Canal!

This should be my last post about Panama. Sorry it has taken me so long to get the whole trip covered. This post is about the last tour we were able to go on. It was called the Partial Transit of the Panama Canal. On this tour we were able to get a first-hand view of the Canal operation by going through 2 sets of locks, the Pedro Miguel and the Miraflores. The following graphic shows how the canal operates.

The reason they raise and lower the boats is because the lake (Gatun Lake) in the middle of the Canal is at 85 feet above sea level. So they raise the boats to the level of the lake and once you get to the other side they lower you back down to sea level. On a typical day they said it takes 8 hours to get from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and vice versa through the Canal. 

We started our trip in the middle of Gatun Lake and headed towards the Pacific Ocean.This is the lovely boat we spent the majority of the day on.

 Along the way we passed underneath this neat bridge that was built by the US. It is the only bridge that crosses over the Canal. And apparently it is a tradition to kiss someone while you are directly under the bridge. At least that is what the tour guide told us.

A little while after the bridge we came upon the first set of locks. We were headed for the lock on the left while this huge ship carrying cars was headed for the lock on the right.

As we approached the lock they opened up this huge door so we could go in.

 

This is what it looks like inside the lock. They said the locks are 1000 feet long and 110 feet wide. They try to squeeze as many boats/ships as possible in at one time to conserve water since all the water is fresh water flowing in from Gatun Lake and it is currently their dry season. 

We had to wait forever for this ship to come in behind us. If you look close there are little trains off to the sides guiding/pulling the ship into the lock. As you can see the ship barely fits width wise.  

Here is a lovely picture of us in front of the huge doors of the Pedro Miguel Lock.

Like I said there are huge doors right in front of our boat. They are the original doors from when the Canal was finished in 1914. Note the level of the water and then the next few pictures will show what it looks like as they lower the water. I think they said it takes about 2 minutes for the water to lower. 

Pretty neat huh? While they were opening up the doors we got a picture of me touching the wall next to our boat. We were told that it is good luck to do this. :)

After we got through this lock we headed for the Miraflores Lock. On the way we caught a brief glimpse of the Panama Temple.

The second lock took a lot more time to get through because we had to wait for the huge ship that was behind us at the first lock to catch up and go through the second lock with us. So while we waited we took some pictures. Here is one of the Panama Canal Visitor Center.

Here is a picture of.... Brian.

Finally the ship behind us caught up. I still can't believe how large that thing is.

Once the ship was secured behind us they lowered the water and let us through the huge doors.

This is the view looking back at the lock with a neat tug boat behind us.

We got another brief glimpse of the Panama Temple once we got out of the Canal. It is a really pretty temple.

It was at this point that we thought our tour would be over. Nope, we had to ride another hour to the dock where our bus was waiting for us. Mind you we had already been on this boat for about 6 hours and it was hot and humid. Let's just say the tour was awesome but we were exhausted. Brian found ways to entertain himself by taking pictures.

We are so exciting aren't we?

Well I have one more cool picture to show you of the Panama City skyline. We couldn't believe how many huge buildings they have. It was impressive.  

Well that is the end of our trip to Panama! I hope it wasn't too boring for everyone. :)

Panama - Eco Canal

The second tour we went on was called the Eco Canal. We boarded some boats at the mouth of the Chagres River and sailed through Gatun Lake (the lake in the middle of the Panama Canal). It was a nice boat ride and we had pretty sweet life jackets on too.

We saw huge ships being guided by tug boats through the lake. It was pretty cool to see.

After a 20 min ride we stopped at the Island of Silence (one of many islands in the middle of Gatun Lake) to relax and have lunch. When we got done with our lunch Brian decided we should explore the island a little bit. We found a little trail just off from the lunch area so we went for a short walk. It was pretty cool how dense this little area of rainforest was.

After our little walk we joined the group again just as they were getting ready to leave. Our next stop was feeding wild monkeys on another island in the middle of the lake. The second we pulled up to the island monkeys came swinging from all over when they heard the engines of the boats. They were obviously used to being fed when the boats came around. We didn't get a picture of it but one monkey ran across the canopy of our boat and reached down to me, while making a cute monkey noise, beckoning me to hand him the muffin in my hand. I reached up and gave it to him and he ran off into the trees to enjoy his earnings.  You can kind of see him holding the muffin in his hand.

Next we got to see a real live sloth climbing a tree. Hopefully you can pick him out in this picture. He's basically in the middle but he blends with tree really well.

Just after that Brian caught this neat picture of a falcon taking flight.

We also saw a bunch of iguanas sitting on branches just basking in the sun. On our way back to the tour bus we also got to see a crocodile just off the shore of the canal. I think that was the first one I've seen that wasn't in a zoo.

 All in all it was a pretty neat tour and the views were amazing. Panama really is a pretty country.

Panama - Zoo

One place we got to visit while in Panama was the zoo. We were with a tour group so we had a guide who also spoke English and French the whole time. Here is the entrance!

Their zoo was a pretty neat place. The first thing we got to do was feed monkeys, through a fence.

 The monkeys were surprisingly good at catching food thrown to them. They were cute little guys.

After that we went on a walk through the zoo where the tour guide told us all about the different trees and flowers that grow in Panama. It was extremely hot outside and it was nice to take a rest in this shaded area.

Yes, that is bamboo. It was amazing to see how tall it can grow.



While the tour group moved on we hung back so Brian could climb the bamboo.

It was amazing how many animals were not in this zoo, but it was a beautiful place none the less.

Here are pictures of the animals we did see. The first animal is a Baird's Tapir.

We had never heard of these before, but to us they looked like a cross between a bear and an anteater.



Another animal we got to see was Panama's national bird the Harpy Eagle. Its claws can grow to be 4 inches long and it's favorite thing to hunt and eat is a sloth. I don't think I would want to mess with one of these guys.

All in all I think Brian's favorite part about the zoo was their open or no door policy in the men's bathroom. I took this picture from the main path. There's definitely nothing to hide here. :)

Yay for the zoo!

Beach Resort

So I'm finding that it is hard to find time to blog regularly. It's going to take me forever to get through our whole trip to Panama. So here's a quick post about our lodging while in Panama.

The hotel we stayed at was called the

Sheraton Bijao Beach Resort.



As the name suggests our hotel was right on the beach and it was beautiful. Here is the view we had from our balcony.

We couldn't believe how beautiful the pools were.  

And the beach was beautiful too!

Brian decided to get up early one morning and go for a run on the beach. He didn't realize that running on the beach barefoot is like running on sandpaper... literally. He ended up with huge blisters on his toes.  

Another painful event that could have been avoided was getting sunburned. If only we had put on more sunscreen. One night as Brian got out of the shower I heard "Tiff! Hurry! You got to see this!" I wasn't quite sure what he could show me in the bathroom that would be exciting. As I walked in I found the he had discovered that if he pressed on his sun burnt skin it briefly left white imprints. I guess we are both easily entertained because I took the following photos.

There's never a dull moment when Brian is around! :)

Panama! Part I

The last week of February we went on vacation to Panama. You are probably thinking "why Panama?" We have definitely been asked that a lot. We definitely felt like the minority when it came to tourists from the US. One thing that we found out while we were there is that the majority of Panama's tourism comes from Canada. At least that is how it seemed. Every tour we went on the tour guide spoke English, Spanish and French. It was quite impressive.

On the subject of tours we were able to go on 3 different tours while we were there. The first tour we went on was to the Embera Indigenous Village. The Embera people live in the Chagres National Park in Panama but are native to Columbia. Here is a map showing the area they live in.  

There are no roads to their village so we had to ride in boats called pirogues. The Embera make them out of trees that they hollowed out and stuck a motor on the back. We didn't get a very good picture of one but these pictures give a pretty good clue as to what they look like.



Here is a shot of their village as we were pulling up to it.

When we got there the Embera people were very welcoming. Their chief greeted us and told us a little bit about the history of their tribe and what goes on in a normal day in their village. Here is their chief and our tour guide Victory who translated everything he said into English and French.

Next a woman from the tribe explained to us the role of the women and showed us the materials they used to make their bowls and plates. They basically "shred" up leaves and let them lay out to dry and then they dye them with different colored plants and dirt to give them color.

Once they are all dry they weave them into these bowls and plates.

Next she told us about their clothing. The only thing I remember her saying is that the coins on their "shirts" are US quarters. We thought that was kind of interesting.

After that they fed us lunch. A traditional meal that they prepare in their village... fish and fried plantains served in a rolled up banana tree leaf. 

I am not a fish fan, but I was brave and gave it a try. I didn't want to offend them by not eating their food. I was surprisingly impressed. It tasted pretty good despite the fact that it didn't smell very good. They also served us fresh pineapple and cantaloupe. I don't think I have ever had cantaloupe that tasted so good. It was a amazing.

After lunch they treated us to some tribal music and dancing.

(I tried to upload a video of them dancing but apparently blogger doesn't like the format our movies are in. Lame.)

I did take one picture of Brian joining in on the fun!

And last but not least we got tattoos. Not real tattoos of course but ones that stay on for about 12 days. I'm not quite sure what they use to make the tattoos but it was some kind of dye. I got a nice little flower on my foot.

And Brian got a manly design on his arm. (I never got a chance to take a picture of it while we were at the village but I got one a fews days later while at the pool.)

When the nice lady was done with Brian's tattoo he asked her in his broken Spanish if he could give her a tattoo on her arm. I'm not sure she knew what she was consenting to but she was very kind and let Brian draw a tattoo on her arm. He is quite the artist. He may need to change professions.

After watching children play with a beach ball someone brought....

we put on our life jackets and headed back to the pirogues.

That is the end of day 1.