Panama: Day One

I am finally getting around to posting about our Panama trip!  Pregnancy really has made blogging HARD.  And also Kevin's messy office.  To make this blogging happen right now I had to make sure I had a treat, ice water, and I brought the computer downstairs in front of our dining room window. 

Ahh.  There we go...

Panama:  Day One

After almost missing our second flight, we made it to Panama!  We flew in at night so we didn't get a great view of what we were about to experience.  Going through customs is always fun, especially when they think that Kevin is the father of the three of us (Me, Daniel and Shalane.)  Kevin took that one pretty hard...  

All of our luggage made it ( I am always worried about this) and now the adventure was finding a taxi that was cheap and was willing to carry the four of us and our luggage (two spear-fishing guns).  We found a good rate and somehow jammed all our luggage in with us backseat drivers holding the spear guns and gear on our laps.  Luckily, Kevin is great with Spanish so he was able to do all the talking this trip.  Its a good feeling knowing that they really can't rip you off.  Our taxi driver said he knew where our bed and breakfast was, but of course it took us 45-60 min to find it.  We probably drove through one of the scariest parts of Panama City where our taxi pulled to the side of the road and got out to talk to one of the heavily armed policeman (AK-47 anyone?) for directions.  This is when Kevin goes "Ok guys, watch the trunk and our luggage, if that pops open, we are going to be fighting off panamanians."  What a great way to start off our trip.

We finally find our B&B and instantly knew we were in a safe area.  There were people out running at 10:00pm at night (not away from people, for fitness...) and the owner said we could go out that late and find someplace to eat.  The owner was extremely friendly and gave us awesome advice for our entire stay in Panama City.  We set out to find Niko's Cafe (the only thing open) and had a pretty good first meal.  Kevin said all the food was really authentic since it reminded him of his mission and the food in Ecuador.

Of course the boys found a tree with vines big enough to swing on.  It was a dream come true for them.

The next morning we got up nice and early to go on a little rainforest hike.  Our B&B was right by Ancon Hill, the tallest hill in the city.  We saw toucans, poison frogs and little monkeys!  I even tried to get one to come down to me with a jolly rancher but out of nowhere came some Panamanian who said "NO!"  

I always get caught.  

 

Panama City is HUGE.

Great view of the canal.

Do you see the toucan?

When we got back we had breakfast and got some more tips from the B&B owner on what to do for the rest of our day.

 We then headed to Casco Viejo which was settled by Europeans in 1673.  It was hard to tell apart the new buildings and the old.  In Latin countries, everything is always falling apart, there is always construction going on and they never finish anything; Panama City was no different.  It was also terribly hot walking around.  Not a good combination for a pregnant lady.  This is where my feet began to swell and continually got worse throughout the trip. We also found a great place for lunch here, and even got the "Executivo" Menu which was way cheaper than the original menu we looked at.  All because Kevin spoke spanish. 

We were then off to the highly anticipated activity of the day.  The Panama Canal.  Everyone was so excited to see this wonder of the modern world.  

And it did not disappoint!  We sat and watched ships go through for 4 hours.  Even seeing the ships, it is still hard to fathom just how big they were.

Here is a ship coming in.  Now the water will start lowering it....

...And here it is being lowered.  One of those freight boxes is as big as a semi-truck.

And the ship is off! This is the last lock into the Pacific.  That ship just completed the canal.  It paid anywhere around $50,000 to $250,000 to go through,  depending on how heavy the ship was.

Even a cruise ship came through!

Kevin was in nerd heaven.  

And then Kevin got to man the control station...

...and drive a ship through! Lucky duck.

 We then headed to the Panama City Temple which is nicely tucked back into some lush green hills.

And then we headed to dinner.  This place was recommended by the B&B owner and it was yummy!  

We had a bit of a problem with our taxi driver when we got to this restaurant.  Right when we got there he told us that we owed him $25 instead of $20 because we got OUT of the car at the temple.   We told him that before we got into the taxi we made sure he knew that he was taking us to the Temple so we could get out and take pictures.  But no, no, no he said that was "Special Service."  "Special" my a@#.  I cannot stand greedy Latinos.  People said that Panamanians were so much better than Mexicans, but for us that was not the case.  He yelled in spanish at Kevin for a good five minutes while we were all waiting outside the taxi for the driver to cool it.  Kevin then almost gave in and asked me for a $5.  Ha.  I looked at the taxi driver and told him he wasn't getting the $5, I took the $20 out of Kevin's hand, threw it at the taxi driver and told Kevin to come on.  

That settled it.

The taxi driver ended up staying at the restaurant and (what felt like) watched us the entire time we ate.  It kind of soured our dinner for us, and just thinking about it now makes me mad.  But I am so glad I didn't give in.  That'll teach him...