Acting like tourists

Goodbye Bocas!

Today we flew back to Panama City! We were going to spend one day as tourists instead of researchers. When we landed in Panama City, we made our way back to the hotel we had stayed at on the first night and grabbed a bite to eat for lunch. After lunch, our professor dropped us off at the Panama Canal and then went to the doctor’s office to check out his arm. It was hurting him a lot more today than yesterday. The Panama Canal was amazing! Even though it was later in the day, we were able to see a few massive ships pass through the levy system. There are three levies throughout the Panama Canal, one on the Atlantic side and two on the Pacific side. In the middle of the levies, a ship can propel itself forward reasonably fast because the river is deep and wide. However, when the large container ships approach the levies, they have to turn off their engines and attach lines to two motorized little trains on the sides of the canal. These little carts weigh hundreds of tons and pull the ships at slow speeds through the levies. It is necessary so that the ship won’t crash into the sides of the canal. This applies only to the really large ships. Multiple small ships can pass through at once. The water level in the levy increases and decreases at an extremely fast rate (10 minutes) and each ship can quickly pass through and head to open water.

The levies!

A ship entering the levy system

It was fascinating to watch the ships pass through the canal, but they also had a museum that informed people about a variety of topics dealing with the canal, from how it was built to the flora and fauna of the region it passes through. Since it was close to closing time for visitors (the canal operates 24/7, but is only open to visitors until 4 pm), the museum was almost empty and we were able to have a little fun!

The view from South America!

Outside the museum, we waited until our driver came to pick us up. Our professor was not finished with his doctor’s appointment yet. The driver knew what we wanted to do though. He drove us across the Panama Canal Bridge so that we could officially be in SOUTH AMERICA!! We were so excited! Panama is located in North and South America, so we didn’t enter a new country. The Panama Canal splits the two continents, so we were technically in South America. This is continent number two in my list of continents that I will be visiting this weekend. By Tuesday morning, I will have been in four continents!

The ruins of a jail

A beautiful cathedral in the old
downtown area

Eventually, we drove back from South America and went to pick up our professor at the hospital. When he walked out, we noticed that he had acquired a bright blue cast! He had not only broken his arm, but he had broken it in multiple places and compressed the head of the bone. The doctors had to manipulate his arm to set the bones back in place! Ouch!! He was a trooper, though, and still took us on a tour of the historical parts of the city. We saw the ruins from when Captain Morgan came to this city as well as the original parts of the downtown area that they are busy renovating. We saw an old jail that was built below the high tide mark. When the tide rose, the prison cells would become extremely hot and humid and make the conditions in the cells even more miserable. The city was so interesting because it was a combination of the old and the new. You can see the ruins of a cathedral, but in the background, you can see the Panama City skyline filled with skyscrapers.

After dinner, we presented our final presentations and were officially done with the class! It was a wonderful experience and one that I will never forget. Some of my classmates liked it so much that they are planning to live in Panama later in life. I might not go so far as that, but I would love to come back! 

Last night in Panama!