Day 5 – Colon, Panama

I’m checking out some of the pictures from yesterday and realized I need to learn to use my camera better. Yesterday there was this haze that seemed to linger all day. I’m guessing that’s because of the humidity. Either way, in pictures, it caused some over exposure where the sky was a major component of the shot. I’ll try to photoshop them to salvage some of the pictures. If you’re on a ship that offers a photo class (and ours did) I’d ask them how to handle this kind of lighting condition before getting to Columbia.

This morning we’re checking out Colon. This is the second largest free-trade zone / market in the world, after Hong Kong. You will pull up to a tiny dock but there is food and some shopping (even a CVS-like store). The country uses US dollars as their currency so no conversion is required when paying for things. Surrounding the dock is poverty. Get a few blocks away and it gets better. The average person makes $300 US /month. In comparison, for those people who guide boats through the Canal, they make $20,000 / month.

You may hear that the city isn’t safe to do things on your own. Our boat even told us not to go out without a boat-sponsored tour for fear of crime. I didn’t get that scared, in-danger feeling from the town. Yes, after the US turned over the Canal to the people of Panama drug dealers from South America came in and filled the void. Things look to be changing now. Why do I mention this? Several people on the boat I talked to decided to hire a taxi on their own outside on the pier for the day to show them some sights for $100 and they had a fantastic experience (of course, disclaimer - your experience may vary). Should you think that’s too dangerous for you, there are plenty of options from our boat to let you pick from.



Most excursions you will book will stop for 30-60 minutes at the Canal so you can see ships come in and out of the Canal locks. I’m doing a 5 hour kayaking trip. For kayaking, after the Canal stop, we made a 50 minute drive to a boat that took us up the lake behind the first locks for an hour of kayaking. It’s a beautiful boat ride and fantastic kayak. There is a surge in the water where you will kayak around and some wind. If you’re not ready to work then you may find yourself in the boat that follows the kayakers. To get away from all of mankind and go from little island to island, looking at the plants, listening to the monkeys, and watching the birds fly around, is a thing of beauty.





The captain has informed us that we will likely be at the first (there are three total) canal sets at 6:30am. Another casual dining tonight though tonight there is going to be a pool desk buffet and dance party. 100+ people turned out. Perhaps the rest of the trip I should check out where the food is to find everyone.