American Spirit II - Day 24; Tour of Panama City; Monday, January 27, 2014

The day started early. Up at 6:00 AM; breakfast at 6:30 AM; and then departure from the boat to the dingy dock to meet for a tour of Panama City starting at 8:00 AM. Because there were 5 of us, it took 2 dingy trips to bring everyone ashore.

Our bus took off at 8:10 PM. As usual, the tour was organized by the World Cruising Club. There were a total of 2 small busses. Ours held 13. Our tour guide was a Panamanian named David. Our first stop was at an old Convent/Hospital built in 1519 but destroyed in 1671. Its and the entire city's destruction was performed by the inhabitants of the city as they were warned that Buccaneer Henry Morgan was on his way to conquer the city. Rather than give up their riches, the people of Panama City torched their own city.

Like most cities, there are many taxis in Panama City. And these taxis are all yellow. However, they were not required to be yellow until 2 years ago. Subsequently, when you get into a taxis, though the exterior may be yellow, the interior may be an entirely different color scheme. The law dictated what the exterior color of the taxis were, not the interior.

The entire country of Panama consists of 3.4 million people; and Panama City holds 1.2 million of them. The skyline of the city looks just like Ft. Lauderdale or Miami; and is very modern. High rise office buildings and condominiums are everywhere. And much of the architecture is quite beautiful. A 60 kilometer subway is under construction, with 45% of its length under ground. The number one business in Panama is the Panama Canal, followed by agriculture (bananas, coffee, pineapple, etc.), banking and tourism. The canal costs 343 million to operate per year, and takes in a revenue of 2.5 billion. And because of the canal, all citizens over 70 years of age receive a pension of $120 per month.

The unemployment rate in Panama City is 7%; and the rate elsewhere in the country is 13%. The Minimum Wage is around $2.00 per hour; the Sales Tax is 7%; and the Income Tax rates are between 9 and 13%.

Geographically, the country stretches from west to east, with Costa Rica on the west and Columbia on the east. The number one language in Panama is Spanish, followed by English and then Chinese.

The flag of Panama has 2 stars on it; the upper or blue one represents Honesty; the lower or red star represents Executing of the Laws. Not sure if I got that one right. The colors on the flag, red and blue, also represent Panama's 2 political parties.

The tour ended with lunch in a restaurant called Diablo or something similar. David Fox and I had seafood wrapped in plantain's; and a sea food stew. The highlight of the meal was dessert - flan. David and I split a 'regular' flan; and Joel and Darlene Heyne split a 'coconut' flan. Both were sumptuous!

The last part of our tour had us on top of the highest hill in Panama City, where we could see the Milafores Locks and the high rises of Panama City. A very good view. The trip up to the top by a new driver in a smaller van than we had for the tour was the scariest ride up a hill or mountain I ever had. Prior to descending the hill, I asked our guide to ask the driver to slow down; and he did. That is why I'm able to type this log tonight.

The remainder of the day was spent getting a reservation at The Beach House for when the boat is hauled out of the water to fix and replace the rudder tube; and going to a local bar that had Wifi so we could try to order a new anchor and some other equipment.

Since we are going to haul the boat out of the water Wednesday for 2 or 3 days, we had to continue to empty the freezer on the boat. Tonight for dinner included chilled shrimp cocktail and lobster tails.

We watch a movie tonight on board, Around Alone. A movie or really a documentary about American Dodge Morgan who in 1986 became the first American to sail around the world nonstop; and who also set a speed record in doing so of 150 days, cutting the previous record in half. He sailed a 60 foot custom built yacht name American Promise.

Brian Fox