Day 2—Driving in Panama City

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day in Panama City.  We had a view of the downtown skyline, and of the Pacific Ocean. 

The View from our Marriott window

We got up, scrounged up some free coffee, and then set off to check out the Metro Mall next door.  Unfortunately, it had just opened up, and most of its stores were still closed.  It is a beautiful mall that would rival any in the U.S. ( My secret goal was to get a cheap breakfast at McDonalds, but alas, they were not open, so we headed back to the Marriott for breakfast. )  The Marriott had already set us back $200 for the night, and $36 for a ride from the airport, and $18 for room service since their restaurant closed at 10 pm, and we didn’t feel like venturing out.  Now we faced an expensive breakfast!  So far, no way was Panama cheaper than the U.S.  When we got to the restaurant, it was virtually empty.  The waitresses did not really speak any English, but asked how many in our party, walked us to a table and then gestured to the buffet.  There was no menu, or sign as to how much this was going to cost us, and between not wanted to appear cheap and ask “¿Cuantos?” and realizing that the wait staff did not speak English, we just grabbed some plates and made our way through the buffet.  What a lovely surprise…there were delicious scrambled eggs (with cheese, I think) and chicken in a red “fajita” sauce, and  (cue the angels  singing…) yucca in a garlic oil….YUM!!! There was also bacon and sausage, and all kinds of bread things, and butter, and orange juice, and café con leche…oh it was good...

I forgot to mention the fresh fruit!

it was delicious, and wonderfully different for our first breakfast in Panama City.  When we got the check, it had set us back $45 with tip.  Gulp, a bit more than an Egg McMuffin, and again proving that, so far, Panama is not cheaper.  But, I've read, you cannot replicate your lifestyle from the states and expect to save $...so we shall see.

The view of our hotel from our "Taxi"

Next we took a taxi to the car rental place. Doesn't that sentence sound so simple.  First, we showed the woman at the front desk the address where we were going, and were sent to a man parked in front of the hotel. He was driving a big, white, like Lincoln Continental.  We have been told to only get into yellow taxis, but I figured he worked for hotel, and hey (maybe) we were getting shuttled gratis (hope springs eternal).  He looked at the address, loaded our luggage in the trunk, and us in the car, then proceeded to stare for a LONG time at the address on the paper. I was getting worried that he would be able to find it, and was kicking myself for not printing an actual map.  Finally he pulled out and as we were driving by a taxi parked in front of the Metro Mall, he said something to the other driver in Spanish, hesitated, and then proceeded (without a response,  I think) to drive us to our destination. Sean swears he asked the other driver how much to charge us, while I maintain he asked where the hell the place was...we will never settle that bet.  He never spoke a word to us, and just kept driving, and driving. When I had looked at a map, the place only looked to be a few blocks away, and I was really worried that he wouldn't be able to find it, but I figured, worst case scenario we would end up back at the Marriott.  After what seemed like an eternity, we pulled up in front of Advantage rent a car! Yeah! Again we held our breath to find out how much he would charge us for the protracted ride, and it was $11 bucks with tip.  I think we were officially Gringoed!  (I’m not really that excited about that, but as my husband pointed out, it cost that much to go .5 mile at home, so what the hell! Oh god, it’s people like us who are ruining the prices in Panama for everyone…) 

Juan, the owner or manager of the Advantage business, was very polite, and spoke very good English.  HOWEVER, we were quoted a price of $300 for 3 ½ weeks of car rental, and when he printed the paperwork, somehow the price had doubled to $600!!! WTF!!!

                Me: “But we are covered on our credit card, and our insurance at home.”

                Juan: “No, not in Panama.  In Panama there is law that you MUST take the extra insurance.”

                Me: “Are you sure we cannot decline this extra insurance.”

                Juan: “No! Not in Panama!”

Well, I’ll be…Hmmm…another bait and switch???? Who knows? I don’t mind paying for a rental car, but I want I know what I am paying for BEFORE hand!!! So we took the car (really, what were our choices?). We told Juan we wanted to go to the Miraflores Locks before we headed out to Gorgona.  He took quite a bit of time to give us directions (all landmark, which was fine with me as I am a landmark navigator!)  And….we got totally and completely lost.  Our daughter grew quieter and quieter in the back seat as Senor Toad’s wild ride grew more and more weird.  We ended up grid locked in a very impoverished area of Panama, and I felt so sad (and a little intimidated).  Anyway, we made it out after becoming trapped on a tiny one way street behind a bus, and a cops siren blaring behind us.  My brave (crazy) husband threw the car in reverse, cut off a cab, and sped around the mess.  I gotta say, I was impressed.  So we were headed to the locks, and got lost again! We took ONE WRONG TURN and ended up on  a toll road that was looping back to the city…NOOOO!!!! We drove forever, paid .90 got off, turned around, and paid .90 more to correct our mistake! 

We finally got to the locks.  It was lunch time, and about 1000 degrees, and 100% humidity.

We only had about ½ hour to view the ships.  We just caught the tail end of a container ship on its last lock, and another ship was about to enter the lock, but it just never moved forward while we were there.

 I tried to explain to Emma the ins and outs of what we were seeing, I was so excited.  Emma just gave me that thirteen year old look, and said, “I have no idea what you are talking about, so you can just stop talking”  wah, wah, wah….nothing like a teenager to let the wind out of your sails. 

So I ate my $2.15 (cheaper than any tourist venue EVER!) delicious hot dog in silence, and then tried to snap some pictures before we went  on our way.  It was so hot, I honestly thought I might pass out at one point.  We bought some postcards, (in the air conditioned gift shop) then we went off to find Gorgona. 

We had a little less trouble finding our way to the bridge, as things were better marked in this direction, but we almost missed the tiny turn off for the bridge.  Had it not been for the driver in front of us making the turn, we never would have seen it…so saved from another Mr. Toad’s wild ride.  Once we got on the Pan American Highway, we made our way uneventfully.  When we drove through La Chorrera, I was shocked by the number of people:  People waiting for buses, people walking (on the sidewalks, in the street, in front of our car.)  It was really something.  Of course we missed our turn off to Gorgona because the directions said there would be a green field (there were green fields EVERYWHERE!)

and then to look for a green M/S.  So M/S stands for Mini Super (which is what it said at the top of the store) and it was BLUE not green…anyway, we turned around and found our way to the condo’s. The place is beautiful!  It is tastefully decorated, and well equipped (More on that later)...

and what a view!

Next,  we made our first trip out to the local grocery store, and the Mc Donald’s for dinner, as we were too tired and hungry to cook dinner.  The grocery store we went to was the El Rey.  It was pretty nice, but again, I was not  the least bit impressed with their prices.  I was tired and cranky, and usually, grocery stores are my favorite things to go to in foreign countries.  I guess I expected too much, because the selections were weird, and they were out of things, and I did I mention I was super tired and cranky.   I was looking for wine.  I saw all the cheap, crappy wines from America—Gallo, Sutter Home, etc.  and then there were Argentinian wines,  which, of course might taste like tinny grape juice, so I decided on two:  Beringer Chardonnay $12, and an Argentinan wine for $5.50. (OK wine-snobby friends, I still like Chardonnay, deal with it!)  We bought stuff for breakfast, and somehow forgot to buy the ½ and ½ for my coffee.  AARGH…

We got back, unpacked, and then the magic happened. It was a lovely, tropical night.  There is something about the balmy evening, low lighting, some wine (the Beringer was great, but a bit expensive—I’ll let you know about the other wine later), and having the people you love around.  It was just a wonderful evening, filled with laughter, trying to find English speaking channels on TV,  and figuring out how to work the air conditioners.  We slept really well, although there was a low thump of music throughout the night, but the soft hum of the air conditioners all but blotted the sound out.