Panama City

It rained all day in Colon but we were in Panama City for the major part of the day. Panama City is the capital and about one hour's ride from the port of Colon where the ship docked. We hired a private guide and took off for Panama City at about 8:30 am in the rain. We drove past the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks on the Pacific side of the canal and also passed Lake Chagres and into the rainforest.

Panama City has two distinct parts. The new city is very modern with beautiful glass skyscrapers and condos. There are many banks since this is a world financial center and the largest free trade zone in the world. In addition, the large freighters and cargo ships as well as the cruise ships which transit the canal must pay cash and it is far from cheap. It cost Celebrity approximately $350,000 for the transit of the Millenium. So there is loads of money here. Many Americans retire here and live like kings.

The other part of the capital is the old city which dates from colonial days. It is constantly being worked on. The architecture is very interesting. Our guide took us into the presidential palace, the offices of the vice president and many other interesting sites. We had some fun with a group of high school students as well. Then it a

was on to a huge, modern free zone shopping center. I didn't buy anything. The ride back to the ship was harrowing, to say the least. There was a torrential downpour and a horrible traffic jam. In fact, it was the worst traffic I have ever seen. I thought we were going to be swimming to Cartagena. However, we made it with a few minutes to spare. I liked Panama and enjoyed the friendliness of the people.