Panamá

When most Americans think of Panamá, they likely think of the Panama Canal. Those that know a little history may also think of Spanish colonialism or, more recently, Manuel Noriega. Sports fans might think of Rod Carew, Mariano Rivera or Roberto Duran. Those into the arts may think of actor/musician Ruében Blades. Oh, and some may think of the song "Panama" by Van Halen - but that song has nothing to with Panama and is actually about a car. And that is about it - that is probably the extent of the average Americans knowledge of the country of Panamá. I would bet over 90% of Americans could not identify Panamá on a map.

We were only there for three months, but we quickly learned that Panamá has so much more to offer than the somewhat random items listed above.

Panamá is in yellow on the lower right of this map.

Panamá is the southern most country in Central America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest and by Colombia to the southeast. It has approx 4 million citizens with around half of those living in the capital, Panama City. It is a small country. For reference, you could fit 5.5 Panamás in California and 4 in Arizona.

We were in Panamá from Dec 2, 2018 - Feb 24, 2019. The original plan was to stay until May 20, 2019 but, for a few different reasons, that didn't work out.

We started our visit to Panamá in an area called La Laguna. This area is located in the mountains of the Chiriquí Province of Panamá approximately 60 miles southwest of Panama City. We scored a great house sit at a bed and breakfast located all by itself on the top of a mountain. It was located about half way between the coastal town of Coronado and the mountain town of El Valle de Antón. It really was a spectacular location with both mountain and ocean views.

Hawk's Nest BnB: Our home Dec 2, 2018 - Jan 4, 2019

We greatly enjoyed our time at the Hawk's Nest BnB. It was our favorite part of our stay in Panamá. We enjoyed the short time we were able to spend with the owners Randy & Wanda and we now call them friends. We even went back to visit with them for one night a few weeks after our sit was over. We also LOVED their 4 dogs. They all had unique personalities and were a joy to look after.

One highlight of our stay at the Hawk's Nest was a visit from our family/friends Kasper and Christina from Denmark. Kasper and Christina joined us for both Christmas and New Year. We really enjoyed their company. They are perfect travel companions for us - able to kick back and do nothing but also ready and willing to charge out on an adventure.

One of our adventures was attending a local Panamanian party. During our stay at the BnB, I made friends with Luis the gardener. He spoke virtually no English but we still managed to hit it off. He ended up inviting me to a local party. I asked if all of 4 of us could go and he said sure. Anyway, it turned out to be a very authentic Panamanian party with tons of beer and local food, a live band, dancing, drunks and even cock fights and "fuegos artificiales" (fireworks). We were the only Caucasians there. It was quite an experience. My only regret is that, unfortunately, I did not take hardly any pictures. But some of the scenes of that night are burned indelibly in my memory.

Enjoying a relaxing lunch with Kasper & Christina at our favorite fonda in El Valle.

In late October, 2018, I was diagnosed with a basil cell carcinoma (skin cancer). I couldn't get the surgical procedure scheduled before my health insurance ran out at the end of the month. So, I decided, instead of paying $2,000 to extend my health insurance for a month, I would put it off and get it taken care of in Panamá. And that's exactly what I did. I found a dermatologist that could perform MOHS surgery in Panamá and scheduled an appointment. I have done a lot of research about countries in Latin America and Panamá is regarded as having some of the top, if not THE top, medical care in all of Latin America. But it's one thing to read about the healthcare, and another to actually show up for an appointment and go under the knife. It was more expensive than I had hoped it would be, but it was still less than it would have cost me in the U.S. ($2,000 to extend my U.S. insurance, plus the co-pay, plus my cost for what the insurance wouldn't cover, plus the follow up visit to get the stitches out).

All in all, the experience was a good one. I showed up at the appointed time and got in for the procedure within 15 minutes. The doctor spoke English quite well and had spent some time studying in Chicago. Twelve stitches later (inside and out), when the surgery was completed, the doctor took his time to go over everything with me. He gave me instructions for care/cleaning. He GAVE me anti-biotic pills to take to avoid infection. He GAVE me anti-biotic ointment and bandages and, get this, he GAVE me his mobile number in case I had any issues or questions. He also asked me to text him a picture of the incision after a week. If all of that wasn't enough, he also set me up with a doctor closer to where we were staying so I could get my stitches out there instead of driving the 2 hour one way trip to Panama City. Oh, and when I got my stitches out - there was no charge. Oh, and the doctor emailed me a tissue report showing the details of what was cut out, including a microscopic image showing that the margins around the piece of skin/flesh that they cut out were cancer free. When was the last time you had service like that in the U.S.? They did a good job too - I bet you would never notice the scar if I didn't show you where it was.

Going under the knife in Panama City.

At the age of 53, this was the first Christmas and New Year that I had spent outside of the U.S. and away from my kids and/or parents. While we definitely missed family, it was not a bad time. The blow of being away from family was lessened thanks to (A) having Janne's cousin Kasper and his girlfriend Christina visit and (B) being exposed to new holiday traditions that we don't have in the States. One of those traditions in Panamá is the burning of muñecos. Muñecos are life sized effigies of people. They are stuffed with firecrackers and are lit and beaten at the stroke of midnight. According to folklore, by beating and setting the effigies aflame, the sins and evil spirits of the old year are destroyed making way for good fortune in the new year. The fire crackers are said to help drive the evil forces away, since ghosts are afraid of light and noise. The Muñecos are usually made to look like well-known politicians or movie stars from the outgoing year. They are often created and displayed for a couple weeks before new years eve. Sometimes people attach strings to the Muñecos so that they can sit on their porch and have the doll “wave” its hand to people passing by. Muñecos are especially common along the Pan-American Highway. Here we are on the Pan-American Highway with a muñeco of Chinese President Xi Jinping who had recently visited and left a bad taste in the mouth of some Panamanians.

Muñeco of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

After we completed our sit in La Laguna we had a couple weeks to fill before our next house sit. So we decided to explore Panama a bit. We decided to head for Panama City even though we had a sit scheduled in "la ciudad" ("the city") later that month. We decided to go to the city twice because the Pope was scheduled to be in Panama City during our house sit and we were told it was going to be CRAZY. In fact, the Pope was the reason we had a house sit in Panama City in the first place - the owners wanted to get the hell out of town (pun intended). There were forecasts for over 500 thousand "pilgrims" to descend on Panama City - that's a 25% increase in population in the space of just a few days! There were also warnings for possible water shortages and rolling power outages. More on "El Papa" (The Pope) later.

For the most part, we enjoyed our week in Panama City. We had two days that were particularly memorable. One day we went to Parque Natural Metropolitano (Metropolitan Natural Park). While clearly not a flawless effort, the Panamanian government is doing what it can to keep it's natural resources in good condition. To that end, they have a green belt that actually crosses the entire country and the Panama Canal runs through the middle of it. This green belt is made up of several Natural and National Parks and Metropolitan Natural Park is the one that is closest to Panama City. It is very close to Panama city - we jumped in an Uber from our downtown apartment and $5 and 12 minutes later we were in the jungle. While I read that there was a lot of wildlife in the park, my expectations were low due to the proximity of the city and the fact that we were visiting in the late morning when it was starting to get hot and most animals would be resting. High on our list to seek out were toucans, monkeys, coatis and sloths. We got lucky! Not only did we see a wild sloth, but we got really close and had the opportunity to take some great pictures. Below is a video I shot that morning...

Another cool thing we did while in Panama City was take a day trip to Colón via the Panama Railroad. While the construction of the Panama Canal is an incredible example of human ingenuity and sheer will, the construction of the Panama Railroad was also a spectacular example of engineering and sacrifice. An estimated 12,000 men died building the Panama Railroad - primarily from malaria and yellow fever. Disposing of the dead was such a problem that the Panama Railroad administration started pickling bodies in barrels and selling them to medical schools (remember, this is the 1800's when modern medicine was in its infancy). Before the Panama Canal was completed in 1914, the Panama Railroad was the main thoroughfare through the country and to the ports of the Pacific coasts all the way north to Canada. I could go on about how much gold, silver, product and people moved through the Panama Railroad - the numbers are staggering - they were already record breaking, and then the California gold rush broke out and the Panama Railroad became the path for tens of thousands of people to get to California. Suffice to say, peaking at $295 a share, the Panamanian Railroad was the highest priced stock on the NYSE in the mid-1800's

We caught the train at 7:30AM at the Panama City side of the canal (Miraflores Locks) and arrived at the other end of the canal, in Colón, at 8:30AM. That's right - it only takes an hour to cross the entire center section of Panamá - and the train wasn't going that fast either. The train drops you off in an empty parking lot in Colón where you are immediately accosted by a throng of taxi drivers and tour operators - all in your face in Spanish, broken English or some kind of Caribbean language that you can't really understand and sounds like a mixture of Spanish, French and English. The return trip on the train does not leave until 5:30PM. Most people spend the day by going to the canal museum at the Gatún Locks and then going to the Zona Libre which is the largest tax free shopping zone in the world. Most don't stray far from those two destination as Colón is known as a high crime area. I had researched Colón before our trip and decided I did not want to do the free shopping zone and I didn't want to spend all day in Colón waiting for the 5:30PM return train. So we bought a 1-way ticket to Colón and decided we would catch a bus back to Panama City when we were ready.

We had good luck when the train dropped us off in Colón and we hooked up with a Panamanian named Dmitry. He was born in Panama City but grew up in Colón. He was in his early 50's and besides doing the taxi/tourist thing he was also a boxing trainer which had allowed him to do a good bit of world traveling. He was an interesting guy and had some good stories. We decided to skip the canal museum and go straight to the locks themselves. Dmitry had a relationship with the canal police and he arranged for us to walk across the canals instead of driving over. This was against the rules, but Dmitry was able to make it happen (hey, we're in Latin America). The well armed guards told us, more than once, that under no circumstances could we stop - we had to keep moving the entire time. We walked across the Gatún Lock as well as the new, higher capacity, Agua Clara Lock. This was in late January. Dmitry told us we were quite lucky, as in April there would be new security in place and our walk across the locks would not be possible.

Taking a quick selfie while walking across the locks (without stopping).

While the train and the visit to the locks were interesting, our day with Dmitry in Colón was just getting started. Next he drove us around to see all of the infrastructure that the U.S. left behind when they turned the canal over to Panamá on January1, 2000. We saw former barracks and govt housing that were now mostly dilapidated ruins or apartment buildings. One building was being used as a prison. Another building was somewhat infamous - building 400: also known as The School of the Americas. Established in 1949, the School of the Americas was run by the U.S. Army and trained more than 34,000 Latin American soldiers from several countries. The school was created to keep communism out of Latin America but it's actions went far beyond that scope and has become widely known as a place where future dictators and human rights violators were empowered. The school graduated some of the worst human rights violators of our time including former Argentine dictator Leopoldo Galtieri, who "disappeared" thousands in the 70's, El Salvador's Roberto D'Aubuisson, who led death squads that killed Archbishop Oscar Romero and thousands of other Salvadorans in the 80's and Panamá's Manuel Noriega. In a bizarre twist, building 400 is now a resort. We visited it for a quick look around....

Janne outside bulding 400: the former School of the Americas

When we finished checking out what used to be the School of the Americas, I asked Dmitry to show us around Colón. I asked if he could take us to an authentic restaurant in Colón and I would buy him lunch. He agreed and took us to a little place by the sea and we got some great sea food. It was a tiny place with an entire wall covered in "stacks" of speakers like you see built up behind guitar players when you go to a rock concert. He said at night the place is really happening and there are tons of people dancing the night away and REALLY loud music. He said you can often hear gun shots in the distance but nobody pays attention and just keeps dancing. Pictures of the restaurant/bar and the seafood we got are in the gallery section of this site. I asked Dmitry if he had memories of the American invasion of Panamá in the 80's to take out Noriega. He told us how he remembered black hawk helicopters firing missiles and huge explosions. We talked about how the people felt about the invasion back then and what they think of the States now. It was interesting to hear his perspective.

Our day in the canal zone with Colón local, Dmitry.

After Panama City, we rented a car and headed southwest. First, we spent a night back in La Laguna at the Hawk's Nest with our new friends Randy and Wanda. Then we headed to the "Sunset Coast" on the Azuero Peninsula. It is called the Sunset Coast because, since Panamá runs more East/West than North/South, it is the only place in Panamá where you can catch a sunset that drops into the Pacific. After a couple days there, we headed over to Santa Catalina in the Veraguas Province. Santa Catalina is a "water man's" paradise with some of the best surfing, fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling in the country. It is also the access point for Isla Coiba which is home to Parque Nacional Coiba (Coiba National Park) - known as the Galapagos Islands of Panamá. I was lucky enough to sneak off for a day and get a 3-tank dive in. Saw a LOT of sharks and the largest moray eel I have ever seen.

After Santa Catalina, we headed off to the mountains for some cooler/less humid weather. We went to La Pintada and El Valle de Antón, both in the Coclé Province. The stop in El Valle was one of the highlights of our time in Panamá. We stayed at a BnB run by a Swiss and Colombian couple. The cool thing was that the BnB also doubles as a sloth rescue. At the time we visited, they had 4 sloths in their care. It was a little bizarre as these people let the sloths live in the house just like they were dogs or cats. They had full run of the place. Sloths are amazing animals. I won't list interesting sloth facts here but we were surprised to find that the were very curious and very loving. One of the sloths wanted nothing more that to be held by it's "mother" - the Swiss lady that owned the place. We were able to interact closely with the sloths including holding them and feeding them. While there, I managed to get, what I consider, one of the most entertaining pictures of our entire trip.....

Janne having a close encounter of the sloth kind.

After El Valle and our sloth adventure, we headed back to Panama City for our house sit. Our sit was on the 32nd floor of a high rise downtown and we were to take care of 2 cats with the highly original names of Blackie and Fatty. We stayed pretty close to our apartment the entire time as we had already checked out Panama City and it was super crowded due to all of the peregrinos (pilgrims) in town to see the Pope and participate in World Youth Day which happens every 3-years at a different location around the globe - kind of like the Olympics. In 2016 it was held in Krakow, Poland and in 2022 it will be held in Lisbon, Portugal.

A huge billboard in Panama City ("Brother Francis. Panamá wants to see you.")

The Pope coming to Panamá was a HUGE deal - not just in Panama City but throughout the entire country. Churches and private home owners throughout all of Panamá were opening their doors to provide food and shelter to los perigrinos (the pilgrims). Every where we went in the country were signs and banners for "JMJ" (Jornada Mundial de la Joventude / World Youth Day).

After our second stint in Panama City, we caught a plane to Davíd, the second largest city in Panamá, which is in the northeast of Panamá and not far from the border with Costa Rica. From there we caught a shuttle to Bocas del Toro. We stayed in Bocas for 4 nights and just chilled out in a jungle bungalow - a real jungle bungalow with mosquito netting and howler monkeys waking you up in the morning. Bocas is a naturally beautiful area made up of 365 islands. The main mode of transportation is water taxi. We enjoyed our time there, but after 3 days, we were ready to boogie.

After Bocas, we caught a shuttle to Boquete where we were set up to do a house sit at a "hotel" for around 3 weeks. They use the term "hotel" loosely in Panamá. This was a 3-story building with the owner's residence on the bottom floor and several rooms spread across the 2nd and 3rd floors. We were to look after 2 dogs. We were really looking forward to Boquete as it was under consideration as a possible spot for us to stay longer term when we decide to stop traveling. It is located in the mountains and has good year-round weather. Many expats live in Boquete. Boquete is set in a beautiful area, but the town itself is not much to write home about. Long story short, the sit was not all that we had expected or hoped it would be and there were several things that the owners did not tell us about until after we arrived that significantly impinged on our stay. After 3-weeks we were quite ready to leave. One good thing was that we did enjoy the dogs. Blondie was a Golden Retriever, that looked exactly like the dog you see on the Bush Baked Beans TV commercials. The other dog, Hershey, was a pit bull terrier. We were a little leery of taking care of a pit bull but she was super sweet - a super sweet muscle ball.

One interesting thing about Panamá is that they don't have their own currency. Their entire economy runs on the U.S. Dollar. This is nice when you are traveling as there are no currency exchange fees. All of the bills ($1, $5, $10, $20, etc.) in circulation in Panamá are from the U.S., however, coinage is both from the U.S. and Panamá. I'm not familiar enough with economics to understand how they can do this, but they do. The dollar coins, called "Balboas" or "Martinellis" (after the Panamanian President that introduced them - and is now in jail), are quite popular. In most places in Panamá, if you buy something in cash that requires less than $5 in change, you are going to receive your change in $1 coins much more often than in $1 bills.

Panamanian coins from L to R: penny, nickel, dime, quarter, 50 cents and $1

We enjoyed our 3 months in Panamá. We had some good times and some experiences that we will never forget. We found the people to be friendly and the country to be relatively safe. You will find many, many more pictures of our trip to Panamá in the "Gallery" section of this website. Please note that there are 3 separate Panamá sections in the Gallery: "Part I", "Part II" and "Part III".

As mentioned previously, we were checking out Panamá as a possible destination for us to live for a while when we tire of constant travel. As it turns out, we don't think Panamá will be the place we for us. The leading candidate for a place to live post-travel is still México - but we have a lot more travel to do and more places to explore as we seek out a location that we could commit to for a year or more.