Panama - day 2

I set my alarm for early Wednesday morning so we could hike Ancon Hill (the tallest hill in the city, our b&b was right at the base of it) before breakfast. We were all so tired but I really wanted to get to the top before it got too hot and hopefully see some wildlife on the way.

There is a huge Panama flag at the top:

 The view from the top was pretty impressive; you could see all of Panama City and the Canal.

Casco Viejo, the historic district

Bridge of the Americas

Shipping yard and locks

And we did see some wildlife: a few different species of birds (including toucans), poison dart frogs, and little monkeys.

We got back and had some breakfast (and I learned that guava looks a lot better than it tastes. It grew on me by the end of the trip though).

The owner of the b&b was very helpful and gave us some tips on what to see. He also told us that the big ships only go through the canal at certain times, so we planned our day around that. We decided to first take a taxi to Casco Viejo (built and settled in 1673) and see all the old churches and buildings.

 

Plaza Bolivar

 There were a lot of buildings falling apart, and there was construction everywhere.

The golden altar in the Church of San Jose

The Flat Arch.

Plaza de Francia and the bust of Ferdinand de Lesseps

It was incredibly hot and humid and we were all ready to be done after a couple hours. We grabbed a taxi and headed up to the canal.

The Miraflores Locks are a set of two locks at the Pacific end of the canal.

It's hard to get a good perspective on how big these ships really are.

Tiny little people

Cruise ship and spillway

Cruise ship in the locks, hardly room to spare!

Here's the progress of one ship through the locks:

We spent 3 1/2 hours watching ships go through, and then quickly went through the museum before it closed (with an annoyed security guard following us, turning off screens and locking doors as we finished with each section of the museum). Here's Dan learning how to control traffic:

 The Panama City Temple was a short detour away from the Canal, so on our way to dinner we had the taxi driver stop by so we could take some pictures.

 After getting in a fight with our driver, who was trying to rip us off after agreeing to a price, we ate dinner at a restaurant on the Amador Causeway. Here we are: tired, sweaty, and still mad at the driver. But the food was delicious!

We finally headed back to our b&b for our last night there.