My Equator Adventure: Panama City

February 13-18, 2016

After my big sailing adventure, it was on to Panama City, or as they call it in Panama, Panama. It seems a bit confusing to me, but it works for them.

I don't have that many photos actually, even though I spent 6 days there. For one, I spent a couple of those days just recovering and not worrying too much about sightseeing. For two, I actually didn't like the city all that much.

Hot, crowded, kinda dirty and smelly, as big cities tend to be. I stayed in the old town, but even it didn't have the same kind of charm that other cities have had that just begged for photos to be taken. It was interesting to note however that there didn't seem to be a middle class. Places tended to be incredibly upscale, or ramshackle run down.

One of the prettier churches

Some ruins in the old town. I'm actually not sure what their history is.

The Palacio Municipal. It was pretty all lit up with their flag colors.

I did enjoy the views along the water. The downtown skyscrapers all seemed to follow a blue-grey-green color palate which I thought was pretty.

And I drove past this skyscraper on the bus. It qualifies as legit.

I was going to go see the ruins of the old city of Panama, which Captain Morgan (yes, THAT Captain Morgan) sacked in 1671. But it was a steeper fee for something I had thought was free, you could just walk through to the old places which now live beneath a residential area. So I bailed. This was outside the visitor center.

I went to the Afro-Antillian Museum which was small and had some interesting stuff about the West Indies population, especially in regard to building the railroad and canal. Pictures were banned but I snuck some anyway.

I liked this quilt too.

Also the Museo del Canal Interoceánico (Canal Museum), which was very well done, though I went a little too late and it closed on me before I got to the exhibit of historical photographs of the canal.

Scale models of sailing and pirate ships from the period

There was stuff on building the railroad that connected the coasts before the canal did, and the workers lives. They got paid $0.80 per full day of work.

Also the building of the canal, from the failed French attempt to the successful US one after Panama declared independence from Colombia and the political aftermath leading to Panama taking over running it. One display referred to US President James Carter which I found amusing.

And that leads to the highlight of Panama City for me, the Panama Canal itself! It gets its own post though. That'll be up next.

I had a failed attempt to get to the canal (buses did NOT cooperate) and I ended up at a mall instead where I found this merry-go-round. I'm pretty sure the ponies have those dusters on a stick on their heads.

One other thing that was fun in Panama City is the buses. Imagine taking old decomissioned US school buses (which they did) dipping them in white paint, and then dipping them in Mardi Gras. That gets you close To what they look like.