We have arrived in the old Canal Zone, new Republic of Panama after a long but successful day of non rev travel. Traveling with 2 families, we have a total of 11 travelers between the Watsons and us.
Yesterday was a bit tense getting everything ready and packed for our week long trip to Central America, and thus we got to bed quite late, with a 3 a.m. wake up. By 4 we had picked up Isabel and back out on A1A, we heard a car horn, as Kathleen went blowing by with their family on the way to the airport.
At the airport, we had a friendly experience with the Copa ticket agents, except that I was coerced into checking my roller bag, which I hate doing!
The flight was purported to be full, but we managed to get all of our travelers on the 0745 flight from MCO to PTY with the exception of John, Kathleen, Michael and I. Not too shabby. By the time the second flight was leaving, I had made friends with our gate agents, and bought them coffee, virtually assuring our boarding status. I was even privileged to have one of the coveted exit row seats!
Rebecca arrived in Panama a good 3 hours before us, fetched all the bags and headed to the Reyes home in Diablo. By the time she got there, she turned around with the driver to come meet us at the airport.
All the bags and all of the people made it. Our first attempt at an outing was rained out as we made our way through the traffic, around the "circle of death" and up Ancon hill only to turn around as the hike was not to proceed in the tropical afternoon shower.
After a quick stop at El Rey for some favorite bread and fruit, we stopped a the Dolan's to see Carson, and make plans for dinner .
In the evening we went to the Fish Market in Casco Viejo, downtown in real old Panama at a trendy restaurant owned by a former Zonian friend.
Kathleen was feeling ill from the zapaya she ate, which turned out to be a pumpkin squash that is supposed to be cooked. John dutifully brought her some head on shrimp for dinner, as she did not make it our to dinner.
July 13, 2016
A banner day in Panama. We are traveling with a good crew of adventurers! Up early in old Canal Zone, and departed the Reyes' home when our driver picked up up. Amazingly, we fit 11 passengers, all of our luggage, surf boards and snorkeling gear into one Van! Not even a "maxi" van either. Such a short ride over to Albrook Airfield from Diablo. Amusingly, even though it was formerly a USAF base the departure end of the runway is after an uphill takeoff and there is a hill at the end. Definitely not in accordance with USA FAA standards.
The check in went pretty smoothly except paying for each surfboard tariff as opposed to a single bag fee. Oh well, despite my best efforts at deception, we ended up paying $20 per board. Still a veritable score when compared to today's usual board fees. Also, we got tagged with an extra fee for our overall family baggage weight. $2.11 per kilo overage charge at 19 kilos over.
We boarded up the Fokker F50, glancing at the youthful pilots who would be flying us. Taking off, we got a nice view of the new locks on the Panama Canal as a COSCO ship was transiting, and were able to compare it to the size of the old locks as Miraflores and Pedro Miguel were also in view.
Ryan asked what the small box built into the plane's armrests was, and I laughed, as I explained it was an ashtray, and smoking was once allowed on planes. Unbelievably so.
Our flight took us due North then banking West we hugged the Atlantic shoreline observing vast expanses of rainforest through the clouds.
Descending into the Bocas Del Toro area, a veiled enthusiasm crept upon us as we could see an Atlantic swell continued, and would most probably yield some great surf.
On short final approach, we could observe the nearby island's and the mist rising out of the rainforest, and we came surprisingly close to the surface of the water before touching down smoothly on the wet runway.
Umbrellas were provided for our short walk across the Tarmac to the baggage reclamation building where a fee was charged for a tourist card.
In typical Central American airport style, the taxi drivers aggressively pursued our business, and we chose a van to repeat the same process of loading a single van with ample adventure gear of all varieties of water sport.
The drop off point was called "cable and wireless" and that is where we caught our final transportation vessel of the journey, the panga to Caranera, the island location of our hotel Tiera Verde.
Pulling up to the dock, we offloaded the gear, and made our way up the beach to the small 3 story Panamanian hotel which is run by a former Zonian, Cookie.
And then, literally within an hour of landing, we had reassembled our surfboards, made fin ready, and were on another panga boat to surf Caranera point.
The veiled enthusiasm of our anticipation of surf on the inbound flight exploded into real unveiled enthusiasm as the panga pounded out through significant swell on the way to the point.
Surfers of the trip are myself, Dylan, Ryan, Matt and Michael Watson. Gladly, we were also accompanied by Cookie, an accomplished Bocas surfer.
Arriving at the point, we were not at all disappointed as it was firing with head high A frame peaks of warm Caribbean swell! An epic session followed as we surfed the point hard, and watched the avid locals tear up their home break!
There is nothing like pulling up to a point break in a panga boat, and jumping into the water with your board and paddling into surf without a single duck dive!
Needless to say, it was an epic session, and we surfed hard for 2 hours, never knowing if this swell would begin to dissipate in future days.
Following the surf sesh, we hit Bibis for lunch, and had a well deserved siesta in the afternoon at Tiera Verde.
For dinner, we again loaded up the panga and headed into Bocas town to dine at Utimo Refugo, a fine, fresh seafood dining experience.
By 10, we were all worn out from our first full day in Bocas, and plans were being hatched for days to follow, and all the fun activities to participate in!
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