This morning we decided we would rent a car and make another land based trip. We have a number of parts on order for Saltydog projects, and it will be 1 to 2 weeks before the parts show up, so now is a good time to make a short trip. So Melissa made a reservation for a 12:15 pick up at Budget Rent a Car. The website would have let us choose any time we wanted – 12:30, 12:45, 1:00, etc. We grabbed a taxi from the Marina to the car rental location. We arrived at Budget at 12:23. As we got out of the taxi, the Budget folks slammed the roll down door down and put up the “closed” sign. We knocked on the door and yelled through the window that we had a reservation. The gal at the counter glared at us and shook her head and pointed at the sign indicating they were closed for lunch and wouldn’t open till 1:30. But it wasn’t 12:30 yet. Don’t care. We are closed, come back at 1:30. So we walked next door into the Hertz where the guy rented us a similar car, brand new (2000 miles on it) for less money. Problem solved.
Melissa then headed into the immigration office. There has been a ton of conflicting information about how long our visas are good for. Lonely planet claims 90 days. US State department website claims 180 days. Panamanian government website doesn’t say anything. Marina manager says 90 days if you come in on a flight, and 180 if you buy a mariners visa when you come in on a boat. As our 90 days would be up on Monday because we came in on a flight from Peru, Melissa went to see what the process is for renewal. After standing in line for 20 minutes while no one behind the glass was serving customers, someone came to ask what she wanted. Melissa asks if they speak English. Nope. Ok, Melissa holds up her passport and shows them the entry stamp and asks, “Quantos mesas ok?” (quantity of months?). Ah! The woman’s face lights up. She holds up 6 fingers, and counts off, October, November, December, January, February, March. Ok, that seems pretty clear.
We then headed off to lunch at the observation facility that overlooks the new locks that are being built.
The view over the water was spectacular and the day was gorgeous.
We then toured the overlook from which you can view the new locks being built. From here you can see the almost unimaginable scale of the work.
This is where the lock doors will be installed. Unlike the existing locks, where the doors are hinged, the new doors will slide on wheels back and forth in these slots. The big building you see is where the mechanical parts will be housed.
And this is the Atlantic side of the locks. You can see what a small berm of dirt remains to be dug out when they finally flood the locks.
