Panama Day 6 - to Fort Clayton

Thursday October 4

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Official itinerary:

Depart Chitre this morning. En route, stop to visit a local artisan for an exclusive Discovery Series event and witness a demonstration of indigenous Panamanian mask-making.

After your visit, you'll have lunch in a local restaurant before heading to your hotel in Clayton. Enjoy time to relax or explore more of the area. Afterward, you’ll savor an included dinner with your fellow travelers.

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Time to pack. Luggage out at 8:15 am. Departure at 9 am.

Very doable. Twenty minutes later we are already at the mask maker. Initially I had not been excited about this stop but Octavio explained to us the reason and custom about it and it all made sense and it was actually very interesting.

First the famous artist was introduced and soon he explained to us how the work is done. First you make a model from clay. He asked for a volunteer and Frank was it. He did a super job.

Then he proceeded what you do next. Here is a mask ready to be painted.

This is a piece of bark from a plum tree. He passed it around. It is incredibly light. It is used to cut the teeth for the dirty devil from. 

Last year Dario Lopez was honored to be named Maestro Artesano 2017 by the president of Panama. Rightly he was proud of it. 

The masks are used for the traditional dirty devil dances on special occasions. It really just clicked when we were surprised with a demonstration. How cute is this little three year old?

VIDEO 1    (1:38)

VIDEO 2     (1:18)

Of course there was a little shop too. I couldn’t resist to buy this for 1$.

Soon we were on our way again and stopped a quarter before 11 am at a shopping center which had a dollar store. Octavio gave us the opportunity to buy something for the children we are visiting tomorrow. He had inquired at the school what was needed. James and I were happy because we had not been able to do that shopping at home.  

When we continued with the drive Octavio gave us a political lecture from his personal and family point of view and experience. He even had a screen in the bus for some PowerPoint.

At 1 pm we stopped for lunch. The place was cute even if the seats were terribly uncomfortable. I don’t think the food was enjoyed by many of us either. I so wish there was another option to choose: ensalada mixta. It would have been much cheaper to produce but very satisfying since we have a cooked dinner tonight too. Oh well ...

Our driver Daniel is posing.

Before 2 pm we were on our way again. Landscape was very nice but the mountains were not easy to photograph from the moving bus.

At 3 pm we could see a bit of the canal and a ship. 

Few minutes later we drove over the new Centennial Bridge, the newer of the only two over the canal. The third one near the Caribbean Sea is not finished yet.

Then we are driving along the canal to our hotel Holiday Inn in Fort Clayton located in the former US controlled Canal Zone.

Close to 4 pm we were in our room on the 5th floor overlooking the canal. 

At 5:30 pm those who wanted could join into a walk in the area. Formerly a US military zone is now the “City of Knowledge”. Many universities and organizations from around the world are here now for projects. Very cool. It was a nice walk but it was already getting dark when we returned.

It was 6:30 pm and time for dinner. Buffet this time. Very much appreciated today because I mainly took salads and veggies ... and fish. Unfortunately there was also dessert.

Afterwards James and I enjoyed a Caipirinha with the complimentary welcome coupons we had been given.

And then off to bed.

Step count today so far: 7267

Night, night.