A walk along the Panama Canal

Today is Monday, I can walk! Tomorrow I will be confined to the docks, but today I am free to walk along the causeway at the entrance to the Panama Canal. Panama is still in lockdown and in the province containing Panama City women are allowed out to shop and exercise on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so let me show you some of the things I see along my path.

The path is wide and smooth, ideal for exercising. In normal times it is full of people biking and skating and walking. Off to the left is the beginning of the Panama Canal and in the distance you can see the Bridge of the Americas completed in 1962 and it connects the land masses of North and South America.

 

This is the causeway, my out and back walk. It was built with the rocks and mud dredged from the making of the Panama Canal and connects three islands, Isla Naos, Isla Perico and Isla Flamenco. We are currently docked at Flamenco Marina right between Islas Perico and Flamenco.

By comparison, this is my walk on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.:

The green dot is where Rhapsody is currently docked.

On my right, as I head out, is the Las Brisas anchorage where we were anchored until we got struck by lightning (click here if you missed that story). Pelicans in the foreground and Panama City in the distance.

On my left is the beginning of the Pacific side of the Panama Canal with lots of container ships passing by, including the occasional pink one!

Everywhere I go there are reminders of the pandemic.

Even the buses say Quedate en casa, Stay at home.

In normal times the causeway is bustling with people and activities. Now all of the shops and restaurants are closed. There is a distinct odor of closure as I walk by, the same kind of smell I recognize from abandoned houses or an unused garage.

All of these wheeled contraptions are usually for rent, along with scooters and tandem bikes and roller blades. Now they sit, locked up, waiting for better times.

The exercise equipment in the park is taped off, although the weather has worn it away, leaving it fluttering gently in the breeze, perhaps a reminder that this is all temporary.

New types of litter have emerged, I usually see one or two of these each time I walk.

Fortunately there are very active crews out working to keep the causeway maintained, trimming the grass and shrubs, weeding, picking up garbage and generally beautifying the place. 

From this spot I can see the Bridge of the Americas on the left, The bio Museum in the middle, and the hump on the right is a park in the middle of Panama City with wonderful nature hikes to be taken in more normal times.

A closer view of the Bio Museum, known for its stunning architecture, it is visible from a great distance along the causeway as well as out in the water.

I do enjoy the wildlife I see along the way. Here is a taste of some animals the I see:

Night Heron

A committee of Black Vultures. Interesting fact, when they are in flight the collective term for them is a kettle of vultures, and if they were feeding they would be refereed to as a wake of vultures.

A single Black Vulture

The raccoons here in Panama are much more slender than those in North America, but they are just as clever and tenacious. We have to close up Rhapsody every night to keep the raccoons out. Unfortunately we learned this the hard way!

I have seen a few of these along the road. This is a deceased puffer-fish, I assume it was dropped by some bird. The puffer-fish are the most common fish that we see swimming in the marina. They are much smaller than other puffer-fish I have seen, averaging about 3 to 4 inches in length.

Beautiful Mango trees

Here is my turnaround point.

Time to get back before the afternoon thunderstorms!