We drove ourselves over to this area from Panama City. It was nice to see the Caribbean side. We stopped at some pretty beaches along the way and the fort is definitely a great place to stop.We learned the first day in Panama that if you are driving all around the country on your own, bring food and drinks! We bought a styrofoam cooler and went to the grocery store every other day to buy lunch, snacks, waters, wine, and beer. The cooler was the best $4 purchase!
There are a number of forts here worth looking at and soaking up the atmosphere. The church is definitely interesting as it contains a black Christ. The buses are amazing, very highly patterned and colourful. Just wander around this place, you'll see more than you think
Portobelo is a beautiful place but needs more tourist information out there like places to visit, good restaurants and things to do once you get there. Its good if you take a water taxi that will take you around and the visit the church and the fort. We went to restaurant "Los cañones" really bad experience.
Visited this landmark today. The two easily accessible forts in town were very cool to walk around & the Church of the Black Christ was awesome, but we were surprised at how unkempt these landmarks are. We couldn't enter any of the rooms in the forts because they stank of urine & feces, but if you stay outside, you're okay. We couldn't even use the women's public restrooms by the church because they were all clogged & wouldn't flush. Although the poverty of the area is difficult to address, it's hard to understand why these treasures are allowed to be neglected.
This fort was interesting and in a very scenic spot. It was not very big and there was not any information about it's history. But the views were amazing. Portobelo is a little beat down and could use some cleaning and a few new roads. But it is an old city and off the tourist rail. But worth a visit.
I loved my visit to Portobello. Founded by the Conquistadors, the town was raided by such infamous pirates as Sir Frances Drake and Captain Morgan. Fairly well preserved historic ruins and of course, there is the Black Christ in the local church, said to perform miracles, The sheltered bay is scenic and the town is a little oasis away from the maddening crowd.
This place is rather famous. It is one of the several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Panama. I read about it before the trip, and its existence was a major reason for my visit to the Caribbean side of Panama. When Spaniards got their treasures in South America, they would store them here and wait for Spain-bound ships. English pirate Henry Morgan led a successful attack on the fort, but did not find much.As part of the tour "Best of Colon" provided by my friend Mario, my family of three stopped by here. On our way, we saw the Caribbean with many palm trees on its shore. When we got off the van, we were led to watch a sloth sleeping on a tree. I was surprised to hear this lazy bone was actually a party animal. The fort was not awe-inspiring, but the surrounding area was beautiful. The wall was as low as the tower was small. It was more of a village than a fort. One native woman sold a towel with the design of the canal for $12; our guide Mario bought us a small plastic bag, which contained Italian ice with bits of pineapple. We had to bite to drink the really tasty, juicy, and fragrant thing. A small church featured a black Christ. Many blacks lived in the area and some Chinese owned shops here. On my way back, I wondered how much gold Spaniards took from Americas. I googled and found that the entire world only produced 36 tons of gold in the entire 1500s. In 2013, China produced 420 tons, which made it the largest producer in the world by far.
The ruins at Portobelo are historically significant. It is easy to see how the city was repeatedly destroyed by raiding pirates. Other than the ruins there in not a lot to see except the “Black Christ”, but only when the church is open. You can see everything in a couple hours. If you do not come on an organized tour you have to ride a “chicken” bus to get there and if you have any luggage, expect to have it gone through and everything valuable stolen. We did. The locals told us that they actually sit on their luggage instead of a seat! If it’s a long trip and there are two them, they take turns sleeping so someone is always awake with the luggage. Potobleo is a nice city but the ones before it are crime ridden slums.
波特贝洛国家公园坐落在海滩上,属于科隆省的管辖范围。从巴拿马城到这里差不多需要两个小时的时间。这里有值得一看的历史遗迹和教堂,另外,公园旁边的小镇也是个很有意思的地方,记得一定去看看。
So much history in such a remote location.....A short drive up the Atlantic coast brings you to this sleepy village which was once the richest city in the world....all of the gold and silver that the conquistadors pilfered from the Inca Empire was stored here and put on the Spanish treasure ships for shipment to Spain. The Bay was originally visited by Christopher Columbus who named it "beautiful bay" as he recovered from an illness while anchored here in 1502. In 1596 the famous Captain Francis Drake, victor of the Battle of the Spanish Armada, died here and was buried in the Bay. In the 1600's the town was sacked by the infamous pirate Henry Morgan. In the 1700's the City was captured by the English Admiral Edward Vernon...the victory was so important that Portobello was used in place and street names in honor of the victory, such as Portobello Road in London, the Portobello area in Edinburgh, and the Portobello Barracks in Dublin. And then there is the story of the Statue of the Black Christ.....one version has that it was removed and loaded on board a ship...a sudden storm came up and the ship was sunk but the statue floated back into the bay to Portobelo. All in all a fascination place to visit!