Panama

The last stop of the cruise was in Panama. We of course went to see the Panama Canal. It was only a 2 hour bus ride, one way, to get there but it was worth it. We did however, start off with some trouble. Our group of 40 went out to find the tour guide a little early. If you have ever been on a Cruise you know that the locals swarm you when you get off the Pier because that is how they make a living. Well our tour guide was not there so we asked for some help. BIG MISTAKE. The company that helped us tried to sabotage the other company that we actually went with because i am sure they wanted our business. Needless to say we sat in our bus for about 45 minutes waiting for them to negotiate with the Panamanian police and the other company. Well, we finally got to the Panama Canal and it is very Americanized because it was part of the US until December 1999. The locks though are really not that big. I was thinking huge but a cruise ship could never fit in it. But it really does save time for the cargo haulers. The toll is really expensive but they save time and gasoline by using it. After we saw the canal we went to the capital city and saw their version of the White House. What a dump and the city surround it is the same way. We also saw the set of the new James Bond movie that is coming out this year. It was also a dump but they had tried to clean it up a little for that. That is all we had time to do in Panama because of the length of time it took to get back to the ship. We arrived back right on time but the ship did leave two hours late because of one of the ship tours was delayed. Overall it was really cool to see the Panama Canal but everywhere else was very dirty and i don't think i would want to just fly there for a vacation.