Old City, New City, Panama City

Contrasting Cities, old and new Panama City:

 The Cathedral bell tower was used to keep watch for pirates and warn the city if they appeared.

Looking at the new city across the mudflats at low tide. A typical Latin American coastal city.

The Cardenas Fire

Cardenas is a residential area within the Old Canal Zone.  Americans born in the Canal Zone were granted dual citizenship and allowed to buy their homes as part of the Canal transfer.

My guide in Panama was in that category and we stayed at his sister's house in Cardenas.  The winter and spring being dry season, wildfires were common.  This one was just around the corner and closer than I liked.  You can see houses and cars in the photos.

No red rocks this Friday, but still something red!

The Baru Surprise

The Summit of Volcan Baru is the site of a major communications center for Panama (and presumably nearby eastern Costa Rica).  The Center is maintained 24-7 by an on-sight engineer that stays for 30 day shifts.  This is necessary because during the rainy season (spring and summer) the 4X4 road to the top may become impassable.

Weekly Volcano #31: More from Volcan Baru, Western Panama

In keeping with this week's kickoff Panama Theme we take another look at Volcan Baru, one of only two active volcanoes in Panama.  I use active in the geologic context.  It has been centuries since Baru erupted, but it is dormant, not extinct, because it was active less than 10,000 years ago.  That is the geologic definition of active.

Located in the Chiriqui district of Western Panama near the Coast Rican border.  The cooler temperature and rich volcanic soil make this the main agricultural area of Panama.  And there is a surprise on Baru that we will see later........

The Gaillard Cut

The Culebra Cut crosses the continental divide of Panama.  It was renamed after Maj. David Du Bose Gaillard the officer in charge of this section of the project, who died before its completion. The American version of the canal was constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (1904-1914), after the French attempt to build a sea-level canal went bankrupt.

Approaching the Cut from the north

This is the most famous part of the Gaillard Cut.   For more info check the link.  I have a two-fold connection to the Panama Canal.  Two of my mother's uncles moved to Panama from Barbados to work on the construction.  The Americans recruited mostly from English-speaking islands in the Caribbean for workers.  They settled there and hence I have Panamanian family.  Part II, my mother worked for the US Army Corps of engineers and the people that I met there are responsible for my becoming a geologist.

All photos from Panama are taken with the same camera, lens, and film as listed in the first post (or check the labels)