Day 26: Cristobal and Colon, Panama

Novemeber 7, 2011 16:00

Ok first thing's first. I know, I know I've been lazy at writing but that's only because I've been too busy exploring new countries and when I haven't been doing that I've been working or getting MUCH needed sleep. K, now that that's out of the way… on to Panama!

I didn't work until 1 so we got up early and headed out into the city. Just like in Columbia we didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into and were just flying by the seat of our pants. After batting off the hordes of locals trying to sell us on cab rides and other assorted crap, we found out that it was a national holiday and as such most of the city would be closed however there was going to be a parade and festivities around the city.

After a little aimless walking around the immediate vicinity we met a local who worked for the cruise port named Ray. He offered to walk us around town, show us the sights, keep us out of the bad areas and then bring us back to the ship. He said he'd do all this as long as we tipped him at the end what we thought he was worth. We went a long with this and it turned out to be a great decision.

Shortly after we joined up with Ray we found ourselves being stopped on the sidewalk and told we couldn't go any further because the president of Panama was up ahead for the festivities. Pretty cool! Just after that we met the current light weight boxing champ but whereas I don't know anything about boxing I couldn't tell you his name. There's a picture below of him with Renetia though, maybe someone will recognize him. Either way we told him we were big fans and took pictures with him. There's one of me and the boys with him on someone's camera, I'm sure it'll turn up on Facebook at some point. When local, it's always best the suck up to the locals.

As we walked through the city we came upon rows of men and women in red uniforms lined up on the street saluting a man in a white coat who was exiting a firehall. Just then the sky's opened up and it began pouring (a welcome sight as it was apron 35C and humid). The man in white turned and went back indoors then everyone in red turned and charged for cover from the rain. Here we found out that the man in white was the President and that everyone in red were the fire fighters for the city. Yet another fluky local encounter.

The city was incredibly alive as different marching bands prepped for the holiday parade and Ray took us through all of it. Colon was really a tale of two cities. There were parts that were so poor and run down that there was just garbage and debris covering the roads then other parts that were beautiful and more refined. In fact some of the houses in their "downtown" looked like they would come down with one strong gust of wind. Have a peek at the picture of the KFC… A flower in a pot of dirt.

When out in these cities there's been no better sight then seeing the ship after being in town for a while. It's incredibly encouraging to know that you've completed yet another successful day in a completely alien city. I look forward to many more just like it.