Two weeks ago on Saturday and 600km from Bocas de Torro, we arrived in Panama City´s enormous central bus terminal. We were going to be staying with our former RSPB colleague Rita Besana. Rita was due back from Mexico on Sunday and had deputised Diego to look after us. After the air conditioning on the bus the heat, fumes and bustle of the place really hit us. It was 6.30pm and like the unreliable bums we`re becoming we had failed to say what time we would be arriving... So it was with some trepidation that we called Rita`s appartment and hoped Diego would be home! Phew, he was.
The next challenge was to find a taxi and to explain in Spanish how to get to Rita´s place. Luckily she`d emailed us instructions, because, in Panama quite a few of the streets don`t have names. What we had to say was “please take us to the Villa Fuentes number 1 neighborhood, turn left at the second fountain and it`s the orange building at the end of the street called Summer Hill”! A second peculiarity of the Panama the city, is the taxi drivers. We were lucky to find one straight away prepared to take us where we wanted to go! If they don`t feel like going to your destination, they turn you down! Fleecing gringos is another thing, but we`d been forwarned by Diego and got a reasonable price.... except for our last ride out of town a week later, but then we`d been through 6 taxi firms to get the one that turned up...
Saturday night was pizza and beer with Diego and two of his friends. Sunday was a lazy day. Thirteen floors up we had a fantastic view of the city and every comfort (and Rita`s ensuite room) to hand. Diego offered us to show us whatever we wanted and I disappointed him by asking how the washing machine worked! I`m sorry, but a girl`s got to have clean knickers. And it was so nice to have down time on a comfy sofa (that`s one thing we really do miss from home, besides a decent cup of tea...). That afternoon, we stirred ourselves to explore the neighborhood, as usual our priorities were to find a supermarket and an internet cafe. Having achieved our goals we returned home with groceries to make dinner for Rita`s return. But, rather like us she hadn´t said what time she`d be home so we had to start without her!
It was great to meet up with Rita again after two years. Who else can make you feel good about turfing them out of their bed and bathroom?! Rita slept on the sofa for the 6 nights we were there – Dan offered to swap, but Rita said she snored (if you believe that!) and would keep me awake. Now we really felt guilty, but said “OK”!
Having made ourselves very comfortable – making coffee, raiding Rita`s cartoon collection, watching TV.... in the next few days we proceeded to see the sights of the city. Zooming around from place to place in clapped out taxis we saw the charming old colonial quarter (the Casca Antigua), the still substantial ruins of the first settlement (Panama viejo), the impressive Milaflores Lock on the Panama canal and the *Botanical Gardens*. The latter was disappointing, after a long wait for the bus and a packed ride we got there to find a municipal park and a rather lousy zoo. Dan got to see a Harpy Eagle though, in a small cage while its enclosure underwent repairs.
We made the mistake of touring the colonial quarter and the ruins on the Monday, when all the museums are shut. But, as is the way of things around here, we got to see the ruins close up by greasing the palm of the caretaker (a police officer pointed us in his direction). We noticed several other furtive employees also profiting in this way, accompanied by their hapless gringos. I have to say Captain Henry Morgan the Brit who put the city to flame did a pretty thorough job... there wasn´t much left. Two days later we had a day away from the city to visit Portobelo on the caribbean coast (almost up to Colon and turn right), an important trading place in its time for gold looted by Spaniards from the indigenous peoples. Gold and goods (including slaves) came to and from Panama City via the Camino Real. Various Englishmen put Portobelo to flames too, three times, forcing the Spanish to build stronger and stronger fortifications before abandoning the place altogether. Now it draws the crowds once a year because it`s home to a Black Christ.
The bay of Portobelo is also the final resting place of Sir Francis Drake. It´s a bit strange having been here because in September 2007 we visited his birthplace in Devon and Panama seemed a very long way away! Drake´s lead coffin was located by scuba enthusiasts a few years ago, but the Ministry of Defence quietly asked the Panamanian Government to intervene and leave the old pirate in peace.
The Panama Canal was another day out and worth the visit. It`s an amazing engineering feat, but it took two attempts (over about 40 years) and 22,000 lives to build. Malaria and Yellow Fever were the main killers and it`s here that they finally figured out that these diseases are carried by mosquitos. Too late for too many though by the time the canal was opened in 1914. We saw two container ships pass through, guided by small electric trains. The maximum tonnage is around 75,000 TEU, the appropriately named Panamax class. In recent years this has been dwarfed by much larger ships, so much so that the Government of Panama is building new locks at each end of the canal to cope with demand. This time excavations and construction wil be much faster (we heard an explosion while there), but still expensive and will re-use the water in the locks via specially designed canal basins. The old locks rely on the watershed along the canal (and the artificial Lake Gatun) which has become a biodiversity haven and on the plentiful rain to operate. Interestingly most of the electricity in Panama is generated by rain, through the hydro-electric dams.
Back in the big city before we left we had a run in with the cops! We were stopped as part of the regular ID checks. You have to carry your passport everywhere here, a new law says that copies won`t do. Of course the locals know and luckily Rita and Diego told us, but the authorities don´t bother to tell foreigners entering the country. We`ve been stopped 3 times in three weeks: at the bottom of Rita`s street in a taxi, in a bus and yesterday in a mini bus taking us white water rafting. Is this the way we´re going in the UK? In the last case, one guy only had a copy of his ID on him. We were delayed for an hour while they took his details, drove 5 minutes to the border to get the right forms (and sent him to get duplicates) and then charged him 10 dollars for the priviledge. It was his second fine in a week because he`d left his US passport in Panama City... at least this time he got a receipt! We`re OK though, if we get in trouble anywhere in this country we`re to call Rita or Diego. They have special Diplomatic Status and can pull strings! Which just proves once again the old adage that it`s not what you know, but who you know that matters...
