We arrived in Panama the morning of May 20th. Our friend Ghinno picked us up from the airport and took us to his apartment where we would be staying for our six days there. Ghinno and his wife live in the center of the city in a high rise apartment building so we had great views of the city. We had sunny weather most of the time we were there which is rare for this time of year. We kept hearing that we were lucky to see so much sun since Panamá is currently in its rainy season. With the sun came extreme heat... we weren´t crazy about the heat and humidity but at least it wasn´t rain!
the view from Ghinno and Adriana´s apartment
Our main goals in Panamá were to see the Panamá Canal and visit some neighborhoods where my grandparents, dad and uncle used to live. They lived in Panamá because my grandpa was a police officer in the former Canal Zone. The first full day there we went to the Miraflores Locks at the canal. At the visitor´s center there is a museum, theater, and several observation decks where you can watch boats of all sizes pass through the locks. There are constantly boats going through all day every day. We happened to see a set of 6 small boats go through first, then a large cargo ship an hour or so later. We learned that the locks are all powered by gravity. The water that is used to fill the lower locks comes directly from a lake that is at a higher elevation so there are no water pumps necessary. Another interesting fact that we learned is that the canal makes about 4 million dollars every 24 hours just in tolls paid by the ships that pass through.
Miraflores Locks
These are the 6 small boats. They each paid anywhere from $500 to $2000 to use the canal.
This larger ship paid around $124,000 to use the canal. You can see in this picture how tight of a fit the locks are for the larger boats. The little trains on the sides are what are used to guide the boat through.
We found one of the houses that my dad lived in when he was a kid!
On Sunday we went to church with another friend, Betsaida. There we saw many more people that we studied with in Argentina. Some of us went out to eat after church at Don Lee, our favorite chinese restaurant in Panamá (Panamá´s food is very similar to what we eat in the U.S... you can find a little of everything). After lunch we took an hour bus ride to Betsaida´s house and got to meet her family.
some of us at Don Lee
Us with Betsaida, her husband Pablo, daughter Tiara, and Betsaida´s parents. Her son, Matias is the one in the yellow shirt on the little bike. He wasn´t too excited about having his picture taken. :) Before we left they gave us a fresh mango and avacado from the trees the have in their backyard. Yum!
Between all of the friends we have in Panamá we had a lot of people willing to take us around and show us different places. We were really fortunate to see so many places in only 6 days. Here are some pictures from the rest of our time in Panamá.
This man is making a raspado (shaved ice) in a park downtown Panamá City.
We love raspados!
This little fella is a ñeque. The look a lot like rats to me, but a little bigger and no tail. Wherever there are lots of trees you can find them running around.
We also saw lots of trees with this fruit (we can´t remember the name). The seed that grows on the bottom of this fruit is where we get cashews.
Inside the Iglesia San Jose in the old part of the city. This altar is made out of pure gold. It is famous because supposedly when pirates were plundering Panamá the alter was painted black so it wouldn´t be stolen. I guess it worked!
We also spent some time relaxing at the apartment pool.
An overview of the city
The Gatún Locks. There are three sets of locks in the canal. These are the locks closest to the Atlantic Ocean. There is no visitor´s center here, just a bridge that you drive over that takes you down to almost the level of the water.
Sunset at Shelter Bay
Ghinno and Seth with some Spanish ruins from the old Panamá.
From Panamá we flew back to Rio de Janeiro with a layover in Sao Paulo. We are so glad to be done with buses! Our plane into Rio was all decorated for the movie Rio!
Hey ya'll, we have enjoyed reading about your travels but I have one question......what airline/flight will you two be arriving on? Please call or email me that info. Can't wait to see you both. Love ya, Mom
ReplyDeleteThis is what wikipedia says about the cashew fruit tree:
ReplyDelete"The cashew is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples."
Does that sound familiar?