To Pedasi and Back

Thursday morning we struck out for Pedasi.  We travelled on the Pan American Highway through the province of Cocle, land of sugar and salt.  It is said that more sugar has been refined there and more salt has been produced there than any other province.  It was clear we were driving through an agricultural area with a lot of sugar cane grown there.  We also were surprised to see wind generators set up along the highway, so they must get some wind happening in the area as there were quite a few.  

At Divisa, we turned off the Pan American Highway onto the new 2 lane Carretera Nacional Highway heading towards the Los Santos Province which covers 1/3 of the Peninsula de Azuero.  Now this is where we saw the cowboys on their horse herding the cows.  The small farms and ranches looked  well maintained with small equipment and good cattle handling facilities (shuts).  We also saw stands with sausages dangling in front of them.  The sausages are nationally famous for their delicious taste, however we were told to avoid those ones sold at the stands as you're just not sure how long they were hanging around.  We'll have to look for them in the Supermarket.  Most of the locals in this area are more of the European decent and are proud of their Spanish History along with their traditional clothing and dances.  

Pedasi is a very quiet coastal town.  Many beaches can be reached from here very quickly if you have your own wheels.  If not that means walking as there aren't any buses.  Many people come to Pedasi to go fishing near Isla Iguana.  Playa El Toro and Playa Garita are quite isolated and private but the surf is usually safe here to swim.  We found them at low tide seeing many rocks on the beach.

Playa El Toro:  had a picnic lunch here.  So private!

Playa El Arenal

Friday morning we drove through more cattle country and some green valleys and tan hills 

to reach Playa Venao. Playa Venao is a beautiful long curving beach that's popular with surfers because it usually has waves to surf and because the waves break both ways.  This beach looked beautiful with the white sand.

Playa Venao

Beautiful countryside as we headed back to Las Tablas.  A new road to make the steady and steep climb easy from the Playa to reach the top of the world in Los Santos Province.   Looking back you can see the ocean from here.

Stopped at Playa Blanca, on our way home, at another beautiful white sand beach quite close to Coronado.

Great 2 days of sightseeing.

Panama Canal Museum & Campana

We travelled back into Panama City with Phil & Kathy (from Wisconsin) to the Panama Canal Museum at the Miraflores Locks.  We were able to find it quite easily.  When we arrived, there was a huge container ship going through the locks.  It was very interesting to see how the locks worked looking from the platform above them.  We were able to see the the ship move into the lock area helped by the mules right to the end of the lock, with just enough room to close the gates.  It was totally amazing to see this huge ship raised by the water in 8 minutes.  The gate was opened and it moved forward into the 2nd lock, with the help of the mules, to be raised again to the lake level.  This was very interesting to see as when you are in the locks going through in a small boat it is hard to visualize how big these locks really are.  Great to see.

This is how much room was left behind it as it went through the locks.  Pretty amazing.

In the museum, we saw the equipment, tools and history of the building of the canal.  The movie also showed us how the canal was built.  Interesting!

We were able to find our way out of Panama City just as well as we found our way in.  We were heading back to Coronado but decided to check out Campana National Park.  We started climbing our way up to Campana and stopped at a view point.  

Looking out over the valley to the Pacific Ocean.

The valley.  Coronado is about 20 kms from here.  Very beautiful view!

We continued into the little town of Chica looking for a restaurant, however it being Monday all the places were closed.  We followed the road out, descending seeing the very beautiful scenery.  Never did get to the park or have lunch but was able to see some beautiful scenery.

The Panama Canal Tour

The Panama Canal is one of the man made wonders of the world and rightfully so.  It celebrated 100 years in operation August 2014.  The canal was awesome then and still amazing today.

Passing under Puente de las Americas on our way to the Miraflores Locks.

Picking up our pilot, from this coast guard boat, to take us through the locks.

A little history now...in 1880, the French started a canal, under de Lessups, builder of the Suez Canal.  However, after 20 years of struggling with the jungle, disease, going through a mountain, financial problems and just the enormity of the project, they were forced to give up. In 1904 the US purchased the French Canal Company's properties for $40 million and began to build completing the project in 1914.  On August 15, 1914 the Ancon, a US cargo ship made the first transit.  Then in 1979, the canal was handed back to the Republic of Panama and from then on Panama has profited from the canal.

In 2006, the Panama Canal began its expansion project for the Post Panamax ships.  This project's estimated cost of $5.3 billion is to be completed by December 2015.  (We don't think that will happen as it looks like there is still a lot of work to be done in the next less than 12 months.)  They feel that amount is expected to be recovered within 11 years of operation.  The project consists of building an extra set of wider and deeper locks, to handle the bigger Post Panamax ships.  They feel that is important to maintain the waterway's competitiveness and enhance the value of the Panama route so that larger ships do not seek out other trade routes including the 'dry canals' across the countries of the continent.

The expansion project...along side the canal.  Hard to see the depth and width of the new canal from here.  It is said to be a 1400 foot lock, 180 feet wide and have an under draft of 50 feet.  All the 3 locks will be together taking the ships up 85 feet to the Isthmus.  Another incredible feat.

Some facts...

~ the canal is 50 miles long

~ ships are raised 85 feet in 3 locks as they cross the Isthmus

~ the journey from ocean to ocean takes 8 - 10 hours

~ about 42 ships pass through the locks in one day

~ on average the cost/ship is $124,000 US to make the crossing

~ each lock is 1000 feet long and 110 feet wide

~ it takes 240 million gallons of water to fill each lock

~ the lock fills with water in 8 minutes

~ the cement wall of each lock are 55 feet thick

~ the steel doors closing the lock weigh 750 tons/each

~ railway locomotives called mules are attached to each side of the ship so that they do not touch the walls in the lock

Heading into the 1st lock at Miraflores Locks.

The freighter and the tugboats ahead of us in the lock.

The lock gates closing behind us.

The 1st lock is filled with water.

The lock is almost filled.

The lock is filled, we rose 30 feet.

Our pilot guiding us out of the lock.

Heading out of the lock.  There are 3 locks to raise the ship to the Isthmus and 3 locks to lower the ship back into the ocean.

The inside wall of the lock.

The Great Divide which begins in North American and ends here at the Isthmus in Panama and Puente Centenario in the background.  This bridge is very impressive at night all lit up.

The Panama Canal Tour is really a must see as it sounds unreal but seeing it was really amazing.  The engineering of this mega project, over 100 years ago, with it still being in operation today, is incredible. We went through the locks with a huge freighter, or so we thought.  Getting into the lock we found out the ship was about 600 feet long and needed the mules to keep it from touching the walls.  Sitting in the lock as the water filled and raised our boats easily, it made both the boats seem very small and weightless.  Truly amazing and a great experience!

Fresh fruit

OMG...this is heaven.  We went into town and bought a huge bag of oranges for $6.00.  Came home and began to make fresh orange juice with the juicer.  It was so easy and before we knew it we had a jug full and 2 huge glasses full.  The glass of orange juice was so delicious.

Half a bushel of fresh oranges.

Fred on the juicer.

Amazing...fresh and delicious orange juice.

Another fresh surprise was in the fridge when we got home.  Nathalie, our neighbour, delivered another bowl of mangoes from her tree along with her blender to make mango smoothies.  So after returning from the beach we got busy and made some mango smoothies.  The taste of all this fresh fruit is...heaven.  

Peeling and cutting up the mangoes.

Mango smoothies...yum yum!  You can't believe the taste.

We are so very lucky to have such a great neighbour as Nathalie.  She has been extremely helpful and always making sure we have everything, including the juicer and the blender.  

Biomuseo & Casco Viejo

Today we headed back into Panama City with Nathalie (our neighbour) to check out the new museum which just opened before Christmas.  The architure of the building is very unique and it is painted many bright colors depicting the colors of Panama.  And so the story begins...

The Biomuseo tells the story of the rise of the Isthmus of Panama and how it changed the climate and the biodiversity of the whole planet.  This is the first building designed by Frank Gehry (Canadian) in Latin America.  The architure and colors truly explain the wonderful biological diversity of Panama.  When you explore the 1st gallery you will see images of colourful animals and plants from Panama, then in a 30 ft high room with 10 screens surrounding you watchthe natural wonders on 3D, and carring on from there walk through sculptures that illustrate the rise of the Isthmus and how this changed the global climate and the impact it had on all living things.  This gives you a much better understanding.  Another gallery showcases the relationship between human culture and natural landscapes in Panama from the 1st arrivals 15,000 years ago to the present.  The 3rd gallery is not complete as they are expecting it to cost 9 million.  When completed there will be 2 aquariums with live aquatic life in each, one from the Pacific Ocean and the other from the Carribean Sea.  This should be spectacular.  There are also plans for a Botanical Park outside along the waterfront (Pacific Ocean) close to the entrance of the canal.

From here we drove to Casco Viejo, Nathalie giving Fred good directions so he was able to get around very well.  It was very busy there and it took us awhile to find a parking spot.  We had a very nice lunch and then Nathalie treated us to a delicious ice cream cone.  After that we went wondering to see the sights.

Walking on Paseo de las B'ovedas, a walkway running along the top of the sea wall built by the Spaniards to protect the city.  From here you can see the skyline of Panama City.

Below the wall is Plaza de Francis where large stone tablets tell the story of the construction of the canal.  The plaza is dedicated to the memory of the 22,000 workers,mostly French who lost their life trying to create the canal.

We carried on passing many sights, such as different plazas and churches till we reached our car.  Many of the buildings  in this area are under construction and they are relocating the people that lived in these builds in order to restore Casco Viejo to its original state.

We got out of the city and arrived back in Coronado.  Great day of exploring!

 

El Valle

Monday morning we struck out for El Valle.  We didn't have to go very far before we turned off the Pan American Highway heading east into the mountains.  This town is situated in the crater of an extinct volcano which erupted 3 million years ago blowing its top off creating a crater 5 km across.  The road is paved but you are on a steady incline with sharp curves until you reach the crater where you begin to decline into El Valle.

We drove through town and headed up out of the crater looking for Chorro El Macho (The Manly Waterfall).  This waterfall cascades down some 85m high.  We wondered what the waterfall would be like in the rainy season.

Heading over the swinging bridge to Chorro El Macho.

Chorro El Macho

Swimming pool made of rocks at the base of Chorro El Macho surrounded by forrest and fed by river water from the waterfall.

Walking out, over the swinging bridge.

Over looking the valley.

Looking down into the crater and the town of El Valle.

Heading along the path along side the river to Chorro de Las Mozas (Young Women's Falls).

Chorro de Las Mozas...the roar of the water was incredible, must be something else to see and hear in the rainy season.

A deep crevice cut through the rocks from over millions of years of water running over them.

A great day checking out both of the waterfalls and the town of El Valle.

Coronado

It's almost been a week since we arrived in Coronado.  We are finding there isn't a lot to do right in Coronado so there has been a lot of R& R time.  We are hoping to do some day trips in the next weeks.  We really enjoy our early morning walks on the beach.  It seems like it is our own private beach as we don't meet many people on our way.

Our beach when the tide was up.

Beach at San Carlos.  We took a drive to check out the beaches around us one day.  All the beaches are so close together it's hard to tell where one begins or ends.  They all seem to have the black volcanic sand, some like our beach, with more black sand, than others.

We are also really enjoying all the fresh fruit we are able to buy from the local fruit stands, 5 small pineapples for $2.00 US, watermelon for $3.00 US, papaya $2.00 US.  Our very nice neighbour, Nathalie, brought us over 3 mangoes from her tree in her yard.  They were so very sweet and delicious.  

One already gone.  Yum so good!