We arrived in Panama last Saturday! Pear, my mom, and I all met up after customs in the Panama City airport since we were flying in from different locations - I left Denver around noon and flew into Panama City via Dallas. Of course I almost missed my flight leaving Denver, but what’s new right?
We had a hotel booked in Panama City in the neighborhood 'Exposition' which is not a touristy area by any means. Most of the local taxi drivers live in that area, and it was really cool because we were in a very non-touristy area, we got to really PRACTICE our Spanish more than anywhere else we’ve ever been (we, being Paris & I, translating for our mom too)! We talked to taxi drivers, negotiated prices, ordered-food and and basically did everything in Spanish which was a big accomplishment; especially compared with our experience in Peru when we were much more timid and cautious overall since that was really our first time traveling independently overseas. So wow! What a difference! I think Paris & I would both say that we have improved a lot-or “think” we have anyway because the advantage here in Panama is that it’s relatively easy to navigate different forms of transportation... much, much easier! In Peru it was a lot more intimidating and confusing as a newbie. So by default, now of course we think we’re traveling super-stars with mediocre Spanish and improved transit abilities. We’ve heard that the roads in Costa Rica are much worse, which may make our transportation process a little bit trickier, so we'll just have to see what that pans out to look like once we get there in the next week and a half.
Back to Panama City though...we walked along the Pacific Ocean & through an older, historic section called Casco Viejo. We navigated through Amador & we randomly met a really nice guy named Daniel who was driving a full bus by with some 'white' people in it. At that point, we'd been walking for a while so we hopped in & it turned out that he spoke fluent English which was very helpful at that point. We met some other people in the van who were from Curacao, an island near Venezuela. I’ve gotta look it up when we get back. Anyway- they’ve been there for 5 year, but are from Holland and we chatted with them for a while. Then we rode around with Daniel while he was taking a break from escorting those folks around & he drove us over to the Trump Towers, where we walked up to the restaurant & swimming areas from one of the highest levels we were able to access. We saw a famous Panamanian rapper just chillin' with his crew up on the deck. And the view was aMAZing!!! Not to mention the pools! Geez!! Some people have TONS of dough! As we were up there looking down at the ocean view I couldn't help but think 'Where are we?! How in the world did they even let us up here!'
So then Daniel told us about a train ride on the Panama Canal Railroad that went in the direction we were planning to go in the next few days, so we arranged with him to take us to get train tickets the next morning. The plan was that he'd drop us off at the train station, then he’d meet us in Colon which was the end of the line for the train, then he'd drive us to Portobello where we had a small cabin reserved by the ocean where Pear was going to spend some time scuba diving. As I mentioned, that was "the plan". BUT... plans change, especially when you're in a different country, you never quite know what exactly will happen, and such was the case this time around as well.
So this morning he meets us at 6 am at our hotel but his van was broken. So he says he’ll ride with us & get a rental car in Colon from a friend. Well by the time we all made it to Colon, I guess he couldn’t get the car he'd planned to, so he helped arrange for another guy to drive us to the next city an hour and a half away - our scuba destination. The man's name was Miller- who also spoke fluent English - and in a nutshell, we ended up with TWO super nice "guides" who showed us all these cool places that we never would've seen otherwise! It pays to be flexible! :) We walked across the Panama Canal Locks on the Atlantic Side today, and Paris & some guys from Holland got yelled at by a Panamanian security guard for stoppirg on the bridge where you have to keep walking at all times... It was a "you had to have been there!" moment which gets a little lost in second-hand story telling and translation... Meanwhile, Daniel & Miller told us all about the history of the Panama Canal and the surrounding areas, taking us to places off the radar & beaten path - just being able to actually walk ACROSS the locks where the ships come through the canal was incredible! And afterwards we were able to stop by the former base of the School of the Americas, which has been renovated to distance itself from its terrible history to a now, extremely modern posh hotel.
How did I even forget to mention that we saw the Panama Canal, Miraflores Locks on the Pacific Ocean-side in Panama City?! That was so cool - we spent the entire day there a few days ago, just watching ships come through and walking through the four level museum.
Now that we’re on the Atlantic coast of Panama for two more days, we'll stay in Portobello on the coast before we head upwards to Costa Rica via TicaBus. So far, VERY fun adventure!
Re-cap: we’ve met people from Holland, Curacao, a woman from Canada who owns a hotel on Isla de Taboga (and an adorable little dog) where we took a day trip to off the coast of Panama City & got completely sun burnt yesterday. Let’s see, we met a guy from Argentina here on business at our 2mares hotel, an American woman named Rachel who lives here with her 4 yr. old son in a winnebago & we’re only on day 5 of our trip!
Tonight we’ll probably eat some rice here w/ some folks from Switzerland that we met at our cabin just after Daniel & Miller dropped us off in Portobello, and then Pear will go diving tomorrow. That’s it for now! I wish I actually had a a pen & paper but that’s ok... this works too.
Hasta luego!
