Sunset on the Panama Canal

I was in Panama City, Panama a while back and had the opportunity to get out and shoot around sunset one evening.  I grabbed a cab from downtown Panama City and headed out to the Amador Causeway, which stretches out into the sea a bit and provides a nice view back toward the town in one direction and a view towards the Panama Canal in the other direction.  I chose the canal view.

Having arrived early, I grabbed a quick dinner and then as the light began to change, I hurried up and started walking along this little bay.  What you are viewing here is technically the Pacific Ocean (Panama City sits on the western side of the country) though it’s known here as the Gulf of Panama.  This is the mouth of the canal, so to speak, and the Miraflores Locks begin several miles from this point, way around the bend to the right.  You can always spots ships lining up, getting ready to change oceans.

Miraflores Locks is probably the most popular place to see the canal, since it is closest to Panama City.  While viewing the canal is something worth doing, viewing the actual movement of the ships through the canal is pretty uneventful.  It’s slow, for starters...and it takes a while.  But it’s fun to say you did it - and I did!

Inside Panama's National Theatre

When you are in a new place, do you plan out everything you want to shoot, or do you like to wander?

I tend to do both.  That is - I plan the big stuff, but always build in time for wandering between spots so as to pick up little bits of this and that.  I think of the “this and that” shots as filling in the gaps in the larger narrative I am weaving here...if you can call it that.  :-)

Sometimes I find that wandering just pays off in a huge way.  This is a perfect example.  I was wandering in Casco Viejo, which is the old town section of Panama City, Panama.  I had marked some key spots to photograph - some churches, plazas, etc.  But what I did not anticipate was this spot, which is the National Theatre of Panama.  Usually these things are closed during the day, which is when I was there.  But on this day, I walked up, tried the door, and it opened...so I let myself in.

I shot like crazy in there, and it’s beautiful.  I have a lot of shots to get to from that spot, but wanted to start with this one, which is actually just a side room which I assume is used for dinner functions, etc.  Isn’t it beautiful?

iPhone fun in Panama City

I spent last week in Panama City, Panama - my second trip there in 6 months.  It’s a very interesting city, with all the fancy skyscrapers jutting out of seemingly nowhere, and the absolute poverty surrounding it.  Although I like it, I am not sure what to make of the place.  It’s both rich and poor - vibrant and dirty - busy and calm - beautiful and ugly.  It’s all the good and bad of progress wrapped into one.  Like I said above, it’s very interesting.  I think I will stick with that as a description.

While I haven’t had time to process my Nikon shots (though you can see my previous shots from Panama here), I did want to share a little iPhone summary of some of the sights that I encountered there.

Plus, I haven’t shared an iPhone post in a while, and I like to do so.  I have a huge backlog of iPhone shots, so there’s no time like the present.  Hope you enjoy them!

This is a view down the Cinta Costera, their walkway along Panama Bay...I spent a couple of hours walking here down to their old town known as Casco Viejo.

 

This is just a street scene in Casco Viejo...

 

And this is another one...

 

This is just someone’s cat. :-)

 

This church is beautiful, but old and falling apart.  I loved the altar here....

 

This is some sort of derelict old thing that I just found interesting, especially with the graffti...

 

And of course, no visit to Panama is complete without the Panama Canal.  This was a sunset I shot there, looking out towards the canal.  It was a beautiful evening!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the tour!

The Panama City skyline

Here’s another Panama shot for this week - this time it’s the skyline from their old town known as Casco Viejo.  The skyline there is stunning.  I have heard it described as the Dubai of Central America.  Though I haven’t been to Dubai, I think that is a fitting description.  The skyscrapers here just seem to rise out of nowhere, and there are a bunch of them. It’s impressive to see in person, and fun to photograph!

On each of my visits, there always seems to be rain clouds hanging around, which in my opinion are helpful since they add some more interest to the sky.  Of course, I have been rained on there too, and that's no fun.  But it never seems to last too long, so I can get back out and shoot all the cool stuff in this interesting city.

Iglesia Catedral, Panama

Casco Viejo is the old historic district in Panama City, Panama and is full of beautiful colonial architecture as evidenced by this structure, the Iglesia Catedral.  Although the exterior is quite attractive to me, the interior was less so - but of course I shot inside as well.  That’s just what I do.  :-)

I loved the look of this scene, with the old cars and the fabulous clouds in the sky.  Looking at it now, it makes me think that this scene could easily be mistaken for Cuba (based on pics I have seen - I haven’t been to Cuba).  

I also thought that old green VW van added a nice element to the shot.