"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #11 Fuerte Amador, Panama January 10, 2018 Wednesday Chance of rain & 86 degrees 80 Pictures Part #1 Of 3

The ship spent a quiet night, anchored very close to the little marina of Fuerte Amador. An interesting fact is that this is a manmade town, that consists of three islands tied together with a causeway connected to Panama City. During the time of the canal building, it was necessary to construct a breakwater to prevent the canal entrance from silting up. So the materials dug from this end of the canal were used to create the islands and the causeway. Very clever. Nowadays, the Amador Causeway, a 3 mile stretch, is used as a trendy walkway, jogging, and biking path. It is lined with benches for viewing the lights of the Canal and also the Bridge of the Americas at night time. On the opposite side, you can see the lights of Panama City.

A brightly-colored wild-looking building in the center is actually a Frank Gehry Biomuseum. The entire causeway has been planted with grass and flowering shrubs. And also included a few restrooms along the way, with attendants no less.

Flamenco Island, the largest, is where the tender boats drop off passengers. There is a marina with some nice yachts, as well as a small mall, restaurants, and small eateries. We would come back here later.

A few facts about the country of Panama are that the country has 3,361,000 people. Most are Spanish-speaking, but almost half speak English. Panama City happens to be the capital, and quite a modern one at that. It could be due to the fact that the Panama Canal employs a huge number of people to run it. In fact, the canal, the most famous short cut in the world, brings in 4 million dollars in fees daily. Bet that number is even higher now that the new locks are operational.

There were 10 ship tours offered here today. Most of them took the folks back into the Canal Zone, while one did the old and new Panama City. One went to the biomuseum, and a fun tour went to the Embera Native Village up the Chagres River. We happened to go on that tour back in 2003, and still talk about to this day. The scantily-clad Indians arrived and left the village in modern SUV’s, dressed in hip jeans and t-shirts. Never would have known this except for one of us that took a walk up high to take scenic photos. We still laugh about that.

After breakfast, we headed over at 10am. The tender boat was half full, but did not wait long to leave. There were two ships anchored near us. One was the Azamara’s Marina, and the other was the Star Breeze, a ship belonging to Windstar, we think. It looked familiar, and we discovered later that it had formerly been the Seabourn Pride. It is under 10,000 gross tons, and holds only 200 passengers. They were in the process of tendering their folks too.

It is nice to have the shuttle info printed on the front page of the When and Where pamphlet. Today the local port authorities offered a free shuttle to Multiplaza Shopping Center in downtown Panama City. It was a 25 minute ride in comfortable buses. This was so much better than the mall they took us to two years ago. Very upscale, it had all of the high end shopping you could imagine. Many recognizable restaurants too. As for us, we were simply looking for a grocery store. With three levels of shops and boutiques, we had a difficult time trying to find the supermercado. So we walked almost the entire lower floor, discovering a Home Depot type of store. The market was close to here, but probably through a parking garage, and out of sight. A bit too early for lunch, we headed back on the bus. At least we can say we saw Panama City with all of the modern high rises.

Back at Fuerte Amador, we walked through the shops, and did find some groceries such as chips, candy, and souvenirs. The price was right, and they gladly took US dollars. Close by to this mini-mall was an Argentinian restaurant by the name of Lena Y Carbon, a place we dined two years ago. No pizza, but good Mexican food. Since they are known for their beef, we split an entrée of beef quesadillas. Also added a plate of nacho chips with dips. Two Panama beers went very well with our meal. It was great sitting on the patio above the marina, watching many workers cleaning the yachts.

Some of the crew members had told us they did come over to shore last night, but the bars (open 24 hours) stop serving alcohol at midnight. Must be a law here.

All aboard was 3:30pm, and we did make it back in time. The real sail away celebration was happening in the Crow’s Nest at 3:30pm, but there was also a crowd at the aft pool. Henk, the hotel director, strolled back to the railing and chatted with us for a while. He usually touches base with us at the beginning of every long cruise, like a tradition now.

We didn’t leave until close to 5pm, but we kept amused watching the various birds flying overhead, or diving for fish. It was a bit far away, but we watched a Silverseas ship, the Muse, and also an HAL ship, the Westerdam, come out of the canal. Not sure which way they headed, but we are sure it will not be our way.

Invited to dinner with longtime friends Susie and Woody, we sat upstairs on deck five, where we ate last spring on the Panama Canal re-positioning cruise. The same waiter, Prio, was back to that table. Cannot believe it, but he remembered that we liked our food, especially soup, very, very hot. It was a wonderful evening as we caught up on ship gossip for two hours. We had heard a quite disturbing story earlier today. It seems that the warning about NOT putting your medications in your shipped luggage was for a good reason. When some other friends of ours (seasoned travelers) got their luggage, they discovered that all of their meds were gone. They had packed a week’s worth to Florida, but sent the rest in the locked luggage. What a shame that you cannot trust this useful delivery service. Anyway, lucky for them, they were able to find a pharmacy in Panama City, where they replaced most everything without the required prescription forms. It is such a tedious fight to get those meds for 4 or more months, and that is why they never leave our sight, as we hand-pack them on the airplane.

About the last of the guests to leave the dining room, we passed on the show. It featured a comedian with “bald” jokes. Guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Or maybe, not.

We will have a long stretch of sea days now as we head towards the island of Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas.

Bill & Mary Ann

We anchored with many types of vessels overnight