Sunday, May 30, 2010 - Flamenco Marina, Balboa, Panama

For those who were up early enough, the howler monkeys were putting on quite a show. Their howl was described to be like “grown men being castrated without anesthetic!”









At 7:15 am, our Canal pilot for the day came aboard and we made our passage across Gatun Lake to arrive at the Pedro Miguel Lock at the south end of Gaillard Cut at 11 am. There our vessel was lowered 31 feet to the level of Miraflores Lake, a small artificial body of water that separates the two sets of Pacific locks. We called





our kids to let them know we were passing through and to try to see us on the live web cam if they were near a computer at that time. At noon, we entered the first of two Miraflores locks and by 1:30 pm we were in the Pacific. We could see the Bridge of the Americas which spans the harbor and connects North America to South America.

At 2 pm, we were at the Flamenco Marina in Panama City where we tied up in a slip that was located as far away from the marina office as one could be. Gale and Mark walked up to the marina to register and see what they could see around the immediate area. Upon their return, we visited for awhile before getting cleaned up and going out.

After a cocktail at the Flamenco Café, we decided to stop at Beirut, a Lebanese restaurant, where the menu was entirely in Lebanese. Fortunately, one of the servers was able to speak a little bit of English so we let him help Diane choose several appetizers for the group. We ended up with some tasty hors d’oeuvres of cheese wrapped in phyllo, seasoned meat dipped and fried, hummus and a type of flat bread. Diane inquired about the water pipes we’d seen at some of the tables and ordered a fruit flavored tobacco. After the server showed us how to use it, Gale, Diane and Maureen shared the hookah, or narghile in Lebanese. It was a pleasant experience and both Gale and Maureen were reminded of the smell of their grandfather’s cherry pipe tobacco as children.