Today we were very excited to get to travel a new road (as opposed to the Pan American Highway) as we made our way up to the Colon province. We were in search of Fuerte San Lorenzo (Fort San Lorenzo), a fort overlooking the ocean and the Chagres river that was built by the Spanish centuries ago and beautifully preserved! Here is a little history:
Fort San Lorenzo was built in 1595 by the order of Phillip II of Spain. From the time of its construction, the fort was under constant pirate attack. It was eventually seized by Sir Henry Morgan (we all know him as Captain Morgan...yes, the one whom the rum is named after). After Morgan acquired San Lorenzo, he sailed up the Chagres river and burnt Panama to the ground, only to then sail back to England. The fort was abandoned by Spain in 1821 when Panama became independent and was then used as a Colombian prison, a post office for inbound English mail, and a campsite for gold miners on their way to California.
The road to the Fort was paved but wound through a jungle teaming with wildlife! When we first turned onto the road to San Lorenzo we came across an iguana that was the most beautiful green color that I have ever seen! Then, not far up the road we spotted another animal crossing the street. It was a "coati mundi," and no, I had no idea that was its name until I googled "animals in San Lorenzo National Park." Unfortunately my camera was in the trunk so I couldn't get a picture of it, but you can google it as well :) We also saw a beautiful Blue Morpho Butterfly! We did see some other small mammal on the way out, but don't know what it was!
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Once we made it to the fort, we were immediately greeted by 3 feral cats. This, of course, made Genevieve very happy! The pictures of the fort (below) don't even do it justice! The vivid greens and blues of the ocean were among the most amazing.
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| Many of these cannons are British made and are originals. |
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| These little flowers were growing all along the walls of the fort. |
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| Figured out how to use the timer on the camera :) |
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| The Chagres River leading out to the ocean |
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| Genevieve's friends...un gato y un gatito :) |
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| This little gatito had such pretty multi-colored eyes! |
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| Edge of the mangrove section of the forest on our drive out of San Lorenzo National Park |
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| The Gatun Locks...These are the largest of the locks on the Panama Canal |
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| Ever wonder what happens to the US's old school buses??? Wonder no more! These are all over Panama... |
After leaving Colon, we took a detour up the coast to the small beach town of Portobello. We didn't take any pictures because we didn't actually get out of the car. It was getting late and we decided to head back to the City.
Happy New Years to all of our family and friends!! We wish we could be many places at once to celebrate with all of you!
