97) Panama

Portobelo, Panama (at anchor)

9° 33.327 N 79 39.615 W

Columbus called this bay Puerto Bello when he stumbled in with his weary ships in November 1502.  Portobelo, as it is now known, rose to importance in 1597 when the annual meeting of colonial merchants with the fleet from Spain was moved here from Nombre de Dios.  Francis Drake used the port in 1570 as a base to rob Spanish merchantmen.  He returned in the 1590s and promptly destroyed the beginnings of the Spanish fortifications.  Drake died during the same voyage and was reputedly buried at sea near a little island recently named Isla Drake. 

The riches plundered from the native nations of South America were sailed to the Pacific port of Panama and then conveyed by mule trains to the Atlantic side of the isthmus for the meeting with the “flota”.  According to Thomas Gage, an English born Jesuit, the warehouses of Portobelo would get so full of gold and silver that silver ingots lay in the streets, unguarded.  No wonder the place attracted constant raids by buccaneers, including Henry Morgan in 1668.  British Admiral Vernon destroyed the Portobelo forts in 1739 and the great commercial fair never returned to the bay after the Spanish Crown finally allowed trading voyages around Cape Horn.   

The ruins of the largest fort supplied rock material for the construction of the first Cristobal breakwater during the Panama Canal project from 1904 to 1914.  However, the remains of forts give Portobelo Bay its unique character and bring occasional buses of tourists.  Once a year, in October, a fiesta for the Portobelo Black Christ, a patron of pickpockets among others, attracts crowds to the church originally built in 1776.

Portobelo is one of the rainiest places on this coast.  Ashore in town you will find basic groceries and fresh bread in the mornings.  The Chinese grocery near the old church sells gasoline, too.  Water is available from a spigot on the side of the police station.  Since 1996 police come to visiting yachts to collect a $15 USD fee imposed by the town council.   

We arrived at Portobelo just after sunset with plenty of light to make the anchorage.  From all I’ve read this place is steeped in history.  It’s neat to look around and know that hundred of years ago there were large ships at anchor in here and this was a very active port.  The remains of the forts were visible from the boat.  Since most of the structures are gone it is hard to determine what they looked like.   

The bumpy hill on the left is where the foundations have been overgrown.

 

We were only here for one night and wanted to go into town and get some dinner.  Of all the unmarked and indistinguishable docks we pulled up to we ended up at the transplanted American dock.  She and her husband have been here for 15+ years and were very helpful.  John and Nancy and her had a mutual acquaintance and they talked for a little while and then she gave us directions to restaurants.  From the water this place looked asleep and in the middle of nowhere.  Once we rounded the corner of her building we noticed there was actually a little town.  Walking into the square was like a daydream.  It was dark, not well lit and there were people everywhere.  It seems in these Latin American communities that socializing comes alive after dark. 

We happened upon a little restaurant called Ida’s and it looked open for business and deserted at the same time.  It took a little girl to say you got food? to the kitchen to get the ball rolling.  She eventually got hers to go.  In this adventure we have noticed that cell phones have pervaded everywhere and this place was no exception.  While the young guy was taking our order his cell phone rang and he stood there and talked.  We all laughed and he kinda laughed about it too.  There is a cell tower at the entrance to this bay and when I first saw it I thought there was no way cell phones were here.  

 We lucked out with this find.  After a little negotiating and walking in the kitchen to look at the langostino’s I ordered lobster and chicken.  The entire meal and soda’s cost about  $9USD!  Most of our best meals have been in the most unlikely places.  It seems that a dog shows up when we are eating, too.  Back at…?  We gave bones to a few and then here we gave this dog bones.  For the record, this dog did not like lobster.   

And, it’s always fun going into the grocery store and this one did not disappoint.  On our way back to the boat the square was even more alive with people.  There were some kids with drums and some kids chanting but they did not seem to be in time.  It was almost like a jazz tribal thing.  Being the only tourists at the moment we drew stares but were glad to have been there.   

Cell tower   

 

 

 

 

 

Departing Portobelo