Shelter Bay Marina is located on an old U.S. military base that was given to Panama in 1999 when the US turned the Canal Zone over to the Panamanian government. At that time, all the buildings were in good repair, freshly painted, furnished and ready for use. Panama did nothing with the property and over the next five or six years, it was looted and vandalized so that no windows, doors, air conditioners or furniture remained. It wasn’t until around 2005 that armed guards were placed at the entrance to the grounds to keep unauthorized individuals out.
The first part of our drive from the marina to the city was through several miles of jungle. It was very green, lush and beautiful scenery. Our first stop of the day was the Colon Free Trade Zone where passports are necessary for entry and only non-residents of Panama are allowed to purchase merchandise. It was an amazing
gathering of over 1900 international companies from around the world with a combined trade volume of over $10 billion. The streets and sidewalks in the zone were old and not well maintained, but we covered quite a bit of area and poked our noses into several stores in the two hours we spent there. There weren’t any bargains here unless you were buying large quantities and could get the wholesale prices.
At 11 am, we found our taxis waiting at the entrance to the Free Zone ready to continue our tour. They drove us through the streets of downtown Colon and pointed out several highlights. We learned that education and health care in Panama were top notch but the roads were a “national disaster.”
Upon leaving Colon, we headed for Portobello, a small village over an hour east of the town of Colon. We were out in “the country” and saw many large ranches where cows and horses ranged for many miles. By 1 pm we were all getting very hungry and thirsty – none of us had really taken time for breakfast – and we were rewarded with
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a cozy restaurant, Las Anclas, located on the outskirts of Portobello where we tasted some of the local fare. We tried the seafood and vegetable stew as well as an entrée of fresh fish.
The Bay of Portobello was discovered by Christopher Columbus on November 2, 1502 during his fourth trip to the new world and it wasn’t long before it became a very important port for the Spanish Empire. Today, Portobello is a sleepy little town whose present day claim to fame is the Black Christ of Portobello, a wooden statue of Jesus of Nazareth that is considered holy and worshipped because of the miracles attributed to it. Every October 21st people wearing purple vestments walk on their knees from as far away as Costa Rica to pay their respects. We lit a candle, said a prayer and took a few pictures of the shrine in the Church of San Felipe de Portobello.
Outside the church, there was a small market with locals selling their wares. We picked up a few souvenirs and trinkets. We also visited the Fort of San Fernando where we could see many old cannons that had been placed there to defend the port.
We left Portobello for a pleasant drive back to Colon Town and stopped at a very busy modern supermarket. We picked up provisions for the next four weeks and our drivers had us back at the marina at 6:30 pm. Each driver was paid $140 for an entire day of sightseeing.
After putting groceries away, we snacked on cheese and crackers instead of making a full meal. Gale and Maureen each took a glass of wine to the pool and enjoyed a romantic swim and a little time in the hot tub all by the light of a full moon.
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