Mail Call

Chuck asks about “Grit and Glory” . . .

Hi Richard…Just came across your Panama Canal website and was impressed with your knowledge of the area. I sent you an email via Facebook, but don’t know if your yahoo email is the same so am emailing you again to make sure you get my email. My wife and I retired from teaching last year and all that time, I have wanted to transit the canal. Looked into several cruises, but they are all too long. Then I inquired into an Elderhostel trip this coming January, Grit and Glory, Exposing the Panama Canal. It is a 5 day trip, transits the canal with several tours to experience the canal operations and a train ride too. Sounds too good to be true and was wondering if you have had any experience with Elderhostel or can give us any advice on this type of journey. Thanks for your input. Chuck Purcell in Sacramento, CA

Thanks Chuck. I like in theory the Elderhostel concept. We frequently had Elderhostel groups on ships where I’ve been lecturing. My impression of the Elderhostel groups I’ve seen are they seem to be well organized, but they do everything as a group, by themselves. They get only the information the Elderhostel leader provides, missing all the lectures and info given on the ship. So they seem to be in a world of their own as the shuffle on and off the ship, seemingly clueless to what is going on. Depending on your age, you may or may not fit. On the ship it is a very older group. Sometimes it seemed like we had a group from a senior citizen’s facility on board, not that there is anything wrong with a senior citizen’s facility, but understand it is a older, highly structured and directed group, often reminding me of a group of kindergardeners in the way they were “herded” and moved about. Maybe when I’m 97, but it wouldn’t be something I personally would find appealing at 67. Since you’ve “just retired” . . . I don’t know. If you can’t swing a cruise, why not just come to Panama, book a hotel, book the same ferry trip through the Canal that undoubtedly Elderhostel will have to use, and if you want to take the train (which is really no big deal), take it. For background read some of the books I suggest . . . do your own research, make it yours, and have a bit of an adventure. Hope that helps.

Coffee and Colon . . .

Richard: I read your coffee advise on Cruise Critic with great interest. I have acquired a taste for different coffees, especially Costa Rican. I especially enjoy the ones that come from the smaller farms to a central distributor. For the first time in April, I purchased coffee in Columbia and enjoyed it as well. We are coming to Panama (Colon) in November via cruise ship and would like to purchase some from there as well. I have two questions I hope you will have the time to answer.

1) We have been through the canal both east and west bound as well as several partials. This time the ship is all day in Colon and I would like to shop at the Free Zone. Do they let tourists in to shop and are you able to bring your purchases back to the cruise ship with you? Would it be safe to grab a cab at the cruise terminal to take us there and would we be able to catch a cab back? (I am not very fluent in Spanish.)

2) Are there grocery stores where we could buy the coffee safely (it must be decaf) and do you have a brand that you recommend (if your crops are not up for sale). (If they are I’d love to try them.)

Oops, I guess that is more than two questions. Thank you for your response and any advice you can give.
Kathryn Pringle, Sunny South Florida

They do allow cruise guests to shop in the Free Zone if you have a passport, proving you are not a local, and your ship ID card. However, the Free Zone is the second largest in the world, a hudge sprawling mini-city of places that cater primarily to the wholesale buyer, and not to tourists. So finding what you want, especially if you don’t speak Spanish, could be a challenge. Most things can be brought back onto the ship, but of course it depends on the regulations of your particular cruise line. Remember the Free Zone closes at 4PM.

Depending on which port you are at, you may, or may not find cabs. I’d use only the licensed yellow cabs, and I’d be cautious. Unfortunately Colon is not a safe city for tourists, unless you have a high degree of “street smarts.” At the RCCL dock and at Colon 2000 you can generally find or hail a cab. At Pier 6 Cristobal there generally are a few cabs, but the cruise lines all advise against going outside the pier areas on your own in Colon.

Our coffee is sold to a big coffee producer in Panama called Sitton. Some of their coffee is sold in grocery stores as Sitton, others is shipped off to Europe, Canada and, yes, Starbucks. So if you drink Starbucks maybe every billionth coffee bean is mine! Several stores in Colon have asked to sell my coffee, but as yet we haven’t made a decision. If we do, you will be the first to know! There are stores at the piers that sell various brands of Panamanian coffee. Ruiz, Sitton, Palo Alto, Duran are a few of the popular brands. If you are at Colon 2000 pier there is a big Super 99 grocery store that has all the popular coffee brands as well as Panamanian rum.

Paul & Marilyn wonder if Panama City has changed in 17 years . . .

Hello Richard, The family is doing a full transit aboard Coral Princess next March. Our itinerary includes a stay at Amador (Panama City). My wife and I were stationed at Howard AFB in 1992 & 1993. Anti-American sentiments were still running pretty high and you never stopped anywhere in the city that didn’t have armed guards in the parking lot. Whole areas of the city were off limits.

We have never missed an opportunity to get “get off the ship” to see the port cities where we stop but Panama City may be the first. I would hope conditions have improved over the past 17 years.
I’m not asking “What’s the best tour for …”. I am asking what’s new in town and is there a good reason why we should get off the ship.

Coral will also stop at Cartagena. Do you have any words of wisdom for touring this port city? Thanks,
Paul & Marilyn

Has anything changed? In a word, “Everything.” 1992 was just three years after the US invaded and blew up half the city! The US is gone. The Canal is Panamanian. Panama is on an economic roll. There are scores of huge skyscrapers that were unimaginable in 1992. It is a whole new world. Panama City is a city of over 2 million people, so like any city anywhere in the world there are a few places you may not wish to wander around at night. But definitely get off the ship, or as I say when on Holland America, “Get off the Dam ship!” and see some of Panama. Panamanians love most things US, and most people from the US. They even liked George W. Bush for crying out loud. Like anywhere else in the world, they don’t like “ugly Americans”, or more accurately loud, obnoxious, haughty folks from the US. But if you are polite and respectful of people and their history and culture . . . no problem.

If you are wondering about Howard, check this out!

Cartagena is a wonderful city to visit! There is a lot to see and do, so I’d suggest taking a ship’s tour that includes a walking tour through the wonderful old city!

Beautiful Boquete’s gardens . . .

Richard: I took at look at your blog early this morning and note that you’re knee-deep in gardening endeavors. I’m an avid gardener and have a new but developing-quite-nicely garden here in the Palo Alto area of Boquete. Steve Walker, who did the initial landscaping at Paradise Gardens, set me up with a stone wall, paths, an orchid casita, a pond and waterfall, some plants, etc., and I’ve taken it from there. I’ll be in the plant sharing mode soon.

I thought you might be interested to know that there’s a garden club here. I was afraid it might turn out to be the tea party kind of club common in the U.S., but I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that it’s a serious undertaking. It is led by a couple of Potrerillos residents who owned a nursery back in the States; at each meeting they give a talk on some aspect of growing plants and respond to questions from the members. There’s a great deal of exchange of information, as well as plant exchanges.

Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at the homes of club members. This affords the opportunity to see what other folks here are growing and how well the plants perform in the various micro climates. There is no membership fee.

Bonnie Williams, Palo Alto, Boquete, Chiriqui

I haven’t had time to attend since we’ve had company, but I hopefully will have opportunity before I’m off on another cruise contract. If you need contact info for Bonnie and the garden club let me know.

“Retiring In Panama” wondered . . .

Hi Richard, I am looking around your blog as I said. But what about your timeline? Maybe I haven’t come across the posting yet where you moved to Panama. Where should I begin?

We live in the Chiriqui highlands – Chiriqui is a “state” – just above a town called Boquete in a little crossroads of a place called Palmira. I came to Panama in December of 2004. To find out where we are, check the Boquete page.