Wandering with Tedder and Tamara

We got up early again this morning to beat the rain and a little bit of the heat. We started off running a couple of errands- pay for another night at the hotel, drop off our laundry, and then headed over to Mamallenas, the cool hostel we started at. They organize sailboats to Colombia, so we thought we'd get them started on finding one for us.

Unfortunately, the receptionist wasn't the right person to handle that. She said the boss (el jefe) would be coming in around 10 or 11. That was fine- it just meant we would have to drop by later. From there we headed to a motorcycle shop that a HU member recommended to us. It took a while for us to find- signs are often absent, it's hard to tell if we are in the right direction because the streets aren't straight, and in the few times when there are signs, they are 'spun'- in other words, implying that the cross-street is the one we actually want.

Part of the wild goose chase ended up with us on the freeway that runs between the waterfront and the financial district. In fact, at points there is water on both sides. It was weird to see tall bank buildings in a few blocks, with the waterfront crowded with fisherman's shacks and boats. Definitely a case of the third world meeting the first world. This highway was in the wrong direction for us, so I turned around at the first chance I had- just before a tollbooth.

Finally we found the correct street and MPH, a really great moto shop. He had great selection of things- it reminded me of the independent shops in Seattle, especially the old Moto Works of Renton. The owner, Fabio, was very friendly and wanted to show off his great repair shop, show us the used motocross bikes they have for sale (since the racers have bought the new models), and tell us about the different bikers he's seen pass through. We heard from our friend that the entire second floor is full of stock, but didn't see it.

We were opportunistic because of the nice selection. We bought a gallon of good synthetic oil, a second set of mesh gloves for me, and some replacement mirrors. Our mirrors don't hold their position- one has been nonfunctional since Baja, the other is only mildly helpful. He didn't have an oil filter for my bike- I have one left. I'm trying to decide if I should save it for my next oil change or use it now and go without on the next change. (Jim? You always have good advice..)

Next we tried heading to the airport to see about a sightseeing flight. I had trouble finding the right turnoff, so I ended up taking a circuitous route. I knew roughly where I was, and eventually got there- after turning around at a tollbooth. Again.

At the airport, I first went to the FBO. A guard was in front of the hangar, he made a call, consulted with a pilot who happened to be walking through, and then sent us to the aeroclub, a flight school at the other end of the airport. Once we got there, we talked to a nice instructor (mechanic/engineer) who went into his office and spent a couple minutes on the phone. He then sent us back to the FBO.

At the FBO we went in, past the nice planes and jets in the hangar, and to the posh pilot's lounge. The VP there said their smallest plane was a 5-seater (and I think a twin-engine). It would be $500 per hour. I asked her if they had anyone, or knew anyone, with a 172 or similar. She made a couple of calls for us, then waited for someone to call us back.

She was a very nice lady- she compared life in Panama to life in Miami. The latter is flat and has hurricanes, which surprised her. Finally she heard back from a pilot who had a 182 for $300/hr. We set up a time later in the day with him.

That gave us some time to kill, so we headed towards the Miraflores locks. Those are the first set of locks on the Pacific side of the canal, and were only about 5 miles from the airport. We toured the exhibits and watched their short movie (10 minutes). The exhibits were a very short version of what we had seen at the Canal Museum in the old town (San Felipe). So they weren't terribly fascinating.

The movie was a very quick overview on the canal and the immediate future. Panama voted 'yes' to upgrade the canal with a new set of locks at each end. That will allow ships larger than 110ft to use the canal system. I was a little disappointed that none of this was in the video- it was polished and had the pro-canal spin one might expect. At least they talked about the problems of the Canal Zone and the US occupation.

We went out onto the 4th floor observation deck, but the ships don't run in the middle of the day. Basically, they go into the canal system in the morning (from both ends), transit the lake and center of the system, then exit the system in the evening.

Finally we went back to the coffeeshop where we were supposed to meet our pilot. We waited for an hour and he didn't show up. So we tried calling him, then went across to the FBO where the nice lady tried too. I guess that was a bust.

It was starting to sprinkle, so we figured we would head to Mamallena, then back to the hotel. The charming Aussie at the hostel was nice, told us some information about the upcoming boats, and said he'd be in touch. Since he didn't have much confidence in getting motorbikes on board, we went around the corner to Zuly's, a German-run hostel. We missed Richard, the guy who knew the goings-on, but his girlfriend sent us around the corner to find him. He had more information on the boats, and also promised to call us.

From there it was back to the hotel to cool off and dry out. I headed across to a local internet cafe that was only $1 for three hours, and it was air-conditioned. Better yet, they had a very fast connection. I enjoyed the connection for three hours, uploading most of our pictures from Mexico, then went to get a bite to eat and back to the hotel.

Amusingly, I had missed Tamara, who was trying to find me in that same time period. She caught up to me right near the hotel, where she said our HU friend Steven invited us to dinner that evening. We quickly cleaned up, got a taxi, and went to his 27th floor condo. It is 3000 square feet, half of the tower. It was a wonderful space with a great breeze, plus the views you'd expect from living on the waterfront and being 300 feet in the air.

We had a good evening with them, eating salmon with mango-pineapple chutney, rice, and asparagus. The salmon and asparagus are difficult to find in a place like this, and they were real treats.

We talked about real estate, Seattle (where they lived), bikes, travel, and our plans for crossing into Colombia. Steven recommended that we not take the sailboat route, but take Girag's cargo transport instead. I had looked into it earlier in the day, while reading HU and looking for transport options (so we don't have to wait a week or more for a boat).

Finally we headed back to our hotel for the evening, watching the thunder and lightning.