DAY 10- FUERTE AMADOR, PANAMA

Our 3rd leg of our cruise was to Fuerte Amador, Panama.

For this leg, there were no ports in Panama. We had to pull down one of the small tender boats from the ship to ferry people to the docks. The weather getting into Panama was pretty rough. Instead of having 4 ferries, only 2 ended up working. The normal 15 minute ride became 25 minutes each way. We chose to do the Indian Village tour with the cruise but ended up getting to the port 2 1/2 hours after our scheduled time.

After that hiccup, we were on our way!

There were a lot of interesting facts about panama so let me see if I can remember some (or make up my own facts about this country).
1. there are hundreds of boats all sprawled out in the bay outside of Panama City; this is because it is free docking! Boats would hunker down here in preparation for crossing the Panama Canal. There are no time limits to how long a boat can chill out in the bay.
2. The French, who completed the Suez Canal, failed massively at building the Panama Canal in 1904. Jungle, Mangroves, Massive trees, Mosquitoes, Malaria, Yellow Fever, Tribes, and other wild animals owned them. 20,000+ people died!
3. The USA took over the project without permission and completed it by 1914. Their strategy was to spend 2 years eradicating mosquitoes and promote cleanliness, then get black people to do the digging and building.
4. After completion, the USA drafted up a treaty allowing them to own it but no Panamanian signed it. What did the USA do? owned it for the next 55+ years anyway because they are the USA!
5. All the hills surrounding panama are full of these beautiful 10 feet tall weeds with white stuff on it. They were introduced by the USA to keep the ground stable to prevent mud slides and to keep the Panama Canal in place. Eventually the Guatemalans discovered a better way to keep the mountains from falling. So what was to happen to the weeds that the USA introduced? Well it spread all across the mountains and hills of Panama. What are the only animals in the world that eat those weeds? Elephants. How many Elephants are in panama including pets and circus ones? 0
6. There are 4 Indian tribes in Panama, 3 of which are apparently always angry and dangerous.

the tender that took us to the docks

very choppy water with view of Panama City

sailing around the boat

some of the boats docked there for free

the white weeds the USA brought over to destroy Panama

random big church 

everywhere in latin america, there are public busses with random crap drawn on it. They are, however, called something different in each country. Chicken bus in guatemala, red devil in panama, i forget costa rica

MCDONALDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 in the ghetto

random kids

random cop 

these guys think they are Chuck Norris from the movie Delta Force

canoes we took to get to the village. Water kept creeping up. 

view from canoe

Indian Chief checking out if one of us were worthy. I AM

A indian

THE NEW CHIEF

Alyssa preparing to become a slave to one of these 3 kids.

Found hieroglyphs of me on the walls. Their god has returned! :D 

talapia and bananas!

papaya and pineapple

The current chief.

Andy getting a tattoo

The only weird thing about this trip even though it was deep in the jungle was that all the guys had a good line up and haircuts from today. Feel like we are somehow being trolled and these are hired people from disney world... :\

Andy with a kid that made that face all day. Lauren the main singer to all the production shows on the trip. she got quite the pipes. 

panama city

this fish and tackle shop only had massive fishing poles and baits... wtf do they feed these fishes in panama. there was literally no small hook and bait section.

panama city

ice cream paparazzi 

weird panamanian bird that doesn't give a s***

DAY 11- PANAMA CANAL

ONTO THE WORLD FAMOUS PANAMA CANAL!!!!

too bad we slept through most of it...

We were awake at 5 A.M. for the 7 A.M. crossing of the first locks and then woke up for the 4 P.M. crossing of the last locks. Basically missed everything in between. woops!

Time for some more random facts about Panama and its canal.

1. After the canal was completed, it became a vital gateway for international trade. The USA built a massive military base at the start and end of it. The docks that we arrived in to get to the city the day before was actually an island built by the USA so it can throw a ton of missiles on it.
2. Today, the island and all the barracks around it were converted into shopping centers, nightclubs, and offices for the Panamanian government.
3. The canal is 51 miles long.
4. It takes about 8-9 hours to cross.
5. Each lock takes 8 minutes to release water and 8 minutes to fill it up with water.
6. the releasing and filling of the locks is all done by gravity. There are no water pumps used.
7. The largest lock is about 83 feet high!
8. All boats (even the cruise ships) have to hand over the wheel to a Panamanian captain to take control of the wheel because they don't want a foreigner to f*** up their main source of income.
9. Boats need to have a minimum of 5 crew members to cross the panama canal. There are many sailboats that have less than this number so during the wait, people would generously hop on board with them, cross the canal, then take a 2 hour train back and repeat.
10. Panama City looks very developed only thanks to the Panama Canal. Tolls are extremely expensive and they only accept american cash. The fee depends on the length, width, weight, people, cargo, and amount of cargo. To give an idea, a normal container ship will run about $130,000.00.
11. The cruise ships run about $230,000.00 to cross. They are charged more because, unlike every other boat, they get to skip to the front of the very long line. The largest cruise ship that crossed was the Norwegian Epic (I think?) and that cost over $400,000.00
12. the doors used to open and close the locks have been the same doors used for over 100 years.
13. The amount of horsepower used to open a lock is no more than that to run a lawn mower (40hp).
14. The large lake in the middle (Lake Gatun) was also man made.
15. When the ships reach the locks, 4 of these train cars called mules attach to the ship and drag it like a roller coaster. This is because there is barely any room to spare. 8 inches is what separated the cruise ship with the wall. I was able to touch the concrete from the 7th floor of the ship!
16. Panama, like every other country, have a little anger towards the USA. Quite understandably because the USA took over a chunk of land, dug a hole, stuck weapons on it, and dared anyone to take control of it. It is just a little ironic because the official currency of Panama is the US dollar (there are panama coins called balboa's though).

panama city

boats waiting their turn

more boats waiting their turn

first set of locks. Mayflower locks. forgot the name of the rest since we were asleep

83 feet of elevation

This person has made 3 countries hungry by eating all their food. 

Imagine cutting through all that forest for 51 miles, next to the equator, full of diseases, with nothing but a machete. Sucks to be a black person in the early 1900s. Don't recall that story in the history books.

no room to mess around

took a dip in the pool towards the last leg of the canal

very old door that still works

Those 2 grey machines are the mules that pull the ships through the narrow locks.

on the 6th floor

6th floor

looks like we are on ground level but we are actually on the deck of the 7th floor!

I was able to reach out and touch the walls from the 7th floor.