By: Marcia Abramson
I had the option to tour the former Canal Zone area by air-conditioned bus and visit the town of Gatun which is under the control of the Panama Canal authority. Some of the Radisson Diamond Cruise had actually lived in the Canal Zone and were anxious to return to Fort Espinar, the United States military base to learn what had become of the military buildings. There was also a visit to Margarita, a large Canal Zone housing development where lectures on the many details of this man-made wonder were given by Panama Canal Authority personnel. It is also the ideal place to watch the large ships being inched into or out of the locks at an approximate cost of $45,000 per transit. Another choice was to take a helicopter for about 20 minutes and fly over the lochs and up the Chagres River at tree top height. The people who took it returned and told of their awesome experience of flying around the Radisson Ship and taking photographs to show the folks back home. And then there is the Chagres River Eco Cruise and Rain Forest Walk which takes about 2 1/2 hours. This is the very same river that the Spanish Conquistadors traveled to transport their gold across the Isthmus of Panama from Peru to Spain. Gold prospectors also forged a short cut from the US East Coast to the California gold mines. Now this river is the route of the Panama Canal.I found that it is only a 15-minute drive to get to the river from the Yacht Club. I was surprised to find the drive takes you past the Gatun Locks directly under the huge 500-ton lock gates as you cross the Panama Canal. In less than an hour's sail, the "piece de resistance" is the guided walk through the tropical rain forest. What an experience to see the many species of monkeys, sloths, ant eaters, and iguanas in their native habitat. Forget the open-toe sandals and wear sensible sneakers when you walk the 45 minutes into the forest before your return to the Gatun Yacht Club and the tenders back to your cruise ship, a scrumptious dinner and an evening of laughs with the Diamond's Mad Welshman, Kenny Smiles, who now makes the Ozarks his home when he isn't entertaining the Radisson Seven Seas Cruise passengers. He is great fun!I was looking forward to the next day's destination of the San Blas Islands located off the Caribbean coast. It was a real treat for me, a frustrated anthropology buff, to see the Kuna (Cuna) Indians who still live in the same primitive state that they did hundreds of years ago. As the tender approached one of the 350 islands (some of them uninhabited) I saw bamboo huts, dug out canoes and women dressed in their traditional costumes. They consist of hand appliqued mola blouses, long skirts and red and yellow scarf head dresses. The mola can be considered the art work of the Kuna Indians. It is made by hand sewing onto large pieces of fabric cut patterns of many different colors and shapes in layers. These are also made as place mats and pot holders and are great souvenirs in addition to the seashell products, carvings and Panama hats. My daughter Jill and I bought Panama hats for $8 each after negotiating the price down from $15.I was told that the Kuna are accustomed to tourists and are experts in bargaining. My daughter asked one of the women if she could take her picture. Her answer was yes for a dollar which was fine, but before Jill could focus the camera, there were at least six women all asking for a dollar each to pose for the picture. There were many wonderful photo ops of young children taking improvised showers with coconut shells to dispense the water into a basin with pet pigs nearby. We were also approached by an elderly man who pointed out a young woman with a two-day-old baby in her arms. He asked us if we wanted to see the only hospital on the island where the baby was born.He led us to a very primitive building where we met the young doctor in residence. He studied medicine in Panama City and was proud to show us around his hospital where the only air-conditioning was a fan in the pharmacy to keep the medications cool. He pointed out a cot in a makeshift room which was the maternity section. We were happy to learn that seriously ill people were taken off the island by sea plane to hospitals in Panama City. We learned that the Kunas have made the San Blas Islands for centuries and greeted Columbus in the early 16th century. They still are a self-ruling society with the native women and children commuting from their island villages to the mainland in dugout canoes as they did in days of yore and the men fish or go to the other villages to engage in trade for provisions necessary for their households. What a satisfying day with the people of San Blas Island. Then for another day at sea before going ashore at Cartagena, Colombia's Emerald Island.
©Copyright by Marcia Abramson E-mail: mascribe@aol.com
