Panama - bridging the continents
Our first port of call within Panama was the little town of Boquette. Boquette is nestled within coffee growing areas and the stuff is abundant. A certain coffee king would have a field day here. Not only do Panamamians claim that their coffee is the best but for the last decade every winner of the coveted world coffee championship has been from Panama. Not always the same region but always from Panama. So theres a tip for you - find the Panama coffee not the Colombian. Personally I remember Boquette for "Zanzibar Jazz Bar" a 
wonderful establishment where I got very drunk on a wonderful concoction called chocolate martini. It has neither chocolate nor martini in it but it tasted good nethertheless. Due to the continual afternoon torrential downpours, we opted not to spend an evening camping on a beach but headed off a day early to Panama City. This was the view that greated us as we arrived on the outskirts of Panama City. Yes those Panama people can build impressive bridges (if only they would pass their knowledge on to the Costa Ricans). Not surprisingly our first stop was the famous Panama Canal. The Canal connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and is 48 miles long. The French originally tried to build it in the 1800's but after the deaths of 20,000 plus workers and out of control costs they gave up. The Americans took over the construction and only left Panama in 1999. Ships are charged according to their mass to cross the c
anal. The most expensive ship cost over $250,000 whilst the cheapest crossing was done by a bloke swimming the canal. He was charged around $0.30. We stopped at the Miraflores lock. The size of the ships are immense, they really do have to be seen to be believed. The ships are built to the exact measurements of the Panama Canal. On average 90 ships per day can pass through, the canal never shuts. As they are passing through the locks, the ships have only centimetres to spare on either side. They are piloted through by smaller tugs and guided by vechicles that run on tracks beside the sides of the locks. The whole precedure only takes a few minutes as the ship passes through one lock to the next and is totally mesmorising. The next couple of days were spent within Panama City - not the most beautiful city in the world. One thing they do exceptionally well here is the fast food outlets within shopping centres. The food is up to restaurant standards at some places and costs less than $3. The taxis are also extremley cheap. We drove around the city for what seemed liked hours, to be charged the vast sum of $2. Alas this is the end of my Central American adventure - next stop South America.
wonderful establishment where I got very drunk on a wonderful concoction called chocolate martini. It has neither chocolate nor martini in it but it tasted good nethertheless. Due to the continual afternoon torrential downpours, we opted not to spend an evening camping on a beach but headed off a day early to Panama City. This was the view that greated us as we arrived on the outskirts of Panama City. Yes those Panama people can build impressive bridges (if only they would pass their knowledge on to the Costa Ricans). Not surprisingly our first stop was the famous Panama Canal. The Canal connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and is 48 miles long. The French originally tried to build it in the 1800's but after the deaths of 20,000 plus workers and out of control costs they gave up. The Americans took over the construction and only left Panama in 1999. Ships are charged according to their mass to cross the c
anal. The most expensive ship cost over $250,000 whilst the cheapest crossing was done by a bloke swimming the canal. He was charged around $0.30. We stopped at the Miraflores lock. The size of the ships are immense, they really do have to be seen to be believed. The ships are built to the exact measurements of the Panama Canal. On average 90 ships per day can pass through, the canal never shuts. As they are passing through the locks, the ships have only centimetres to spare on either side. They are piloted through by smaller tugs and guided by vechicles that run on tracks beside the sides of the locks. The whole precedure only takes a few minutes as the ship passes through one lock to the next and is totally mesmorising. The next couple of days were spent within Panama City - not the most beautiful city in the world. One thing they do exceptionally well here is the fast food outlets within shopping centres. The food is up to restaurant standards at some places and costs less than $3. The taxis are also extremley cheap. We drove around the city for what seemed liked hours, to be charged the vast sum of $2. Alas this is the end of my Central American adventure - next stop South America.
2 comments:
Did you know that the lock gates in the Panama Canal was built to take the biggest ship in the world at the time,but it never went through-it was the Titanic!!
OMG Zoe, please don't tell me you travelled thousands of miles to buy a Mcdonalds in Panama!!!!!
Take Care xx
Post a Comment