WITH A LAUNDRY BAG FULL OF DIRTY CLOTHES and a few days to kill before we headed to the Darién rain forest, we booked an AirBnB just outside Casco Antiguo, Panama City’s Old Quarter.

It's actually safe . . . thanks to the National Police

It has a certain charm, don't you think?

The walk to Casco Antiguo
Our immediate neighborhood has seen better days but the building is secure and the apartment has everything we need plus a supermarket next door and a laundry around the corner.

Cathedral

Historic Casco Antiguo

Colonial Casco Antiguo

Restored Casco Antiguo
It’s an easy walk to the World Heritage Old Quarter with plenty of armed National Police to keep tourists and gangs from adjacent El Chorillo and Santa Ana separated. Once neighborhood of the wealthy, Casco Antiguo is a tourists dream with restored colonial buildings, bars, restaurants, souvenir stands and Instagram photos on every corner while across the bay sprouts a forest of million-dollar high-rise apartments.