Oh how beautiful Panama can be

So, now the days in Panama for which there was no report yet.

After we had flown overnight from Los Angeles via San Salvador in freezers, we were glad to have arrived in Panama around 10:00. Since the accommodation was supposed to be available only from 15:00, we arranged for an early check-in in advance, which of course incurred extra costs. The landlord had informed us that we would receive all the data for check-in as soon as we landed in Panama. Of course, that was not the case. So, we had a really annoying chat with a chatbot, had to verify ourselves countless times, and finally got the last info. We zipped in a taxi to the old town of Panama City. And when we stood at the door, the code we were sent, of course, didn't work. Then we were suddenly told to use a QR code that hadn’t been sent to us. We were quite tired and really frustrated by then. Finally, around 13:00, everything worked out, and we could check into the new accommodation. It was quite decent and the location in the old town was really good.

In the evening, we went out to explore the lovely old town and found a nice little restaurant. There, we were approached directly by a very friendly table neighbor, who immediately invited us to two glasses of wine. The food was delicious too. So, the signs were good.

The next day we took it easy at first and then set out to explore the beautiful old town. It features truly noteworthy colonial buildings, many small cafés and restaurants, bars, and lovely squares.

In the evening we ate something in the old town and that was that.

It’s worth mentioning that you really feel very safe in the old town. There are at least two police officers on almost every street corner keeping an eye on everything. Furthermore, the locals are very welcoming if you approach them as friendly as we did. A smile can change a lot!

On the third day, we set off early in the morning towards the Panama Canal, where we were very lucky to be the only two guests on the small excursion boat. The 1.5 hours flew by. The ships on the Panama Canal were truly impressive, and as we ventured into the side arms of the canal, we saw quite a bit of wildlife that we wouldn’t have noticed without the guide. A wonderful experience.

Back in Panama City, we actually wanted to eat at the local fish market, but we quickly got so annoyed by the shouting promoters trying to lure us into their little fish restaurants that we decided to leave. In the old town, we then found something nice and were glad we had a roof over our heads because suddenly a very heavy downpour started. Well, what can you expect, we are right in the middle of the rainy season here.

Just the night before, we had seen a totally cute bar where we went for a nightcap. They served delicious strawberry daiquiris and B52s.😎

Early to bed as we wanted to set off the next day towards Playa Venao, and we knew the journey would take at least 5.5 hours, plus we still had to pick up our rental car.

Everything went super smoothly with the car and we were quickly on our way. Driving in Panama City is really a little adventure, but once we left it behind, we made good progress on a sort of country road. The area became increasingly rural, everything was incredibly green, and the road conditions were a bit different than we were used to from the USA. You can drive a maximum of 80 km/h, and thus the journey that shouldn’t take too long took the mentioned 5.5 hours. Fortunately, we had a good mobile connection everywhere, and our GPS led us to our destination (almost without detours), where we arrived in pitch darkness.

Playa Venao is a small bay, clearly heavily influenced by surfers, because when we were shopping in the supermarket, we were surrounded by many of those types.

The apartment was really huge and very well equipped. We felt right at home and fell into bed completely exhausted after a quick self-cooked dinner.

When we looked at the truly beautiful bay the next day, the waves were so high that it was unthinkable to settle down on the beach. There was also no shade, and what I forgot to mention so far: the temperature and the humidity here in Panama are really incredible. Compared to this, Thailand is almost a cool country.😇

We were very glad that our apartment was in a very nice complex that also had a nice pool. So we flopped onto the loungers there and jumped into the pool, where we wanted to cool off. However, the water felt like 35°. Nonetheless, we spent a lovely day on the nice loungers in the shade. Since there are several restaurants within walking distance, we left the car behind in the evening and went out for dinner.

The surroundings and the beautiful apartment pleased us so much that we were looking forward to a few relaxed days.

What happened the next day we already reported in the earlier post about the earthquake.

As already mentioned, we fled right after the quake towards Panama City. There, we stayed at the Megapolis Hotel, which is considered earthquake-proof. Somehow we spent the next four days there. From time to time, we ventured out of the room (the hotel has a connected mall), but not much more happened. It was hardly bearable to stay outside due to the temperature and humidity being utterly unbearable during those days. Still, we were glad to have found a place here and to arrange and plan everything for our onward journey.

We quickly came to the conclusion that we would skip Panama and Guatemala and flee towards Mexico. Fortunately, we have two very dear acquaintances there who could assist us with accommodation and so on. Luckily, we managed to book a flight to Cancún for Tuesday evening and now only had to make it there.

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