Panama... 'tas ready?

I spent six days (more like five and a half) in Panama. Three of these were in Panama City and the rest in San Blas Islands. I was excited about the trip because I was going with my friend Kara, someone whom I have grown really close to since pretty much landing in Quito in August, and her friend from Canada, Boxer. Much like my Christmas break trip, the diversity in these two locations on the land-bridge between South and North America are warranting two individual posts. Since the trip began and ended with Panama City (Panáma), it is going to be my first post between the two. Coming soon will be my experience in San Blas Islands.

I was super exhausted from a week of going all over Pichincha Province that I had one full day of rest and time to pack my new traveling backpack (a 62 Liter bag named after me: the Gregory Countour 50). Included in my belongings was my new underwater iPhone camera case, the Watershot. ONE PIECE OF ADVICE WITH THE WATERSHOT CASE: it works really well... however, do not shut it all the way and lock it if you are flying because it will vacuum shut. This was more of a problem flying from Quito @ 2800m to Panama City @ 0m above sea level. I was also overpacked with tank tops, swim suits, shorts, and footwear because of the diversity in locations and activities of this trip. With a slight hiccup in the morning of my flight (my alarm didn't go off and I woke up 10 minutes before my ride was arriving), I was off to the airport and my way to Latin America's economic center. 

To set the mood, click play and read:

Panáma

A beautiful church in the city

After a short flight, we quickly exited the plane and were also quickly greeted by a wall of humidity. The air was definitely thicker than I remember the coast being. However, before officially entering the airport building, we were greeted by another shocker: the Panamanian Police. Sunday was the middle of the Carnaval celebrations and I am sure they were trying to prevent suspicious characters from entering the country. After a brief interrogation, we were off to customs to immigrate into the country. My border guard was quite rude... in between humming and singing the song of her choice, she rudely asked me questions and barked commands at me. I am not a mind reader, hunty. I should have realized this was foreshadowing for a number of aspects of our trip. In any case... bags were collected. Driver was found. The time for adventure had begun.



On our drive into Panama City, our driver was sharing information about our destination, including his opinions about San Blas. Some of the things he talked about weren't much of a surprise. There is a real strong juxtaposition between the haves and have-nots. You can't avoid it everywhere you go. One small fishing village that looked like tent-city was surrounded by high rise condos/apartments. Literally next to each other. It wasn't long until we arrived to our habitación, Hotel Aramo. If you are looking for bang-for-your-buck, this is the place. For a three-bed room, it cost us each about $20 per night. It has a pool, free breakfast, and a internet-connected computer in the lobby (free for use). If you're looking for the most fabulous place ever, this isn't it. HOWEVER, I really enjoyed it and it fit my needs compleley. It is also cetrnally located in the city. Plenty of restaurants, tiendas, grocery stores, and shopping chains are within a five minute walk. Within a 10 minute is the super fancy and convenient Metro Line.

TIP:using a metro in any new (to you) city can be challenging and take a step to learn. You must purchase a Metro card for $2, and this MUST be in bills... no coins. This is not charged with any saldo or credit yet. You must reinsert the card and feed the machine more money to put any credits on. Keep in mind, it costs 35 cents per ride.

 HOWEVER, if you put a $5 bill into the machine at first, you need to reinsert your card into the machine after it is given to you and this will transfer the rest of the credit to the card. If you fail to reinsert it soon enough, you lose the money. And then it sucks to be me... I mean, you. (this happened to me...)

Before jumping onto the Metro line, we stopped at the Texaco gas station across the street from our hotel. I was in hog heaven! THEY HAD COOL RANCH DORITOS! I haven't seen these since August and I bought a bag for when I got hungry. The plan was to go to Casco Viejo, Panama's historic center. We hopped off of the Metro and began walking and I gave into my urge for my Doritos. Maybe 60 seconds into this portion of the trip, we walked past this man who was selling cologne on the street. In Ecuador, it is not rude to walk past these people or avoid eye contact, per se, so I did the same with this man while I focused all my attention on my chips. He was deeply offended and began shouting expletives at me. The "worst" of it was when he called me an "extranjero perro" or "foreign dog." It got a good laugh out of me.

After this man, we ended up on what we dubbed "Scary Street," which was packed with all sorts of shops and vendors... a place we would go to on our final day in Panama. It took maybe 15 minutes to make it to the end, where we entered Casco Viejo. This is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, so I was pretty pumped to compare it with Centro Historico in Quito.

This part of Panama City was founded in the 1500's, but later abandoned for over 300 years. During that time, it remained largely uninhabited and then controlled by rival gangs. In the 1970's this area began a rehabilitation, which is still continuing today. About one-third of the buildings looked well-kept, another third under construction and renovation, and the final third in shambles. The coolest part of this area were the abandoned churches and monasteries where you can see the skeleton of the old building. These were truly beautiful.

After having a late lunch, we hailed a cab to transport us for the remainder of the afternoon. We were debating on a couple of things to do: Panama Canal or the Causeway. We ended up viewing the Panama Canal. Not at the museum site, but this awkward monument at the mount of the canal honoring 150 years of Chinese presence in the country. What's up with that!? It was kind of cool to see it but we were over it. The taxi took us back to our hotel, via a route that showed us the extent of the poverty in the city. It was truly shocking because the projects were right next to luxury high rises.

In front of the Canal and Bridge of the Americas

After getting back to the hotel, we set off to find some food supplies for our segment in San Blas and party favors for the following night. The grocery store had literally everything I miss about the States, as far as foods go. I will leave it at that.

Day two, we took the Metro all the way to the end, where we would be able to easily access Parque Nacional Metropolitano, a preserved rainforest in the middle of the city. Long story short, it was beautiful, hot, humid. There were very few wildlife sightings, but we did see a hoard of turtles and leaf cutter ants. LonelyPlanet said it would cost $1 to enter the park... but that's only for nationals. For foreigners, that cost goes up to $4. I would definitely recommend it for nature lovers, and to go early in the morning to avoid the deathly heat.

Our day ended with a barbecue at friends and former co-workers of Kara, who are now teaching at the international school in Panama City. It was a very fun and relaxing night in this building. This was not going on that day but we were definitely in that high-rise. I almost s*** my pants with the height because I have not seen anything like that building in forever.

View of the city from the top

And then it was an early night before going to San Blas Islands at 5 AM the next day....

...SAN BLAS... 

We returned Thursday afternoon, after what seemed like eternity in the most beautiful but logistical nightmare of a place I have ever been to. We returned to Hotel Aramo and it felt so good! To cope with the stress of the previous days, we went straight to shopping at Multiplaza Pacific Mall. OH MY GOD, the shopping there was incredible. Everything from Aeropostale to Gucci. And the prices were just like in the States, so I had a field day and spent more than I probably should have.  On Friday before leaving, we went to the other large mall, Albrook, which seemed more like the every person shopping center for the entire country, because it is connected with the main bus terminal for interprovincial travel. I will seriously book layovers in Panama to do some shopping while traveling in other Central American countries. 

Overall, I really enjoyed Panama City. It was different from my expectations. I was not imagining seeing a bustling modern city, while also having areas of extreme poverty. The weirdest part of Panama, in general, was the language spoken. Because the country is so "Americanized," many people speak English or are more motivated to want to speak English than in Ecuador. However, they spoke Spanglish more than anything which made it difficult to understand them. I am becoming accustomed to having to speak Spanish in public in my new home and this threw me for a loop. It's the reason behind the title.... " 'tas ready?" was on a sign at a bus stop. The intention was to say "Are you ready?" or "Estas listo?" The Spanglish drove me absolutely nuts!

While it is not necessarily a place that is high on my list of locations to revisit, I made some great memories with friends whom I hope to travel much more often with in the future. I am also grateful for the generosity and kindness of the people I met along the trip, and for helping make this trip very memorable. 

SCRUB MY FEET!!!  

Pedis after a long week