Video of Panama City and the Canal
The gateway into Panama is through Panama City which is conveniently located on the Pacific Ocean right next to the canal. Panama has always been close to the top of my bucket list and I just needed someone to tilt me in that southerly direction. So, I crossed paths with a gal, Danielle, who told me she and her young family lived in Panama on an island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago (which I had never heard of before). I have always wanted to check out the Panama Canal. I know several folks who have sailed through the canal on a cruise and heard them elucidate about the scenery and its extraordinary engineering. So, I decided to find the little island Danielle lives on, check out the Canal and find the harbour Columbus described.
So, I visited a country about the size of Ireland wit more plant species per square kilometer than Brazil. It has vast tropical forests, hundreds of pristine islands and astounding biodiversity.
Birdwatchers consider Panama to be one of the world’s best birdwatching sites. Quetzals, macaws, amazons, parrots and toucans all have sizable populations here, as do many species of tanager and raptor. Right outside Panama City hundreds of species have been spotted along the famous 17km-long Pipeline Rd in Parque Nacional Soberanía. Read More
A travel writer picks the top 10 places to visit in Panama. I covered 4 of them on this tour.
Gatun Lake <– video of this man-made lake where the big ships motor east & west.
Zip Line over Gatun Lake — 5 lines cover about 1km near Colon
I did one better. My Airbnb host connected me up with a guy who helped me rent a panga and motored out into the middle of Gatun Lake (man-made lake in the middle of the isthmus) and sailed around a couple ships transiting the canal. I asked the panga guy if running through the canal and chasing big freighters was OK and he just said “there’s probably someone steering the big boat swearing at us right now” — so, maybe this way of sailing the canal is NOT recommended.
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This city is a surprise — a beautiful, diverse and modern city. I had originally planned to stay in Panama City for 3 days at the beginning of my 2 weeks but liked it so much I tacked on 2 days at the end of my 2 weeks.
[rev_slider PCity]The Panama Canal Zone does not really exist anymore — it is a relic from the time when USA controlled the canal. It is a strip of land about 5 miles (8 km) wide on each side of the canal. The zone was setup as an administrative area where construction workers and U.S. military lived while the U.S. “owned” the canal. The administration of the canal and zone were entrusted to two closely related U.S. agencies, the Panama Canal Company (responsible for operating the canal itself) and the Canal Zone government (responsible for civil rule in the zone).
The zone was abolished on Oct. 1, 1979, with the return to Panama of direct civil control under a treaty signed in 1977. A joint U.S.-Panamanian commission operated the canal until the end of 1999, when Panama assumed full control.
Traveling in and out of the zone seems like traveling between 2 different countries. The architecture and infrastructure of the zone clearly was built by Americans when they administered the canal — things like large barracks for the army, fancy resort hotels for the military brass, buried utilities, etc. Panama City and the zone have melt together and you know when you enter the zone because everything appears different.
[rev_slider CanalZone]I stayed at AirBnb’s in Panama like I do everywhere I travel. I have always said the best AirBnb I ever stayed at was in Athens but the one I stayed in the Canal Zone in Albrook, a suburb of Panama City, might even be better. OK, lets make them tied for number one. Notice I don’t include Cuba’s “Casa Particulars” when comparing AirBnbs’s because their version of AirBnb is a government run booking site (but now accessible from AirBnb’s site). Greg Hawley is a California ex-pat and the proprietor of a huge canal-zone (Albrook) home with 3 guest rooms, a maid named Maria & 2 Labs: Wookie & Bongo. He has lived in Panama for several years and has all the contacts you need to explore the country, the canal and airport transport — he includes a priceless online 10-page things-to-do guide.
Check out this video of Wookie & Bongo.
Colon is on the east coast of Panama on the Atlantic side. While Panama City is a vibrant, welcoming city, Colon is stuck in another century. It has virtually no tourism, no hotels and no Uber. My taxi driver proudly said the government recently paved some streets and restored a couple buildings — that seems to be the only thing done in the past century. Lonely Planet described Colon as “Panama’s most notorious city” and “a sprawling slum of decaying colonial grandeur and desperate human existence.” Frommer’s states that Colon’s reputation as a den of violent crime is exaggerated, but still describes it as Panama’s most unsafe city. 3 reasons to go there: 1) the magnificant Agua Clara locks welcoming center at the Atlantic side of the canal, 2) Portobello (“beautiful port”) about 35 km south of Colon named by Christopher Colombus in 1502, 3) the San Blas Islands.
Apartment block in Colon
