October 15 - Panama City

Fuerto Amador - Panama City

Actually we are in Fuerto Amador, a short distance from Panama City where the ships drop anchor and tender us to the mainland.  We are booked with My Friend Mario, who we used last year. Here is the link to their site My Friend Mario.  Last year we did the City tour, this time we decided to visit the Embera Indian Village, last year we heard great things about this tour and I really wanted to do the tour.

Everyone should be aware that this is a tender port and the ship's sponsored tours are the first to have access to the tenders.  We are elite members and this entitles us to priority tender disembarkation and this came in handy today, we were on the second tender.  But if you do not have this perk be aware that you will probably not get ashore until around 945.

The heat and humidity hits you as soon as you board the tender - tip take the open air seats on the top of the tender, breeze is a necessity.  As soon as we dock a band and dancers are welcoming us and so is Mario, yes the actual My Friend Mario along with his son who is going to be dropped off at his home along the way.

Mario gets us into his 4x4 and we are the only ones on the tour to the Embera Indian Village!! The village is about an hour away along a very very bumpy road.  Be aware that if you have back problems this may not be the tour for you because of the roads alone. 

We arrive at the drop off spot where we are greeted by a man dressed in very little!  But Mario is obviously well known here and respected.  We are led to a dug out canoe and given life jackets, near us a large tour has arrived (from a hotel) and there are about 25 in their group and they are loaded into one canoe!  We have our canoe all to ourselves.  We start heading off to the village on the lake only to have the one village members on the boat direct the driver of the boat to give us a bit of a tour of the beautiful lake.  And off we go checking out the beautiful scenery.  Note the other large group went directly to the village and didn't get this beautiful boat ride around the lake.

here is the other tour group that was there with us, check out the crowds

Beautiful lake and jungle

We land right near the big house where we are greeted by the locals and some musicians and lots of children who have just come back from school.  They wear a school uniform at school but as soon as they arrive home they take it off and put on the local's costume (very little).

A mother with her beautiful baby.  Mario is welcomed by so many of the locals and is obviously well known here.  We later find out that Mario a few years ago assisted with a rescue and got hurt.  The big house is where we are welcomed, it is huge!!!  Apparently there was a fire here not that long ago and the whole place burned down and they just recently rebuilt it.

one of the local girls

Their homes are built on stilts which comes in handy when it rains.  Their stairs are a log that has notches cut out, when the family goes to bed they lift up the log!  Very interesting.

Here the women prepare a meal for all of us of fresh talapia and plantains.  Check out the woman's outfit, her beaded halter top has heavy coins on it and is very beautiful.

This is their fire which comprises of three logs pointed inwards and as the fire burns they move the logs in. 

One of the locals I started to chat with we later found out was the chief of all the Embera Indians.  He is very young but very much respected.  This village comprises of about 22 families and there are numerous villages around.  They are live very basically, no running water, no electricity, no tvs, no radios.  Mario said that they are very happy and just want to live their lives.  In order to survive now because the government has caused numerous damages because of flooding of the lakes and restrictions on hunting have opened up their villages to tours. 

This elder was offering henna type tattoos.  I am game and he proceeds to do his art on my right wrist for a few dollars.  The tattoo will last a few days and I am wear it proudly.  Below is the same gentleman selling his items.  We purchased the plate right in front of him and it is hanging in our kitchen.

This little boy is relaxing in his hammock under his parents table.

A short while later the village starts playing music and then they start dancing, it is beautiful!  And of course they drag us up to join them, don't we stand out like a sore thumb!

here are their dug out canoes

our driver

We are back in the vehicle and Mario is taking us to the Mia Flores Canal interpretation centre.  Here is the huge map on the wall of the actual Panama Canal.

one of Celebrity Ships makes it way into the Mia Flores locks

We are back at the pier around 3:30 and we make our way back on board.  We had such a great day here, I love it here, it is a little crazy on the streets and it is a big city but I love the people.

The ship sits in the harbour for the night and we wait here until first thing tomorrow when we will travel thru the canal.



Tonight is the Island Night Tropical Deck Party and we are all heading up.  I was a little concerned that there would not be that many people there but boy was I wrong the place is packed and we dance and dance and dance, and we are all sweating because it is so darn humid but man what a good time.  It is a late night and we need to get a good sleep because it will be an early day tomorrow as we are expected to enter the locks around 6:30 am.

Panama City - September 24

Wow can you believe it I am in Panama!!

Again another place I never thought I would ever see and I am here! We drop anchor in Fuerto Amador which is just outside Panama City. Tenders are in order here, our first and only port for tenders. Now tenders are not my favorite thing but are sometimes a necessity.



Someone from our Cruise Critic group arranged for us to have priority tender tickets so we all met in the Wheelhouse bar and were given tender stickers for the CC group. Note if you did not have a tour booked thru Princess the tenders did not start before 9:30.

You board the tender and you are hit with the humidity. I am sweating even before we land at the pier. Here is to praying that the bus has air conditioning.

We are greeted by these beautiful dancers at the pier.

I had arranged a group tour thru Friends of Mario for a city tour. http://www.myfriendmario.com/?page=amador The tour in total cost only $30 and we had enough people interested that we had two buses that accommodated around 17 people.

Rose loves to sew and here is a beautiful sculpture of a seamstress.

Karin and Rose at a gallery

A rooster at the top representing the contribution to Panama City from the French



Panamanian Woman and her baby.

Molas -- the beautiful embroidery, very colourful

Bernie and John admire the artwork

The city in the background

So appropriate with this heat

Beautiful architecture

The new modern city

We visit the President's residence and just past the security scanner we see two herons, we find out that they were gifts to the country and that they roam free.

One comes out to say hi to us

I can't get over how beautiful the buildings are

One thing I notice is that the locals don't look like just one type of person. Panama is made up of so many cultures. This arose from all the workers who came from all over the world to help build the canal. It is a beautiful city and the people make it so. However you certainly notice the difference in classes and the division seems very wide and very noticeable.

These are their transit buses, very colourful

The old mixes with the new

We drive about 2 kilometers from the city to what is left of the original Panama City but there is not much still standing. Old stone walls and tower ruins is all that remains, but there are interesting features in the stonework and development work on the site has seen signboards put up offering explanations of each area. Currently you can walk around some of the site with no fee, but there are plans to charge for the whole place in the future.

At this point many people on the tour are tired and very hot. The guides ask us, to choose and we divide up between who wants to go back to the ship and who wants to go for lunch. We choose the lunch. We are driven to a local restaurant that is very close to the Canal headquarters. It is cafeteria style and is packed with locals. Both Bernie and I eat a meal with beverage for $12.78. Can't be beat!

This is the pier at Fuerto Amado. There isn't a lot here, a bar, restaurant, duty free, a few small shops and that is it. If you really want to see the city you need to go into town for a minimal cost.

Our beautiful ship from the tender.

Tonight we just drop anchor a distance away from the city (enough to open up the casinos) and hang out for the night until our time comes in the morning to proceed to transit the canal. It feels weird, I have never spent the night anchored, I have always travelled. It is even weirder leaving the drapes in the cabin open an looking out at the bright lights of Panama City.

Tomorrow the Canal.