December 21, 2024
COLON, PANAMA
We had last weekend in COLON, PANAMA. The town was right outside the port gates and there was a Supermarket, ATM's, shopping mall, Casino, Restaurants and several other specialty stores and local craft vendors, all an easy walk and they all happily accepted $US dollars. Most residents stocked up and did some Christmas shopping. Sadly, Colon's urban area is severally depressed, but the people are bright and friendly. After checking out the shops and getting some groceries, 4 of us, Bob, Sarah, Scott & I, decided to rent a cab for an hour and have a tour of the local sights and go over the canal bridge to see the beginning of the locks. The areas outside of town are lush, tropical and a lot is undisturbed,
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I am so blessed and lucky to have found such a great group of friends and to be do this amazing adventure! Today was fabulous, because of the quality time I got to spend with these individuals. We had no rain and some rare sunshine! Wave swells slowed our journey and some of our snorkeling energies, but I think everyone was happy at days end! Psalms Tours was again super flexible and provided outstanding services!
We decided to do something different and unique today, perfect for a rainy afternoon, we took a pearl class to make some jewelry! Delia, Terri, Suen and I all went to Pick a Pearl Jewelry Store on the main street of Coron . We each picked a frozen giant clam shell, that had been put in a fresh water farm to develop cultured pearls. The bounty of each shell was random, we averaged 28 to 30 varying size pearls and the colors were also random. I got a mix of white, pink, lavender and pale gold pearls. Terri went first and below is the step by step process.
Due to stormy weather, we got an additional four days in Coron, Philippines since our intended destination at Boracay Island was an anchorage where our tenders would not be able to operate safely in the projected wave swells. No worries, we had been to Boracay before and there was lots to do in Coron . Many residents had good reviews of a local restaurant called The Lobster King, so we went with good friends to celebrate my buddy Stacy's Birthday!