This morning we transfer back to Panama City and the Albrook Inn via the Bocas airport. Seamless connections. We are meet at the airport by our guide and taken to visit both Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo which are very old Panama (ruins) and a section of Colonial Panama. Both areas are very interesting, both on the Pacific coast (south) side and it isn't even looking like rain!! Our guide fills us in on some of the history of Panama and why certains things are built where they are. We see the prison cells in Casco Viejo where the cells often flooded. There seems to be sadness and violence in every country's history. Finally, near the end of the day we go to the Miraflores locks and visit the museum there. The history of the canal is facinating and we watch the last ships of the day go through the locks from the Atlantic side to the Pacific. Earlier, while visiting Casco Viejo, we have seen the ships queueing up on the Pacific side to enter the canal from the south.
I've got to say, this has got to be a better way to see the canal than from a cruise ship. We got to boat on Lake Gatun with ships going through the canal on our first day of the trip and we have seen the ships entering from the Pacific and finally visited the museum and watched the final ship pass completely thru the Miraflores locks today. Panama doesn't seem to have missed a beat when they took over the canal. The operation seems to be running very smoothly.
Today is our last day on the Adventure Life portion of our trip. After a full day of touring we go back to the Albrook Inn and check out the swimming pool and hottub. We choose to eat dinner at the Inn and just relax the rest of the evening.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.