This has been a post that’s been a long time in the making. For some reason, I’ve always wanted to go to Panama. The Panama Canal always intrigued me. Learning about the intricacies got me excited for me to see it one day in person. Fast forward 20 years later to 2018, I finally got the opportunity through my business, to lead a group on a cruise through the Caribbean and parts of Central and South America. One of our stops was in San Cristobal, part of Colon, Panama, which was roughly 45 minutes from one of the locks in the canal.
Our plan was to rent a car and have them take us to the Canal, unfortunately that was not the case. According to our cruise line at that time the port in Colon was very dangerous and there was a bus that took us to the Duty-Free shopping center and back. There weren’t any taxis to take us to the canal. Essentially, that trip taught me that if there’s something you really want to do you need to pay for an excursion. The area of San Cristobal is one of the poorest areas in the entire country. Driving through and seeing the buildings covered in black mold was depressing. I had never seen such destruction, such poverty. Before coming to Panama, I had done my research and everyone talks about how advanced and modern the city is, or how beautiful the islands are but no one touches on the locals. I always said I would keep it real and even talk about the not so pretty picture worthy moments that’s why it’s worth mentioning. As much as I try to be positive about everywhere, I’ve been there are just some places that aren’t.
Fast forward to 2 years later, I’m on the same cruise ship with another group of clients for New Year’s Eve. This time around I wasn’t as excited about our port stops because I had been to them all already, I was more concerned about my clients on the trip, making sure everything went accordingly. I had warned several of my clients that if they wanted to go see the Canal, they would have to buy the excursion.
I, along with the majority of my clients, booked the excursion to visit the canal. This time around we stopped in Colon, where it wasn’t as dangerous. As soon as we stepped off the ship there were our tour buses and literally across the street there was a shopping center, with restaurants, pharmacies and a casino. This time the excursion took us through San Cristobal again, however they explained to us that they were in the process of demolishing all of the buildings and building affordable housing for them in the city. Which I was very pleased with because those buildings should have been condemned years ago.
The tour then took us through the rainforest where we saw some wild monkeys, then we headed to the Canal expansion. We were in the Agua Clara locks, where they had it set up with as a visitor center with a concession stand, a souvenir shop, restaurants, information center and a large viewpoint. We were able to sit and watch as the different ships waited their turn for the lock. We were even lucky enough to watch as 1 of the ships go through the locks. Now it was very interesting to watch and as always, I am very glad I was fortunate enough to witness it however, it was one of the most underwhelming things I have ever seen. The entire process took about 90 minutes and it was throughout a torrential downpour. However, it was still the most underwhelming thing I had ever experienced. After, about 30 minutes I was ready to go.
From what I was able to gather, the weather was common for Panama. I have also asked several friends that have been to the Canal and the expressed the same feelings. If Panama is a place on your list you should go and make your own opinion, however I gave it 2 chances, and this was mine. Chances are I won’t be doing this itinerary on a cruise again. As fun as it sounds since everyone gets tired of the constantly doing the Caribbean this itinerary isn’t worth it for me to repeat.