Portebello, Panama

Chris and Rourke

Mainland Panama is a veritable jungle.  From Providencia, Columbia, we sailed in to the San Blas islands, an archipelago offshore Panama. After spending a month island hopping here we made our way along the coast of Panama towards the Panama Canal stopping at Isla Linton and Portebello.  

The sounds of monkeys and tropical parrots, a continuous melody in the Isla Linton anchorage.  After the flat land of the islands it was a nice change to see the emerald jungle starting at the waters edge and extending up the hills.  The early morning mist hovering above the tangled vegetation adding to the mystery.  

Rourke exploring

In Portebello, the fortresses of San Fernando, San Jeronimo and Santiago provided opportunities for exploration.  These were built in the 1700's.  From this port tons of gold and silver flowed to the Spanish empire, between 1574 and 1702 forty five fleets of galleons were sent forth.  

Chris and Rourke were very keen to take out the metal detector and give it a go, but we were warned that one gets 20 years in Panama's grey bar hotel if caught doing that!