Back to the Spanish 'loin.

Is this what guys really look like in Panama?

From the Causeway

Who would win in a fight- Caribbean Lobster or Maine Lobsta?

Lion fish

Unfinished museum that we wanted to go to and had read it was to be finished in 2011-no such luck.

 

Friday, April 27 2012

Today it was sunny when we woke up and the sun continued to shine for our boat ride with El Presidente and the Caba’dup Crew back from the San Blas Island of Narranjo Chico to mainland Panama.  Before we left I dutifully had to report to the main man at Caba’dup about the state of the ladies’ bathroom.  Yesterday some Israeli girls who were staying at Robinson’s, not Caba’dup, walked over and used the bathrooms here.  Not cool.  Even less cool was the fact that these two dirty cows took big nasty dumps and then they even put the toilet paper in the toilet bowl clogging the flow.  In Central America you never, unless it’s a really nice western style hotel, put the paper in the bowl, always in the trash.  I know this is gross and I don’t really like to do it, but I like clogged toilets even less.  I didn’t want the proprietor to think it was us so I had to let him noh it was the inconsiderate Israelis.  Altho I had no opinion of Israelis when I started this trip I’m starting to form one based on a lot of accumulating negative experiences. 

Once we were back on the Panamanian mainland we got picked up by the Land Cruiser taxi for the 2.5 hour ride thru the jungle and then back to Panama City.  We got dropped off at Luna’s Castle in Casco Viejo again.  Marcie went in to check if they had a private room available but unfortunately they only had dorm beds.  The prospect of sharing a dorm with a bunch of rude Israelis did not appeal to us so we walked back thru Casco into the down and out area on the fringes of the old town and back to our Colombian hotel that we stayed at last week.  As soon as we approached the building thru the steaming stinking streets we spotted the religious nut who sells homemade rice pudding.  I decided to buy one not because I wanted some of his pudding, altho it is good, but to see him do his Jesus freakout that he does after he makes a sale.  This time he got even crazier then the first time that he prayed for us in the Chinese laundry.  He grabbed my hand and started bowing repeatedly to touch his forehead to my hand while he bestowed a bevy of blessings on Marcie and I.  He was speaking really fast but I cot the words Sangre and Fuego (Blood and Fire) so I guess it was a pretty good blessing. 

Soon however we were above the craziness of the streets taking care of some business on the computer in our air conditioned room.  Later we walked back down to Casco and had dinner at a very nice tapas place.  First we had a drink on the rooftop bar overlooking the harbor and the city skyline behind it.  It’s seems strange that a classy restaurant like this is rite next to some of the dirtiest slums that I have ever seen, but like I mentioned a few blogs ago this area is a reclamation work in progress for Panama City. 

Saturday, April 28 2012

I got up early this morning and while Marcie got her beauty rest I went for a walk out of the beat up barrio where our hotel is and across the hi-way to Cerro Ancon.  This is an urban national park on a hill on the outskirts of the city that used to be used as a US military base.  Now abandoned by the US it’s protected from development as a park with a road that winds around it on it’s way up to the summit.  It is not a huge mountain but the climb to the top in the humid early morning heat is a good workout and views from the peak of Panama City to the east, Casco to the south, the Amador Causway to the west and the Panama Canal to the north are really comprehensive.

On my way back down I decided to take a different street back to our hotel room and wake Marcie up for breakfast.  As I headed that way a Hispanic lady stopped me and said No camino alli (don’t walk there).  I replied Por que no (Why not)?  Es pelegroso (It’s dangerous).  Esta Bien, no problemo, I said and kept on walking.  This nay-borhood was particularly decrepit and a couple blocks later two military officers armed to the teeth motioned for me to come over to talk with them.   They told me that I was not allow to walk in El Chorillo because I’m a gringo and it’s too dangerous.  They asked me if I had any money and I lied and said no because I thot it was potentially a shake down.  One of them then pulled 25 cents out of his pocket, gave it to me, hailed a cab and told me to get in.  I obeyed and got a really cheap cab ride back to my hotel.  It was only 9 am at this point and I didn’t think that I was in any danger but I didn’t seem to have any choice in the matter so I just went with the flow.  I’ve never got a cab ride less then $2 in this city but I don’t carry around a big shotgun either.

We went out to breakfast at this French crepe place in Casco that was waaaay too expensive so I only got a juice.  They must think that they’re in Paris or something because there is no way that a crepe with apples, walnuts and cheese is worth $10 US in Panama City. 

Later we took a cab to the Balboa section of town and checked into a private room at the same Amador Hostel that we stayed in last week.  We have to kill a couple of days until our flite to Miami and this hotel is cheaper, has free breakfast, laundry and a kitchen where we can cook our own meals. 

In the afternoon we got a cab out to the Amador causeway where we rented 2 bicycles.  The 2 kilometer causeway starts on the mainland at the mouth of the Panama Canal’s Pacific entrance and connects with a few off shore islands.  We rode bikes around here for the afternoon, visited a nice nature center run by the US’s Smithsonian Institute and had some gelato. 

Back in Balboa at our hotel we cooked a scrumptious dinner (I figured out the secret for how to get hash browns nice and crispy) and watched “Contraband” starring Mark Walberg, on my brother Will’s recommendation because it has a lot of smuggling scenes set in Panama City.  The movie actually shows a realistic version of the city and the port.  You can tell the Panama scenes were shot on location and not just on a set in LA.

~Jon