Lazy Day Caribbean Style




After a short night’s sleep we met at 7am today for a trip to a small resort near Colón, on the Caribbean side of Panamá. Colón is 46 driving miles from Panama City, and where ships enter and exit the canal to and from the Caribbean Sea. Just before reaching Colón, we got off the main highway and headed towards Portobello along the coast. This part of the drive was much more like the Central America we have experienced on prior trips: a narrow road, rustic and jungly, less modern. With a pit stop it took us about two hours by bus. 

Our first quick stop was at the ruins of Fort San Felipe. There are several forts in the area dating from the 1500s. Portobello was a shipping point for gold and silver that was shipped to Europe. The culture is slightly different from the rest of Panamá as most residents are descendants of slaves of African origin. 



We then arrived at a small hotel/restaurant resort for the day. It didn’t have a large beach, but a very nice lounging area and shallow water to swim. The restaurant was built out over the water. The weather was just about as good as anyone would hope for. Mostly sunny and cool breezes. It did begin to rain, but only just as we were loading back into the bus at the end of the day. 



We opted for seafood again for lunch — we shared fried calamari and a lobster stuffed with pineapple. Very good! Unfortunately, I somehow didn’t take a pic of the lobster — it was beautiful. 

We spent the evening at the hotel and grabbed a bite to eat — empanadas — from the same restaurant we had a couple nights ago. We have to get up VERY early to get to the marina at 6am tomorrow for the canal tour. 



Here are some pics from the day:














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