Panama City - A city full of contrasts

The last stop in Panama for me was Panama City. Why only for me? I am flying to Colombia and Joice and I will meet again in Bogota. Joice will stay in Panama for a few more days, but since time is pressing for me, I am shortening my stay in Panama to travel to Colombia. But actually, I wanted to tell you something about Panama City.

After spending weeks in small towns and places, we were both looking forward to a city. Of course, we were also looking forward to the Panama Canal. We visited it on the first day in Panama City. We were accompanied by two nice German travelers. In addition to the largest lock of the Panama Canal, the Miraflores, a new visitor center was built. A huge viewing platform allows a spectacular view of the locks. We were lucky and were able to watch some ships passing by. The ships are built according to the dimensions of the Panama Canal, but still there was less than 30 centimeters of space at the edge. But not only the passing ships were impressive, the construction of the canal was also not an easy task.

After the canal, we had some time left and we went to Casco Viejo. In this district of the city, the engineers from the USA used to be housed. Casco Viejo is a beautiful old town with small parks and narrow streets with many small shops that invite you to browse. Between freshly renovated houses, there are also some that are falling apart. We learned that this part is becoming more and more popular among tourists and locals, and therefore a lot of money is being invested in renovation.

Many know the breathtaking skyline of Panama City. Especially in the evening, it is enchanting to walk along the waterfront and admire the skyline. In between all the skyscrapers, there are also so-called ghettos. Dilapidated residential buildings that you should not enter with valuables.

We also visited Ancon Hill, a small viewpoint in the middle of the city, and Panama Viejo. These are ruins of the original city.

Panama City is so diverse and not everything appealed to us, some things even shocked us.