49. Panama City (MPTO)- Punta Cana Dominican Republic (MDPC) 29.4.2009, 872NM, 6:30 Hrs flight

"18:34.0N 068:21.8W"

Our stay in Panama proved to be full of pleasant surprises

and interesting visits.

The day after our arrival, Manfred suggested that we try to

contact our friendly air traffic controller lady to thank her for

her sympathetic welcome and radar vectors along the Panama Canal.

It took Manfred a few calls with his mobile phone and surprise,

surprise, he reached Wendy, the ATC controller and supervisor

we were looking for.

We met this lovely lady and her friend Maria the same evening for a

chat and were then kindly invited to join her the following day

for a visit to her Air Traffic Control Centre in town, and later

in the afternoon for a memorable excursion along the canal.

Thanks a million Wendy!

Our RTW flight is progressing well..........

The flight from Panama to Punta Cana the other day went as

planned, and it took us just 6.5 hours with the relatively strong

prevailing headwind component en route.

Only a few parts of the flight were in IMC conditions

and finally we arrived with a visual approach at Punta Cana.

At the moment we are spending two days at a

magnificent Hotel Resort here which I know well by now,

as I have flown here before with HB-ON in 2004, en route from

California via Brazil and the South Atlantic to Dakar

and back to Switzerland.

Since that visit in 2004, I could not resist and subsequently

visited this place yearly on holidays with my wife Anne.

Tomorrow Saturday, we fly to Cat Island in the Bahamas, and

on Monday finally to Orlando in the USA, where we leave

HB-PON for some weeks for maintenance.

Manfred and I will fly back commercially to Sydney, respectively

to Switzerland on the 7th of May for work and will then return

to Florida at the end of June, to take on the final leg across the

North Atlantic back to Geneva.

Stay tuned and follow our trip.

Here some impressions:

Panama

Busy down town Panama City

Taxi in front of our Hotel

Wendy (center right) and her friend (left)

At the ATC Centre in Panama City

Rolf gets explantations from Wendy

At the Panama Canal Lock "Miraflores"

Lifting and going up...............

The new Centennial Bridge over the canal

At Punta Cana

The Ressort

Flamingos next to our restaurant

Magnificient endless beaches.........

The brand new five star Hotel next door..

(which we did not stay at!)

Market stands at the beach side