Adventures in Central America: Panama Canal Zone

This morning I was up significantly earlier than my brother, so I did some chores, such as hit up the laundromat around the corner.  The guy working the hostel desk told me emphatically that the laundry would be closed all weekend for Easter, but he had told me the postal place would be closed too, and it hadn't been yesterday, so I was skeptical.  Anyway, it was literally around the corner, so easy enough to check out, and with the heat I was sweating through shirts rapidly (i.e., really needed clean laundry).  The laundromat was open, and I believe it was supposed to be self-service, but I got something much closer to full service (perhaps because I was evidently somewhat clueless), which even included my clothes nicely folded in a clean bag when I came back.  Moreover, the proprietor told me $2.50, but took the $2 I had in my hand and said "okay," as he turned to his other customers.

At 9:00, I visited the Panama Interoceanic Canal Museum when it opened.

The museum is in the main square in Casco Viejo, near the main cathedral.

The entrance fee is a very reasonable $2, but I made sure I would be able to leave and come back once I bought a ticket, because I wanted to be able to leave to go check on my brother.  The museum exhibits are unfortunately all in Spanish, but otherwise it is superb.  The building itself is well over a century old and has served, among other things, as the headquarters of the French company that originally tried to dig the canal.  The exhibits cover lots of information, about the canal, of course, but also about Panamian history and such.  It is very well done, and has lots of interesting artifacts, particularly maps.  Best of all, however, may be the air conditioning--hands down the best A/C I've encountered in Panama.  If you are in the area on a hot day--even a hot morning at 9:00, the $2 admission is worth it just for the A/C!

After about half an hour I had skimmed through most of the exhibits and decided I better get back to the hostel.  I wanted to feel like I would be okay not coming back, but I was certainly hoping to later on.  I confirmed with the lady that my receipt would get me back in as I left.

Back at the hostel my brother was now awake, so we headed out, buying some snacks at the grocery store and bargaining with a cabbie for a ride.  I had been told (again by my unreliable hostel employee informants) that a cab to the Panama Canal's Miraflores Locks would cost $8-10.  I knew how to get there for cheaper by bus, but it would have involved a lot of walking and a lot more time, and really not that much savings.  Plus, it would have required us to get lucky some more without the transit card, or else we would have had to go buy the cards at $2 each, which would have meant the savings would be negligible.

It was not actually Miraflores Locks that we wanted to go to, however, it was the Parque Municipal Summit, a zoo in a national park much further along the highway towards the Caribbean.  At first the cabbie told me it would be $25, then $20, then $15, and then he asked what I would pay and I said $8.  He fussed and fussed but eventually gestured us in.  Given the hostel employee quote, this seems like it was a good deal.

Once again the trip was interesting, taking us by the famous canal administration building (it resembles a provincial legislature, large, historic, and set up on a hill), Albrook airport, the Miraflores Locks, the canal, etc.  In total we were driving probably half an hour or so.

The cabbie began getting very grumpy as we got closer to the park (I'm not certain he realized how far it was when we first set out), and actually dropped us off over two kilometres from the zoo itself at the park entrance.  He insisted the park was closed for semana santa and that there were no taxis or buses and that we would have to walk a long way back.

I was a bit annoyed at all this, as well as a little worried, because if the park was closed we had come here for nothing.  I was not worried about being able to catch the bus, however, since we had passed several on the way.

Of course it was getting extremely hot now, but we walked along for a minute or two in the sun when a park worker in a pick-up truck pulled over to talk to us.  I do not think he spoke a lick of English, and of course I assumed at first he would tell us the park was closed.  Instead he seemed to ask where we wanted to go and I told him and he confirmed and then he gestured us into the truck.  He seemed entirely legit, so we got in, and he handed us a park brochure and asked us where we were from and he was really nice and sure enough a few minutes later dropped us off at the gates of the zoo (which was obviously very much open).  So that was a really neat experience and worked out pretty well for us.      

The zoo itself is not really a zoo in the sense I think of a zoo (i.e., a collection of exotic or foreign animals).  Instead, it had enclosures with various local animals in them (jaguars; monkeys; deer; a crocodile; a harpy eagle;

tapirs;

peccaries;

pumas;

and several birds).

Of course as Canadians all these animals did seem exotic, and best of all, they were all active and looked right at home, as opposed to cold and lethargic as many exotic animals do at the Edmonton zoo (particularly at this time of year).

It was close to 13:00 by the time we had finished at the zoo, and this was pretty good timing, because the large ships do not pass through Miraflores locks between 11:00-14:00 (apparently because they are going east in the morning and then switch to westward bound in the afternoon).

We waited at the bus stop outside of the zoo for quite a while, much longer than I thought we would have to, but eventually a red devil bus came a long (the red devils are the old Panamian buses that are former North American school buses; they lack A/C, do not seem well maintained, and are privately owned and operated; eventually they will apparently be eliminated in favour of the very modern Metrobuses we had ridden yesterday).  We rode the bus for twenty minutes or so before arriving at the Miraflores stop.  We are not sure how much the bus cost, but we gave the driver a quarter each and he didn't blink.  Perhaps we overpaid, or maybe this was the right fare.  Anyway we were happy with it.

From the highway/bus stop we had a walk of fifteen minutes or so, part of which involved crossing a bridge over a lagoon created by a dam.  Far below the bridge we could see a massive crocodile lying with his mouth wide open.

The Miraflores locks are one of three sets of locks the original canal had and has had up to now.  Two of these are on the Pacific side (Pedro Miguel and Miraflores) and one on the Atlantic side (Gatun).  We saw the Pedro Miguel locks as we drove by, but it is at Miraflores that there's a visitor's centre and a bit of a museum.  

Obviously the highlight here is the observation deck that allows visitors to watch ships pass through the locks.

But there is also a bit of a movie to watch explaining some of the history and interesting facts about the canal, and also several floors of exhibits covering much the same sorts of things.  I was actually somewhat disappointed with the information provided in the movie and exhibits, but it really was thrilling to watch the ships and the locks in operations.

It was really only hunger that drove us away--I would have stayed and watched more ships go through for another hour or so if I hadn't wanted food so badly.  There was a $42 buffet option, but we passed on that.

As we descended the steps out front to find a cab, who should we see but the cabbie from the morning!  In retrospect I think he may have dropped us off in the park and then driven to the locks to pick up his next customer, and there he had been waiting ever since.  Either way, there he was, happy to see us.  Despite how he had frustrated me earlier, he seemed a logical choice for a driver back, and we were eager to get back ASAP.  So we agreed to $8 for the return trip and got in.  

We stopped for gas and, believe it or not, for our cabbie to pick up his freshly laundered shirt, but eventually made it back to the hostel.  Truth be told, the somewhat circuitous route was okay, because a) he was apologetic for it and b) he took us through some interesting neighborhoods.

Back in Casco, we finished our afternoon eating at our favorite restaurant (and really one of the few Casco eateries that did not seem overpriced to us).