I felt as if we were sailing through a mine field as we approached the bay at the entrance to the Panama canal. We are so used to those long night watches where we strain our eyes for the enormous tankers, making sure not to come within several miles of the incredibly fast ships the size of city blocks. Now we were squeezing in between these looming masses, keeping a close eye on which ones had no anchor down. After about an hour of navigating through this maze we were anchored safely with the rest of the sailing boats.
Thursday July 19, 2007
Today we took a cab around town to do some provisioning at the big grocery stores here. The selection was vast in comparison to what has been available since we left the state. Unfortunately the prices were nothing special, but not too bad either.
Our cabby Hines took us on a little tour around the town, and it was clear why most people choose not to leave the cabs to walk around while they are visiting Colon. The poverty was painfully evident with most buildings literally falling down around their residents.
After seeing this side of the town we decided to take a tour of the Canal, where we could actually get out of the cab and walk around. We were just in time to see a gigantic tanker loaded with cargo entering the locks. The comparably tiny track cars attached to it by a thick cable, keeping it steady. We watched for about an hour while each of the three locks emptied and then filled up again, bringing the ships to a higher water level with each one they transit.
The locks were very fascinating to watch, but we were really hoping to have a chance to transit the entire canal to the Pacific side. Apparentlt this is off season, though for smaller sail boats, so we may have to wait until we bring our own boat through!
Friday July 20, 2007
Our curiosity got the best of us today and we decided that we wanted to see Colon on foot. It has such a bad reputation, but we are convinced that if we are smart about it there is no reason we shouldn`t be able to take a walk around. We were glad we did. Most of the town was burned to the ground in the 1800`s and rebuilt in the French style of the time. So although the buildings are in horrible shape now, you can see how beautiful the once were. The living conditions of most of the residents were appaling, but at no time did we feel threatened. We were looking for the Zona Libra (Free Zone), whick is the second largest tax free area in the world next to Hong Kong. At one point we stopped and asked an officer who was standing on the corner (police presence was very evident in the streets) for directions. We ended up getting a entire police escort by paddy wagon, sirens chirping! It was quite an experience and we were glad to have done it. Now we feel like we have actually seen the town and not just the inside of a cab.
Wednesday July, 23, 2007
This morning we took a three hour motor west to the Rio Chagres. It was one of the coolest places this nature lover has ever been! The moment you enter the mouth of the river you can hear the roars of a nearby troop of Howler monkeys. All around sloths are hanging from the trees and Toucans are flying overhead! When we set anchor for the night a troop of about 20 howler monkeys was swinginging in the trees just above Calico Jack. For quite a while we watchedthem play and jump from branch tobranch, often hanging from their tails looking at us or eating leaves. There were several young and we even spotted a tiny baby hanging onto her mom`s back for dear life! After this entertainmant we took a dinghy ride down one of the river`s tiny branches and saw lots of ridged basilisk lizards. When evening came everyone took a swim (nevermind the crocodiles!) and relaxed as flocks of noisy green parrots and toucans flew overhead and the howler monkeys sang their eerie song in the not so distant treetops. I am so excitedto have finally found the active wildlife I had imagined in the jungle, and a bit relieved to see with my eyes that it can still be found completely untouched.
From here we head southeast to the much awaited San Blas Islands and land of the Kuna Yala tribes. We hope to stay there for about a month, so we should be out of internet range until we arrive in Cartagena, Columbia in early September!
Thank`s again for keeping up with our adventures!
Love, Crystal and Jeremy
P.S. I got some awesome shots of monkeys and sloths and stuff, but the computer here at the only available internet place won`t let me upload them. Sorry for leaving out the most fun part of the site, and I promise to get them up in Cartagena!
