Costa Rica 8... but it is really Panama!

Anne B 10milesfrom

Feb 1511 min read

An early breakfast and ride to the airport by the owner of the little hotel Pibi Boreal (included in the price), saw us waiting with this great view for our flight to Panama.

We thought we should try and see the canal before Mr Trump tries to get his hands on it! The flight is just 80 minutes, but, slightly bizarrely, Panama is one hour ahead of all it's neighbours, so we are now just 5 hours behind the UK, and sunset will be at 6.30 not 5.30!! We were met at the airport by our taxi driver and driven to our hotel, the San Felipe, in the heart of the old town.

The first old town was built in 1519 by the Spanish but was destroyed by English Pirate Henry Morgan in 1671. The current Casco Viejo, or Old town was founded by Antonio Fernández de Córdoba y Mendoza in 1673 and the old city centre contains some wonderful architecture.

In 1812, Simon Bolivar was instrumental in freeing the region from Spanish control, and created Gran Colombia, made up of present day Panama, Ecuador Colombia and Venezuela.

Although this union broke up in 1830, many of Panama's cultural and Culinary influences are from South America. Yummy! This was dinner at El Nacional restaurant!

Panama got full independence from Colombia in 1903 when the USA sent military support. This paved the way for the agreement that the USA would build and administer a Canal. The French had already tried to build a canal in the 1880s. Ferdinand de Lesseps had built the successful Suez Canal, and tried to do the same here, cutting a sea level canal, but was defeated by yellow fever, malaria and a mountain range! The US canal would build a huge dam and create a vast lake which would massively reduce the work required, simplify navigation and manage the turbulent Chagos river. There would be locks at either end. The city flourished, particularly during and after the building of the Canal between 1904 and 1914. Panamas fortunes moved up and down. Then Manuel Noriega became Panama's most notorious 'leader' between 1983 and 1989. Never elected, he was a military leader / dictator who amassed great wealth through criminal and drug related activities. His actions were the main cause of the USA's invasion in 1989. Since then Panama has been a democracy, and has worked to improve standards of living. Despite economic growth, there is considerable poverty with a growing divide between the rich and poor. There is still corruption and discrimination, especially against ethnic minorities and indiginous groups, and drug trafficking is a major issue, although the Government do have initiatives to intercept gangs.

However, Panama is increasingly recognising it's potential as a tourist destination. Stock photos!

We met lots of people who had been on holiday here, and told us the scenery is stunning, with beautiful offshore islands, and it actually has more bird species and diversity than Costa Rica... in fact it is being compared to Costa Rica 20 years ago. We think we would like to return!!

We fitted in 2 tours while here, both with the excellent Miguel from Panama Road Trips. The first revealed 3 amazingly different sides to Panama city....

the new tower blocks, office buildings and shopping malls contrast with the Unesco World Heritage site of the old town, which is beautiful and delightful to walk around, and the main part of town where most Panamanians live. The old town, or Casco Viejo has many stylish restaurants, bars and small shops, as well as museums and traditional market stalls, many run by indiginous people like these Guna ladies.

All of it is a huge contrast to 3 weeks of nature in Costa Rica! Prior to the canal, Panama was in deep poverty, and the wonderful churches and buildings were becoming derelict. New wealth meant they were restored, a process which continues today. Our hotel is a very modern boutique hotel which is in a building lived in by the Lyons family of the food and Corner House fame, who came here as Jews to escape persecution. The hotel has a rooftop bar with great views of the city. You can see how close the countryside is.

However the old city was a no go area until firstly the Government, and then private enterprise, started to restore the roads and buildings about 20 years ago. Of course that comes at a price. Many people renting the poor housing here were forced to leave, and property prices have rocketed. We spent the afternoon walking around the old town admiring the architecture and visiting some of the churches, which vary in style. In the simply decorated Cathedral were these rather unsettling wax effigies of local people who have been canonised by the Catholic church.

Also interesting to see National flags on the altar. Our favourite church was dedicated to St Philip Neri, and is one of the oldest, consecrated in 1688. It had a beautifully decorated ceiling and traces of old decorations on the walls, and an unusual 2 tiered choir!.

It held 2 further surprises. In a room at the back was an incredible nativity scene, about 4 x 2 metres in sizè. Photos do not do it justice. Then at the altar were 6 musicians rehearsing for a concert tomorrow night. We stayed to listen to various popular works like the Radetsky March, and extracts from the Nutcracker Suite. Beautiful! At the corner of the old town is the rather pretty French Embassy, and a memorial to the 20,000 French men who died trying to build their canal in the 1880s.

Here you can also walk on the old city walls with great views of the concrete jungle, and the Pacific Ocean where ships queue to enter the panama canal. We continued to walk in this lovely area and visited another church dedicated to Francis of Assissi.

It was apparently 41 °C at the hottest point of the day (105°f!), but not humid so less draining!! Pleasantly warm really! We did go for a break in the air con of our hotel, before coming out for dinner in a very traditional Panamanian food (pictured earlier). Chris tried his first Panamanian craft beer, and still managed a traditional dessert of rice pudding with raisins, cane sugar, cinnamon and other spices with coconut icecream!

We were picked up at 7.15 the next morning by Miguel our guide who was going to take us to see the famous Panama canal, and explain it's history.

On the way we drove through downtown Panama, which was certainly a lot more rough round the edges. At the canal locks area we drove through a vast area of uniform buildings. This picture is a tiny fraction of what was a highly secure area for US troops when they were in charge of running the canal.

The second picture is the Panama railroad, still operational and built before the canal. In 1979 Jimmy Carter signed a treaty to hand the canal and it's management over to Panama. The final transition took place in 1999. The canal is run by an independent Panamanian Canal company, which pays dues to the Government.

Next, to the locks themselves. We were lucky enough to watch a huge gas ship leaving the top lock, and an even bigger ship entering the lower lock.

Tug boats guide them in, and then they are attached to up to 8 engines known as mules which guide them through the locks. There is often less than 12" space between the ship and the sides. The mules constantly adjust the tension on their lines to keep the ship straight. These are the old, original locks, but container ships have been getting bigger! So in 2016 Panama started building bigger locks. These are now open and large ships are frequently built to Panamax or New Panamax dimensions. The price to take your ship through is dependent on size and weight, and ranges from hundreds of dollars for a small yacht, to 1.2 million dollars for a huge ship!! But, it saves them weeks of sailing round Cape Horn in dangerous seas, saves money on fuel, labour costs etc, and speeds up supply. Ship owners reckon they can save 7 - 10 times the amount of the canal fee!! Up to 40 large ships, plus small ones which share the locks, go through each day. The fees are a huge boost to Panamas economy, and perhaps explains Trump's desire to get in on the act! Our entrance fee was just $17, and that included an excellent Imax film about the history and use of the canal. We also visited the Bridge of the Americas, built in 1962, which crosses the canal and replaced the old lifting bridge.

A fascinating, and almost disturbing area we visited was a vast part of the city containing many houses, some very smart indeed, schools, shops and a theatre. This was all built in American style for the American managers and workers when they ran the canal.

The whole vast area was walled off, and no Panamanians could enter. It was the scene of dramatic events in January 1964. Part of the US Panama canal deal was that in the canal zone, both flags would fly side by side. This was not always respected and tensions were high in Panama, with many locals seeing the US as Imperialist occupiers. On Jan 7th, Panamanian students marched to the US high school and wanted to raise the Panamanian flag next to the US one. After negotiations, it was agreed, and they went in. But the US students objected, fights broke out and the Panamanian flag was torn. This incited greater unrest, which the Police couldn't control. US military was sent in, and 20 students were killed. This has significantly shaped feelings towards the US, and is widely commemorated with street art, sculpture and information panels!

We had noticed Panama flags EVERYWHERE! We asked Miguel and he said that this was normal in Independence month in November. They were all taken down, but put back for the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit last week.

Next we headed to the Amador Causeway, a large area of land reclaimed from the ocean using the waste from digging the canal. It was another area used exclusively for Americans, for leisure. It contains the Frank Gehry Biomuseum, restaurants and fishing charters, and has great views of the city.

Back to the old town, where Miguel showed us the Flat Arch, in the remains of a Dominican convent that was burned down in the 18th century. The arch remained, and is famous. In 1903, when the USA were thinking of building the canal, they were also contemplating a route across Nicaragua. Panamanian engineers pointed out the frequency of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Nicaragua, and showed the flat arch as proof that Panama was much more stable. It swayed the votes in Panama's favour!

Next the church of San Jose, containing this Golden altar, reputedly to have been saved from the old city because the priests painted it black and convinced the pirates it was wooden!

After our tour we went for a late lunch at the Pulperia! In 16th century Latin America if a village wanted to become a town it had to have a school, and church and a shop that sold everything and was an inn and café too. The owner became known as El Polpero...the Octopus, because he had tentacles everywhere. The shops were the Pulperia.

The food was delicious... and just £6 per dish! It was meant to be a snack as we are going out to dinner tonight for our last night of the holiday!! We have only been eating breakfast plus one other meal each day... how will we cope?! After lunch, exploration continued. The Church of Maria Merced is the oldest here, being rebuilt with the bricks brought from the original church in the old city after it's destruction. It contains a simple ceiling, unusual wooden organ and some interesting artwork.

Next, the lovely Mola museum. Molas are traditional handsewn panels made with multiple layers of fabric with shapes cut through and sewn down, plus appliqué. They are worn as part of tunic tops, or as decoration, and retell the history of the indiginous people as well as reflecting more modern interests!

The Canal museum is very extensive and gave so much background to both French and USA canals. It also contained an exhibition of more ancient artefacts up to 2000 years old, found during the excavations.

Many thousands of labourers came to build the canals, from all over the world. Sadly there were horrid divisions. Black labourers were segregated and paid less than white, and had poorer living conditions.

Many people died, especially in Hell's throat,where they literally blasted through the mountains.

Back outside Chris went to cool down at the hotel and I went for a walk. The town has many hat shops, some rather grand, selling Panama Hats. But the true Panamanian hats are these, made from Palm fibres with designs woven in black dyed fibres.

The other hats are really from Ecuador, but President Roosevelt wore one on a visit to Panama and it became known as the Panama hat, much to Ecuador's annoyance!

Flip flops... well much fancier Cutarras, are based on traditional woven sandals. Masks are very popular as are photo shoots in traditional costumes!

Our last dinner was at Santa Rita, a lovely little restaurant. We compromised and shared an excellent smoked salmon, avocado and olive starter, and a chocolate volcano pudding. In between, Chris had rare Panamanian beef fillet, and I had Squid ink risotto with squid and sea bass. All delicious. A great final meal, and very reasonable.

So, home tomorrow, but we just fitted in one more outing! Miguel picked us up at 06.25 for a trip with 4 others, 2 girls from Scotland and a young couple from Chicago. Much chat was had comparing travel adventures. We headed out of the city into the countryside for a wildlife tour, involving a walk on the pipeline road and a boat trip on the Panama Canal, where it opens out into Gatun Lake, and there are lots of islands. The little boat took us out under the railway, which seemed impossibly low, but we squeezed under.

Then we were on the canal as it widens out, travelling alongside ships large and small.

It was strangely poignant to be somewhere so important that we have read about for all of our lives. Dredging is a constant necessity, and the equipment is massive.

The island area was beautiful and full of wildlife. We saw some birds and animals that were new to us, as well as some now familiar favourites, like this sloth.

These are a Tamarind monkey, a Snail Hawk with a beak specially adapted for eating snails, and a Jacana.

We were passed by one of the huge container ships the needed the new locks. Probably carrying around 12,000 containers... that is 12,000 lorryloads!

We were due back at 12.30. But then Panama swang into action. Apparently, the people of Panama have achieved many things by Protesting, and they had chosen today to do it, closing the main roads through the city and creating gridlock! Apparently the Government were proposing raising the Pension age! We eventually got back at 1.45. We nipped back to the Pulperia for another quick and yummy lunch.

Sadly then our taxi took us to the airport, with the large screen on his dashboard playing music videos! Anyone recognise the one above?!

The driver somehow drove us past the current standoff between protesters.. holed up in the building site of a new hospital, and riot Police. I'm sure the Foreign Office advice was avoid all Protests!

Our KLM flight took us smoothly to London... we even managed to sleep, and acquired 2 more Delft pottery houses which we've added to our collection at home! And they all contain Bols Gin!

The flight from Amsterdam to Heathrow took just 45 minutes due to a tailwind, but they managed to serve a very nice breakfast!

And our luggage also arrived... it didn't on our last holiday! And we were back, to exactly the same weather we had left, cold and very grey. The car started first time and we had a smooth drive. Home by 4pm. Another great trip. So many great experiences, lovely people and fascinating wildlife. Our Bird species list for Costa Rica was 121 and for Panama 38.

End of holiday Summary Questions!