March has been an unexpectedly busy month. We took a trip to Panama City without much planning. We booked our hotel room for the first two nights the night before our flight.
We had an early morning flight that got us to Panama lunchtime on Wednesday the 23rd, which was also our 9th wedding anniversary. Brian did a little work from the hotel room and then we went exploring the area around the hotel. Brian got a hair cut and I got my nails painted at he hotel before we went out to meet Panama.
Panama City is nothing like San Jose, Costa Rica and it had a completely different feel to it. First off it was the largest city I have ever seen with my own eyes. There were sky scrapers literally everywhere, their march west stopped only by the presence of the Pacific ocean.
People were on the street going to and from work dressed in suits and skirts. We stayed at the RIU which was a brand new hotel in the banking district. A constant stream of traffic burbled along the 6 lane one-way road in front of our 34 storey building. Before the trip was over we had run across that street at least 6 times dodging cars and city buses.
The city buses were highly decorated dragsters operated by young daredevils. The bus would pull up, door open and a caller would lean out and address people on the street while the bus was still moving, then if they had no takers they would zoom off with their (what had to be huge) engines roaring and shooting smoke from their 8 foot stainless steel exhaust pipes.
Brian and I ran across the 6-lane road in search of some lunch and we ate at a fancy restaurant called Mariscos.
We spent the rest of our day at the pool reading and relaxing.
Day two we went on a private city tour which took us to the old quarter, the canal and to some ruins of the old Panama City which burned down by pirates. People that live near the old city have found small treasures in their yards from time to time. Our guide told us that the residents of old Panama City had been wealthy Spanish people and that they would bury their valuable because of the pirate attacks. I told Brian we needed to get a metal detector and go treasure hunting. The old city ruins and the new city growth were sharing the same ground in some cases.
Each place we visited we could have spent the length of an entire day photographing and exploring, but we only had 4 hours for the entire tour so we had to shoot and move on.
The next stop was the Old Quarter. The homes were built in the 1700's and it had a very New Orleans feel to it. The area was only just being renovated so many of the edifices were just old brick and rock shells with nothing inside but plants. Brian and I wanted to go back to explore the area because it was magical. We had only enough time to look inside the church and then move on to the next destination. We walked along a seawall where native Panamanians (little indian ladies) were selling hand embroidered fabric. We actually bought one, but somehow it magiked itself away from us. I pet a small snake, but the guy wouldn't let me have it.
Our next stop was the Panama Canal. We arrived in time to see the museum, but not the movie as a boat was coming(!) and we made our way to the roof to better see the action. From there we could see the boats entering the canal, and at least two locks on each of the two lanes in front of us. The locks fill from the bottom and birds take the opportunity to grab any unfortunate sea animal that happens to get caught in the up-current. I learned (for future reference) that if you want to take your sail boat through the canal you pay $500-$1500 to do all the locks from the Caribbean side to the Pacific, and you can use your credit card. I also learned that the canal is an amazing piece of engineering and that it is using most of the original parts including the locks (gates) and they are over one hundred years old. Now, that is craftsmanship. I also learned that out of the 75,000 people that came to build the canal 1/3 of them died from disease (yellow fever was prevalent) and such.
We headed back to the hotel afterwards because we were STARVING and ended up at Mariscos again.
We spent most of the day Friday at the pool and then went to a casino that evening where Brian won enough money at blackjack for us to rent a car a drive to the Caribbean side.
Saturday morning we got up and drove to the Caribbean side of Panama. The drive was easy, the roads are perfect, they even have signs! The country side was lush, green rolling hills and jungle. We were stopped on a few occasions by people in milatary garb asking for i.d. and at one point we had to pay a dollar toll to a lady on the street. Apparently it was for clean up of something we were ignorant of at the time, more on that later. The only real hiccup was in the tiny town of Portebello where they were having a festival which we found out later was called Diablos y Congos. It took us about 30 minutes to get through the hamlet on the only road to Isla Grande. We should have taken that for foreshadowing but we figured it was a cute day festival that would be over before dark. We continued on and finally made it to the small town on the coast where we were to park the car and take a water taxi over to Isla Grande. The water ranged in color from crystal clear to aquamarine to the most beautiful sapphire blues. I wish I could have captured it better. We took the water taxi across to the island in what must be some of the most challenging boat passage as there were shallow sand bars, and coral barriers all around and the corpses of holey sail boats.
The place we landed was a resort called Bananas. It was right on the water with 2 cabins on legs over the water. We had about four hours to enjoy our day passes that granted us access to the facilities, lunch and any of the sporting equipment. We ate lunch, talked to the macaw that said "hola" and then we changed into our swim suits. We decided to grab two masks and two kayaks and head out. The getting out was scary (at least to me) because it started with a rock bottom, then progressed to spikey coral reefs plus waves before we could get to calmer water. Once we were out passed the first 50 feet of coastal scary stuff we were in water 20 feet or more deep clear as can be and below us a coral mountain full of colorful fish and plants. I was afraid to dive down because I didn't want to lose my boat and have to traverse the scary coral again and on foot. Brian dove while I held his kayak. I was able to lay on my kayak and put my face into the water and spy on all the goodies. It would be neat if we could breath under water, because holding the breath was not the way to go, too much to see. Also, an underwater camera, or a waterproof case for my camera would have been neat to have there. We kayaked until we roasted then headed in to take the water taxi back and started the drive back to Panama City while it was still light out.
This is where we hit a snag. We hit stopped traffic outside of Potebello where we were to remain for 3 hours trying to get through a one and a half mile (at most) stretch. The festivities had apparently gained strength throughout the day. There were easily a thousand people swarming the only one-lane road through town. The festival Diablos y Congos was a music and dance festival/competition where groups from all the surrounding villages compete on stage in bright colored costumes with enormous devil headdresses.
In pitch dark fighting for forward progress against a sea of revellers, other cars, and those crazy colorful buses we made our way beyond Portebello. But, before we made it through we met the woman in the car in front of us, an American woman from Oregon travelling with her mom, brother and two daughters. She spoke fluent Spanish and her brother who was driving, lives in Panama City. She was able to give us information upon her return from little reconnaissance missions.
We were travelling at a rate of one car length ever 45 minutes, or more. We were starving and when we could take it no more, Brian got out and went in search of information, food, and beverages. Plus, I think sitting in the car while the rest of the country was having a giant party without him was driving him insane. I hopped in the driver's seat as he disappeared into the crowd and not long after he was gone the traffic started to move at a creeping pace (which was fast comparatively). Young men (I assume to be the Panamanian drivers or door callers) were heckling each other about the way they drive the buses with loud bus sounds and jests. People were walking so close to the car they were hitting the windows and mirrors, climbing over the front of the car (because I was right on the bumper of the car in front of me).
I was afraid Brian wouldn't get back in time and I wouldn't find him again. There was no sign of him as I approached the town proper. But, fortunately, he was at a vendor about 100 feet off the road to my right and as I was passing he was paying. I started yelling out the window of the car (which was silly because he couldn't hear me with the crowd noise, drumming and music) but he walked right by the open window and I yelled again and he saw me and hopped in the car just as we started moving again. Thankfully so, because we didn't really stop again for any time until we were out of Portebello.
I drove while we ate thick little masa cakes and bbq chicken. People walking home from the festivities would suddenly appear in the headlights then vanish into the darkness again.
We made it back, some how, to our hotel, and still had to pack for our early am flight. We were dead tired and sunburned. All in all though, I really like Panama.
We had an early morning flight that got us to Panama lunchtime on Wednesday the 23rd, which was also our 9th wedding anniversary. Brian did a little work from the hotel room and then we went exploring the area around the hotel. Brian got a hair cut and I got my nails painted at he hotel before we went out to meet Panama.
Panama City is nothing like San Jose, Costa Rica and it had a completely different feel to it. First off it was the largest city I have ever seen with my own eyes. There were sky scrapers literally everywhere, their march west stopped only by the presence of the Pacific ocean.
People were on the street going to and from work dressed in suits and skirts. We stayed at the RIU which was a brand new hotel in the banking district. A constant stream of traffic burbled along the 6 lane one-way road in front of our 34 storey building. Before the trip was over we had run across that street at least 6 times dodging cars and city buses.
The city buses were highly decorated dragsters operated by young daredevils. The bus would pull up, door open and a caller would lean out and address people on the street while the bus was still moving, then if they had no takers they would zoom off with their (what had to be huge) engines roaring and shooting smoke from their 8 foot stainless steel exhaust pipes.
Brian and I ran across the 6-lane road in search of some lunch and we ate at a fancy restaurant called Mariscos.
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| Orchid Tree Outside of the Restaurant |
Day two we went on a private city tour which took us to the old quarter, the canal and to some ruins of the old Panama City which burned down by pirates. People that live near the old city have found small treasures in their yards from time to time. Our guide told us that the residents of old Panama City had been wealthy Spanish people and that they would bury their valuable because of the pirate attacks. I told Brian we needed to get a metal detector and go treasure hunting. The old city ruins and the new city growth were sharing the same ground in some cases.
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| Old Church that pirates destroyed |
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| View at New Panama from the window of old Panama |
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| Ruins of old city-they were setting up for a musical performance |
Each place we visited we could have spent the length of an entire day photographing and exploring, but we only had 4 hours for the entire tour so we had to shoot and move on.
The next stop was the Old Quarter. The homes were built in the 1700's and it had a very New Orleans feel to it. The area was only just being renovated so many of the edifices were just old brick and rock shells with nothing inside but plants. Brian and I wanted to go back to explore the area because it was magical. We had only enough time to look inside the church and then move on to the next destination. We walked along a seawall where native Panamanians (little indian ladies) were selling hand embroidered fabric. We actually bought one, but somehow it magiked itself away from us. I pet a small snake, but the guy wouldn't let me have it.
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| A revamped building |
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| Grave in the church |
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| More graves in the church |
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| A refurbished building next to a shell with plants growing inside of it |
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| Another couple of shell buildings awaiting purchase and refurbishing |
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| Another old church, just a shell |
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| The nice native lady we bought the embroidered fabric from |
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| Large sculpture for the President |
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| Tide is out and a bridge over the canal |
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| Panama City downtown in the background |
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| Cool house |
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| Another view of downtown |
Our next stop was the Panama Canal. We arrived in time to see the museum, but not the movie as a boat was coming(!) and we made our way to the roof to better see the action. From there we could see the boats entering the canal, and at least two locks on each of the two lanes in front of us. The locks fill from the bottom and birds take the opportunity to grab any unfortunate sea animal that happens to get caught in the up-current. I learned (for future reference) that if you want to take your sail boat through the canal you pay $500-$1500 to do all the locks from the Caribbean side to the Pacific, and you can use your credit card. I also learned that the canal is an amazing piece of engineering and that it is using most of the original parts including the locks (gates) and they are over one hundred years old. Now, that is craftsmanship. I also learned that out of the 75,000 people that came to build the canal 1/3 of them died from disease (yellow fever was prevalent) and such.
We headed back to the hotel afterwards because we were STARVING and ended up at Mariscos again.
We spent most of the day Friday at the pool and then went to a casino that evening where Brian won enough money at blackjack for us to rent a car a drive to the Caribbean side.
Saturday morning we got up and drove to the Caribbean side of Panama. The drive was easy, the roads are perfect, they even have signs! The country side was lush, green rolling hills and jungle. We were stopped on a few occasions by people in milatary garb asking for i.d. and at one point we had to pay a dollar toll to a lady on the street. Apparently it was for clean up of something we were ignorant of at the time, more on that later. The only real hiccup was in the tiny town of Portebello where they were having a festival which we found out later was called Diablos y Congos. It took us about 30 minutes to get through the hamlet on the only road to Isla Grande. We should have taken that for foreshadowing but we figured it was a cute day festival that would be over before dark. We continued on and finally made it to the small town on the coast where we were to park the car and take a water taxi over to Isla Grande. The water ranged in color from crystal clear to aquamarine to the most beautiful sapphire blues. I wish I could have captured it better. We took the water taxi across to the island in what must be some of the most challenging boat passage as there were shallow sand bars, and coral barriers all around and the corpses of holey sail boats.
The place we landed was a resort called Bananas. It was right on the water with 2 cabins on legs over the water. We had about four hours to enjoy our day passes that granted us access to the facilities, lunch and any of the sporting equipment. We ate lunch, talked to the macaw that said "hola" and then we changed into our swim suits. We decided to grab two masks and two kayaks and head out. The getting out was scary (at least to me) because it started with a rock bottom, then progressed to spikey coral reefs plus waves before we could get to calmer water. Once we were out passed the first 50 feet of coastal scary stuff we were in water 20 feet or more deep clear as can be and below us a coral mountain full of colorful fish and plants. I was afraid to dive down because I didn't want to lose my boat and have to traverse the scary coral again and on foot. Brian dove while I held his kayak. I was able to lay on my kayak and put my face into the water and spy on all the goodies. It would be neat if we could breath under water, because holding the breath was not the way to go, too much to see. Also, an underwater camera, or a waterproof case for my camera would have been neat to have there. We kayaked until we roasted then headed in to take the water taxi back and started the drive back to Panama City while it was still light out.
This is where we hit a snag. We hit stopped traffic outside of Potebello where we were to remain for 3 hours trying to get through a one and a half mile (at most) stretch. The festivities had apparently gained strength throughout the day. There were easily a thousand people swarming the only one-lane road through town. The festival Diablos y Congos was a music and dance festival/competition where groups from all the surrounding villages compete on stage in bright colored costumes with enormous devil headdresses.
In pitch dark fighting for forward progress against a sea of revellers, other cars, and those crazy colorful buses we made our way beyond Portebello. But, before we made it through we met the woman in the car in front of us, an American woman from Oregon travelling with her mom, brother and two daughters. She spoke fluent Spanish and her brother who was driving, lives in Panama City. She was able to give us information upon her return from little reconnaissance missions.
We were travelling at a rate of one car length ever 45 minutes, or more. We were starving and when we could take it no more, Brian got out and went in search of information, food, and beverages. Plus, I think sitting in the car while the rest of the country was having a giant party without him was driving him insane. I hopped in the driver's seat as he disappeared into the crowd and not long after he was gone the traffic started to move at a creeping pace (which was fast comparatively). Young men (I assume to be the Panamanian drivers or door callers) were heckling each other about the way they drive the buses with loud bus sounds and jests. People were walking so close to the car they were hitting the windows and mirrors, climbing over the front of the car (because I was right on the bumper of the car in front of me).
I was afraid Brian wouldn't get back in time and I wouldn't find him again. There was no sign of him as I approached the town proper. But, fortunately, he was at a vendor about 100 feet off the road to my right and as I was passing he was paying. I started yelling out the window of the car (which was silly because he couldn't hear me with the crowd noise, drumming and music) but he walked right by the open window and I yelled again and he saw me and hopped in the car just as we started moving again. Thankfully so, because we didn't really stop again for any time until we were out of Portebello.
I drove while we ate thick little masa cakes and bbq chicken. People walking home from the festivities would suddenly appear in the headlights then vanish into the darkness again.
We made it back, some how, to our hotel, and still had to pack for our early am flight. We were dead tired and sunburned. All in all though, I really like Panama.
