The Real PC

Yes, i am talking about Panama City, but not the redneck Riviera such as you might be thinking. I am in Panama the southernmost country of Central America and our great continent North America. Although this has been debated. With me as a matter of fact. I don't really remember the outcome of this argument but the ones in which i am wrong i just try to forget so i think that i might have been right for once.

Got down to PC after a couple of days staying at Jon's house in LA or Irvine to be more accurate. We chilled on the Newport beach one day and the other day did laundry, exchanged pix, and other travel necessities. Jo was in town too so it was quite a reunion with all of us there. Jon's parents were excellent hosts offering us beds, meals, information, and parental help. Beach was good but American food was better and i found myself gorging for a couple of days. Another sad goodbye at the airport brought me to Miami and on to Panama. I (of me and my bros) got there first so i found the assigned Hotel (Montreal w/ rooftop pool) and got a room. I found a bathroom, TV, and AC three things my rooms almost never had in the time i have been gone. Chilled it out for a few hours waiting on Steve-o and had a walk about the city. He finally got there and we wandered down to the local gringo watering hole for a beer but they were too pricey and we opted to head to the 24 hour super nice grocery REY. Beers are .39 there for Cerveza Panama the local favorite so we got a 6er and headed to the rooftop terrace/pool but the rain held us back so we watched some English TV in the room (CNN). Good night and the next day to Isla Tobago.

Well we made it to the ferry dock at about noon and to our surprise the only ferry of the day left at 830am. This threw us for a loop since we had brought all our gear and were planning on staying out there. Cant trust those guide books i suppose. We had a PB sandwich on the hill and got kicked off so we wandered around and decided to go back to the Montreal and regroup. We decided on a day trip for the next day and no stay on the island. We went to the old town in Panama City called San Felipe for the afternoon and walked through some rough areas to get there. Past markets selling broken propellers, blender parts, bird cages, and anything else imaginable. Needless to say we didn't exactly fit in. Made and saw some nice religious sites, a good view of the Bridge of the Americas, the historic Presidential palace, and great old buildings since this town is from the 1500s. Good pizza for dinner and more cervezas on the roof.

Isla Tobago was an easy trip by ferry the next morning and we wanted to do the 3 crosses hike to the top of the hill (400m) where an old US bunker afforded 360 degree views. The trail head proved very difficult to find but with tenacity we found it after about an hour. The trail was steep and hot and muggy in the canopy of the rain forest. We first ran into a tarantula looking spider about the size of my hand and hairy, then lots of iguanas fighting, fluorescent green frogs, and a snake that was so long and skinny he floated on leaves. Cool hike with a good view of the islands and the city. The city has a very impressive skyline for less than a million people and you could see it quite well from up here even though this is the rainy season and it had been cloudy every day. The rest of the day on the beach after a meal of a whole red snapper for $5. Snorkeling sucked because of low visibility but saw some colorful little guys and some puffers. Ash was supposed to be there when we got back but found out his flights were all f'd up and he wouldn't be in till 9. Had dinner for $1.50 and headed home. He made it and we were set. The 3 hermanos.

Next day went to check out some rain forest near a town called Gamboa and the canal at the locks. The rain forest was a section of national park that the Smithsonian along with a lot of other researchers use because of the vast array of life. The trail we were on has the most different species of birds ever recorded in a 24 hour period as well. We saw 3 birds. But, we saw some cool as monkeys that crawled around and looked at us through old wise faces. Moved back to the first set of locks on the canal (Mira Flores??). These were on the Pacific side and we saw a Maersk liner, a car mover, and an oil tanker go through. The car liner payed like $150k to go through crazy money but it fit 6000 cars on the boat. These boats were absolutely huge and amazing to see them raised and lowered. Another night on the Terrace and this time Walter showed up.

Walter was a Honduran oil worker or maybe a drug runner from Mexico i couldn't really tell but he told us the first one. He just travelled a bit much for that. Perfect English and he used it. Told us story after story but did buy us a couple rounds to keep us enthralled. He had some American girl with him who seemed somewhat interested somewhat scared out of her mind. Anyway the night grew long and we had to part ways but not before he threatened to throw the waiter in the pool or jump off the building. Interesting character. As they all have been.