A couple of weeks ago the ISA crew traveled to Colon – and how
did we get there? By train!! We rode the Panama Canal Railway into Colon,
and it was really cool! I love taking
trains when I can, and this was a fun diversion getting away from some
difficult circumstances. Once we
arrived, we were met by our guide, a charming boy scout of a man, and we
boarded a van to travel a ways out of the city and into the rainforest. We hiked around a short distance, saw an
awesome tree-climbing ant eater, and eventually arrived at the Portobelo
ruins. Portobelo is a place that pirates
used to come to back in day to hang out and do their pirate business, and its infrastructure
is still in decent condition – decent enough to let us explore the rooms and
twisting passageways! After this expedition, we went back into Colon for some
lunch, and then traveled by boat to a secluded beach and got to swim in clear
waters – a lovely way to end a long day. It was very cool day,
so instead of trying to describe anymore of the journey here are the pictures:
Inside the station...not too much
Our train traveled parallel to parts of the canal, so we saw some pretty beautiful sights of ships and of open water.
We had to wait a while for a ship to pass through the Canal when we needed to cross it in the van, so we got out and took a look around.
Passing through the Canal
The locks system
Welcome to the rain forest trek!
Portobelo, or San Lorenzo Castle as it's called by non-pirates
There were many of these caverns that made up the labyrinth of Portobelo
Passing back through the Canal - those locks are stong!
Our little beach
It was a pretty spectacular day over all, and I really
enjoyed getting to visit these places in Panama.
Tomorrow I’m taking a four hour bus ride to Las Tablas to
celebrate Carnival! I’ll be staying in a
house with three other ISA girls, which came together at the last moment, as
Las Tablas is an extremely popular location for Carnival – in all of Panama,
Las Tablas is supposed to have the wildest Carnival festivities! I’m sure I’ve never before experienced anything
like Carnival is to be – should be crazy!
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