Panama City

Early morning approach to Panama City

Open-air barbers on the streets

Colorful buses

When the Americans left the Panama Canal Zone in 1999, they left behind a huge military barracks just east of the Miraflores lock on the canal. It still looks like a barracks with its green lush marching parade field surrounded by large boxy buildings except that now the old barracks make up the main Panamanian high tech park, Ciudad Del Saber - the City of Knowledge.  After more than a decade, it now houses nearly 100 tech firms as well as a few dozen NGOs, and several branches of universities.

McDonald’s ice cream stands

Mess of wires above the streets (trim the slack perhaps?)

The Revolution Tower (now known as the F&F Tower)

Patacones (fried plantain slices) and ceviche

Beware of crocodiles

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a 77.1-kilometre (48 mi) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. There are locks at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, 26 metres (85 ft) above sea level. Gatun Lake was created to reduce the amount of work required for the canal. The current locks are 33.5 metres (110 ft) wide. A third, wider lane of locks is currently under construction and the new locks could begin operations between fiscal years 2014 and 2015, roughly 100 years after the canal first opened.

The Panama Canal locks is a lock system that lifts a ship up 85 feet (26 metres) to the main elevation of the Panama Canal and down again. It has a total of six steps (three up, three down) for a ship's passage. The total length of the lock structures, including the approach walls, is over 3 km (nearly 2 mi). The locks were one of the greatest engineering works ever to be undertaken when they opened in 1914. No other concrete construction of comparable size was undertaken until the Hoover Dam, in the 1930s.

This diagram of the Panama Canal illustrates the sequence of locks and passages that a vessel passes through while transiting the canal.

A cargo ship fits snugly between the walls of the locks, as the mules on the lock walls on either side guide her forward.

Watching ships enter the mouth of the canal from our room close to the Bridge of the Americas.

Isla Contadora, Panama

Isla Contadora is a Panamanian island on the Pearl Islands archipelago in the Gulf of Panama. Contadora was the island where the Spanish counted the pearls that were harvested from the other islands in the archipelago, hence the name of the island, which means "the one that counts" in Spanish.

Wikipedia

Sunrise over Panama City while waiting for our ferry to the island

Transportation on the island

Gorgeous beaches

Rincón de la Vieja National Park

This 34,800 acre (14,084 ha) national park in the Guanacaste Region of Costa Rica is home to an intriguing combination of volcanic geological wonders and pristine tropical forests. The main attraction is the smooth cinder cone volcano, Rincón de la Vieja (6217 ft., 1895 m), comprised of nine contiguous craters that dot the volcanic national park. This collection of volcanic peaks are the most active in the Guanacaste Mountains (Cordillera de Guanacaste), where major volcanic activity occurred during the latter half of the 1960's. The Von Seebach crater is still currently active, continually venting steam and the occasional volcanic hiccup.

Traffic en route to Rincón de la Vieja

Geothermal hot springs

Volcanic mud

Butterflies

Woodpeckers

Hummingbirds

A naturally occurring blue-tinted river

Mount Tolmie

Mount Tolmie is a beautiful, easily accessed mountain in Victoria with 360 degree views.  On a clear day, you can spot Mount Baker far off in the distance in the US.  There are some short trails and a huge, flat topped water reservoir to walk on.

Mount Tolmie is located near the University of Victoria, Oak Bay and Beach Drive.  Its location makes it a popular stop before or after driving the beautiful Beach Drive coastal route and ending at Beacon Hill Park in downtown Victoria.