Panama City, Panama

The trek from Trinidad to Cuba is, believe it or not, at its most direct and cheapest if you fly over Panama. Seeing as though we were passing through Panama just to get to and from Cuba we thought it would be remiss of us if we didn't at least take a couple of days to check the place out.

We arrived in Panama with little to no knowledge of it. Okay, we knew there was a canal that it was supposed to be a big deal. In fact, Hannah had sailed through it on a passenger ship with Peter and Joyce when she was about one. But, 35 years later, we still found ourselves landing in Panama knowing very little about the place. It made the stay very fascinating because everything was new and so interesting, from the unexpected but amazing city skyline to the ebbing and flowing Pacific Ocean coming right up to the city and receding to leave mudflats, to the ruins of the original Panama city that was sacked by the famous pirate Henry Morgan in the late 17th century, to the massively mega mega-malls. Another thing that made our stay in Panama fascinating was the context from which we had come - Cuba. Panama was the antithesis of Cuba. It is a city dedicated to commercialism and promoting trade through the Panama Canal. Billboards adorn every spare inch of space in the city, international banks are setting up left right and centre, a new building seems to be going up each day and countless expats from around the world now call Panama home. Han, Sarah and I all commented on the first day that it really feels like a Central American Dubai or Doha.

Unfortunately, Jesse feel ill while we were there and suffered from a debilitatingly high fever, so I wasn't as focussed on taking photos on this leg of the trip. Nevertheless, there are a few below that show a village which was set-up to show traditional life in Panama, the canal and the city about to be hit by a storm (credit to Sarah for the city photos).

This where we were when Jesse was hit by a sudden high fever. It was such a shame, for him (the poor mite was really miserable), and for our visit to the canal. We could have sat in the restaurant there for hours watching the ships pass through the locks.

Samuel at the helm of a Copa Airlines Embrear on the tarmac back in Trinidad.