The Wobbling Sprocket

We read about the place in which we stayed outside Colon, Panama in the Lonely Planet. The infamous Building 400 of the School of the Americas. The School of the Americas was used by the US Government to train locals on how resist Communist insurgencies in Central and South America. Among those trained in Building 400 were some of the worst Dictators ever to come to power, including Leopoldi Galtiere who "disappeared" thousands during Argentina's "Dirty Wars", Robert D'Auboisson who led death squads in El Salvador.

Building 400 is certainly delightful now. It is a huge building with an expansive interior. It has been made over into a hotel complex by the Spanish Melia chain. The rooms have ceilings that look to be about 14 feet high and the grounds have two gigantic pools and the whole thing sits on the shores of Lake Gatun, created from the Chagres River when the Panama Canal was built.

Despite it's past, Buildng 400 served as the perfect spot from which to visit Fuerte San Lorenzo (last sacked in 1740 by British Admiral Vernon….after whom George Washington's Mt Vernon is named) as well as the massive Gatun Locks which raise and lower boats to the Caribbean.

Panama has been run over, occupied and abused ever since the Spanish explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas landed here in 1501 . It seems to be flourishing now and that is exactly why it seems fitting to end our little Panamanian Adventure with a Panamanian Band playing "Viva Panama" in the now elegant lobby of the infamous Building 400.

Viva Panama indeed!

 

 

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The flight into Panama City was pretty spectacular.  There is a great skyline and there is always a line of ships waiting to get through the canal.

After a nite in PNC, we rented a car and went over to Portobello.  It's a  Unesco World heritage site.  I find it amazing how much I don't know about the places here.  Portobello, San Lorenzo, both on the Caribbean side, and Panama City on the Pacific side formed the triangle of forts that Spain used to shuttle gold across the Isthmus.  No lack of fighting here.  All the forts were sacked multiple times by the English starting in  1670 with the pirate Henry Morgan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Today was a lazy day of nothing.  Now in the airport waiting for the 1 hour flight to Panama City on a puddle jumper.

I stopped by the local bike store since we forgot the hex wrench I needed to get Chantal’s pedals off.   They had the wrench and, it turns out, they had a bunch of empty bike boxes too.  I bought a couple for $10 and packed our bikes.  I think the airline would have taken the bikes without boxes, but they told us they should be boxed. 

If you need bikes or something related to bikes in Bocas, this is your place:

It’s been raining pretty much all afternoon so perhaps a good thing that we are making our way.

We will go back to Panama City and then probably over to Colon and Portobello before heading back home.

We have heard that we’ve misssed some snow and cold weather. 

We have enjoyed Bocas del Toro.  This will give you a sense of the kind of place it is….some of the rental bikes are equipped to allow you to take your rental toys to the beach:

….and here is the toy it is designed to carry:

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