We again find ourselves with an overnight port stay and two days to take in the local scene, this time in Panama. We were docked right in the center of the commercial port of Colón, a bustling hub of activity due to its proximity to the canal.
On the first day we took a planned excursion tour of the Gatun Locks. This is the first of six pairs of locks that create the Panama Canal. They raise ships 85 feet up to Gatun Lake, an artificial 21 mile waterway created in 1913 for this purpose.
We returned to the ship for the evening and decided not to head out into downtown Colón for the night life.
I took some photos of our docking situation. We were in the commercial port and needed to take a bus, no pedestrian traffic was allowed outside of the warehouse next to our ship. You can see all the tankers and cargo ship lined up waiting their turn to transit the lock.
The next day we took a cab along the shore to the northeast of Colon to a town called Portobelo and Castillo de San Jerónimo. The town was founded in 1597 as a Spanish port and served as a major silver hub. The fort was situated at the terminus of the bay and was created to protect the town and port from pirates seeking the valuable exports. It was an impressive installation mainly because of the wear, use, and weather that made it look even more aged.
The grey skies and circling vultures gave an ominous feeling, but made for some well exposed and interesting photos.
Afterward we explored around the local town of Portobelo. It was a pretty sleepy hamlet on the afternoon we visited with many picturesque vignettes.
On our way back to the port, our driver stopped at a little community with access to a spit of beach for us to examine. It was a gray day which made the waters less sparkling blue I’m sure, but compared with our experience in Costa Rica the beach was just not as clean and relaxing.
Back to the port, we spent some time at the port-side bar in the cruise “terminal” aka the warehouse next to the ship. That evening just after sunset we cast off lines and departed Panama and Central America, beginning our return trip northward.
The next port of call is: