Walkin' the Dog

Maybe we are all getting tired and grouchy but today was a bust. The only redeeming factor is the beach.
We left the hotel at 8:30 this morning heading El Valle in Anton Valley. This whole area is 1800 feet above sea level and was created by a volcano long ago. The trip was pretty enough although terribly uncomfortable and long as the road was very winding and narrow. The ride was over an hour.
OUr first destination was a zoo and botanical garden. The garden part was locked and the animals in the zoo all seemed stressed and hungry. We were all saying “an hour’s drive for this?” Leaving the zoo they took us to an “artisan’s market” in town. Geez, more cheap trinkets.
Finally we are on the hour trip back down the mountain to our resort. Lunch was more of the same buffet we’ve eaten since Panama City. Yuck. But tonight we had reservations in the Thai Restaurant. High hopes dashed again as it was the worst meal yet – barely resembling Thai food.
But there will be no alarm for waking in the morning as departure isn’t until 11 am. One last chance for the beach or pool. Then we’ll be back in Panama City for two nights.

We departed our rainforest resort at 8:30 for a short drive to the Chagres River launch. There we loaded on 4 boats, 10 to a boat for a cruise up the river to an Embera Indian village in a national park. The cruise was interesting to say the least.
At the village we were greeted and treated to music and dance and exceptional hospitality from the natives. I’ll let the pictures tell the thousand words.
When that adventure concluded about noon we had an hour and a half drive to our next stop – Playa Blanca on the Pacific Coast. We had lunch and then our rooms were ready. The rest of the afternoon Ursula and I walked along the beach and sat in the sun.
Tomorrow in the morning we will be visiting a town situated in the crater of a dormant volcano. Then after lunch it will be back to the beach for the rest of the day. What a life!!

[caption id="attachment_249" align="alignnone" width="432" caption="This little monkey stole the whole show!!"][/caption]

We left our rainforest resort a little after 8 am headed back towards Panama City and the Pacific. We boarded a canal cruise ship for our tour through the canal.

The boat was steeped in history having been built in 1912 for JP Morgan. It is the oldest operating tour boat in the canal. It was a calm quiet ride into the Miraflores Locks and out into Miraflores Lake for a glide through Gailliard Cut. The weather was as perfect as it gets. The sun came out just long enough to give us an idea what Panama sun could be but mostly it was overcast and relatively cool. The breeze from the moving boat was very pleasant.

Entering the first chamber of the Miraflores Locks. Two other boats and ours went through together.

 

Exiting the second chamber into the Miraflores Lake. Each chamber raised our boat about 20′ in about 8 minutes.

Our canal cruise ended around 2 pm and we arrived back at the hotel with time on our hands. Three of our newly made friends – one being a bilingual – decided to take a cab to a nearby zoo. About 10 minutes into our zoo visit (in the rainforest) it began to rain. And it really rained. By the time we got back to our cab for the drive back to the hotel we were drenched BUT quite refreshed!!

At any rate we were back in our room, dried off in time to watch the last half as Minnesota beat Dallas. Sweet!

Tomorrow we leave at 8:30 for a cruise on the Chagres River to an Embera Indian village. Later in the day we will be in our next resort on the Pacific Coast for two nights.

We left Panama City at 8:05 this morning heading across the country 50 miles to the Atlantic side.
Portabela was our first stop. The traffic was extra sticky because of the Black Christ celebration that will culminate on Oct. 21 as Panamanians make an annual pilgrimage to the church their to honor the Black Christ.
The little village is rich in history and being there was special.

Leaving Portobello we had lunch in Colon. The hotel had a casino and one of the ladies in our group hit the jackpot on quarter slots for $1000.
Leaving Colon after lunch we drove to the Gatun Locks for a drive by view then on to our hotel.
Tonight we are in a beautiful new Radisson on a hilltop golf course in the middle of a national park rainforest. Tomorrow we cruise the canal!

Old Panama and Miraflores Locks – not a lot of excitement

Dinner starts at 6 pm with a “surprise show” at 7:30. I’ll let you know what it is but I’m betting some kind of musical dance thing.

Yesterday was a grueling travel day. Sixteen and a half hours to get here due to a plane malfunction delay in Miami.

This morning after breakfast we are going by tour bus to Old Panama and the canal museum at Miraflores Locks.

I’ve deleted all the blogs to make room for new photos and comments from our trip to Panama which starts Thursday at 7 am at Will Rogers. We will be on the Panama Canal on Saturday and in a rain forest resort for a couple of days after that. Check back soon.

The K9s will be at Top Dog Pet Resort – they seem to like it there. And Freeman will be by the house to tend to the cats every day.

We’ve been waiting and waiting for this trip and now IT’S ALMOST HERE!!