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Private Tour/car in Colon


4mysins
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Hello!

 

Does anyone have a suggestion on a private guide of Colon? I would like to hire a car and revisit areas that my husband lived while he was in Panama. We would like to have a guide where he and I are the only ones in the party. I know that time is of concern being in port from about 5 pm to 8 pm.

 

 

Any suggestions?

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Sounds like you are on a partial transit cruise, with that in mind... I really don't think you will have sufficient time in Colon to do anything but have a quick browse around the mall that is adjacent to the pier. That 5 to 8pm time is just a guesstimate for a place holder time for arrival.. I have seen ships arrive earlier than 5 and stay past 8... it really depends a lot on how promptly the shore excursions that tendered off the ship in Gatun Lake are returning. Just a reminder, it will start to get dark just after six.

 

If by chance you are graced with a longer port stay in Colon, you can just get a cab at the mall entrance. When I was last there, they had a dispatcher you could arrange for a cab. Just tell them what you would like to see, how much $$ and make sure the cabby's English skills are sufficient. Depending on where your hubby lived... military or civilian... there may not be much to see or even enough time to get there even if you do have a longer port stay. Places like Margarita and Ft. Gulick are close by with Ft. Davis a bit further would be doable. Gatun and Ft. Sherman would be out of the question since they would be a lot further away and then you throw in the difficulties in crossing both the new locks and Gatun Locks... way too time consuming. If you want to see Coco Solo, just look to the water side of ship while you are at the pier in Colon. The port and all those containers is what is left of Coco Solo. France Field is now the airport for Colon, I don't what became of the housing area.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you Bill for the information. I am disappointed that the time is short there. We would have wanted to head over to Fort Sherman. I know part the base has been turned into a marina. Maybe I will look into doing the full transit as far getting more time in the area. I was hoping to cruise this summer but lesson learned the season is from October to April.

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Took a short land trip to Panama April 2014 and went to the Atlantic side for the day. We wound up eating lunch at the marina in old Ft. Sherman, called Shelter Bay. That was the only thing that looked liked there was any life to it. The road from the Locks to old Ft. Sherman was horrible, the barracks building by the air strip were in various states of abandon, what I could see of the housing area was overgrown and abandoned as well. Looked on the sad side.

 

If you manage a cruise down that way in the future, they will have a bridge over the Canal on the Atlantic side within the next couple of years or so. Construction has begun, so it should come to pass fairly quickly. That should certainly help the area become a bit more prosperous and certainly facilitate getting over there.

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