Panama Paradise - Day 6

One of the highlights of any trip we* take is going to church in the area we are visiting. There was meetinghouse nearby and we attended the Cardenas Ward in Panama City. This is the church building from the side. The next photo shows two missionaries who are serving in Panama. The family of the tallest one is moving to Pleasant Grove in the near future.

This man is Todd Kirby's father and the boy is his brother.

(Someone who Dad and Mom know)

Returning to our hotel after church.

This building serves as an apartment for the temple president, a hotel for people who come and visit the temple and need a place to stay (at a cost of $5 per night), and a distribution center.

A view of the street approaching the temple. You can see the church in the foreground and the temple in the back ground.

The temple was beautiful, as they all are, and there was a very good spirit as we walked on the grounds.

This was a nice relaxing day and we enjoyed it! We have one more excursion tomorrow as we venture into the rain forest.  Sunday afternoon we took a nature walk saw some beautiful butterflies and flowers on the hotel grounds. We also saw the golf course with the rain forest in the background from our hotel balcony.

We hope these are a prelude to what we will see tomorrow in the Gamboa Rainforest!

* Allyn and Dad as told to Debby

Panama Paradise - Day 5

On Saturday we* had the opportunity to take a boat excursion on the Panama Canal and see firsthand how the locks work. There are three sets of locks in the canal. A two-step flight at Miraflores, and a single flight at Pedro Miguel, lift ships from the Pacific Ocean up to Lake Gatun; then a triple flight at Gatun lowers them to the Atlantic Ocean side of Panama. All three sets of locks are paired; that is, there are two parallel flights of locks at each of the three lock sites. This, in principle, allows ships to pass in opposite directions simultaneously; however, large ships cannot cross safely at speed in the Gaillard Cut, so in practice ships pass in one direction for a time, then in the other, using both "lanes" of the locks in one direction at a time. This is Allyn waiting for our boat to arrive.

This is Dad with the Bridge of America, 

an arch bridge, in the background.

"We're ready to go . . . Where's the Boat?"

These next two photos are a close up version of a lock which is in 

the process of closing; and then when it is actually closed. 

You can see people walking across when it is totally closed.

These next photos shows a more distant view

of the Pedro Miguel Locks closing; 

and then when they are totally closed. 

This is each of us with the pilot of our boat. An official pilot was required on our boat and one or more pilots are required to be on other boats, depending on their size. The pilot is responsible for safe passage of the boat through the locks.

We saw many interesting things as our boat took us up the Panama Canal. These pelicans were just sitting on the side of the canal.

Cargo boat carrying many containers 

filled with a variety of things.

Flag on the highest hill in Panama.

Ship from Norweigen Cruise Lines named the Norweigen Jewel.

The boat we rode on.

The two of us after the cruise was over. It was interesting and informative to not only learn about the locks on the Panama Canal, but to also travel on them.

After the excursion we returned to the hotel and Allyn enjoyed swimming in the pool. Our room was on the 6th floor of the hotel and we had this view of the Centennial Bridge from our balcony.

We had a very nice dinner at La Jacana the restaurant in the hotel. Allyn ordered chicken and Dad got lamb chops. Both of them were delicious! You can tell this is fine dining by the way they drizzled the sauces so artistically over the food!

 A brownie sundae for dessert . . . looks great!

Our meal was a great end to a great day!

*Allyn and Dad as told to Debby

Panama Paradise - Day 4

Our* excursion for the day was a trip on the Panama City Passenger Train and required that we get up at 5 am (3 am for Allyn on California time and 4 am for Dad on Utah time). It was worth the trip as we saw the Panama Canal from a different perspective. 

The Panama Canal Railway Company  is a railway line that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across Panama. It is jointly owned by the Kansas City Southern Railroad and Mi-Jack Products. The route stretches 47.6 miles across the Isthmus of Panama from Panama City to Colon (by way of Gatun Lake, Bujio, Barbacoas, Matachin, and Summit).

The infrastructure of this still-functioning railroad was of vital importance for construction of the Panama Canal over a parallel route half a century later. The principal incentive for the building of the rail line was the vast increase in traffic to  California owing to the 1849 California Gold Rush. Construction on the Panama Railroad began in 1850 and the first revenue train ran over the full length on January 28, 1855. This picture is of dome car 102 that we rode in.

 The interior of the dome car was quite nice
and we were able to have a snack as we
enjoyed watching the scenery go by.

Some of the interesting things we saw were . . . 

The Miraflores Locks with a large cargo ship going through.

A ship moving down the canal.

Lake Gatun, a large lake that feeds the Panama Canal.

Colon Station, the end of the line, with
 many different containers being stored.

After our ride on the Panama City Passenger Train we returned to our hotel room, packed our bags, and moved to the Radisson Summit Hotel and Golf Resort in Paraiso, which is in the rain forest area just outside of Panama City. Our room is spacious with a beautifully tiled bathroom.

From our balcony we have views of both 

the golf course and the rain forest. 

The hallways in the hotel are covered with brightly
colored carpet and there was an unusual grouping
of solid wood chairs which were carved by hand.

The hotel has a beautiful pool on the grounds and

Allyn had it all to himself when he went swimming this afternoon.

This is a panoramic photograph of the view from our balcony.

Tomorrow we look forward to taking a ride on the Panama Canal and going through 2 or 3 of the locks.

* Allyn and Dad as told to Debby