Panama's Caribbean side..

I have landed in Portebello, on the Caribbean side of Panama.   Yesterday, I rode from coast to coast in about 7 hours of hit and miss visiting and touring.  I stopped at the Panama Canal, and Blondy got another bath in the afternoon showers.  I have found a backpacker hostal in Portebello, and while I am not staying here, I am able to steal some wifi and upload some pics,  while drinking very strong coffee and listening to CNN.  I don't know if I can handle all of it at once..

I had a good stay at the Hostal Amarilla.  The owner was a very good chef (being French of course) and his wife was very attentive to detail.  I had a couple of very good walks on the beach, which encircled the peninsula, and had a good opportunity to watch the local fishermen do their thing.  The  small town was literally at the end of the road, and it carried that small town feel.   The only downside to that experience was the over the top expensive nitrosomething hotel with the KTM in the lobby.  I guess if one were into parasailing, watersports, and the rest of it, a $199. room may be justified...

The view from the end of the peninsula..

Big trees from little nuts...

 It is all mine, and I am keeping it, so stay out!!

John Wayne, eh??

Built on stilts..

 How to launch when there are not any access to deep water...

 Nice little pad.  Lots of places for sale here..

 A great place to stay, and I hope to return...

 This guy caught a huge skate..

 This is why Blondy did not get to ride in the sand...

 All the way from China...

 GoodYear make good sand tires...

Paddling in the rain...

 The $199 per night house...

 Hey Gringo, we are watching you...

 Now to retrieve the boat...

Success...without a divorce...

When I left the hostal, I had  to stop and get a few shots  of the mangrove flats. Not soon after, I ran into another road accident.  This time, the accident involved a bicycleta and a truck.  It sounded like the biker was at fault, although I wasn't sure.  I talked briefly to a young fellow from Edmonton who was in a car with some Panamanians.  We commiserated  with our Edmontonian friends about the recent snowfall.

Some of my friends have busses to transport their bikes around...

My intention is to see some more of Panama while I wait for next Saturday, which is the launch day for Blondy and I onto the sailboat  and the San Blas Islands.  I headed up a road which indicated that there was a national park in the near by mountains, such as they were.  The route was extremely twisty, and well worth the ride in itself.  I needed to scruff up the new front tire, and while the verdict is still out on the Pirelli, I was happier with the new tire, with less front end chatter which I attribute to the Continental TCK chipping itself away.   The ride through the park was very interesting, although by Park standards it was a bit different than what I was used to, with narrow roads, and very tall trees and lots of green stuff.  A sign warned me to not feed the animals, as if I had planned on it anyways.

 The Amarillo hostal was right on the tip of the peninsula at the top left of the picture.  Lots of swamps and crawly things...

The ruta was windy and twisty, just like the Tahsis Road, only with pavement...

I followed the ruta through the park, over the top of the mountain ranges, and into what I figure is the east side of the range, on the Atlantic side of Panama.  It looked like the road eventually petered out, and knowing that the area north of the Canal was largely jungle and mangrove swamps, I decided to move back to the main highway, and attempt to see the Panama Canal system at least.  I had been told by the Armillo hostal owner that the village of Portebello on the west coast was worth visiting. In order to get to the Panama Canal lock area, I needed to cross the Pan American bridge again, and I thought that I would at least try to get some pictures while I was riding.  While the bridge is certainly not the Lion's gate or the San Francisco Golden Gate, it is certainly worth remarking that the bridge itself spans the Panama Canal, which in itself is world class, in my view.  Well, the pictures did not turn out very well, as I was trying to trip the shutter with my clutch hand and keep Blondy reigned in.

The visitors area at the Panama lock site...

 Some sailboats transitting the Panama Canal...

Lining up for the Miaflores locks.  A continual lineup of ocean going ships....

I am becoming more confident about going down the wrong way on streets, doing quick turn arounds when it is not working for me, and generally being a dink tourist with a moto.  Havind said that, I managed to follow my nose and eventually get on the right track for the visitors center for the Panama locks.   Because it was Sunday, and also a holiday, the visitors' center was crammed with people and visitors.  There is a multi-story building set up for visitors, as well as a small museum.  I managed to convince the ticket girl that I was retired.  I don't think she bought for a minute that I was Panamanian.  Maybe she was used to old-guy scammers... I am glad of the visit to the locks, as it makes the experience of transisting from ocean to ocean  even more real to me.. As I said the afternoon rains came with a vegenance and while I stayed dry,  Blondy got soaked.  The lock process was very interesting, and this setup  was something that I had been told about since elementary school.  There are some touristy things in life that are still worth being a tourist about. While I was viewing the setup, I got chatting to an American dude, who was clearly  a VietNam vet (his hat said so), as well as his T-Shirt.  He and his wife were on a cruise liner, and I assumed that they were on a land tour to see the locks, while their boat chugged through.  I asked him if it were Veterans' Day in the States (knowing pretty sure that it was), and I mentioned that it was Remembrance Day in Canada as well.  We had a bit of a conversation, and when he figured out that I was riding a moto on my own, he insisted on a photo.

 Here I am thinking about the courage and sacrifice that Vietnam vets, in fact all vets, have undertaken, and this guy is impressed with a little bike trip.   Remembrance Day is significant to me, as I remember being an army cadet and freezing myself as I stood at attention in the ceremonies in my small home town.  I remember attending a Remembrance Day ceremony where one of my sons played in the school band for the proceedings.  I wonder how many of my family know that my grandmother lost 3 brothers in the fields of France during the First World War, or that my mom's dad served at Ypres during the worst of the fighting in World War 1.  Their sacrifices were distinct and permanent, and I wonder how many of us think about the generational effects of war upon families? After the visitors' center, I moved westward on what I thought would take me towards the coast, and my destination of Portebello.  For some reason, Mr. Garmin was uncooperative, but from what I could tell I was on one of the only few roads heading westward.    In the late afternoon I came upon a fairly well developed town, complete with Ronald McDonald.  It is as if I am addicted to those damn yellow M's.  I guess that the fact that the food is more or less predictable, and that the layouts are also predictable makes me keep coming back, in spite of my son's warnings about the inevitable demise of the human race due to the effect of processed foods.  This Macdonalds' was not any different, and it was complete with a play area, chock a block full of yelling, screaming little Panamanians.  Well, it was Sunday, and it was a holiday.  I think that I have been going to Macdonald's for the past 45 years or so, if my kids' chronology  is  accurate.  Sigh...

 View from my $25 room...

Rains are coming...again..

The place that I found is about 10 minutes from Portebello itself. While it does not have internet, it also does not have a huge passel of backpackers.  While the food at the inn is very good, and I certainly appreciate the wi-fi, I prefer having my own quarters.   I came into town early, looking for wi-fi and managed to get some shots of the old town. Apparently the pirates used this place as a shelter, and all the famous guys spent their time here.  The fort dates back to the 1600's.  The people are great, and I can see how people land here, and don't get away......

On my way to wifi, I met these two dudes who were on Harleys.  They were two brothers who were travelling to Ecuador.  They were travelling on the Independence, another boat similar to the Steel Rat.  If their 600 lb bikes can be shipped aboard, I guess Blondy will be okay...

Finally, I promised Jack, of CaptainJackVoyages a plug on the interweb. I sat here for four hours and used his wi-fi and had a wonderful meal.  So maybe my readers will find his facebook site and like it, too. I was talking with a guy who said at one time, over 70% of the worlds' gold was stored in Portabello.  This may help explain why Henry Morgan raided and sacked the town:

Attack on Porto Bello

In order to cover their debts, Morgan and his men decided to aim for a city that harbored lots of valuables. As the third most important Spanish city in the New World, Porto Bello, in modern-day Panama, was an obvious choice for the buccaneers. Furthermore, Porto Bello was considered the center of Spanish trade in the Americas, as its warehouses contained the goods and valuables of many wealthy merchants. With its enormous concentration of wealth, Porto Bello was extremely well protected by three Spanish forts.

Henry Morgan Recruiting for the Attack

However, the French crew refused to take part in this voyage because they did not get along with Morgan's English crew. It was reported that there was a dispute between a Frenchman and Englishman during their joint sacking of Puerto del Principe, and that it had been decided they resolve their quarrel in a duel. However the Englishman stabbed the Frenchman in the back before the duel could take place. The Frenchmen desired revenge against the English, but Captain Morgan appeased them by putting the criminal in chains to be carried to Jamaica, promising justice be served upon him. On return to Jamaica, Morgan upheld his promise and had the Englishman hanged. In addition to this, the French believed that they had been cheated out of their fair share of the loot by Morgan. Whereas the reputation of most pirates would have been ruined by this rumor, Morgan set sail to sack Porto Bello with his original fleet of ten ships and five-hundred men. When the fleet reached the settlement on the northern coast of South America, the buccaneers found the fortresses very intimidating. With this in mind, Morgan gave them a rousing speech, in which, he reminded them that the Spanish did not know of their presence and promised them gold and silver. When the sun went down, the ships began to sail towards Puerto do Naos, where there was a river that could lead them to Porto Bello. With information gained from a prisoner, the Buccaneers were able to surprise the first fort. The soldiers manning it were attacked by Morgan's swordsmen, some of them while still sleeping in their beds. Morgan's men came under heavy fire as they attacked the second fort, but managed to lay down suppressing fire while scaling ladders, and storming the fort, an effort costing his men many lives. However, the Spanish percieved the first two forts were easily taken, and subsequently surrendered the third fort, enabling Morgan's buccaneers to overrun the city. Not long after this, the Spanish counterattacked in an attempt to protect their wealth and center of trade, but the buccaneers were ready for the battle and Morgan organized an ambush of the fleet in a narrow passage. After defeating the much larger and more powerful Spanish fleet, Morgan and his men continued to inhabit Porto Bello for two months. During this time, they collected all of the wealth of the city that they could find, and ransomed the Spanish for the safety of its town and citizens. From the ransom alone, Morgan and his men collected roughly 100,000 pieces of eight to bring their total loot from Porto Bello to over 200,000 pieces of eight. In a foreshadowing of Morgan's future endeavors, the Governor of Panama asked him how he had beaten the Spanish army sent from his city with such small a force, along with an emerald ring and a request that he not attack Panama. Morgan replied by sending the Governor of Panama a pistol with a message as an example of the arms used in the taking of Porto Bello, and that he intended to come and reclaim it from him in Panama. Soon after, England sent Port Royal the HMS Oxford (as a gift meant to protect Port Royal); Port Royal gave it to Morgan to help his career.

Because Modyford had already been warned to recall his pirates, his recent commission to Morgan once again put him under enormous pressure from the Crown. Modyford officially denounced the attacks on the town by citing that he sanctioned only attacks on ships. Modyford attempted to justify his commission by emphasizing the rumored Spanish invasion of Jamaica. However, he did not believe that merely talking of a rumored attack would be enough to save his governorship and dignity, so he decided to try to provoke the Spanish into actually attacking Jamaica. Although seemingly illogical, Modyford hoped to cover up his last commission by granting Morgan yet another one.

[edit](stolen from Wikipedia)

While I was talking to the two Ecuadorian brothers on the Harleys, I met a guy from Sayward. He used to deal with a local Tahsis individual and his red cedar..  From what I can tell, these 12" square cants are either teak or some hardwood very similar.  Beautiful wood.... These are for you, Bill and Doug....

The landlady's daughter was a bit of a ham..

It was hot and muggy enough that I was seriously considering a swim.  My neighbour casually mentioned that he had seen a crocodile (or alligator) "only a few meters long"  the other evening.  I decided to sit and enjoy the sunset and forgo the swimming.  (I don't know if he said crocodile or alligator, but the thought of six inch teeth sinking into my body parts was enough to think about)

The harbour in which Morgan and other pirates raided Portebello...