We had to spend an hour or two prepping for the return trip the previous evening. There was the covid tests we each had to take. The tests we brought with us were internet mediated so each of the processes took about a half hour. Good news for us is we both tested negative. The latest requirements are that we have to test less than 24 hours before the departure time of our outbound flight. Not that we thought that we were infected but if we would have tested positive, there would have been very little time to make any new arrangements. We would have had to book a place, rebook the flights and so much more. Once we got the test results we had to upload them to VeriFly. VeriFly had to review that results and then send us the QR code. Only then could we relax a bit and finish our time up at Gamboa. Our ride to the airport had been prearranged and verified so it was just a matter of rolling the bags to the front, checking out and getting into a smaller but nice van. An hour ride gets up to the airport where the ticket counter for American Airlines has not yet opened. We stand where we are told it will open and eat out lunch sandwiches that we made at breakfast. Once the folks show up we are all told to move out of the way for the entire rat maze to be dismantled and reassembled into the way this crew likes it. You cant buy this kind of entertainment. Another hour is spend with everything here before we check in and find that the plane is delayed till 5 PM. We ask about a AA lounge but they don't have one anymore. Since we have almost 4 hours to spend we decided tp pay for the Copa lounge. It is crowded but the AC is working and we spend those four hours plus some since the plane gets delayed further till 6PM. I am making some serious progress through my Panama Canal book! There is passenger dissatisfaction with the additional x-ray and screening including shoes and computers right at the gate. We have seen this before so it was just a inconvenience for us. The three and a half hour flight went pretty fast but we had to sit on the tarmac for a half hour waiting for a gate. Immigration was another 30 to 45 minutes and we did not get back to the apartment till after 10 PM We sat with Mike and Deb for a while and eventually took them over to the beach to the room we rented for them. All told it was almost 11 hours from door to door. Gamboa to Hollywood.
No Covid!
Some of the ships are appreciably larger than the others
Back on the rough roads of Panama
The picture is not the best but the animals are larger than the cars that are about to hit them
Snack time
We got passed by the Panama Canal Railway
Not a lot of passengers
Cars, trains, ships and planes!
The new buildings
are everywhere
Ships too
Fancy new architecture
Off we go to the USA
