We had a nice stay, if short, in Grand Cayman. It's hitting home that this is really a survey tour, hitting lots of spots and getting a taste for places we might want to visit again. We are in the company of a very nice couple from Los Angeles, flying their aircraft, and our tour leader, a young French gent who graduated from aviation and airport management programs and has landed the job of a lifetime (for a young single guy, at least).
Went for a run in the a.m. after our night in GC, through a nearby golf course/marina residential development. Saw a snake and an iguana, both somewhat two dimensional after their encounters with vehicles. Passing the clubhouse I heard a rooster crow, which seemed a bit odd, but on the way back there he was with a hen, strutting along beside the road. Apparently they run more or less wild. Our driver to the airport (from India) said he caught and ate one, but it was very tough.
We launched at about 2:30 for Panama City, about 625 nautical miles across the water (FL 350, ISA + 10, about 25 on the tail), and on approach into Panama, Marcos A. Gelabert airport, asked if we could do a canal tour. We were given descent to 3000 feet, and a vector to the exit lock of the canal, then allowed to choose our route. We flew over Miraflores Lake, and down the canal to the Miraflores Locks, then across the Bridge of the Americas to join the landing pattern for the airport. Taxied past a long row of abandoned and derelict aircraft (some probably more seized than abandoned, given the locality) of all types, and arrived at the hangar where we went through the customs and immigration formalities and ordered fuel for the next leg. We got about half way to our hotel on the way in, and the driver was called back to the airport. Apparently I had to sign the fuel order after it was delivered.
Our hotel, on the waterfront road among the surprising (to me at least) highrise canyons in downtown Panama, had some interesting and modernistic design features, incorporating a lot of glass in the interior and rooms. Comfortable enough. We dined at a nearby restaurant that served local food. On our way back at about 9:30 we walked through what appeared to be the beginnings of a very active nightlife, lots of small restaurants and clubs. Brenda and I went for a short walk along the water, but one of us didn't have footwear suited to the necessary running through traffic, so back to hotel and bed.
Another run in the morning, along the waterfront. amazing number of people out at 0630, walking, running, exercising. The full range of local ethnicities and ages was represented. After breakfast we had a guided tour of the city and canal zone. Our guide was the son of a fellow who was involved with a post WW2 aviation venture, which moved from California to Panama and after some struggles was eventually taken over by Pan Am. We went to the Miraflores Locks, and were able to watch the process involved in moving a large container ship through. We then watched the video presentation, and had a quick tour of a very interesting museum. Besides the canal history, there was a lot on the flora and fauna of the region, which because of its accessibility is a very active study area by many institution, large among which is the Smithsonian. Their entomological display had some curiosities, including very large bedbugs and a very pretty but monstrous grasshopper, which we definitely don't want on the Canadian prairies. The canal is, of course, the central feature to the Panamanian economy, and the raison d'etre for the country. The pride that folks have in finally owning the whole thing after control was given over by the U.S. in 1989 is very apparent.
We intended to launch for the short (~1 hr.) flight to Cartegena, Columbia at about 2:00 p.m., but encountered our first glitch. On loading up and firing up, there was a faulty fuel indication, showing an incorrect (too low) amount of fuel in the left sump, with a subsequent low fuel warning. This is a very electronic aircraft, and although there was no question the indication was in error, it imposes restrictions on flight which make continuing impractical. I hoped that a bit of taxing around would make the problem go away, but no such luck. Return and shutdown and a round of phone calls and emails to the factory, aicraft data downloads, tearing of hair, ensued ( all of this at about 34 C and 90% humidity). No resolution, so I decided to invoke the provisions of the minimum equipment list, which permitted one day of flight under certain restrictions. This would let me get the rest of the folks to Cartegena, then I could decide to fly back to Florida for maintenance, or fly someone out with the necessary part and installation equipment. We reloaded, fired up, and the problem disappeared. Dinner in Cartegena was postponed for us until our late arrival, and we got to see Cartegena by night on landing approach.
Our hotel here is a 17th C (1691) convent, renovated as a modern hotel by a French chain. Loads of character (and a persistent smell of linseed oil in the public areas, presumably because of all the very old wood and its preservation). More later, as we have a long day of flying tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep.
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