April 7th

near portobelo

we are currently in Portobello, a very interesting town, but lacking in the luxuries of life. We were were happy to find an Internet, which doubles, as a library. It is raining, raining, raining.



Today, we left our hotel in Panama City, early in the morning at 6.30 a.m. to catch the Panama Canal Railway Company train leaving the city at 7.15 a.m. going to Colon. The vintage train featured exotic wood paneling and blinds, carpeted interiors, glass-domed cars and open-air viewing decks. The hour-long ride is one of the best ways to fully appreciate the extent of the Canal.


train from Pacific to Caribbean

The ride parallels the Canal, sometimes traversing thick rain forest. In its heyday, the train transported close to 3 million passengers a year which was the heaviest per km traffic of any railroad in the world in 1913. The train enabled prospectors to get to California for the Gold Rush as it was too dangerous to cross the U.S. at that time due to the Indian Wars.


following the canal

The train arrived in Colon. We had previously been warned that Colon was not a safe city to stay in. The Bus Station was very boisterous with many, many buses and bus drivers competing for the ground space and getting out of the station first. The buses are very decorated with detailed paintings and huge tailpipes coming up at the back of the bus. We caught a bus here to visit Portobelo which was once the greatest Spanish port in Central America. In the past, mules carried Peruvian gold and Oriental treasures to Panama City via the fortresses at Portobelo.


bus to Portobelo



When we arrived in Portobelo it was difficult to imagine the past grandeur we had read about. The past ruins scarcely remained with but a few small cannons facing the Ocean. In 1502, Christopher Columbus named this town, the beautiful port. As we attempted to find a place to stay in this town, we learned that this town is used primarily for travellers going to Colombia as a means of inexpensive transportation on sailboats, rather than flying. It seems that there is no through road from Panama to Colombia, as this is the Panama government´s attempt to stop drug smugglers and guerrillas.



Portobelo

Looking for a place to stay for the night before going onto Miramar, the end of the road, and then taking a boat to our destination of Archipielago de San Blas the home of the Kuna Yala natives, we were somewhat discouraged. However, we met a couple of individuals from the area, who knew of a place to stay a little bit out of town. They were willing to drive us there, as they were heading that way, lucky for us. We arrived at a beautiful spot on the Atlantic Ocean, the Octopus Garden. with two women running the establishment. We were fortunate that there were some rooms available for us that night, as the originator of the IronMan Tri-Athalon was to arrive the next day with other participants for an event. Another couple, from Idaho, also arrived at the Octopus Garden, planning to go to San Blas also. So we planned to go together very early the next morning.

During the night, the rain began pouring and pouring and pouring. The next morning at the designated time of 7.00 a.m. we had breakfast with the Idaho couple and we have many discussions of whether or not to continue our journey as we watched the rain pouring down. The other couple decided not to go on. We decided to continue our journey and got on the next bus passing by very shortly, heading for the end of the road to Miramar. Arriving in Miramar in the pouring rain, we met a young man from France and a young woman from Germany wanting to get to the Island of El Porvenir in the San Blas. Our travel plans proved to be a somewhat daunting task, as we were initially unable to find any boaters out in the day and then anyone who would be willing to take us out to the Island. After some time and effort and serious negotiations we were able to find a boater with a 20-foot, open boat willing to take us over to El Porvenir. Packing our knapsacks in garbage bags to keep them dry, we went off on one of the worst boat trips we had ever been on. As the rain poured, our driver negotiated large waves as our bodies banged up and down on our seats for an hour and a half. We wondered where our common sense had gone at times during this boat trip. Soaking wet, we were thankful the water had been very warm, as we stepped off the boat and touched the ground.

Arriving at the Kuna Yala Island of El Porvenier, we secured a room with a front door facing the other rooms and a back door facing the Ocean, complete with a lovely breeze going through.