Travel in the Time of COVID 2021: Panama

Panama City

Panama City sits on the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, the engineering feat that allows for modern commerce. But long before the canal, it was the coordinating point for Spain’s forays into South America, bringing back gold silver and precious gems plundered from the Incas and shipped to Spain. 

The original city was founded by Spain in 1519 by Pedro Arias Davila, and it thrived until Privateer Henry Morgan (yes, the one they named the Rum after) ransacked and burned the city in 1671 (all that gold, silver and jewels are tempting for pirates, and later earned Morgan the titles of Admiral of the Royal Navy and Lt. Governor of Jamaica). The settlement was relocated 5 miles away, along a peninsula with shallow waters around, making it easier to defend. The city has grown and developed ever since. Currently, it holds 45^thplace in the “city with the most skyscrapers” – in a city of 880,000 people. 

Our hotel was in the Bella Vista district, in the heart of the high rises, including the iconic F&F tower (aka “El Tornillo” – the screw).

Since our hotel was in the business district, it required travel to the tourist areas. They do have a metro, but the lines are not extensive, and with very cheap taxis and Ubers (most rides, even to places 5-6km away, were less than $5) it’s hard not to choose convenience. 

Most of our time as tourists was in the Casco Viejo – the Old Quarter. Once you reach the area, it’s very walkable, and all of the public squares have free WiFi – when the power is up (power outages are typically brief, but frequent). 

We found a Guru walk for our second full day. Our “Guru” taught us about some of the buildings we’d seen the day before, and took us into see the Nativities. Churches in the Casco Viejo love Nativity scenes, and not just any Nativity scenes – giant ones that take months to assemble, so after several years they decided to leave them up year-round. There are two main displays: The first is housed in the Cathedral Basilica Santa Maria La Antigua – the Cathedral in Cathedral Square. 

The second once was displayed in the giant Albrook Mall (which is also the city’s main bus terminal), and now is on continuous display in the San Jose Church. 

In looking for things to do in Panama City (the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus has not restarted since halting in March 2020), we came across the Parque Natural Metropolitano (entry $4pp)– a tropical rainforest in the city – part of a giant coast to coast green zone that stretches across the entire country. 5km of well-maintained trails take you on a few loops to look at wildlife – you just have to look up:

And down:

And in the brush:

I couldn’t get a picture of the Crimson Crested Woodpecker and what I’m pretty sure was a Blue-gray tanager, but wildlife was plentiful and entertaining.

And now off to the beaches – Nuevo Gorgona/ Coronado area!