Two Oceans by Railroad 12/21/06

[MMW37]

We were in Colon with the Carnival Legend on 12/21/06. The Legend does not transit the canal and we wanted to see it. We opted for the Two Oceans by Railroad tour thru Carnival, which went along the canal and through the forest all the way to near Panama City. There we went to the Miraflores Locks and were able to watch two boats go through. Our guide Reinauld (sp?) was actually Swiss, but has lived in Panama for 13 years. He provided a lot of information, especially on the way to Panama City. The locks are what I would most recommend seeing in Panama. Whether you do the ferry or the train, or stay near Colon and just take a tour/taxi to the Gatun locks, it seems silly to travel all that way and not see the canal unless you've been there before. One thing to keep in mind is that the larger boats pass through early in the morning, so if you are organizing your own tour try to keep this in mind. We were at Miraflores by probably 10 or 10:30 am and saw the last boat of the day passing through from the Pacific side. We got a little tour of the areas on the Pacific side, but did not enter Panama city. Our guide said traffic would be just awful so we were better off not. We saw the Pacific ocean and had about a five minute photo op, but is wasn't an actual beach so don't expect that and be disappointed. This was a good, interesting, and informative tour, but I'm not sure if it was worth $150pp. Depending on what you are comfortable with, a private tour that includes a stop at the Gatun Locks may show you as much or more of the area than our train ride did. I heard good things about My Friend Mario on our boat, and maybe should have saved the money and just gone with him. One thing about the train though, depending on your energy level, it is a very relaxing and stress-free way to see a large part of the country and get some interesting history lessons. We learned a lot about the development of the Canal Zone since the Americans left in 2004, saw a lot of the old forts, etc. I have no regrets and enjoyed the tour, but you may be just as happy doing something less expensive.

 

 

 

Just thought I would share my experience, as I have gotten so much valuable information off of these boards preparing for our trip! Please enjoy your own!