Check out Lobo on YOU TUBE:
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
www .youtube.com/user/travelswithlobo
**********************************************************

First Time Reader: Why Panama? – This blog explains the rationale of the trip and this series of blogs.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/excursions/1266327384/tpod.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Addition to last Blog: Panama Canal

In preparation for the year 2014 when the Panama expansion will be completed, ports along the eastern US and Gulf Coasts as well as inland destinations, are preparing for the increased container volume that is anticipated upon the completion of the expansion.

Once the new 6,400 tonnage has been implemented it is anticipated that the most of the destinations east of the Mississippi would no longer fall into the delivery zone for ports along the Pacific Coast .

I wrote a blog about the new container port in Prince Rupert, British Columbia whose major "raison d'etre" was that it reduced shipping time to Chicago by a full day. It will be interesting to see how the expanded Panama Canal will affect Prince Rupert.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/excursions/1168741380/tpod.html

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lobo’s Real TimeFebruary 28,2010This is the day that Canada meets the U.S. for the Olympic Gold in Hockey. Having lost to the U.S. in the preliminary rounds Canadian professional hockey has a lot to prove – GO CANDA GO!!It is now 17:00 and I can now report that Canada went and got it -THE GOLD MEDAL in Men's Hockey 3-2 in dramatic overtime fashion. In fairness to the Americans, the game could have gone either way especially after the Americans scored with seconds to go in regular time to tie the game .So did Canada's OWN THE PODIUM program pay dividends?

I will let Barbara back home in Victoria, BC fill in the details.
---------------------------------------------
Barbara's thoughts from Victoria, British Columbia:
written February 28,2010
---------------------------------------------
Yes I feel the OWN THE PODIUM program did pay dividends. Canada won 14 gold medals in these 2010 Olympic Games. Canada did not achieve their goal of winning the most medals in these games but they won 14 gold medals - a record number of gold medals by a country hosting the Winter Olympics. We rank 3rd in the total number of medals won.

Canada's population is about 1/10 that of the United States. The U.S. won 9 gold medals and a total of 37, the leading medal winners. Germany has a population 2-1/2 times that of Canada and they won 10 gold medals and a total of 30, taking them just ahead of Canada in the number of total medals won.

After watching the men's hockey team win the gold medal today in a very exciting game, I left home and drove through the downtown area of Victoria. I had a big grin on my face watching all the Canadians around me on foot, bicycles and in cars exclaiming their excitement over the win. Canadian flags were waving from cars and draped over shoulders. My heart swelled with pride and continues to do so now as I watch the closing ceremonies of these 21st Winter Olympic Games.

I am proud to be a Canadian as are William Shatner, Catherine O'Hara, Michael J. Fox, Michael Buble, Nickelback, Neil Young, Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morrisette, Simple Plan, Hedley, Marie-Mai, k-os - all guest speakers and performers in this wonderful spectacle. I have tears of joy and pride watching and listening to their music and hearing them list all those great things that make Canada a great country - Rocky Mountains, the canoe, glaciers, loons, minus 30 degree temperatures (a sign of global warming), Montreal, McGill University, hockey players, Mounties (RCMP), beavers, moose, lumberjacks - just to name a few.

I was in Vancouver last Sunday to be a part of this great experience. I belong to a great Canadian family. Thanks everyone for visiting our home and being our guests. You're welcome back anytime!

I am so proud of our athletes and all their fantastic accomplishments. Not everyone can win a medal but every one of them did their very best and I congratulate every one of them. They made us all proud and we owned the podium in a slightly different way than planned.
---------------------------------------
Thanks Barb for your touching comments. The make me feel like I missed a great event back home while traveling through Central America.
(written by Lobo on March 1, 2010 from Liberia, Costa Rice)
--------------------------------------
Where am I now?
March 1, 2010
Liberia, Costa Rica
I will be taking a bus to San Carlos del Sur in Nicaragua tomorrow.

February 27,2010
La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Last evening was a truly stark contrast.

Just after the fall of night I found myself desperately struggling to descend, in darkness illuminated by headlamps and through rain soaked terrain, the treacherous path leading back to the parking lot. Constantly in my mind was the warning - don’t touch the vegetation around you and watch the ground – there are poisonous snakes. Earlier in the day I was part of a guided tour that climbed a trail through dense rain forest to get to an observation point across from Arenal Volcano. Like so many others before us, we had no luck in seeing molten lava cascading down the sides of the volcano – “que lastima”.

I had just finished the free rum and coke at the end of this ordeal when a call went out by the group leader for “the Canadian” – that was I.

Next thing I knew I was the only person from the group that was being whisked by taxi for a 30 minute ride to the famous Baldi Resort complete with a wrist bracelet that allowed me to enjoy the great meals and natural hot springs.

Like I said, what a contrast – struggling for survival in the jungle to living in the lap of luxury in an upscale resort of gigantic proportions. It will make for a good blog.

February 26, 2010

It is late afternoon and I am sitting in the Liberia (Bookstore) Chunches in Monteverde, Costa Rica. This morning after interviewing the owner, an American lady who has lived here for 17 years, I went on a much anticipated canopy walk through a part of the local forests. It is described as a Skywalk as there is a combination of suspended bridges that at times are in the forest canopy along with well maintained walking trails. As I say it was much anticipated but did not live up to my expectations.

Monteverde is among Costa Rica’s top sights along with Tortugero, Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio and Volcan Arenal.

My last real time update was from Jaco and after almost losing my ankle to a pit bull at the hostel (in the end, no harm done) I travelled to Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula. It was beautiful but the extreme heat and humidity had me taking flight after 24 hours to Monteverde where, due to the high altitude, I was met with temperatures around 18 degrees.

Tomorrow I am travelling north to the volcano at Arenal and then heading for Nicaragua where I am expecting to find prices that would rival those of Panama.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Panama: Seven Destinations to Spend the Winter Months
--------------------------------------------------------------
Panama City
Destination No . 1 of 6 (in no particular order)

Panama City: The Amador
Part 5 of 7 on Panama City

What to do with the massive amounts of rocks cut and blasted from the Gillard Cut that broke through the Continental Divide during the Panama Canal construction? One bright idea was to build a causeway 3.5 miles into the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Panama Canal that would also connect the islands of Naos, Perico and Flamenco.

The causeway or breakwater known as the “Amador” also served other purposes such as preventing the mouth of the canal from being plugged up with silt and most importantly, during the American era of the canal, it was used for purposes of defence.

Perico Island was greatly fortified with underground tunnels and bunkers that would withstand an attack. At the flattened top of the island the biggest army guns were installed to defend the canal . Fortifications were also installed on the other islands. The construction of a causeway allowed the islands and defences to be supplied by a railway. Guns were also mounted on railcars to defend the length of the canal from Flamenco Island to the Caribbean side of the canal.

These defences that never fired a shot to fend off an enemy were obsolete and dismantled at the end of World War II.

The whole area along the canal including the causeway came under the control of the Canal Commission and it took the early steps to beautify the causeway. That process continues to the present day now under Panamanian control since 1999.

Today it serves as a beautiful getaway from the busy life of Panama City. From here Panama City can be seen and admired from afar across the bay. There are jogging paths and restaurants and various diversions that make it an interesting place.

On my visit to the causeway or “Amador” as it is known, I was again joined by “local expert” Robert from Quebec City who was the second person I met on my first walk through Panama City on the day of my arrival .

When I say, “joined by” I am speaking loosely because it makes it sound like I knew what I was doing. Let’s put it this way - I just tagged along, glad that someone else was leading the way.

On these outings, things happen fast and as the taxi was cruising down the causeway with its windows down and wind noise thundering, I could hear Robert saying something about “Frank Gehry” and pointing at some structure that looked like it had just gone through a bombing in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan.

With memories of Barcelona, the mention of Frank Gehry had me reaching for my camera and frantically trying to focus on this rubble.

Later investigation revealed that the Bridge of Life building under construction was designed by Frank Gehry and is intended to be a museum to biodiversity.

http://www.arcspace.com/architects/gehry/panama/

-----------------------------------------------------           

Lobo Flash (….I am coming to the realization that …)

I love public transportation for its cost. In Panama City, taxis can almost be considered public transportation, because they are cheap, especially when the cost is split between two persons . By the way, the half hour drive to the Amador cost us $5. I would still have preferred a bus (25 cents) and that is what we did on the way back.

However, there is one great limitation in public transportation that is relevant to blogging. The bus or taxi does not stop when you want it to. Often beautiful photographic shots are not taken because it is too late or too unsteady to take the photo. On the other hand, given the number of photos that I post, I don’t seem to be starving for opportunities to take photos.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Along the way we drove adjacent to the former American canal zone typified by the uniform structure of its buildings – not quite Soviet-era style - but not imaginative either. Nevertheless I suspect that life was good here during the glory years of American management.

We then drove past the FCC casino recently closed down by newly elected President Martinelli due to non-payment of taxes and building code violations . The owner apparently was a powerful businessman and by taking on the casino Martinelli sent a message encouraging compliance to all the business community.

Upon arrival near the end of the road, there is a complex of shops and restaurants which make a good stop for a bite to eat or as in our case, a great location for a late afternoon coffee and snack.

Of special interest is the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute located nearby on a spit of land called Punta Culebara. I don’t know what it is, but with the mention of the word “Smithsonian” people start paying attention. So it was with a degree of eagerness that I toured the facilities, in the end being somewhat disappointed by the small size of the complex. Nevertheless the displays were interesting and there was definitely something to learn about marine life in the area. Robert took off from where he left off last year in his discussions with the Italian lady who is the curator of the displays .

Of special interest were the sea turtle displays because how can you not love a sea turtle and their mysterious sea navigations? The beautiful starfish are an eye grabber and the sea worms - well let's just move on.

------------------------------------------------------------

Comments about the photos taken on a different day:

I have included city scenes as I loosely (with no street map) walk towards the Trump Tower under construction in Punta Pacifica near downtown Panama City. I never found it in the confined sightlines of the surrounding high buildings but the walk was interesting.

Comments:

my standard breakfast of $2.10 with seniors discount at the Grupo Riba Smith including a large bowl of porridge

a story that the first Subway is to be built in Panama City with the route marked on the map

people playing baseball in a park recall the fact that Panamanians are crazy about baseball (American legacy)

another photo of the ridiculous life threatening holes in Panama City sidewalks

not all projects are stalled in Panama City - the men I photographed working on a construction site were working at 18:00

scenes of a wedding that I always find a fascinating exercise in people watching

night time scenes from a park along the Via Argentina with people engaged in various sporting activities

a photo of supper - fortunately I only photograph my meals when I travel

photograph of a window of a sex shop next to a massage parlour along the Via Venitio (prostitution is legal in Panama)

Feedback: travelswithlobo@yahoo .com
(e-mails not published on site)
 
Coming Soon:

Panama City: Real Estate