Portobelo
Author: Shirlz
Portobelo, the name conjures up romantic images of its historic past. Staggering amounts of gold and silver were carried here from what have now become Peru and Bolivia and shipped off to Spain. Slaves were traded, famous-name pirates like Francis Drake and Henry Morgan attacked the town and helped themselves to the treasure. In the customs house there was barely room to stack the tons of silver.
Small forts tried in vain to protect the bay and its treasure with their cannons. At one time a third of all the gold in the world passed through here.
Now it is a rather shabbily run down little town, but the forts are still there, or what is left of them after being raided for stone to help build the Panama Canal, the customs house is partially restored and is splendid, the same jungle-clad hills look down on the bay. No pirate ships now, but it’s a popular anchorage for cruising boats. Rather a lot of which look as if this could be their final resting place. When a late hurricane passed nearby in November last year many of the boats dragged their anchors and some still remain stuck in the mud near the mangroves.
I arrived after a short motor-sail from Puerto Lindo, the current against us all the way. There were only a handful of boats anchored and I easily found a convenient spot. Casa Vela is a small bar on the water’s edge which allows you to use their dinghy dock for $1 per day or a beer at the bar. There are a number of well-stocked small supermarkets which also sell hardware. For more serious shopping a bus leaves every 20 minutes for Colon, stopping in Sabanitas, about an hour along the road, where there is an ATM and a big ‘Rey’ supermarket. This is also the place to catch an express bus through to Panama City.
I had to make use of this bus for a trip through to the city in connection with my banking problem which still drags on. The bus stops at at an enormous ‘Gran Terminal’ where long-distance buses run to hundreds of destinations. Very exciting to think that you can just get on a bus and tour the country. There are also metro-buses for getting about in the city. I had to get to the DHL office in the Bella Vista district and it turned out to be a beautiful part of the city with parks and luxury hotels right near the waterfront. I wandered about a bit and was thrilled to be able to gaze out over the Pacific Ocean.
I left it rather late to head back to Portobelo and got caught in the rush hour traffic. Standing-room only for most of the journey. The last leg of the trip on a chicken bus from Sabanitas to Portobelo took nearly two hours as there had been two bad accidents along the road which stopped the traffic dead. We were entertained en route with loud music videos on the bus’s flat screen display while strings of coloured LED lights flashed under a religious banner. I suppose the bus driver needs all the help he can get.
July 14th, 2017 at 17:23
In March of this year I spent 5 days on a boat on a mooring ball at the western mouth of the canal (Balboa Yacht Club). We were preparing for a passage up the coast to the top of the Sea of Cortez in Mexico (a passage that busted). I too was thrilled as I watched several boats depart that I knew were heading for the South Pacific, and again when we cast off. So enticing, that big ocean is.