Rainy season

Today is a very appropriate day to blog about the rainy season. So far we have had rain just about every day and it is currently pouring buckets!! In Panama we have two seasons, dry and rainy, and for some reason they are also called winter and summer - which are opposite the seasons back home in North America. It just means that it rains more during certain months of the year and less in others. The rainy seasons starts in May and goes through November. With so many climate changes I personally think it starts and stops when it wants to.

When planning a road trip or any excursion, you should not wait for Mother Nature to provide you with the perfect day - you learn that after you have been here a while. Generally we dont have rainy days (but just so you know, it can happen) but short scattered showers. When it rains it can be very hard on one part of the city and not be raining in another. All tourism agencies tell you what we have also found out ~ late afternoon is a good bet for a shower and it can be pretty hard rain at times so plan the most you can in the morning. It can also include lightning, thunder and flooding.

In the mountains we get a lot more rain because we are in the rainforest. Many times we can see the coastline below and it is very sunny while we might be in the middle of a downpour. As you drive up the mountains you can tell immediately that the forest almost wants to take over the roads. There is dense vegetation, beautiful flowering plants, and quickly growing trees. The same phenomenon happens in the mountains ~ it can rain in a certain area and not rain at all just a couple of blocks away. I personally feel the lightning and thunder are stronger up here and joke about the fact that this is so because we are so much higher in the mountains.

I think the only ones that really enjoy all the rain is the kids, they just go outside and play in the rain while the rest of us have to wait it out. The best thing about the rain is the fact that everything is so green, but also it is so much cooler and fresher! It can cause delays and even heavier traffic but sometimes the good outweighs the bad. As we drive up towards the mountains you see everyone walking and going about their business when there is a downpour and I often ask my husband "don't they know it is pouring?" They usually don't carry an umbrella and it is sad to see elderly people or children walking getting totally drenched. I supposed they are used to it, but to me it is sad.

NOTE: Water ~ and lots of it ~ is essential for the operation of the 50-mile long Panama Canal. The canal watershed and associated lakes (Miraflores, Gatun and Alajuela) provides the water so that the canal is deep enough for ships to pass through and for the locks to function properly. Every ship transiting the canal requires over 50 million gallons of fresh water be flushed away.