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Published: November 17th 2007
Casco Viejo (Old Quarter)
From the balcony of our hotelWe arrived in Panama City on our 10th wedding anniversary and it was time for a bit of a splash. We had reserved two nights at the
InterContinental Miramar and it was posh! It was well worth making a note when we reserved that it would be our 10th anniversary. Firstly we got a 'Happy Anniversary' from the lady when we checked in. Then she told us, a little puzzled, that we had executive access to a pool and executive lounge on the 21st floor. For the special rate that we got I don't think executive access is normally granted. We could only assume the nice person at the other end of the internet reservation did that for our anniversary. Our room on the 8th floor was huge with a king-size bed that you absolutely melted into, a gigantic TV, and a balcony facing the ocean. It was dark by the time we got to the room and we had a fantastic view of the city lights to the left and right. Up in the executive lounge, with the telescope in the corner, there were nibbles and booze and soft drinks which cost us nothing. In the corridor of the executive area
Panama City
From the 21st floor were a number of photos of important people who had visited the hotel. This included Sean Connery, Sting, Mick Jagger, Hillary Clinton, and Bush Jr. Dinner was on the ground floor overlooking the main pool. Tonight was a 'carne' buffet and for US$22 each we had some fantastic beef, fajitas cooked to your taste, lots of hot dishes and salads and a great selection of desserts. And to top it off, when we returned to our room someone had been in to deliver a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. It came with a lovely message of congradulations from the management. We had a perfect anniversary evening.
The next day we only popped out to arrange a cheaper hotel for the next night. Otherwise we enjoyed the facilities of the InterContinental - swimming on the 21st floor, drinking in the bar, Pieter got a haircut, and watching movies on the big TV. At the same restaurant as last night it was now a seafood buffet. Pieter ordered pasta from the menu but I stored up on fish, calamaris and tiger prawns. And the breakfast was fantastic. Really enjoyed the peanut butter and cottage cheese. These things were not in abundance
Panama City
From the 21st floor as we travelled South America.
Sadly leaving the InterContinental, we took a taxi to 'El Eden' which we had reserved the day before. To our huge annoyance they had not reserved the room and there were none others available. The next hotel we tried was also full. Then we tried Hotel Lisboa and we had to wait a bit but they had a room. It was US$24.20 for a big room with a big TV, quiet aircon, and a view of the pacific a block away. It was not the InterContinental but it was more than acceptable. And they had those funny lamps that switch on and off when you touch them. In the end we were happy that 'El Eden' didn't know how to keep reservations. We had a much better deal at Hotel Lisboa. We had only wanted to stay there because of the name - Eden - my maiden name.
We found a fantastic restaurant just around the corner from the Hotel Lisboa. Friendly ladies, murals on the walls, great milkshakes and cheap meals.
Javier, a nice guy, speaking good English, hangs around the Hotel Lisboa and offers his services as driver. We wanted
to visit Fort San Lorenzo on the Caribbean coast. On our own this would have meant going to the town of Colon that was said to be quite dodgy and hiring a US$30 taxi from there. So we decided to take Javier for the day for US$100 and he would also take us to the canal locks. It was a 2 hour drive from the Pacific to the Caribbean. As we approached San Lorenzo we drove across the Gatún locks and headed into a National Park. It was US$3.50 each entrance to the park.
At San Lorenzo there was one other car load of people who soon left. It was beautiful. The sea was a clear greeny blue with sandy beaches at the mouth of the Chagres River. Lots of butterflies flitting around under the midday sun. The fort sits on top of an outcrop of land, lovely spot for a fort. The grounds were well maintained and there were lots of cannons hanging around. The pirate Henry Morgan took this fort and carried on to take Panama City. There are some dark, damp and echoey tunnels to explore. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit. On the way out of
the park we spotted some monkeys next to the road.
Back at the Gatún Locks we paid US$5 each and went up to the viewing platform where there were a dozen people and a man talking in Spanish on a microphone. He welcomed us in English and switched his commentary to half Spanish and half English. There was plenty of room for us to join everyone else at the rail. A boat was just about to go through the lock and we had a fantastic view from above. It cost US$72,000 for this boat to go through the canal. The ship had only a half meter on either side clearance. Six trains, custom built at US$2 million each were chained to the boat, two at the back and four at the front, and they guided the boat through the lock. We waved at some of the sailors on the ship.
It started raining hard as we left the lock. About an hour back to town we stopped at a roadside restaurant. It was traditional Colombian and very good. Strangely we hadn't eaten anything traditional while in Columbia!
It pissed down as we bounced along a potholed road
Panama City at night
From the balcony of our hotel surrounded by beautiful forest. We stopped at the Pedro Miguel Lock briefly but the visibility was so low that we left again. At the Miraflores Locks we took one look at the packed carpark through the sheets of rain and decided to leave again. We had the best view at the Gatún Locks and were happy to miss this one. We saw the work that had commenced to build new locks which will allow for bigger ships and be more water efficient. It will be 2015 before they are ready for use.
We found a number of museums in Panama City. The Museo Afro-Antilleano was $1 each and was housed in an little old wooden church. It was about immigrants to Panama with lots of picture and some settlers household items.
We were shocked to find the Museum of Natural History open. The building had looked abandoned the day before when we tried to visit. It was overgrown and grubby but you could tell it was a beautiful building. It had 'National Museum' in raised letters at the top of the building. Since our hotel was down the road we just happened to pass and noticed the door
open although it took a while to get someones attention to let us in past the security gate. The entire ground floor was stuffed animals. One room had heads of a variety of deer and large mammals as well as a beautiful stuffed leopard and a lion that looked like he would walk up to you when you weren't watching. There was also a big bear skin. This was obviously some hunters collection and more than a little unpleasant. There wasn't much upstairs. The interior was in serious need of repair with ceiling panels falling down and dirty broken windows.
We walked to Casco Antiguo, ducking into the market on the way. Everything was very orderly. People had dedicated benches in the meat section meaning all the chicken was together and all the beef and pork. But it did smell bad and we had to leave quickly before we decided to chunder. We had to buy new umbrellas before exploring further. They were US$2 each. Our umbrellas that we had brought with us from England, the free ones from the Evening Standard, had both long since died and we had flown into the rainy season in Panama.
We
passed through streets of run down or abandoned houses before reaching Calle 6a Este where guards and a barrier for cars protected a very pretty looking street. The young guard told us it was the Presidential Palace. We had our bags checked and were let through. Called the Palacio de las Garzas it is a beautifully restored white house on the waterfront. Buzzing with government officials the whole street on the waterfront in either direction was immaculately maintained, such a contrast to the next street over.
Hugging the northern coast we found the beautiful church of San Francisco facing Parque Bolivar. We then found the pastel painted National Theatre and for US$1 each were permitted to wander around on our own. Beautiful in red and gold the interior had red velvet cushioned seats and cherubs of gold. We followed the road heading south and still on the waterfront found the ruins of Club de Cases y Tropas. This was Noriega's old hangout. We followed the walkway around the southern tip. It was getting really hot now with the sun coming out.
There is a fantastic ruin of a church next to the church that now houses the Museo
de Art Religioso Colonia. US$1 each to enter, they had lots of wooden pieces. Some beautiful icons.
At the Plaza de la Independencia is a beautiful cathedral with quite a plain interior. Also on the plaza is the Museo del Canal Interoceanico. US$2 each to get it. They had 2 floors filled with modern displays only 5-7 years old. Lots of photos, bits of old houses, the gear the workers used to wear and colonial objects. The annoying thing was that there was lots of writing but barely a word in English.
Overall we found the Casco Antiguo area a bit run down and disappointing. But we could see that there was lots of restoration in progress. Perhaps in a few years this area it will be as a beautiful as it once was. Casco Antiguo was built in 1673 after the old city five miles up the coast was attacked and looted by Henry Morgan and his crew. Even though some walls were robbed in the subsequent centuries the old city or Panama Viejo (founded in 1519) remains as ruins that can be visited. Both areas are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
There is a new museum
out by Panama Viejo. It was US$3 to visit and it is quite good with photos and descriptions in English. They have some bits of Inca gold and the aircon kept you very very cool. It was really hot outside but we still marched off to explore the ruins. Kept in a park like surrounding we found shelter under the trees. What remains of the cathedral is beautiful and people were working on its restoration. Only some of the ruins are fenced off and we thought our tickets covered entrance to it but it didn't. Still don't know how the prices worked but since they wanted another US$4 each from us we didn't bother and just looked from the fence.
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