Portobelo

Sunday, March 3, 2002

009-33.600 N
079-40.200 W

Portobelo is a beautiful anchorage about 20 miles from Colon. At one time it a major port where the riches which were plundered from South America were stored and then shipped off to Spain. It's said that the silver was, at times, piled into the streets because the store rooms were so full of gold This place was heavily defended, with no less than 4 forts protecting the bay. Most of the forts are in reasonable condition and are fun to crawl around in. One can only imagine the battles which were fought there, and it seems that there were many as the buccaneers were constantly trying to rob it.

Public transportation is handled by private busses running between the towns. These are ex-US school busses that have been painted with wildly colored murals. Most have huge 6" chrome exhaust pipes which rise up past the rear roof and many times belch black smoke with a deep rumble. They're quite a sight to be seen. Oh, you can hear them too, as the busses seem to compete for has the loudest stereo system!

We decided to take one to a grocery store about an hour away as we were told that the ride was very interesting as it took you up through the hills of the interior. We got on a bus at about 9:30 and the only seats that were available were in the rear of the bus, atop the well powered sub-woofer. Ah, motel "Magic Fingers" don't hold a candle to this experience. So off we went, pulsing to the beat of the music as the driver whipped the bus through turn after sharp turn. Eventually we were able to move off the sub-woofer and the reports of interesting scenery were correct. The grocery store was very modern with tons of US products and, much to Ken's delight, there was a McDonald's right down the road!

From Portobelo we'll move on the Colon and then help 2nd Tri move through the canal.
Log ID: 180