Tuesday, June 1, 2010


Panama means the “place of many fishes”.  Panama City is the gateway to the Panama Canal.  After leaving Puerto Quetzal we arrive off the Fuerte Amador at 5:00 pm.  There are many ships waiting to enter the canal and we have to tender ashore.  It was about a ten minute ride from the ship to the dock.  We were heading over to the Miraflores  Locks, to see the ships coming through at night.  On the ride over there we saw the housing and facilities left behind when the Americans turned the canal over to Panama.  Panama City has over one million inhabitants and is an impressive city.  I asked one of the locals what he thought about the US coming down and taking Manuel Noriega.  He said the Panamanian people were more than happy to have him sent to Miami.  He said to “Keep Him”.  The US still has the obligation to protect the canal.  We were told American jets from Miami can be there in less than two hours.  We made it back to the dock by 11:00 pm and set by the water with a glass of wine until 11:45.  We were the last to return to the ship.  We’re to enter the first lock at five in the morning.

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