| Portobelo to the Canal; a memorable trip to the Rio Chagres.
We arrived in Portobelo on the 25th of April having motored down from Isla Grande just eleven miles further north. There had been little wind, a big swell and a strong adverse current so we were quite happy to get the anchor down and paddle off ashore to check-out the town. Portobelo is a sleepy little place where one can feel quite relaxed and safe, this despite the obvious poverty which envelopes most of the towns inhabitants. Once one of the most important strategic military and commercial centers in the Central American Basin, it was the mid point for voyages between Spain and Peru. Christopher Columbus arrived in the bay in 1502 and by 1592 there was a small but thriving city here. To protect this important location there were a series of fortifications made and much of these are still to be seen today. The fortifications had their moments but the city was still taken by various Pirates and opposing forces during its colorful history. Kinghill, Morgan and Drake all visited Portobelo with varying results; Drake was eventually buried at sea off Portobelo. Today, ‘El Drake’ is the popular bar that is much frequented by the visiting yachties. Here one can rest and have a cold beer after wandering around the ruins or visiting the nice little Museum which now occupies what was once the Custom House and has been restored and converted. In the quiet evenings we would sit in our cockpit, surrounded by the old fortifications, imagining what it would have been like when fleets of Spanish Galleons would lay in this exact same bay and load up with vast treasures ready for a return voyage to Spain. During our stay we decided to take a bus ride into Sabanitas where there was a ‘Rey’ Supermarket and a few other stores offering produce that was not available in Portobelo. We could probably have managed with the shops in Portobelo where there are a few ‘mini markets’ and most things are available but the chance to take a bus ride and have a day out was not to be missed. It turned out to be a great day and we were able to get a little closer to our Panamanian hosts, to see how they lived and went about their daily lives. Whilst in Portobelo we were able to re-establish contact with the outside world via the internet. There were a months worth of messages awaiting us and it took us all our time to read our incoming mail! I regretted not having written mail to send before arrival as there was no way to answer everyone before we took off once more for yet another isolated area. Still it was great to have news from all our friends and we now had lots to keep us occupied when the rain showers swept in. Portobelo is said to be one of the wettest places in Panama! On the 29th of April, after a few brief early morning rain showers, we stowed the boat for sea, hoisted sail and took off to the Rio Chagres. This river lies five miles to the West of Colon and was much used during the ‘heyday’ of the Portobelo commercial centre as it was one of the two main routes for getting goods across the Isthmus of Panama. In those days the Rio Chagres went much of the way across to the Pacific and then joined up with the Las Cruces Trail. The other route was all by land across the Camino Real Trail. When the Panama Canal was constructed the Rio Chagres was dammed thus creating the biggest man made lake in the world however the first five miles of this river are available still to boats that draw less than ten feet. We had a lovely sail down to the entrance and found the approach very strait forward although I did run the engine for a short while just in case we had to make any unforeseen maneuvers. Once inside and under the lee of Fort San Lorenzo (built to protect this trade route from Pirate attacks) we were able to stop the motor and drift slowly up the river with just a gentle breeze from astern. Drifting around under sail or rowing quietly in the dinghy is very rewarding in this area; those of us who are inclined towards the over use of power, running generators and air conditioning may as well stay home!! We spent just over a week in the Rio Chagres and enjoyed every moment of it; the river changes all the time to the weather, the light and the angle of the sun so that the vista was always refreshingly new. We did not remain in just one anchorage but moved up and down the river length exploring the many small creeks and tributaries; hours were spent chasing pictures of wildlife and just drifting down the river listening to the sounds of the jungle. At the head of the river you can actually see the spillway and the Gatun Dam; close by there is an anchorage where a small dock on the eastern bank gives access to a trail which leads to the Gatun Locks. We took the walk and enjoyed the shady trail finding ourselves close to quite a lot of wildlife. The Gatun Locks were busy with ships, however I was surprised that they were all up-locking. I would have thought that with the water shortages they have been having that they would want to up and down lock at the same time to make the most efficient use of the water. Whatever it was impressive to see all the big container ships in the locks and it brought back memories of my former life….. Not that that was at all uplifting! We didn’t hang about long as it was a very hot morning once we moved out of the shade of the trees, also the clouds were starting to build up as they regularly did and we knew that by 1600hrs we’d have the usual heavy downpour of rain. Just off the dock, close by the anchorage, there was a small island on which several beautiful birds were constructing nests. These birds made nests that hung from the branches of a few sparse trees. They were ‘basket weavers’ and made regular flights back and forth between the island and the ‘canopy’ ashore, on the return flights they would be dragging huge amounts of nest building materials with them. I shall never forget their splendid call which resonated along the quiet river. There were of course many Toucans and Parrots, the later were always ‘jabbering away’ to one another as they flew close overhead, usually in pairs. The river banks were always lined with Kingfishers and various Herons, plus a multitude of birds that we could never hope to identify! One morning we were doing a ‘Photo-shoot’ with the boat as we had discovered some beautiful flowers trailing down to the waters edge and we felt we could park right in front and get a nice shot of “Mr. John”. Well, the pictures of the boat didn’t come out so good but whilst we were there a troop of White Faced Monkey’s appeared in a nearby tree and gave us a good hour of entertainment as they cavorted around swinging from the branches. We did manage to get a couple of pictures but in reality it was the experience of just being so close and seeing what we were seeing that made it a lasting memory. We thought that we were going to be leaving without seeing the Howler Monkey’s, we had however heard them throughout our visit as their calls would echo through the still early mornings every day. They were a great indicator of approaching rain as they would set up a howl of protest every time a rain squall moved in. They were not the only ones that didn’t like getting wet but it was because of this that we discovered them close by the water’s edge when we were returning from an expedition in our dinghy and got caught in the rain. It was unfortunate that we had forgotten to take our umbrella along on the trip as this limited Paula in what pictures she could take (without getting the camera wet), however she did manage to get some shots and we did very much enjoy the show!! The only thing we didn’t get to see was the Crocodiles of which there are a few on the river. Missing the Croc’s was not something we lost sleep over as our tender is only a small canoe and we don’t quite know (or want to know) how it would fare in a Crocodile attack! With much regret and with many fine memories we left the Rio Chagres and made our way to Colon and on the 7th May started our process of making the Canal Transit. There was an article written some time ago by a yachtie, a copy of which was still attached to the Panama Yacht Club bar door, which said that after much consideration the best thing about Colon are the $1 (U.S.) beers in the Yacht Club. After a little consideration we decided that this was about right. Colon has no other redeeming features! Next stop Colon and the transit |
| 25th April 2007 |
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| Rio Chagres |
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