Animals of Gatun Lake, Panama

Whilst in Panama I did an tour on Gatun Lake. Gatun Lake is a large freshwater lake to the south of Colon. It forms a major part of the Panama Canal. Colon is a city beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal. The lake is man made, created by damming the Chagres River. 

From Colon we drove along the highway then turned off through the national park. We saw the prison, complejo carcelario El Renacer, where Manuel Noriega spent the last years of his life. He was Panama’s drug running military dictator of the 1980s. He died 2017.

At the jetty of Gamboa we transferred to a boat. Initially we went along the canal and saw the large crane used for lifting the dock gates.  

The first critter we saw was a crocodile, but I didn't get a clear photo as the boat was bobbing up and down. 

We carried on to Monkey Island where we saw a Capuchin monkey. The boatmen lured it closer with a banana. 

We then came into the lake, some saw a Howler Monkey but I was the wrong side of the boat. Nearby was a Panama tree, Sterculia apetala, which is the national tree of Panama.  

Further on saw a tamarin and a snail kite. 

We also saw various iguanas

A Southern lapwing -

As we were leaving, the Panama Canal train went past. The passenger train runs once a day in each direction Panama City to Colon, and serves as a commuter as well as a tourist train. 

There are also around 10 freight trains in each direction in 24 hours. See more on the passenger service and also the freight service. The cargo train going over a bridge (taken from inside the van!).

A day in Panama

 After the ABC islands, we were due to go to Colombia, but they wouldn't let us in. So we had an extra sea day whilst sailing to Panama. Panama was my first visit to Central America. It is defined as a transcontinental country as it is between North and South America. It lies on the Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal.

Our ship docked at Colon, which is the second largest city in Panama. It sits on the Caribbean sea at the entrance to the Panama Canal, though the canal wasn't really visible from the port. Limon Bay which is the entrance to the canal is visible behind the buildings -

The big bridge in the left of the photo is the Puente Atlántico, a road bridge over the canal -

From what I saw of it as we drove through, Colon didn't look very interesting. A new cruise terminal is being built, the only thing that was ready was the duty free.

I joined a tour to Panama City, which lies on the Atlantic side of the country. We took the main highway towards Colon. We turned off into the national park, unfortunately the van windows were heavily tinted so everything looked quite gloomy. We crossed over the Panama Canal and back again, on the Puente Centenario, looking towards the locks -

We stopped at the Miraflores Visitors Centre which is  the Panama Canal visitor centre. 

We then headed for Panama City. I was really surprised to see the dozens of skyscrapers, apartments and condos. I wasn't expecting that. Coincidentally, the same week as my visit to Panama, the Expat Malaysia published an article "Malaysia Loses Crown as Asia’s Best Place to Retire", describing how Thailand now holds top spot in Asia and Malaysia has slipped to 15th place worldwide. The article said "Malaysia was never at the top of the worldwide rankings, which are occupied by countries in Central and South America. These countries (such as Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, and Mexico) typically offer very attractive [retirement] programmes aimed at earning them a share of the massive amount of dollars held by retired Americans. Many US retirees choose to relocate southward for sunnier climates and lower costs of living.".

So that explains the density of high-rise in Panama City.

We stopped at the fish market but it was already closing. There were a lot of vultures and pelicans around.

We then walked into the old town, Casco Viejo, founded in 1519 and a Spanish colonial centre from 1670s, a UNESCO world heritage site. The streets are laid out in a grid pattern. Much of the town has been restored. Have to wear masks outdoors.

Most of the in the old part were shops for tourists selling souvenirs and handicrafts etc. 

Panama hats actually come from Ecuador !

Metropolitan cathedral

Views from the "beach"

Bridge of the Americas

After walking round the old town, our driver took us around the new city, there are so many huge condos it really reminded me of Damansara or Kiara in Malaysia. So different to what I expected. There is also a huge shopping complex Multiplaza Pacific mall. Seems to be a lot of money. 

From there we headed back to Colon and the ship. As mentioned above, the new cruise terminal is under construction but the duty free shop is open -