Panama Canal

When in Panama…see the canal! We didn’t want to go with a big bus tour, so we contacted a private company and we had a personal guide (Mike Freeman – an American) for the day.
During the ride into the city we learned a lot about Panama and their culture. Mike and his wife had retired and moved to Panama so it was interesting to hear his thoughts on making the move to a new country and culture.
He dropped us off at the canal and thought we would only need 1.5 hours, but we ended up there for about 3 hours! It was really interesting….as soon as we got there a cargo ship was going through the locks so it was awesome to see first hand how the locomotives steer the ships through the locks and keep it centred. Then we watched a video on the construction and history of the canal and then followed an interactive tour which focused upon different elements of the canal. For example, the canal’s history, water and wildlife with the canal, the canal and the world, and the new locks that will be built by 2014.
Afterwards, we went to visit the Old City of Panama which had been burned down to the ground by pirates in the 1500’s. The old city is really interesting as builders restore them to their former styles. The Embira Indians were also out on the streets selling their wares. I tried to take a photo, but they wanted us to purchase something first before taking a photo.
Of course, no city outing is complete without getting lost! Mike had a GPS, but decided to ignore it and see what happened. As a result, we had an extra tour through some of the city’s needier and seedier areas. It was a little tense, but finally we got back on track and headed back to the safety and familiarity of the resort.