Greetings! My husband and I recently took an adventure a bit closer to home, to the country of Panama (and if you’re keeping count, this is country #58 for me). Below are some of our initial impressions, highlights, and photos. Unlike our European trips from earlier this year, we did not do as many tours or participate in as many activities that would have lent themselves to providing a lot of historical or even current events information. However, I will share what we did learn.
Panama is an isthmus (remember that term from 7th grade geography??), and in the indigenous language, “panama” means “abundance of butterflies.” There are 16,000 species of butterflies in the country.
Initial Impressions: Panama City (namely, the city center) was more developed than I thought it would be, as evidenced by some of the infrastructure (and the abundance of really nice cars!). We also quite appreciated that we were able to use the US Dollar (USD), as Panama has their own money, but they widely accept USD (though we often received Panamanian coins as change, which look a lot like US coins). With regard to money, most things are pretty reasonably priced (and some things were actually pretty cheap, such as bottled water [<$1], and gas was about 2.85/gal, which is cheap when compared to Washington, DC, where it is over $3/gal!). The weather was beautiful – even though it was rainy season, we did not experience much rain (except for the day we went to the beach, naturally :/), and temperatures were in the mid-80s with moderate to high humidity, depending on the day. Also, while we encountered some nice people, our experience on this trip was different with regard to how friendly the locals were, as they were not as friendly as in other countries we have recently visited. And unlike our Scandinavia experience, where the locals assumed that we spoke the language until we told them otherwise, Panamanians assume you don’t speak Spanish, and many of the Panamanians that we encountered with whom I did speak Spanish often responded to me in English, which was frustrating, as I know my Spanish is decent, and I was looking forward to practicing my Spanish while in Panama.
Interesting Tidbit: We had read (and this was confirmed for us by our tour guide) that Panamanians and others who live in the country do not wear shorts, even though the temperatures can get pretty high. As a result, they can pick out a tourist without any difficulty, as tourists are the ones wearing shorts! When considering that we walked quite a bit (not nearly as much as in Scandinavia, but enough, as evidenced by 14,326 steps on day one; 10,073 on day two; and 15,313 steps on day three!), we had no problems being pinged as tourists!
Ease of arrival and departure: When we arrived (around 2pm on a Thursday), there was no line at Customs, which was amazing! So, it was easy to get through quickly upon arrival. My husband and I both have Global Entry (which I cannot say enough good things about!!), and I was able to use that in Panama as well, which was an added bonus! Departure was also rather straightforward as it relates to Customs (there was a line, but it didn’t take long to get through), but security was a different story, as they have slightly different rules for items that can go through in a carry-on. As a result, my super dangerous tweezers were confiscated. *sigh*
Favorite Activities: We enjoyed walking along the Cinta Costera, which is an area along the Bay of Panama (which opens up into the Pacific Ocean) that is rather scenic in terms of the water and the city and old town skylines. I was downright giddy when we came across actual swings under a bridge!! I have always loved swings, and so my loving and patient husband indulged me when I said I wanted to swing for a while! 😊
The first Old City (Panama Viejo) was bombed in 1671, and the second one (Casco Antiguo) was finished in 1673 and put in a place where it could be better protected. In 1821, Panama got its independence from Spain and was part of Colombia. It subsequently separated from Colombia in 1903. The current old town (Casco Antiguo) was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997.
There are two big expat communities in Panama, and both are in beach areas. The Cinta Costera has condos that overlook the Bay and cost a minimum of $1800/month to rent, and $400K to buy. The largest industry in Panama is banking.
The economy in Panama is stable, though it is “slowing down” with the current government. Industries are not doing very well due to corruption, as they reportedly use their budget for things other than actual work (e.g., hiring people to do work, but they don’t actually do anything). There are rural areas with needs, and they have bridges that are falling apart. Panama’s politicians (the ones that most resemble US Senators) are building a bridge that costs millions of dollars, but they are not taking care of other parts of the country. All of this is frustrating to the locals.
We were also fascinated by the Panama Canal, of course. Our tour guide got us to the Miraflores Locks shortly after their visitor center opened, which meant that we secured a great spot over the Canal to be able to watch the process of a ship passing through the locks. Amazing! I was on a boat many years ago that had to pass through a similar system of locks in Portugal, but witnessing the passage in such an iconic place as the Panama Canal is pretty amazing.
The construction of the Panama Canal locks was started by France in the 1880s, and they attempted to use a template that they had seen used in Switzerland. However, that plan did not work because of the landscape, and 20,000+ people died from disease and accidents. In 1904, the US took over, and with help from neighboring Caribbean nations, they worked on it until 1914, and prided themselves on having a better safety record (5000 people died in that time frame). The Canal cost $375 million USD to build, and was initially built for US military. The Panama Canal Zone still exists and allows the US to administer and militarize the area to protect the Canal.The Canal and its five (5) sets of locks allow ships to go from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean (and vice versa; it takes 8-10 hours to go from one ocean to the other), and ships usually only go in one direction at a time; however, at night, ships can go in both directions because there are two lanes. The original system of locks is still in operation, with 35-40 ships crossing it daily, paying $300k-400k per ship. Construction of a new set of locks (a bigger system of locks that allows for passage of larger ships, and allows them to save up to 7% of the water used) started in 2007 and was completed in June 2016. The new locks are 60% wider and 40% longer. 7-8 ships pass through those locks each day, at the cost of $700k-800k per ship. The money for the locks is supposed to go towards the infrastructure of the country, and is supposed to be enough to give each Panamanian $1000/month. However, that does not actually happen. The Canal and its lock system operate 24 hours a day, and employ 10,000 people. The canal has facilitated more than one million transits.
The system of locks (there are three sets on the Atlantic side and two on the Pacific side, including the Miraflores [on the Pacific end], which we experienced) facilitates the process of the ships moving through the fresh water canal. The water goes through pipes as a function of gravity, with automatic gates that weigh 700 tons. The purpose of the canal lock system is to lift the ships 26 meters over the course of the system (which goes from one ocean to the other) to allow them to cross the Central Mountain Range, which is between the two oceans. The alternative would be for the ships to go around South America, which would take significantly longer than the 8-10 hours that it takes to go through the lock system of the Panama Canal. What was also fascinating about the lock system is that there are silver “mules” on the sides of the locks to keep the ship in the narrow canal until it gets out to the water. The “mules” weigh 50 tons and cost $2 million. The originals were made by GE, but the current ones are made in Japan.
We also went to an indigenous village, which was interesting, but one of the best parts for us was the waterfall. Granted, we had to hike about a mile (yes, literally one mile!) to the waterfall through a river (which I didn’t know about before we left home, which subsequently required a last minute visit to the mall to find suitable [and affordable!] shoes! Thank you, Payless Shoe Source!), but it was worth it!
There are 20 families, totaling 66 people within this tribe who live in this village. They are the Comarco Embera tribe, and they are from the part of Panama that is closest to Colombia. They are mostly self sustaining, and have their own customs. Their children are allowed to go to the city when they turn 15 to study, and some of them return, but not always. For their religion, they worship the sun and nature because they attribute their ability to get their bounty to nature. They use the full moon as their guide to do just about everything, including deciding when to build things or cut their hair. And they use a lot of natural medicine. They don’t celebrate birthdays; instead, they celebrate milestones, such as building a big house. Interestingly, they have solar panels on their property, which are from a University in the US and are being used for research purposes (they didn’t specify which university or the purpose of the research). They also have running water and nice bathrooms for the tourists, which was shocking and definitely seemed out of place.
Finally, we went to the San Blas Islands, the trip of which was not very exciting – mostly due to the weather, but also because they are not as beautiful as some other islands I have been to (e.g., the Philippines; Hawaii). However, what was very cool was starting our day on the Pacific Ocean side of the country, and making our way to the Atlantic Ocean side. You can’t do that in very many places!!
Favorite Food/Meal:
We had white snapper for the first time at the fish market (Mercado de Mariscos). It was really good and we could tell it was fresh!
We also enjoyed El Trapiche, which is a popular restaurant among locals, a branch of which was just down the street from our hotel. We went there twice, and enjoyed every meal, including their Flan, a dessert that I don’t usually like, but it was really good!
Another restaurant that was a few doors down from our hotel was a hamburger place called Hamburgesia. I know, I know – why would we get burgers in a place like Panama? Well, eat there and you’ll know why!
If I could do it again…: I would go during the shoulder season to see how different a trip to the San Blas Islands is when it is not raining! But I would definitely stay in the same hotel (Ramada Plaza Punta Pacifica – One of the best hotels we’ve stayed at in a long time! And the price was really decent! I highly recommend it!!). And I would maybe go to Bocas del Toro, which I’ve heard is beautiful as well.
So, that was our trip in a nutshell. I would recommend visiting Panama, as it is an easy place to navigate, and the food is amazing!
Until next time, take care and be well…
Lisa (aka TravelDocta)