Scott & Sonya came up around 10:30 for
“brunch”. I prepared my Bananas Foster French Toast. We tried to call Dad for
Father’s day since we wouldn’t be home to do it the next day, but he was out.
Scott and Sonya spent the day on the beach. Scott had wanted to go back to
Carlito’s for empanadas so we drove to the one closer to our place than the one
in El Valle. After dinner we called Dad and talked to him for quite a while.
Scott & Sonya played on the beach most of the day
On our last day with Scott & Sonya we
drove to the Colon area to drive across the Gatun Locks by car to Fort San
Lorenzo. On the way it started to storm and poured really hard. Luckily, the
rain subsided before we got to the fort. We showed them the dam area where the
water circulates for the canal. We saw a ton of Toucans on the way, both Kiel-billed
(fruit loop bird) and Yellow-throated. We saw several hawks as well. We got to
the fort and since there really is nowhere to eat anywhere over there, I had
brought the Pineapple Habenero dip and some crackers and chips to tide us over.
Grey-headed Kite
Red-lored Parrots
old military housing
interesting mushrooms - flies, a beetle & a wasp are on it
Oropendola nests
Scott
On the drive back we saw some Puffbirds and
a Motmot on the power lines. We had to wait quite a while for the gates to
close so we could cross back over to the other side of the canal.
We made it to the Craft Market and they found
a lot of treasures there. Scott bought me a lovely framed feather with a hand-painted
Toucan and flowers on it. (the Guna men usually paint those) Thank you!
We tried to visit Panama Viejo, but It had closed for the day. We still managed to get a few photos.
Our time was coming soon to and end and we
headed to a mall to find dinner before taking them to the Riande Hotel. Of all
places to eat we went to Fuddruckers Hamburgers. We hadn’t had those in many
years and they tasted just the same as I remembered. (Good!)
It was time to drive them to the Riande
Hotel where they would spend the night since they needed to be at the airport
about 6:00 in the morning. We exchanged the last days’ worth of photos and said
our goodbyes. What a great time we had with them.
Here is some info on the fort if interested:
The original wooden fort was destroyed in
1671 during battle; it was rebuilt in stone in 1680 and yet again destroyed in
1740. The ruins that are visible today
are those of the 1768 rebuilt fort with further additions built in 1779. These ruins were declared a UNESCO World
Heritage Site in 1980.
The area also envelops a former U.S.
military base as well as the ruins of a Spanish fort: San Lorenzo. Troops headed for Vietnam and other jungle
conflict areas trained in the San Lorenzo National Park.
Here is some info on Panama Viejo if
interested:
On January 28, 1671,
the original city was destroyed by a fire when Henry Morgan sacked and set fire
to it. The city was formally reestablished two years later on January 21, 1673,
in a peninsula located 8 km (5 miles) from the original settlement. The
site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins and is now a popular
tourist attraction known as Panama Viejo.
Here are the links to videos that Greg edited from both Go
Pros. The pictures included in the blog and the web albums are from my camera
as well as Greg’s and Scott’s.
Wow, the time with Scott & Sonya just flew by. We had a fantastic time playing tour guides and I hope we did a good job.
Now, to prepare for our next adventure! We leave next Monday for a week long birding trip with Canopy at their Canopy Tower location in the Gamboa area. (same company that we used in the Darien)
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