Yes, I did spell it correctly – only one “L”

We had a private tour to Portobelo, then on to Colon and back to Panama on the train. The highlight of the day was Portobelo. The drive there took about 1.5 hours – along the canal, over the continental divide, through the rain forest to arrive at the Caribbean. So we went from the west coast to the east coast in 1.5 hours. How long would it take to drive from the west coast to the east coast of Canada?

On our way we passed a French cemetery. There was a plaque in front of the cemetery which was a field filled with small white crosses – too many to count. Each cross represents 100 French who died building the canal. The French built the Suez Canal, but it was all at sea level and they couldn’t handle the rocky terrain they found here. So the US took over and completed the canal in 1914.

Columbus was the first European to set foot at Portobelo in 1502. Because it was a major trading port and part of the link to the Pacific it was a target for pirates over the years. At one point the port (Portobelo means beautiful port), which is at the end of a long bay, was protected by 3 forts. We visited 2 of the fort remains.

There were 7 separate major pirate attacks on the town. The last by Captain Morgan who took 500 men in over land to attack and destroy the town. The forts were rebuilt in the early 1700s and eventually were left to decline to their current state. A landslide 2 years ago during the rainy season took out one wall of one Fort and a local family’s home nearby.

We also visited the restored Customs House & Museum and the local church which is famous for the Black Christ.The Black Christ attracts thousands of pilgrims each October 21 for a ceremony. Pilgrims come in the hope of being healed.  Portobelo is also the location of a major celebration in early February, a Carnival similar to Mardi Gras. The church has some very interesting, different, stained glass. 

    
 
We stopped for lunch at a small cafe on the water. It is part of a small beach resort with interesting decor, a nice beach and a diving program 

    
Some thoughts about Panama. There is significant income from the canal yet the country seems poor, based on what we saw. Most housing is concrete block with corricated tin roofs, lots of garbage on the sides of the road. But every house has a  satellite dish (very colourful dishes. Red, green, blue). Some dugout canoes lying by the houses near the water. Colourful houses – like walking down the street in St John’s NFLD, but colour only on the front of the houses. Open markets on the side of the road like what we saw in India. 

 Very colourful local buses. All privately owned. The owners pay for a bus route, have to maintain the route and schedule. They provide and decorate their own buses – apparently lots of lights and stuff at night. The side are usually painted as well – and no advertising that I saw.

   
A mask in the Portobelo museum

 
A “super” market. Apparently there are a lot of Chinese opening these kind of stores.

Our drive through the rain forest was interesting in that it was very dry! This is the dry season. But we had rain. It rains every day summer (dry season) and winter (rainy season). The difference is the amount of rain!

Colon is a city of contrasts with very prosperous areas (owners of the Free Zone shopping areas) and the rest of the city which is very run down, our guide was nervous driving through some of the areas near the Cruise ship docks. The train ride back ran beside the canal for part of the way so we had a small look at the canal. Off the coast of Colon (Caribbean side) there were lots of large container ships lined up to enter the canal or on their way out.

Tomorrow we have a partial transit through the canal and meet our guide at 6:00 am so now off to bed.

Rick, all the pictures here were taken by me, using my iPhone. Pat