Panama City is the richest city in Central America!
Richest in what income? investments? I'm not sure
The downtown reminds me of Abu Dhabi with all the new
skyscrapers and the promenade/ public area along the water.
Just outside the city it looks like jungle!
I arrive in the afternoon and wanted to see the Panama Canal before I take off for the beach the next day. I got settled in my room and asked at the front desk if there were tours or how I could get to the canal. Being an airport hotel, they had no concierge and suggested I take a taxi! What taxi? I asked and they pointed to a man standing at the side of the lobby. Little did I know it takes 40 to 50 minutes from the hotel to the canal!! I negotiated a price and we went out to his car--not a taxi, an older car with cracked windshield. I figured the hotel knew him and recommended him so I was game for the adventure!
Here are some sights along the way.
This is the unfinished mass transit system(scheduled to be done in a few months) that goes
through Panama City to the airport. I'd heard Panama
City was the first city in Central America to build
a subway. This is line 2 and it is above ground!
A typical mini mart at the gas station with the typical
snacks, etc. Even hot dogs!
The lighthouse near the canal. Evidently
the water was closer to here than it is now.
Gas prices are around $2.65 per gallon. Higher quality gas.
See the cracked windshield??
Panama and Panama City have quite a history of pirates and trade. Once the Pacific was discovered by Spanish explorers in 1519, they crossed the narrow peninsula, using it as a trade route for gold and other treasures. Pirates also discovered this and would steal the treasures before they could make it across the peninsula. Captain Henry Morgan is the most notorious and credited with leading the group that ransacked the original Panama City, burning it to the ground and stealing the richest booty in the Americas.
Here are some sights in Panama City. Most of them taken from the car.
View from across one of the many rivers/streams that flow around the city.
Domino's delivery fleet!
Does having a McDonalds or many, mean this is a developed nation?
None in Haiti!
Beautiful Churches
Usual architecture!
Reminds me of Abu Dhabi, built up on the coast.
The fish market is very large and busy place. There are swarms of
birds sitting on the building and flying around above the area!
I can see returning to Panama for a longer visit and it would be worth spending more than half a day exploring Panama City.
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