PANAMA CITY

March 21-28, 2024

The bus to Panama left the San Jose terminal at 11:30 pm. I don’t know what it is with these Latin American bus lines, but they run the air conditioning so cold there were people with winter coats and hats. The windshield was fogged up and he kept having to turn on his wipers to clear it. When we asked why so cold, the driver said “humidity”. It made no sense. When we got off at the border, we had to wait nearly 45 minutes for the office to open. We all got off the bus, just to warm up.

Crossing into Panama was not hard, but still a long process. We had to exit Costa Rica then walk a couple hundred metres to the Panamanian customs office, where they processed our entry. Then we had to take our luggage to a different office to be inspected. We were at the back of the line and I think they grew tired of searching luggage, because they just waved us through.

The rest of the journey was uneventful until we got closer to Panama City. Then we could see the famous Panama Canal, with ships and cranes and thousands of shipping containers stacked up like Lego blocks

When we got to the city itself we were shocked at how many skyscrapers there were. We thought there must be a few million people who lived here, when in fact there is a mere half million.

A few days later we went downtown in search of some souvenirs and got to see some spectacular architecture up close.

By the way, downtown Panama City is NOT the place to find souvenirs. We only found some super high end shops with no shoppers. The place to find souvenirs is in the old part of town. So off we went.

To say we were disappointed and a bit disgusted with Panama City is an understatement. We walked through some pretty rough areas with garbage all over the place.

We turned a corner and crossed the street and everything changed. The streets were squeaky clean,

and the buildings were beautiful.

We toured through several churches,

a history museum

and the Panama Canal Museum.

The Panama Canal is in a separate blog. https://anoldladywithabackpack.travel.blog/?p=4848

The old part of town was interesting in that there were brand new buildings next to abandoned ones.

We went to another old church, hoping to go up the tower, but it was for paid tours only. Ah, such is the way, sometimes, for us non-tour people.

As I have mentioned in other blogs, we like to go into churches. Not because we are religious, but because of the architecture and artifacts.

Well, we hit the jackpot in Our Lady of Mercy Church. When we arrived there was a wedding taking place. We quietly went along the back and went into the museum that was attached. There was the typical silver and gold church items as well as some other artifacts.

When we left the church and museum, the wedding was over and they were celebrating in the street in front of the church. The bride and groom were dancing while a character dressed like a devil pretended to chase them about. Another character, a lady dressed in traditional attire danced around them as well. It almost looked the the devil was trying to cause havoc and the lady (angel) was protecting them. I am only guessing, but it was lovely to witness.

We took a different route back to our Airbnb to avoid the squalor we passed through earlier. This route took us along the water’s edge. It was lovely! There was a huge park between the freeway and the water. We came across an outdoor concert, many statues

and the nicest pedestrian overpasses I have ever seen. It felt like we were walking in a forest and not an overpass.

There was a huge stone break-water

where little racoon-like creatures (mapache) ran about looking for a free meal. They did not seem bothered by people, and the locals did not seem bothered with them either.

We went to Panama Viejo. It is the remaining part of the original Panama City. It was founded in 1519 and was the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Ocean. It was given city status in 1521 by royal decree and a coat of arms from Charles V of Spain. It was an important port for sending gold and silver to Spain from as far away as Peru. Italian merchants played an important role in commerce, as well.

The city was destroyed in 1671 by privateer Henry Morgan, at which time it had 10,000 residents. There is debate whether Morgan set the city on fire, or the people set fire to it themselves, rather than relinquish it to the enemy. Either way, the city was destroyed. The new, and current, Panama City was built a few kilometers to the west.

There was a small museum that told the story of the city. A couple little things stuck out for me. One was that the women had their own space in the homes where they gathered to pray, sew, read and play musical instruments. Men could only enter upon invitation. I love it !!

Another piece of interesting trivia is that nails were precious commodity. So valuable, that they were left in the will as inheritance.

We then set out to explore the ruins. Firstly, we went up the original skyscraper, the 22 metre church bell tower.

I have not words to describe looking through the ancient windows at the modern skyscrapers beyond. It was sad and beautiful all at the same time.

We walked along the original stone streets

and looked at other relics left behind. Many giving an indication of the sophistication of the people and structures.

We went back to the old part of town to see what we missed the first time. There were markers on the sidewalk that depicted a bit of Panama’s history. They were beautiful and informative.

We came across some lovely wall murals

and beautiful parks.

We stumbled across the ruins of Santo Domingo Church, built in 1678 and destroyed by fire in 1756 and has been in ruins ever since.

The most famous aspect of this church is the Arco Chato, or Flat Arch, that spans from one side to the other,. It is about 10 metres (35 feet) high and spans15 metres (49 feet). There aren’t any supports, and the fact that it remained standing was one of the things that local advocates pointed to when talking up Panama City’s seismic stability when the choice for where to build a canal linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans was down to a choice between Panama and Nicaragua.

It became a popular tourist attraction, even in the 19th century. It unexpectedly fell down in 2003, but was rebuilt with the original bricks.

We stopped for lunch at a market that was on the back side of the fish market. Then we went into the fish market to have a look. It was huge, with vendors selling every kind of fish imaginable. Some were whole, some were filleted. There were octopus, shrimp, squid, oysters, clams and crabs. The place smelled very fishy despite the floors being continually hosed down and squeegeed.

Just outside the fish market were huge cylinders with dozens of buzzards perched and swooping down onto the dumpsters.

Although we didn’t like Panama City, at first, we discovered it was more interesting than our first impressions. Lesson learned – NEVER judge until you have the full picture.

Alas, our 4 month journey through Central America had come to an end. We saw some incredible sights, experienced some amazing adventures, and made some (hopefully) lifelong friends. Adios y hasta luego.