Panama, the Canal and Beyond + Colonial Cartagena - Nov 2014

Day Two – 8 November 2014

Weather: Oh no, the sun is out.

I’m the type that never complains about the cold. That’s the nice thing about Canada. In summer, it never gets hot enough to need air conditioning (where I live) and in winter it doesn’t get cold enough that we can’t go outside. I’ve been to places where it is hot enough to force one to stay inside. So, I get to enjoy four seasons outside.

All this means I can whine about the heat. LOL

Then I googled the weather for Panama City and Google will bring up a quick reference window showing the forecast for the day….and all I saw 50 degrees.

Once I picked myself off the floor, I realized it was the forecast for Panama City, Florida…and it was in Fahrenheit.

Let me try that again. Okay. Leave out the word City. Ah, 30 degrees and 39 humidex.

Oh, and when I say complain…I mean have fun with it. Oh look, I can hang my washing on the back of a chair in the sunbeam and it should be the time I get back from breakfast.

Oh…just took my cell phone out of the sunbeam. I had to drag it by the charger cord…it was too hot to touch.

Hmmm…I might have to turn the AC back on or my bed will be a puddle on the floor when I get back.

Anyway…where was I? Oh yeah. I was awake at 7:30 which meant I got 10 hours of blissful sleep. Something to be said for not being woken up hourly by a 19 year old cat with dementia looking for a heat source.

I went down to breakfast at 9 am. Nice spread. An omelet station where you get to choose your toppings and then hand them to the cook. A full selection of all the sides and a toaster that takes two slices and gives you back one. I expect to hear the fire alarm any second now.

I got back to my room to find the side of my pants facing the window was dry. Yup. I’m turning on the AC and closing the curtains while I’m gone.

I was down to the lobby for 10 and Gustavo told us we could thank the Panama Canal Authority for the late start, but that if we were delayed at all, we could blame the Panama Canal Authority. Then he said they had already thrown a wrench in the plan for the day as the transit wasn’t starting until 2 pm, so he decided to take us to the old town first.



We got aboard the bus and I headed for the back seat and slowly the seats around me filled by others who walked straight back. Yup, we’re the fun crowd.

We drove along Balboa Ave towards Casco Antiguo. Casco Antiguo was established in 1637 as a public market and much of the area is under restoration. We got off the bus and Gustavo showed us to the Presidential Palace. The President works there. He lives at the Miramar Residential Tower. (We’re in the Miramar Intercontinental…so he’s next door).

We walked along streets that remind my very much of New Orleans. (Haven’t been…don’t need to now…LOL) Gustavo showed us the Panama City Cathedral which is closed except for special occasions.



Now, around this point, my pen ran out of ink, so I missed some of the commentary. I remember he showed us to a statue of General Herrera on a horse and he said it was the only equine statue in the country.



Then he asked us what it means if one of the horse’s leg is off the ground, like this statue. After a few suggestions, he said it meant the rider was wounded in battle.

And if both legs were up, the rider died.

If all four are up…the horse died too.

Heh.

So, we returned to the square and someone asked about bathrooms. The only place with a bathroom was the museum but he was a bit cryptic about it. He said to visit the gift shop then go to the bathroom. The problem is the museum will let you into the gift shop for free but you had to pay admission to use the washroom. She tried to get me to pay for them but I escaped. I only went in to buy a pen.

Back in the square, Gustavo treated us all to a shaved ice drink. The vendor used an interesting contraption to scrap the ice off a block and then you could squirt stuff in it…like a slush puppy. And soooo refreshing in 30+ weather.



And of course, there were cats.



By now, the clouds are moving in and we feel sprinkles just as we board the bus. We were supposed to visit the market but ran out of time and headed straight for the boat.

En route, Gustavo said that Panama no longer had an army. The national police just has multiple branches to cover everything. He said that Panama doesn’t get hurricanes thanks to the Coriolis Effect which means the systems will always shift to the right (except hurricanes named Sandy) so Panama’s location means the storms don’t quite make it down here. He also said Panama doesn’t get earthquakes because it’s sitting on its own micro-tectonic plate sandwiched between the Nazca, Cocos and Caribbean plates. They get tremors but nothing major.

There is also no hunting permitted in Panama except by some native groups. As we passed through a national park, he said the area around the Canal is preserved because the rain forest provides water that is necessary to maintain the water levels in the Canal.

As we approach the dock, Gustavo says that we should not do anything to upset the Canal police. Even the most minor offence can get you banned from the Canal for life. He told us a story of some men who were in Panama for business and took the partial transit tour like what we’re doing. En route, they mooned a canal pilot and when they got ashore, the Canal police were waiting for them.

They got fined. Their company got fined. They got fired.

Just before the dock area, we passed over a one lane bridge that he said a previous Trafalgar guest had dubbed the Oh My God Bridge.



Then we passed an area with what Gustavo described as a 1 star resort which was all inclusive. Yup. It’s the prison where Noreiga has a suite.

We arrived at the dock and boarded the tour boat which is designed for 400 but only had 200 today. (I can’t imagine 400 fitting!). As we boarded, Gustavo said they were serving snacks and we picked up a bun, cake and saw a bin the size of a washer and dryer filled with soft drinks, water, juice and ice. All free and kept filled throughout the day.



We launched not long after 1 pm when the guide came on and said that there were delays and that we expected to get through by 7 or 8 pm.

Well, you want to see mouths drop. LOL. We thought we’d be back by 4 pm.

And just as Gustavo said…don’t blame the boat or guides. Blame the Panama Canal Authority.

Just don’t moon them.

So, we started sailing through the cuts (areas where the hills had been cut back to prevent landslides) and got a long explanation about the Canal.



Panama got its independence from Spain in 1821 but united with Colombia for protection. Not long after, France came looking to build a canal. They hired the guy who had built the Suez Canal thinking it wouldn’t be that hard. The Panama Canal needed to only be 50 miles long while the Suez is 100 miles.

However, the Suez is a level canal built in the desert and the terrain dug up was sand for the most part.

In Panama, they faced mountains, jungle and disease, not to mention the heat. They were faced with cutting through rock while battling yellow fever and malaria. Twenty-three thousand died from the disease and the project went bust after 20 years.



In 1890, Colombian civil problems led to Panama to look at separating from Colombia and they looked to the US to help them by offering them the opportunity to build a canal. The US had sent its Pacific navy to the Caribbean during the Spanish American war and it took so long to get there, the war was over by the time they arrived. Because of this, they wanted a shorter route. They were already looking to build one in Nicaragua but realized they could build one in Panama that was much much shorter. Essentially, by utilizing locks on both ends, they could transit most of the distance on Gatun Lake and in the end only had to excavate about ten miles.

So, the US agreed and Panama ceded from Colombia. The US navy blockaded the Colombian navy so that they couldn’t do anything about it and in 1903, the US began construction of the Canal. It was completed in 1914. It meant that ships no longer had to spend 2 weeks traveling around the Horn to get to the other side, which even with the cost of transiting the Canal, was a great cost savings.



The locks are 110 feet wide which restricts ships to that width. Those ships are called Panamax ships. The larger ships are called Post-Panamax and the new locks will be able to accommodate most of them. If a ship is more than 65 feet long, it requires a pilot.



We were served lunch on the ship – rice, beef, chicken and salad. The chicken was delicious. And then we sat down and spent a total of nine hours transiting through two locks with a trimaran and a container ship.



We first went through the Pedro Miguel lock which was a single section and then moved to the Miraflores locks which had two sections. We got to see how the mules work on either side of the lock to keep the larger ships in line as they move through the locks under their own power.



Gustavo told us the average cost to transit the Canal is $120,000. The small craft like the trimaran behind us, pays $800. Our tour boat pays $3000. The largest cruise ship to go through the canal, the Norwegian Pearl paid $480,000.

And now they are constructing a third set of locks large enough to accommodate the super-tankers. They expect the revenue from the new locks to increase from $1 billion a year to $7 billion a year. As it got dark, we could see the construction in the area to the west of the locks. They expect to have the third locks completed in a year.



The airspace above the canal is also a no-fly zone as they want to prevent any accidents or damage to the locks given that closing them for any length of time would be devastating to the Panamanian and US economy and of course, the world economy.

This wasn’t my first time through locks so I knew what would happen. I wandered the boat, held my camera above everyone’s head to snap a pic at specific times and then sat back down with our group and chatted as we went down, down and down.



It made for a very long day and we were spent by the time the boat docked at one of the islands at the end of the Amador Causeway. We were back in the hotel just after 9 pm and I lapsed into a coma.
 

Oops

Day Five – 11 Nov 2014

Weather: Sunny and warm

I changed my wake up call after to 6 am cause they were calling early and sure enough, I got a call at 5:40. So, they were either late with my 5:30 call or early with my 6 am one. The sun rose just after six so I had everything packed and ready to go, so I was able to lay on the hammock for a while and watch the sun rise.



I went down for a quick omelet and went out to see if the toucan had come back to the papaya tree outside the lobby. The birder in the group was out there waiting and moments later, one of them showed up.



We watched, took pics and waited….7:30 came and went and then we started to wonder what was going on. Gustavo said the bus had broken down and that they were going to send three smaller buses. (Remember, our regular bus is already in David with our luggage).

Just after 8 am, the buses arrived and we loaded up and were off. Halfway there we met up with the traffic that Gustavo said we were trying to get ahead of by leaving at 7:30. We moved slowly for a few kilometres and saw that two other main roads fed into this one so that it slowed traffic. Once we passed the second feeder, the traffic sped up and then we got to multi-lane roads. We got to the airport by 9:30. Gustavo had taken the first bus and gone on first to check us all in so when we arrived, he had the passports and boarding cards ready for each of us.



Our 11 am Air Panama flight took off at 10 am. So, we were late leaving the hotel and early leaving the airport. The flight was on a Fokker 50 Air Panama aircraft and flew right over the bridge.



The flight took about an hour and we met up with our driver at the airport.

We left David and drove towards Cerro Punta – about 90 minutes away. This is the map he showed us.



En route, Gustavo told us that the area is called Chiriqui which means Valley of the Moon. It has a population of about 440,000. It’s an important region for Panama for the agriculture. In the lowlands, they grow tomatoes, corn etc and in the highlands they grow colder weather plants like carrot, potato, onions, coffee etc.

Gustavo handed around a map above to show where we were in relation to the “country to the west.” That’s better known as Costa Rica to the rest of us, but they don’t call it by name.

They don’t want to give it the extra exposure and attention.

So, when I decide to go to Costa Rica, I’ll got to my travel agent and say that I want to go to the country west of Panama.

The highest peak in Panama – Volcan Baru – is here. It’s among the 25 volcanoes in Panama though most of them are under water.



We pass through some beautiful green hills as we climb into the highlands and Gustavo points out Cerro Punta – the pointed mountain.



Below it is the 100 hectare stud farm. It breeds thoroughbreds and employs 27 people and the owner had set up a tent for us to have lunch in the spot that is reserved for their own special functions like weddings.



There were young horses in the paddock nearby and after getting some pics, we sat down for a delicious feed of rice, chicken, beef, salad and strawberry shortcake.



After lunch, we walked up to the stables where we were shown some of the horses boarded at the farm as well as some of their champions, like Dicky’s Cat, Tortellini Ted and Papa’s Bull. They had been bought in the US and brought here to breed.



The competition lifespan of the horses is 2 to 7 years but they’ll retire at 5 years if they are particularly successful. This way, they are bred when they are their most virile.

We were given a chance to feed some grass to the horses and then went inside to be shown where “the action” happens. It’s in the centre of the stable in the open and the floor is a soft, cork-like material and there are padded sides so that the horses can be pushed up against them so that they don’t hurt themselves. Fifteen days later, the mare is checked to see if she is pregnant. The stud can have up to 3 mares in one day but after that, it can be risky.

Take note, guys. Three. A day. After that, it gets risky.



After that, they brought out a work horse named Centurion and gave people a chance to sit on it and get their pic taken. The sun had come out and it was perfect weather for pics.



After a bathroom break, we headed back towards David. Apparently, there is a shorter route but that it’s too weavy for the big buses, and given that some had felt motion sickness on the slightly curvy drive up the mountain, the curvy road would have done them in.



As we left the area, the clouds looked very angry and sure enough, as we descended towards David, the skies darkened and opened up. It poured all the way to Boquete. Gustavo gave us a bathroom break after David and we were able to pick up snacks and that. We pulled into The Finca Lerida around 6:30 (after dark) and we needed guided help to find our rooms. Most are up the hill but I’m below them in a cabin where I seem to be able to pick up the wifi from the office next door.



The bathroom in this room is nice and the TV has the NFL Network, so I’m set. We get dinner tonight starting at 8. Gustavo had us pick between two choices – steak or chicken with flan for desert. I go up to the restaurant and find that everyone up top has a hammock.



But they don’t get the wifi in their rooms….lol

The dinner was delicious and I go back to my room to be reunited with my bag. All is good.
 

Day Seven – 13 Nov 2014

Weather: Gorgeous in Boquete. Oven once we passed David.

A phone woke me up at 5:40. No idea whose phone it was as most didn’t get a wake up. We knew this was possible and most had their alarms set on their phones. I got changed quick and walked up to the restaurant to watch the sun rise. I took a chair from outside the restaurant and sat down. One tourmate glanced out her door and did a double take to see me there, sitting in the pre-dawn light. Then I realized the moon was directly above me. Cool.

The staff showed up at 6:30 and started serving at 7 am. The girl remembered I had tea and offered one to me before giving everyone a coffee. I was talking to the others and learned the geisha goes for $27 a pound so I decided to pick up a pound. Then I could offer everyone a single cup of coffee as a souvenir.

We were done and down waiting for the bus at 8 and left shortly after. It’s our one long bus day and everyone is ready for it. As we passed David, Gustavo put on a documentary that detailed the construction of the Panama Canal and filled in a lot of holes in what I had learned so far.

We stopped for a bathroom break half way through the film and Gustavo held up a roll of toilet paper and asked that the last person to use the bathroom please bring back the roll. Yes, if you come to Panama, bring tissue.

Back aboard, Gustavo told us we would have to go through a checkpoint between this province and the next. It’s meant to be a buffer between those who might get in from the “country to the west” and the rest of Panama. Kinda like the jungle to the east of Panama City. The Pan Am highway doesn’t cut through there because the Panamanians like the buffer between them and the troubles in Colombia.

As we approached the check point, Gustavo stands up and tells us to remain calm. Then he smiles.

I have to admit, he has to be one of the funniest TDs I’ve had. His English is excellent and he gets a lot of slang. And is learning more. At one point he said something about folding the rules. We asked twice and he repeated ‘folding the rules’ and then almost all at once everyone got it. Bend the rules! LOL

He said the border guard might come on and say ‘oh, gringos’ and just leave. Which is pretty well what he did. Gustavo said the term gringo can be used for anyone of European descent. It’s not limited to any nationality. Just to Caucasians.

We passed through without a hitch and stopped shortly after so people could visit some stalls along the highway. I went for the walk.



Lunch was in Santiago at a cafeteria type of restaurant and we were limited to 45 minutes so that we could make up some time.



There was almost continuous construction on the highway from David to Santiago as they were doubling the highway. It’s unreal that there was like almost 200 km of unbroken construction. I imagine being able to work on the road all year round helps.

After lunch we found ourselves on a divided highway and expect this will speed up the second half of the trip. By 3:30, we pulled into a basilica at Nata. The settlement was established in 1515, before Panama City. The Spaniards wanted to settle the area since it was so agriculturally rich and had a lot of wildlife.



We took some pics and were off for the last bit of the long trip. There is some grumbling among the others that we should have flown back to Panama City and that they were more than willing to pay the extra to have that as opposed to a very long day on the bus. I have to agree. And I think the Boquete visit could be replaced with a visit to Colon instead. We went all that way for what essentially was a visit to a horse farm and a coffee plantation. I don’t think it was worth the effort. Instead, since everyone on this tour is fascinated by the Canal, I think taking the Panama Canal train to the Caribbean coast would be the cherry on top of an amazing journey.

One thing is certain. This tour gives one far more Canal experience than any cruise.

For the last two hours of the bus trip, Gustavo put The Bourne Legacy on the tv and that helped the time go by. The credits rolled just as we pulled into the Westin Playa Bonita at 7 pm. The hotel is located across the bridge from Panama City.

And what a hotel.



Some people have transfers that leave the hotel at 5 am so they’re not even going to see the view out the window. My transfer isn’t until 8 am so I’ll get to see something.



We get up to our rooms and are back down for our Farewell Dinner at 8 pm. Thankfully, it’s a buffet. No one could face a 2 to 3 hour menu meal. We feasted, exchanged emails and hugs and birthday wishes for one woman. Gustavo got her a cake and gave her and other November babies a gift. It was a nice end to a great tour.



Now, on to Cartagena.
 

Day Nine – 15 Nov 2014

Weather: Shoot me now…32 with 39 humidex. Feels like 55.

I slept a good solid 8 hours but still have sinuses and a slight cough. Gotta wonder which customs is going to quarantine me – the US or Canada. One other girl was sick coming from Panama and they asked her where she had travelled.

I had been woken by gunshots in the middle of the night. Given that I’m on the interior courtyard, it really sounded like they came from inside the hotel but I later heard they were celebrating in the street and that it was either gunshots or fire crackers.

I got back to sleep and rolled out of bed by 7 am and went down to breakfast. It’s a pretty cool setup. Not much in the way of eggs but there cereal, fruit, coffee, toast and that. There are like ten tables in the room.

We met up with David at 9 am and he gave us each a water and we started the walking tour of old town Cartagena. How he manages this heat in a black shirt, I’ll never know. And the humidity is only 70%. Can’t comprehend 90%.

David started by saying Cartagena is the friendliest city in Colombia. The old town was originally settled by escaped slaves and they remained after slavery was abolished. Their dialect, Bantu, is what the hotel is named for. The women made money by carrying fruit on their heads and many around will pose with the fruit up there and colorful dresses. David pointed out the braids in their hair and said that prior to the abolition of slavery, they used to braid their hair with the directions to the free settlement in Cartagena.



Cartagena is a mere 11 degrees above the equator so it gets pretty well equal daylight and night. David said the cartels are no longer a problem as the leaders have been jailed or killed. He says there is still a drug issue but that it’s small time compared to the cartels. There are 47 million people in Colombia and 1.2 million in Cartagena.

Many of the buildings in the old town are former convents or monasteries converted into hotels. The government gives them 30 years tax free on new hotels. The area was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1984.



Our first stop is the Heredia Theatre which is no longer used as a theatre but can be rented for any occasion.



After a few photos, we moved on to walk the streets and David pointed out the Inquisition Museum, the Cartagena supreme court and noted that Colonial balconies are wooden whereas those from the Republic are concrete. He said they can choose their own colour.

David said many people drink coconut water as a home remedy. Apparently it’s good for kidney stones, heart burn and can be an aphrodisiac. In large quantities, it’s a natural laxative. He suggests we not go swimming if we drink too much.



The doors all around the old town have elaborate door knockers. We move passed the old customs building that is now city hall and end up at San Pedro Claver Church. Claver (1580-1654) was a Spaniard who came to Colombia and saw the poor treatment of the slaves. He became a priest and committed his life to help the slaves. He baptized more than 100,000 during his tenure.



David said 85% of Colombians are Catholic. Many from other religions were killed during the Inquisition when you were either Catholic or Catholic…if one was thinking ahead. Since the church is so strict with divorce, many get a civil marriage then show up at the church for show.

We walked back the hotel by 12 noon and I went out to get a coke and an ice cream. The heat just kills the appetite and all I want to do is drink water. I had a granola bar and spent two hours in my room soaking up the AC.

At 2 pm, we met up with David for our driving tour outside the old town. En route, he pointed out the motorcycles that one can take instead of a taxi. The drivers will offer you a ride with or without AC.

The AC one means 100 kph.

David said there are few traffic lights in Cartagena and not many stop signs. Even if there were stop signs, no one stops. He said the larger the vehicle, the more likely it has right of way.

For pedestrians, he recommends we look left and right then run like hell.

We’ve figured that out. Granted, in the old city, they can’t get their speed up very high.

Our first stop is to La Popa, Convent of La Candelaria where you can get a great view of Cartagena.



This was built in 1606 after a priest had a dream where they saw the virgin of the candles and was told to build the convent on the highest point. He found freed slaves who were worshipping goats and he took the gold statue of the goat and threw it over the side of the hill. The word Popa refers to the stern of a ship as in a reflection, the hill looks like the stern of a ship.



We took some pics of the great view and proceeded to San Felipe Fort.



This was built inland from the old town in order to protect the walled city from land based invaders. Cartagena was the port from which the Spaniards shipped a lot of gold, so it had built the walls to protect the gold. It was only manned in daylight hours while the soldiers watched with their backs to the sea. It was the site of at least two battles. It was eventually abandoned and later restored. It is also a UNESCO heritage site.



From here, we headed to the peninsula to visit an Emerald factory. (The gold factory was closed for renovations). We got a short tour. The emeralds are always green and was first worn by Cleopatra. That mine in Egypt is long since closed. It is considered a precious stone and the factory has the largest rock with emeralds in Colombia at 276 lbs.



We went into the shop and two tourmates spent over $3000 for a ring and necklace.



We went back to the bus and drove along the beach towards the old town. It goes on for miles. David said there are no private beaches in Colombia.

We made a short stop at the artisans market which I had seen the day before. I picked up my obligatory t-shirt and headed back to the hotel. My allergies are holding their own, so I take a long shower and settle in for the evening with cough drops and Fanta.

Tomorrow, it’s a visit to the local archipelago.
 

Day Eleven/Twelve – 17-18 Nov 2014

Weather: AC most of the way.

That’s air conditioning and Air Canada.

I was up at 4 and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up, downloaded the football game and got ready. I was in the lobby by 6:30 and David brought us to the airport which is like only 15 minutes away. It’s a small airport with short lines and David stayed with us until we were checked in. Which was great as there was an issue with my ticket with Avianca and he was able to sort it out faster than I could have.

Cause my laryngitis is in full swing and all I could do was smile.

They got it sorted out but my bag can only go to Miami and I had a faint recollection of something similar happening on my way back from Lima. I was through immigration and security without anyone questioning why I was squeaking answers and the flight left on time.

Like my Avianca flight to Panama City, this flight was almost empty. I think in all the travelling I’ve done in the last 5 years, I haven’t been on a flight so empty. Maybe 30 people on an A-320. It’s so empty, the crew take their time serving breakfast.

I’m able to watch the end of the football game (Pats 42 – Colts humiliated…LOL). We land in Miami at noon and my allergy head is giving me a touch of vertigo. If they ask me to walk in a straight line, I’m done for.

I pass through passport control no problem and pick up my bag. The guy taking my customs form was the first to ask if I was sick. It was a short walk to the Air Canada counter and the girl there asked for my credit card. Took me a sec to realize she wanted to charge me for my bags. So, for the first time, I was able to use my veteran’s card for something. No problems there. My fee was waived.

Once I’m through security, I check for wifi and remember that Miami is stingy. No free wifi.

Seriously, Miami, get with the program.

So, I go in search of more cough suppressant and finally break down and pay for the wifi. Gotta feed the addiction.

Actually, I wanted to research my flights for my tour to Vietnam in January….but I ran out of time before I got that far.

I found my gate and sat down to wait. The snow in Toronto had delayed the flight coming in by a half hour. No problem on my end. My connection isn’t until noon tomorrow and I am sooooo looking forward to a warm comfy bed at the Alt Hotel next to Pearson.

We get aboard, and for the first time, I’m in the overwing exit row that is also a front row for the section. So, the seats have the solid armrests and a video screen that pops up from the armrest. The row has no window so when the 3 jokers behind me start talking about fuel spilling from the wing, we can’t see anything.

It turned out to be the overflow valve but we had to go back to the gate to get it checked and then get the tanks topped up again. The jokers behind me were taking video and posting it on twitter.

We finally got airborne by 6:30. I’m hacking and sniffling and blowing my nose and tell the women next to me it’s allergies and you could hear the audible sigh of relief. The bloodshot eyes should have been a dead giveaway. Or the conjunctivitis that my left eye now has.

First time my allergies have gotten bad enough to cause laryngitis and conjunctivitis. And I checked…they can be both caused by allergies. So, no habla ebola!

(Turns out I had, for the first time that I ever remember having it….a wicked case of the common cold. Three days later, I’m still hacking and congested but the doc said I just have to ride it out. Hopefully the women next to me didn’t catch it. I had had it a good 2-3 days at this point, so I may not have been contagious anymore.)

I watch Edge of Tomorrow and the flight is shorter than I expected. The movie ended just as we arrived and I looked out to see mounds of snow everywhere.

Oh yes! I’m jumping in the first one I see and hugging it!

Seems like several planes arrive at once and the immigration is a bit busier than usual but I managed to make it through the whole process within an hour and I’m outside in 1 degree temperatures and just sucking in the cold crisp air.

Ahhhhhhhh.

I’ve never been so happy to have decided to add in the night in Toronto. I could have made it home on a later flight that arrives at 3 am in St. John’s, but for the sake for the $120, I thought I’d stay the night. Only a few hours difference in arrival. And I decided to take the noon flight, so that means I got to sleep in right to 8 am.

I was feeling a bit better in the morning and set out to the terminal hoping to find a bottle of cough suppressant for dry hacking cough. (The others were for productive coughs). I drop off my luggage and go through security where they’re checking the carryon sizes. This means one can’t leave their bag with a family member while they check in. If the bag is too big, they send you back to the counter.

And the carryon size allowed is quite reasonable, so one can get what they need in that no problem. Even OzT! The policy seems to target those going on with what could be considered medium or full sized luggage.

I get through security, find my cough suppressant and the Maple Leaf Lounge. I had a pass that was due to expire, so with 4 hours to my flight, why not? (I had bought it to use for my 12 hour wait for my flight to Buenos Aires last February only to find it was only good at the domestic terminal, not the international one, and once I was there, I couldn’t go back to the domestic terminal.)

With my flight yesterday, I’m now at Prestige Aeroplan level and will get some free lounge passes for next year.

So, I munch on raisin toast and delicious tea and type this up until 11:30 then go in search of my gate. The flight left on time and I hacked and sniffled my way back into St. John’s where my sister picked me up. We dropped by a pharmacy and I crawled into my bed. My cat must be happy I don’t pick her up till the morning cause I would have kept her up all night.

Oh wait….




Some final thoughts on the tour.

Take a bathing suit if you do the Cartagena extension. No real chance to use it in Panama.

I still stand by my thought that the Boquete part of the tour either be a return flight or skipped and replaced with the Panama Canal train ride to Colon. No one on the tour ever got tired of hearing about the Canal. The drive back to Panama City was simply too long at 11 hours on a hard road.

Hotels were all pretty good to exceptional. All had safes, hairdryers, kettles, shampoo stuff and facecloths. Some even had robes. Don’t remember any having a carpet floor.

English is not as widely spoken as one would expect for a country that was so dominated by the US for so long. Using the USD in Panama was nice.

This is a lively tour. Average start in the morning was about 8 am which wasn’t bad and there were some later finishes.

Food was pretty good overall. Chicken, beef and fish were often available and my aversion to fish was never a problem. There was always an alternative.

help me..........

LOL...well, at least the people were nice! A week from now, I'll be sitting in the Bogota airport twiddling my thumbs for 8 hours.

What I can find online says they do. The big question is which terminal I will have to spent it in. The old terminal is still used by some Avianca flights but they're moving them slowly to the new terminal - which would mean the difference between spending 8 hours in a terminal like Pearson or a terminal like St. John's. LOL

Oh...and apparently, my flight from Bogota to Panama City on Avianca is in business class...so I should get free access to a lounge.

Phew, that's a long travel day!  But happy to see you are there and at the start of your journey.  That's so painful reading about your foot but very glad the bottle didn't land on your toes!

You were robbed of your executive flight..ahhhhh!

Looking forward to your tale!

Yes, she will have day one up tomorrow...lol!! 

Yes, she will definitely have day one up tomorrow.......from Boquete 

LOL!!...........Yayyy

That is a truly magnificent photo of the city with all the sailboats in the harbour!  Sounds very, very hot to the point of discomfort?

Hi Chech 

Am loving touring with you    especially when I can go first class ( leather recliner chair ) !!
This is a good way to travel for me at the moment as while we were selling house and shifting our passports expired! NZ now only issues them for 5 years so we are not going to all the hassle until we know we're definitely going somewhere. Armchair travel is the way to do it for now.