Workers who tended to be white. I also had not realised that the Panama canal was only given to the Panamians in 1999 by the then President Jimmy Carter so since it was completed in 1914 it has been in American hands.

After the museum we had lunch and then wondered around the old town which I have described. We returned to our marina retracing our steps but via a supermarket and hardware store. John the rigger came round told us he had a bazooka on board regarding pirates should he need it. He also says he has a US flag which he may put out and thinks that pirates may think he is armed as most Americans are.  He told us a story when once he was being shadowed by a suspicious vessel so he got his AIS system and was able to change the fact that he was a Yacht into an American Warship!! It worked as the boat then disappeared.     

As we returned to the marina the heavens opened and it poured. We decided to go to the restaurant for supper as it was easy an late to cook. It has been an infesting day and I that I have a good feel for Panama now. 

The blog will continue as we head off to Panama and beyond.

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