Serenade of the Seas Day 5 of 12 - Colon, Panama - Deestimes

Friday, March 6, 2020

Today is the farthest from home we have ever been and the closest to the equator. Our first look from our cabin at 6:25am on this cloudy morning shows a huge shipping area.

This is our view from the rear of the ship at breakfast.

Small boats with people fishing in the water.

Ship is being refueled at this port.

Excursion today is to the locks. Always wanted to cruise through the Panama canal locks. This should be a great day.

As we leave on the bus the first thing noticed is there are multiple casinos right at the dock.

We are heading to Portobelo, Panama and then on to the Expanded Panama Canal. The tour guide is excellent and is providing very interesting information about Colon and Panama. Below you will find some of the information she provided.

Panama

Was part of Columbia at one time.
Main language is Spanish and only 25% speak English.
English as of 2003 is now mandatory to be taken in all schools
There are seven Indigenous tribes that all speak a different language.
Lots of people from Columbia and Venezuela are currently moving into Panama.
There are no roads between Panama and Columbia due to the rain forest being there. They are protecting the rain forest.
Gasoline comes from the United States and the current price is $3.20 a gallon, but it is sold in liters.
Has two seasons – rainy season from 4/15-12/15 and the dry season the rest of the year.
Cruise season is September through May.
70% of people are Catholic, other 30% are a mixture of many different religions.
School runs from 3/2 – first week of December.
It is mandatory to finish High School.
Balboa is the coin used and has gold in the middle.
Instead of printing their own paper money, they use US paper money.
Divorce rate high in newly married (3-5 years range)
16 is the minimum age for driving
Minors not allowed to walk down the street after 9pm.
Baseball is the favorite sport.

Colon, Panama

Lots of people live in Colon rent and utility free.
Government is cleaning up the city now and it will be cleaned up within 7 years.
300,000 people live in Colon and most originated from Jamaica and Trinidad
Most in the Colon province countryside work in colon city or agriculture. Bus to the city costs about 1.50

Passed the Colon Duty Free Zone. This is the second largest Free Zone in the world

Old United States school buses are used for public transportation and we saw a lot of them on this trip.

This is the land of the Taxi Cabs. Interesting was that you saw a lot of them throughout the countryside not only in the city. Passed hundreds of these throughout the day. Taxis have license plates on the front and back, whereas personal vehicles only have them on the back.

Also the land of the bus stops. Never seen so many bus stops all through the countryside roads. And they mostly were occupied with people waiting for a bus.

Saw a lot of this type of scenery. Do animals get in their garbage, like our bears?

We stopped at this crossroad in Maria Chiquita and the tour guide got off bus and paid a toll. Notice that there is a man with a bicycle in the picture. On the 6 hour tour that is the only bicycle rider I saw and no motorcycles or scooters. Very strange, in other counties we see a lot.

First stop a bathroom break at this little closed restaurant.

The patio overlooked the water. Gorgeous view.

We got off the bus at the Fuerte Santiago ruins and walked about a mile into Portobello where we got back on bus. No words can describe the feelings from the awe of the views, the compassion for the people, and the sense of peace and simplicity in the area. So many emotions – just look at the pictures below. One thing observed is that every house had a tv dish on the roof and everyone was talking and texting on cell phones.

These kids have found a way to make some money. They came running up and asked our tour guide if they could dance for us. Look at the video below.

On to the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is the key to Panama’s economy. This canal is run by the government and takes in a few billion dollars a year and has about 12,000 workers.

We are very fortunate and a Princess cruise ship is in the locks. This ship paid about $650,000 to pass through all locks and go from Pacific Coast to East Coast in the new expanded canal. The original canal takes ships with a 965 feet maximum. Prior to this new expanded canal this ship would not have been able to go through the locks. See pictures below as the ship passes through first lock into the second. The first lock refilled and gates were opening for a freight ship to enter from fresh water Gatun lake.