With it being winter in Ontario, a little break to a tropical paradise was in order, so my wife and I headed to Panama for a little R&R. Panama is a beautiful country with near perfect weather for us Canadians suffering from the perils of winter.

We stayed at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort – where the Chagres River met the Panama Canal – about a 30 minute drive from Panama City. The photo above is of the Panama Canal – the photos below are of the resort and the river.

Panama is home to a lot of exotic wildlife such as iguanas, birds, crocodiles, caimans (like a small crocodile), frogs, sloths (the laziest animal on the planet) and monkeys.

Panama City is a thriving city with construction going on everywhere… the country is booming with lots of foreigners buying land and setting up businesses. Here is view of the city from causeway near the canal.

We took a trip through the Panama Canal… it is an amazing feat of engineering! It is 80km (50 miles) from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean and consists of several locks and man made lakes.

Those really are “40 foot” containers stacked on the above ship going through the Miraflores Locks on the canal. Here are closeups of the containers and some of the canal workers:

The canal is currently being expanded to accommodate larger vessels.

We enjoyed our trip to Panama very much and highly recommend it if you need a break from the winter. As Governor Arnold would say, “We’ll be back”.

Adios amigos and amigas…