Panama Day 5 (Final Day)

On our last day in Panama, Grammie Maggie and Trisha headed to Parque Natural Metropolitano in the morning, a tropical rain forest within the city limits. We took an Uber to the trailhead of The Mono Titi and La Cieneguita trails. The ranger at the trailhead immediately pointed out a beautiful bird and also a sloth in the trees. We were hopeful to find more wildlife along our journey but think we needed the locals to point them out for us. We did climb to an overlook of the city which was nice before heading back down.




Our last adventure for the day was to Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal. In the locks, vessels are lifted or lowered 54 feet in two stages. In the morning, ships travel from the Pacific toward the Atlantic. In the afternoon, ships travel from the Atlantic toward the Pacific. They are currently working on an expansion to allow ships to travel in both directions. We were lucky to arrive just as a large ship was entering the locks and witness a pretty impressive operation. We also explored the visitor center and had a drink overlooking the locks.



And our Panama adventure ended with a ride from JoseAntonio (from Ancon Expeditions the day before) who offered to drive us to the airport on his way back home. Thanks JoseAntonio!

Panama Day 4

The girls started early again on day 4, our last full day in Panama. We planned a morning tour with Ancon Expeditions to take a Jungle Cruise in Parque National Sobernia, a national park near the banks of the Panama Canal and Gatun Lake. We started with a 45 minute drive to the boat launch. We had an awesome guide, Gabe, who brought us up close and personal with toucans, monkeys, baby crocodiles, the smallest bats in the world, and large cargo ships in the canal! We finished our tour by picking up beers in an interior province. Great tour!









In the afternoon, we headed to Panama Viejo to see the old Panama City and former capital of the country. What remains are only ruins of the town. A large tower for the original cathedral has been restored to enable visitors to climb the tower and overlook what remains of this world heritage site.





With Gabe's recommendation, we ended our day at Las Tinajas, a dinner show featuring folkloric dancers and drummers. The meal was awesome and the dancers and drummers were great. They invited Trisha and a couple of other audience members to dance on stage at the end of the show, which was really fun! We also enjoyed a nice walk home after the show!

Panama Day 3

On our third day, we left our hotel before dawn at 6 am to catch the Sea Las Perlas out to Isla Contadora, one of the Pearl Islands on the Pacific side. The boat departed from a marina overlooking the Bridge of the Americas.



We received our safety training and then enjoyed a 90 minute ride out to the island along lots of big cargo ships waiting to enter the Panama Canal. When we arrived at the island, we took another smaller boat to the island.



On the island, we rented a golf cart and headed to Playa Cacique, where we swam and snorkeled in the ocean and enjoyed a relaxing day in the sun. At the end of our day, Trisha also visited a Playa Larga, a long beautiful beach along side an abandoned resort and an abandoned boat.

Panama Day 2

Each of our mornings started with coffee on our deck overlooking the city. We also made sure we were protected from the mosquitos with our mosquito bracelets. We never did see a mosquito on our trip (in the city or in the jungle). Is that the case for February or were we just well protected? We will never know....




We started our second day in Panama with a trip to Casco Viejo, the historic Panama City neighborhood that is filled with cute plazas, colonial churches, and museums. Our taxi driver dropped us off at Plaza de Francia, which is dedicated to the French effort to build the Panama Canal and the thousands of people from around the world who died during the process. The plaza is flanked by Paseo Esteban which runs along the top of the sea wall and has vendors selling local products. This is where we all bought our first Panama souvenirs.



We then explored the rest of Casco Viejo, including the Palacio de las Garzas (Presidential Palace which was well guarded),



The Catedral Metropolitana (one of the largest in Central America),


And Santo Domingo, a church and convent which was never rebuilt after a fire that destroyed it.

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We also took time to visit the Museo del Canal Interoceanico (Canal Museum) and have ice cream at Granclement before heading to Mercado del Mariscos, the city's fresh fish market where we got awesome ceviche. After our ceviche, we enjoyed a nice long stroll along Cinta Costera (the walkway along the coastline).




On this second night, Grammie and Trisha also enjoyed a nice sunset back in Casco Viejo before heading to dinner with Kimmy. A very great full day in Panama.

120 Year Birthday Celebration in Panama

Aunty Kimmy turned 50 this year and Grammie Maggie is turning 70 this year. To celebrate these milestones, we decided to have a vacation adventure in Panama City this year because none of us had been there. Kim got us organized and booked a flight and hotel, Trisha researched things to do while we were there, and Maggie was along for the ride. We arrived the afternoon of February 16th and stayed at the Plaza Paitilla Inn on the east side of the city. Our celebration would last 4 nights and 5 days. These are a couple of pictures from our first day in Panama.

We left Chicago at 8 am on Copa Airlines and then arrived at our hotel, Plaza Paitilla Inn.



We then took our first of many crazy taxi rides through the city and arrived at the Amador Causeway for a celebratory toast with our first Panamanian beer and some patacones (fried plantains) at the restaurant, Cuyaco. The causeway connects Panama City to four small islands by the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. The causeway is made from rock extracted during the excavations from the Panama Canal and was meant to serve as a breakwater for the entrance.



We ended our first night with a beautiful view of the city from our hotel deck.