Panama!

Rod and I got the amazing opportunity to go to Panama/Costa Rica! We left on an incredibly snowy day in Utah and landed in the most beautiful sunshine!

Our first tour was to see the Panama Canal! 

It was a really cool experience and something we've both always wanted to see. 

Once will be enough, but it was awesome to learn how it came about and how it works!

It operates by using a system of locks to raise ships from sea level to the level of Gatun Lake, which allows the ship to move through the Isthmus of Panama, and then lowers them back down to sea level on the other side. This basically creates a waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It takes 8 minutes to fill the chamber. It takes about 8 to 10 hours for a ship to pass through the Panama Canal from one ocean to the other. The canal is about 50 miles long. 36 to 38 ships are allowed to pass through each day. It costs somewhere between $60,000-$4 million for a container ship to cross the Panama Canal.

The smaller boat helps guide the huge ship into place. 

We spent quite a bit of time at the canal, and then we saw a lot of Panama City.

We did not love it there. The city felt filthy. People throw their trash out of their windows onto the roof or balcony below. 

You can see the actual city behind us. SO many buildings, and SO much concrete!

I wanted to include a bunch of pictures from our first day so you could get a real feel for Panama City - 

so many areas are SO poor and so run down and dirty. Then there is such a stark contrast and other parts were very well kept and it was obvious there was money. 

I always love seeing the street art!

This cute man and his son were selling snow cones, which were such a welcome treat! It was SO hot and humid!

Rod filmed him making them because it's so different than how we are used to!

You can see more of the garbage on this balcony!

We stayed in the beautiful Trump International Hotel and Tower - 

which is now called JW Marriott Panama.

We were super high up (I don't remember which floor), but it was fun to stand on our balcony and watch the tide come in and go out. 

We always feel so fortunate to travel anywhere, but Rod and I both feel like this will be the only time we'll ever come to Panama! We'll see what the rest of our time here brings . . .