Driving the Canal
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008Day 89
We decided that it was best to rent a car for Panama, I’m not so sure Norm and Vikki would be up for buses and with only 2 weeks we needed to get around quickly. We were due to pickup that rental car tomorrow however after a quick discussion over breakfast we all agreed it would be best to have the car today and head out of the city to the canal. I changed our reservation and we made our way to Thirfty to pickup our wheels. A Dhiatsu Terrios was what we received, it was sort of like a Honda CRV. Small but enough room for the 4 of us and the luggage, plus it was 4 wheel drive which is a necessity on some of Panama’s roads.
I pulled out onto the Via Espana, the 4 lane road that cuts through the centre of the city. It was mid-morning so we missed most of the heavy traffic. As intimidating as you might think driving in Panama is the drivers here are tame compared with the rest of Central America. We easily found our way to the Corredor Norte which would lead us out to the canal zone. After some looping about, paying the same toll twice and me scaring the hell out of Norm we finally found the street that follows the Canal. Driving here was easy enough but the lack of signage made it tough to determine what street you we on or which direction you were driving.
Only 12km from the city is the first set of locks, Miraflores Locks. The Miraflores locks have been developed into the main visitor centre of the canal. 4 levels containing a museum, restaurant, theatre and viewing platform. We all paid our admission, Norm and Vikki getting the lucky senior rate. Here was also a large museum on the canal and tons of information on how it works. The difference between the museum here and in the city was here at Miraflores everything was bilingual, Spanish and English. After wandering the museum we made our way to the 4th level viewing platform. The locks were impressive down below but we had missed the large ships. The past from the Pacific to the Atlantic in the early morning and in reverse from 3-5pm. So we decided to try and return later in the day.
One of the most impressive parts of the canal zone is that for the most part it is surrounded by virgin rainforest. As we drove past Miraflores further down the canal the jungle grew dense to our right and we caught glimpses of the canal on the left. Soberania National park is only 20km from the city but protects a large area of primary forest. It felt as if we had travelled days deep into the rainforest. We stopped to visit a botanical gardens and zoo. The centre was well done and gave a good representation of the flora and fauna found in the region without actually venturing into the jungle. Sort of a lazy mans jungle safari. We saw several monkeys, birds and other animals native to the Panamanian rainforest but most impressive was the large Harpy eagle. A rare bird that requires a large wild habitat to survive. The Harpy can actually be found in the wilds east of here and in the remote Darien Gap of Panama. The eagle was munching, actually ripping apart a piece of meat when we saw him, very impressive bird.
We all climbed back into our rental and continued down the canal road to the small settlement of Gamboa. Gamboa is the end of the canal road, from here the canal cuts through thick rainforest and through the continental divide. There is nothing to see here, to be honest I just wanted to go because it was where the road ends. Feels a bit adventurous, I always think remote places like these will be interesting. In reality they are almost always the same. Boring, deserted and run down looking, Gamboa was no different. We turned to head back towards the city, as we followed the canal we noticed several large ships were now making their way toward the Pacific, a chance for us to view a giant ship in the locks. I raced back to the Miraflores locks, scarring the hell out of Norm by this point with my driving. He was close to being relegated to the backseat. In my defence it was more the other drivers than me, I always did the speed limit. Back at the Miraflores locks and we could see a huge container ship passing through, we all ran up the stairs, showed our tickets and then up to the 4th floor viewing platform. I think everyone was impressed but myself more so than the others. This was something I had wanted to see ever since thinking of coming to Panama. Watching the locks open, fill with water and then raise this massive ship was a fascinating sight. I snapped pictures with my new camera as Jordana, Norm and Vikki lost interest. Directly behind this ship was an even bigger container vessel. As I snapped more shots I noticed the others looked bored. Jordana asked, “Do we have to stay to watch another?” I could have watched boats go through here all day. As good as the canal was it was time to depart.
It was a good full day of sightseeing and we finally got to see the large boats sail through the canal. For dinner we took a taxi to trendy Via Argentina. A tree lined street in central Panama. Trapiche was an authentic Panamanian place where Jordana and I dined on tasty fish, yet again deep fried. Everything is deep fried. Vikki stuck to chicken and Norm was the most adventurous ordering a sort of Panama sampler dish. This plate was huge, loaded with pork, chicken and beef. There might have even been a vegetable, all were traditional Panamanian dishes and Norm seemed to enjoy everything. The four of us finished the night with beer and wine back at the hostal. A fine day and even though Panama city has lots to offer we were all excited to be moving on in the morning to discover the countryside.
Michael Coroneos