We were enjoying San Blas but were running out of cash. Shopping in San Blas is very limited and on a cash basis only. The weather was nice so we sailed to Portobelo, one of the historic cities of the the old Spanish Main. It's one of the rainiest places in Panama, but now in the dry season, it's very pleasant.
 |
| Restored Spanish Forts on the North side of the bay |
 |
| View of the town on the South side of the bay with old church, restored forts and un-restored battlements |
We caught a local bus into the mall near Colon at 6:30am the day after Carnival. The bus was mostly empty. The few people on it were mostly asleep and the driver was just crawling along. Crawling along until another bus passed him anyway. Then I guess he figured that the other bus would pick up all his fares, so the race was on. Not the safest ride I've had as the two buses jockeyed for position on the narrow 2 lane road. Finally our driver prevailed and drove at a reasonable speed the rest of the way into the mall.
The grocery store offers to give you and your groceries a lift home if you spend more than $400. We were buying non-perishables for 4 months, freezer items for 2 months and fresh vegetables for 2 weeks, so our total was way over $400.
 |
| Pam with 5 full carts of provisions |
While we were there, we found a little clothes washer that we could fit on the boat for $110. It's got a washing side with a fairly gutless little agitator, but good for a small load. On the other side it has a high speed spinner which really beats wringing laundry out by hand.
 |
| Tisha Baby's new washing machine |
We're quite excited to have such luxury...
