We arrived safely back in Colon early this morning. I am impressed how well cruise ships reliably meet their time schedules. I was concerned about how we would get back to Panama City once we get off the ship, not knowing what the situation would be in Colon for cabs and other modes of transport. So before coming I went on-line and booked a private car/driver to take us back to Panama City where we have to spend the night because of airplane schedules.

Typical cruise disembarkation routine was in place. Luggage out by 10 PM last night, unless you want to haul it off the ship yourself. Surprisingly I saw a lot of people doing just that this morning when we left the ship. Cruise lines do a great job providing colored tags for our luggage which then gets transported to a storage area in the terminal, sorted by color. It works great. The ships also group people to get off at different times; you are by color when it your time to disembark. That eliminates huge lines at the exit. We had an opportunity a few days ago to select a time slot to get off and the ship usually does a good job meeting your request. There are multiple locations for passengers to have a quick breakfast before if departing and we are asked to vacate our cabins by 8AM so the room stewards can prepare the rooms for the next guests who will be boarding the ship in 4 hours! They have this down to a science.  What is amazing is that virtually everyone is OFF the ship by 9 AM! Of course this can make for some congestion on land as we had to go through Panama immigration to be allowed back into the country. After my experience with embarkation day (when I smartly grabbed a porter to help us with our luggage) I immediately grabbed a porter as we went looking for our luggage.  And again I made the right decision as we had to go quite a way to finally exit the terminal and the porter steered us to the right lines! It was another wise investment on my part.

The exit area for the cruise terminal is at a small shopping mall and I was unsure where to physically meet our driver. I was pleased that the company had already sent me information about his name, his vehicle type and color, license plate number and a phone number to reach him. I did call him and learned he was 10 minutes away. I described where we were and shortly thereafter he walked up to us and led us to his car. The trip back to Panama City took less than an hour.

Rather than staying at the same hotel we used before the cruise I wanted to stay in the old town section of the city called Casco Viejo (Spanish for Old Town), so we could experience it. I had also signed up for a walking tour of the area for later that afternoon. It turned out to be a great decision. The hotel was smack dab in the middle of old Panama City, located on a beautiful plaza with the cathedral across from it. And the hotel was marvelous-a beautiful renovation of an old hotel that had been used by visitors and workers when the Panama Canal was being built. In fact across the street was the original administrative building used by the French and Americans during the canal construction. It is now a museum dedicated to the building of the canal.

We arrived around 10:30 at the hotel and knew our rooms would not be available until later. The staff eagerly checked our bags and suggested we go touring until our room was ready. We grabbed a quick bite and beverage at the bar and then walked around the neighborhood to see what there was to see. Besides the usual souvenir shops there were several formal hat stores that sold real Panama hats (which by the way are now all made in Ecuador). Prices varied from $40 to over $300, depending on the quality of the weave. I was impressed when the proprietor showed me how you can safely roll it up to carry in your luggage and then easily reshape it to its original form. I was hooked and decide to buy a modestly priced one ($80) as a real souvenir of my trip. I was impressed in that I was given a free hard sided carrying case so I would not have to stuff it in my already overpacked suitcase. Yvonne tried on a few feminine style hats but did not find one to her liking.

Returning to the hotel we relaxed on comfortable couches in the spacious lobby for a bit but I decided to walk across the street to visit what is now the Panama Canal museum where I spent about 1.5 hours reading about the history (and problems) of the construction of the Panama Canal.  Luckily most of the exhibits had both Spanish and English signs so it was enjoyable.

The Panama Canal: The Cliff Notes Version
The story actually began in 1534 when King Charles V of Spain sent surveyors to find a way to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific to ease shipping between Peru and Spain. Needless to say,  nothing happened. In 1698 the King of Scotland tried to create an overland connection; it too failed.  In 1788 the Americans suggested to Spain that they build a canal. Studies were made; nothing happened. Britain created plan for a canal in 1843; nothing happened. Then in 1850-1855 the US built a train route that traversed the country, which facilitated the growth of trade. However, there was always a desire for a canal. In 1881 the French finally undertook the construction of the canal, relying on their experience and success in building the Suez Canal.  However, by 1889 the French admitted defeat. Their equipment, used to build the Suez Canal (which was digging sand) would not work when faced with big rocks. The humid climate rusted the equipment fairly quickly. And maybe the most damming issue was that malaria and yellow fever was rampant, resulting in high casualties (over 22,000). Oh, and a scandal about funds misappropriation did not help; people ended up in jail. In 1904 after a brief war about Panama independence, the Americans took over the construction and the canal formally opened in 1914. It should be noted that the discovery of the causes of yellow fever by Cuban physician, Dr. Carlos Finlay, in 1886 and later confirmed by the US bore a huge part in the success of the canal construction. The rest is history. We formally deeded control of the canal to Panama in 2000 and it has become a HUGE source of income for the country. I, for one, am amazed at how that original canal, built over 100 years ago, still functions. It should be noted that a second, larger canal was built in 2016, allowing the new, larger ships to also take this shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was/is an amazing story of engineering excellence.

The museum was very informative and I only left because I needed to get back for our scheduled 3 PM walking tour of Casco Viejo. Yvonne stayed at the hotel until our room was ready, because it had become quite hot and humid and she did not relish walking in it. I joined several other people (from various corners of the world) at a nearby plaza where we met our local tour guide, who was born and raised in the area. He proceeded to walk us through the 10 block by 6 block area that comprised Casa Voejo, telling us about the history of the location ( it dates back to 1673), its buildings and its people. It was quite informative. The original location of Panama .city was about 8 km north, but it was destroyed by the pirate, Henry Morgan in 1671. That is when the city leaders decided to move it the city to this area because  it was more defensible. As is not uncommon 20 years ago this area was dangerous. Our guide said he had to carry a knife while growing up here. Somehow, someone forced a change and Casa Viejo is now safe, vibrant and a crown jewel of the city. I really loved it!

We completed our visit to Panama by having a drink in the rooftop bar at the hotel while listening to a local playing his guitar and singing songs we knew. We followed with dinner in a nearby “funky” restaurant that had old card as part of its decor. Upon returning to the hotel we were greeted by a young lady playing a violin in the lobby.

We have a very early (7:15AM) flight in the morning which means we need to leave here by 5 AM. When I had mentioned that to the driver who brought us from Colon he offered to take us at a realistic price so I agreed. Sure makes my life earlier than trying to corral a cab that early in this quiet section of town.