After passing through the Mira Flores Locks yesterday, we anchored a mile or so outside Panama City in the harbor for an overnight stay in Panama. Again, shocking to just say the words, "we're staying overnight in Panama."
Our itinerary boasted a 2-day Panama Experience -- so yesterday was about the Canal while today was about Fuerte Amador (our port of call) and Panama City (the closest city of interest).
Fuerte Amador is actually a tender port -- meaning you and a hundred of your newest and closest friends cram into a lifeboat-style vessel taking you shoreside, where a larger cruise liner wouldn't fit or be able to navigate.
The port itself is actually a causeway built outside the Pacific entrance to the Canal -- and it's made from the dirt and rock excavated during the Canal construction. Now, it functions to keep silt out of the Canal (where depth of the Canal) is a concern. It's also the gateway to Panama City.
Going into today, we had no intention of venturing into Panama City, but we took the tender into Fuerte Amador just to look around.
The tender's a bit of an interesting ride... especially when you're boarding and the tender is slamming up against the hull of the ship... really not making you want to tumble into the sea or anything...
Twenty minutes later we were ashore and experiencing the hottest, most humid weather to date. Understandable I suppose considering we were only 7 degrees north of the equator.
One of the day's objectives was to find an ATM (the ship's was out of order). And for some reason, we were surprised by how many blank, confused stares we got when asking for the closest ATM. My Spanish capabilities aren't as sharp as they once were, but we did okay. Even if we did get my Dad a genuine Panama hat... made in Ecuador.
Along with that, some wood colored pencils and a bilingual coloring book for the nephews, that's about all we did in Fuerte Amador.
Back onboard the ship, we savored the Cinco de Mayo fiesta buffet -- burritos, rice, margaritas, fun decor, etc. Interestingly enough, native residents don't celebrate May 5th -- only us holiday-lacking Americans.
Later, we decided to skip dinner in the dining room, and instead, opted to lounge in and around the pool. Which also meant, spoiling dinner for myself by accepting a soft, warm cookies from our poolside attendant -- a Princess signature feature -- afternoon cookies and milk.
Wherever we are, it's fun to take a moment and remember where we actually are, and how far away from "home" we are at that moment. After all, we'd hate to forget what it feels like to have that privilege at this time in our lives.
Today was, for the most part, a relaxing day, but in hindsight I'm not sure either of us really needed a second day in Panama.
Photos from the Day
Video from the Day
Tomorrow: At Sea
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