10/09/2022 From Santa Catalina to Panama City
Another local bus ride
We decided it was time for a local bus again. It was a 7-hour-bus ride with two different buses (change in Sona), so it was pretty straight forward. The only problem was that there wasn’t a toilet break on the second bus ride, which went on for 5.5 hours…
What to expect
Panama City
In Panama City we were using uber again for the first time since San José, Costa Rica.
Unsafe neighborhood
Our hotel Pazzalo was really nice, but we learnt from one of the uber drivers that the area is very poor. Our receptionist even advised us in broken English that it’s safe to go right from the hotel, but unsafe to go left – good to know.
A local fonda
Before going out to explore the city, we wanted to grab some (cheap) dinner in our neighborhood. We found a local “fonda” with lots of pictures on the wall of the dishes they serve. I went for the fish and Blake went for tamales with meat which always comes in a leaf package. To be honest, I didn’t find the fish too appetizing and we were both joking how bad the timing would be to get food poisoning on the San Blas Islands, where we were going to spend the next four days. Oh, how little did we know at that point…
Walk along the water front
In the evening we walked (right from our hotel) to the water front, which was full of local pedestrians, runners and cyclists. The path was beautifully laid out and you had a prefect view onto Panama’s skyline.
Visit the Old Town
Also Panama City’s old town is very beautiful with old buildings, nicely lit up cobblestone roads and music coming from inside the different shops.
Have a drink at Selina’s rooftop bar
To finish off the night we went to Selina’s rooftop bar on the 6th floor from where we had stunning views onto Panama City’s skyline by night.
11/09/2022 Panama City
In the next morning we had a briefing for our San Blas island tour for the upcoming four days. The group and the guide seemed really nice, so we were excited for the trip. We got some last things organised:
- laundry
- buying four litres of water each for the islands
- getting seasickness tablets from the pharmacy
- getting more money out (no ATMs on the islands)
- repacking for the trip (our big backpacks will be staying on the boat the whole time which we won’t have any access to)
And then we were ready for the only thing I had known about Panama before coming here: the Panama Canals.
Visit the Panama Canals
The Panama Canals were actually really interesting to see. We came here in the afternoon and watched two big ships going through the canals.
The gap between rich and poor
Afterwards we drove back to the old town through several suburbs, in which our uber driver was held up by the police to show his license. There were piles of trash everywhere and the houses didn’t look like anyone was actually living in them (but there were). It was so sad to see how this life co-exists just one street away from the old town, where internationals dine out, smoke cigars and drive fancy cars.
Painful night
And then the night came and the horror show began. My whole body was aching, I was sweating and shivering and probably had a fever. Blake was so kind to get me two extra blankets from reception which I wrapped around myself.
The jeep to the San Blas Islands picked us up at 5 a.m. after what felt like no sleep at all. At that point I was still hoping I’d be fine again after the first day on the San Blas Islands. Little did I know that it was only going to get worse from here…
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