Panama Canal

The highlight of the Panama City trip for me was visiting the Panama Canal, specifically the Miraflores locks. The interpretation center was packed when we arrived and thinned out as the morning progressed. We decided to have an early lunch and then dragged it out so we could have a prime seat for the next ship coming through.

The canal is an amazing feat of engineering and construction, especially for the time that it was designed and built. The human story behind its construction is even more compelling with many told and untold sacrifices. Its scale, reliability and impact on world commerce is impressive. Currently, the government is expanding the capacity of the canal by building two new locks to accommodate New Panamax class ships. Unfortunately, parts of that project have been delayed by construction disputes.

The Panama Canal is facing fresh competitive pressures as well.  A Chinese firm has been awarded a 50 year concession by the Nicaraguan government to design, build and operate a new canal running nearly 300 km through that country. This would be one of the world's largest construction projects valued at approximately $40 Billion USD. Construction is scheduled to begin late 2014 with the new canal operational by 2020.  As with nearly all megaprojects, there are concerns about environmental impact and expropriation of property.  With a mindful approach, this project should be very good for the Nicaraguan economy and demonstrates the bold thinking required to improve the world's infrastructure. Many capable nations seem to have lost the plot being mired down in politics and institutionalized corruption.

Another source of competition for the Panama Canal that appears likely is the opening of new shipping routes through the Northwest Passage due to the unprecedented melting of Arctic sea ice.  This could happen by mid-century and comes with severe environmental and geopolitical risks.

 

 

On the way to Panama City

I think I made the most of our trip from Bocas. I felt really present and enjoyed it when Liam fell asleep on the water taxi driver's arm.  Neither one of them flinched for the entire ride.  Feeling extra adventurous, I tried the dodgy coffee at the bus station, but must admit to feeling nauseous for about the first hour of the ride. Thought I might win the family bet.  During our lunch stop, I enjoyed the roadside cuisine that filled us up for $10. There were a few things that weren't so great about the bus including the music video serenade at the end of the ultraviolent movies. It started with an hour of mariachi music which was ok, but then followed with a Jackson 5 lookalike band making the most grating of noises for another hour.  By then Liam was more interested in the breast feeder across the aisle. That kept his attention better than any video.  And to add insult to injury, a foul smelling curtain kept slapping me in the face every time the people ahead of me moved in their seats.  

We were relieved to arrive in Panama City.  The bus depot was great.  We were not swarmed by any hawkers. We easily found a taxi and the driver helped us locate our apartment.  Later that night we thought we picked up fleas from the bus when we couldn't stop scratching.  Turns out it was some sort of psychological purge to rid ourselves of bus trip memory as well as maybe a few fly bites from Bocas.

 

The Wonders of Bocas del Toro

Kristin explained the mayhem that was the Caribbean side land border crossing from Costa Rica to Panama, so I won't dwell on it other than to add that I need to do a better job of listening to my instincts - after all that's why we have them. New rule: never take water transport unless we book it directly. Let's just say that the water taxi we used to leave Bocas town had a compass, two radios and an abundance of life jackets. I would only recommend the land border crossing to those travelling on a restrictive budget or to those who enjoy self-flagellation. I commend our children's resiliency.

Once you get past the moody immigration officials with their arbitrary rules, the travel scammers and the physically challenging obstacles lays the beautiful island of Colon. We stayed just outside of Bocas town by the gas station (there's only one) in a condo building surrounded by a local neighborhood. Rosie and Muhammed made our stay as pleasant as possible despite the presence of the local rooster and its early morning antics that pretty much spilled into the entire day. The only upside to the occasional heavy rain was that it seemed to dampen the rooster's spirit more than ours.

While preparing for this trip, I read that the most memorable part of travelling is often centered around the people you meet and less so the places you see. That has been my experience during previous travels and it has been reinforced on this trip. We met some lovely and interesting people in Bocas. Kristin's friend's niece, Victoria, was so generous with her time and advice. Bocas is definitely a place where knowing someone can make a big difference. Long before we arrived, Victoria was answering emails and responding to all sorts of questions. We rented 4-wheelers based on her recommendation, traveled to a couple of great beaches and ate at numerous awesome restaurants including El Ultimo Refugio, Bibi's on the Beach, La Casbah and Alberto's Pizza. By the way, I am horrible at taking photos and making notes for my foodie write ups. I was hoping that Kristin would help to remind me, but she is apparently suffering from the same affliction.

We met Steve and his wife, Rhonda, at The Flying Pirates. The couple moved from Los Angeles to start a flying business. They are 'can do' people and unafraid of taking risks.  Their business branched into renting kayaks, Jeeps and quads. I wasn't initially convinced that renting the quads was a good idea, but soon changed my mind.  I highly recommend it to others.

All is not perfect in Bocas. Definitely a tough place for many locals to make a living, so you have to expect occasional 'gringo' pricing and aggressive 'fixers' especially when you look like prototypical tourists as we do. Kristin stood her ground with the taxi drivers so they would not overcharge us - kind of reminds me of someone else in the family. Medical care is spartan, but the farmacia helped us out when we needed drops for Maeve's apparent ear infection. Bocas was not a cheap place for us, but I think once you settle down there for a while and learn to live less like a tourist, things would get better. 

On a side note, we challenged the kids to make a scary movie for Halloween that we will post on the blog. Their travels for the next couple of months will be the set.