01 Nacional De Cuba Hotel

2007 Panama

Folder: Central America
Scenes and wildlife from our first visit to Gamboa in Panama at the side of the Panama Canal. We stayed at a hotel overnight in Cuba both ways to change airlines for this visit.
01 Nacional De Cuba Hotel

01 Nacional De Cuba Hotel

05 Oct 2019 166
On this trip, our holiday booking routed us through Cuba for an overnight stay both ways, as we connected with a Copa airline to get to Panama. This hotel seemed to be quite palatial, and large, with obvious Spanish influence on the interior decor.
02 Local Cuba Bus

02 Local Cuba Bus

05 Oct 2019 180
This is a strange adaptation for a bus, and I wonder now if it was more a military troop carrier.
03 Plaque In Hotel Garden

03 Plaque In Hotel Garden

05 Oct 2019 152
Interesting to see this notice in the gardens referring back to the days of the Missile Crisis in 1962. Apparently this hotel had become a military centre for the situation.
04 Gun In Hotel Grounds

04 Gun In Hotel Grounds

05 Oct 2019 181
A wander around the grounds certainly supported the military involvement at the time. However, to me this and the following gun emplacements seemed to be big, yes, but they looked more like olden day cannons.
05 Another Big Gun In The Hotel Grounds

05 Another Big Gun In The Hotel Grounds

05 Oct 2019 162
The comment in the plaque suggested that these guns were for air defence, but to me they looked more like siege artillary to be aimed at shipping.
06 The Hotel Foyer

06 The Hotel Foyer

05 Oct 2019 166
Large and impressive, it stretched right through the building end to end.
07 American(?) Cars Outside Hotel

07 American(?) Cars Outside Hotel

05 Oct 2019 181
There was a time when American cars were exported to Cuba, but then an embargo stopped it all. As a result, those cars which had got to the island previously, were maintained continuously. These seem to show signs of the 1950's designs.
08 Panama City Traffic

08 Panama City Traffic

05 Oct 2019 171
Panama at last, and although our hotel pick-up kept to the main bypass routes of Panama City, it quickly piled up into heavy traffic.
09 Panama Colourful Bus

09 Panama Colourful Bus

05 Oct 2019 153
Passing at speed now, so a little blurred, it was interesting to see the quite artistic decorations on all the buses.
10 Gamboa Resort Entrance Board

10 Gamboa Resort Entrance Board

05 Oct 2019 160
Finally we arrive at our hotel entrance, with this quite impressive hoarding, which boded well for our interests, as it was at the edge the Soberania National Park.
11 Gamboa Resort Old Canal Accommodation

11 Gamboa Resort Old Canal Accommodation

05 Oct 2019 164
Not quite there yet! Through the access gate, we passed through a. Row of buildings which were accommodation for the Canal construction managers. These are now turned into flats for family visitors and included with the main hotel.
12 Gamboa Resort Foyer

12 Gamboa Resort Foyer

05 Oct 2019 146
Finally at the foyer, it is a breath-taking size, with huge picture windows along the front overlooking the river. That area had be constructed into indoor three tier gardens, with pools and waterfalls. This picture is the upper area and made up of 4 stitched-together pictures to give a wide angle view.
13 Gamboa Resort Foyer

13 Gamboa Resort Foyer

05 Oct 2019 168
View from part way down the indoor gardens.
14 Gamboa Resort Foyer

14 Gamboa Resort Foyer

05 Oct 2019 165
Another view of the walk through the tiers of the indoor garden.
15 Metal Artwork In Foyer

15 Metal Artwork In Foyer

05 Oct 2019 158
With an interior height of ~10-15 metres, birds flying around looked quite natural, although these were amazing large metal artwork.
16 Gamboa Resort River Drive To Canal

16 Gamboa Resort River Drive To Canal

05 Oct 2019 167
Our hotel is quite isolated "at the end of the road", but it is a fairly easy walk down to the side of the Canal.
17 Chagres River Edge

17 Chagres River Edge

05 Oct 2019 157
A placid scene on the river which "fuels" the Panama Canal with a source of water.
18 Up-River View

18 Up-River View

05 Oct 2019 179
This huge water catchment system transfers water into the Canal from the interior highlands.
88 items in total