Panama and Vehicle Exportation

Panama

The days are flying by as the expedition comes to a close. On Tuesday I'll be boarding a flight in Panama City and landing in Denver 11 hours later. When I think of Panama, not much comes to mind. This just demonstrates my ignorance - Panama has offered one of the most diverse and interesting experiences of the trip.

Boquete is a small mountain town north of David near Panama's coffee-producing region. The weather was much cooler then anything we've experienced lately (it reminded me of summertime in the Rockies) and apparently many Americans vacation there. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to see much but I can definitely recommend it as a destination.

Our next night was spent in Playa las Lajas at a small hotel on the beach. Sadly, it was our last night on the ocean. The hotel we stayed at had clearly undergone recent renovation and the whole group was all disappointed to leave after one night. The beach was nearly empty and the ocean was the warmest of the entire trip. One or two more degrees and it would have been bathwater. Dinner was particularly enjoyable - we were told to seek out the local German restaurant. A restaurant serving German cuisine seemed out of place in such a small town and we all had a good chuckle when we realized the restaurant was run by Germans and had no German food. Everything was excellent and it was one of the best meals of the trip.

Our next destination was a small town about 100 kilometers outside of Panama City. The local RV Park was run by some American expats and had some very nice facilities (for an RV park). They had a pool, sports bar with satellite, and wireless internet. Unfortunately, we couldn't turn the lights on. The park was technically closed on Tuesdays and if we turned on the lights, his local customers would demand to be let in.

On Wednesday we finally tackled Panama City. The traffic wasn't quite as bad as we feared and after meeting our local contact/guide, Peter, we headed to our hotel. Peter's girlfriend Laura took all of the girls out to the mall while we headed to meet with our shipping agent. Our shipping agent Evelyn is a very short, very round, and very heavy woman. We got all our documents in order and she instructed what forms to fill out, where the trucks had to be, etc. This was the first time we had the entire process laid out in front of us and it was quite a surprise.

Here's a step-by-step list of what the exportation process entails:
1. Meet with Evelyn - very easy. We were told to get the vehicles inspected at the police station, which is in a very dangerous neighborhood.
2. Police Inspection - it turns out the exact process isn't as simple as simply getting your vehicle inspected. When you show up, the police will tell you to come back tomorrow. When you show up at 11:00 AM the next day, you will spend the entire day waiting for this process to be completed. We didn't finish the process until 5:30 PM. James went to go get some ice cream and was told by a police officer to stay in his car and lock the doors.
3. Complete the customs process and drop the truck off at the port - it turns out that the customs office/port is two hours north of Panama City. This means on March 30, we have to get up at the crack of dawn and hit the road so we make it back at a decent enough time to pack our bags before we leave.

It's quite a painful process.

Panama City itself is quite interesting. It's quite compact and is filled with high-rise residential towers and office buildings. We saw at least a dozen tall buildings under construction. One very cool thing is the conversion of military bases into residential areas. When the canal was turned over to Panama, they also received all the US military bases. These have become suburbs for Panama City's wealthy residents. In two or three years it will be quite a city. Unfortunately, the traffic is horrendous. Many intersections have no stoplights or signage and rush hour traffic is brutal.

The Canal is beautiful. I'm going to leave this to your imagination until I make it to the Visitors Center and am able to get some more information. My parents and I went out for dinner at a restaurant located on the Panama Canal. All evening long we were able to watch the ships travel by. It really is an enormous engineering feat. I'll try to give you some more info after I complete my museum visit.