First things first, I will start with Day 2 in Panama City (yesterday). I'll just write about everything we did as I can remember it because there was a lot of great packed into one day for us. Clyde and Terry met us in the lobby at around ten am and the first thing we were going to do was head up Ancon Hill. Wikipedia states that Ancon Hill is a 654 foot hill that overlooks Panama City, Panama. It was part of the Panama Canal Zone that never really became developed. Apparently wildlife such as sloths, coatis, armadillos and deer can be seen, and the area now has protected status. When we arrived to the gate, we were told Ancon Hill would open at one pm. Clyde turned us around and headed to the Amador Causeway to show Ray and I places we didn't see on our last visit to Panama. We stopped at the Duty Free shop to browse, and then we were "wowed" by the enormity of Albrook Mall. Clyde needed to stop in a music store called Music Planet, we all took the opportunity to use clean bathrooms (we used the one's that didn't cost a quarter), and Clyde and Terry showed us the bus station that is attached to the mall (near the food court). This is where many people fly into Panama City, take a taxi to the mall, and buy a bus ticket to David (a seven hour bus ride). Since there was church in morning, the mall had just a few shoppers--so far.
Lunch was at a Mexican restaurant in a small shopping center (the restaurant was across from an El Rey, but I never saw the name of it). We sat outside under a very large bohio. Fajitas and tacos were ordered along with Balboa beer and Frescas. Now that our bellies were full, we once again went along with Clyde being our driver (fantastic!) and headed to Ancon Hill. I had read in TripAdvisor reviews that many times cars will queue at the gate waiting turns to go up the hill to the park. It is a single lane on a steep hill. Clyde put the car in park, and we waited. Then they decided to close the gates. It was 1:30 pm. How did the park get so crowded within thirty minutes of opening? Some people walked up the hill to ask what was happening and why the gates had been closed. The hill was closed. Cars and taxis were coming down the hill (remember it is really just one lane). Clyde squished his car as far as it could go over to the right without having his tires land in the ditch. Then he backed his car down the hill. Then he was able to maneuver one of those "Y" turns. It took quite a few forward, reverse, forward, reverse motions but cars and taxis were patient and down the hill we went in search of Plan C? Always in Panama have other plans.
How about Summit Park or Gamboa? Sure. We have the whole day. Off we went with Clyde and Terry to the park. First order of business was stopping for some snacks and drinks, and always take a bathroom break when you can in Panama (This gas station, Terpel, was clean as well with an abundance of toilet paper! This is not usual as I have found in the past.) Eating Yuqitas chips (yucca chips), Baked Lays (in case I didn't like what Ray had chosen) and drinking sodas and waters, we were now ready to see Summit Park. There wasn't any parking. This is normal in Panama. Big parks and stadiums and strip plazas come with odd parking. Just park your car anywhere and hope for the best. Onward to Gamboa. Let's see Gamboa Rainforest Resort. To get to the resort, there is a one lane bridge that cars take turns (that's the key here) driving over. First you stop at a traffic light. There is a sign giving you the directions (green means go basically). Clyde was first in line. The light turned green. Clyde proceeded. About a third of the way over the bridge, an oncoming car decided to keep coming on. Until we were bumper to bumper, headlight to headlight. We sat and waited for him to back up. It was our turn after all. We had cars lined up behind us. Clyde got ou fo the car to talk to the other driver. "You need to back up. We had the green light." Nope. Not backing up. So we lost. More cars were coming, since the light had now turned green for the other drivers, and they didn't have a clue what was ahead. We all backed up so the one driver that wouldn't budge could get his way (maybe the lights were off?). We waited our turn again and over the bridge we went. Once we went under a canopy of bamboo, we saw a gate up ahead with a man and a clipboard. We knew since we weren't guests at the hotel that we would be turned away. So Clyded turned around. He drove some roads just to see where the roads would go. Next thing you know, we come up on a building. A resort. The resort we were looking for, and there wasn't a gate. Clyde found parking and into the lobby we wandered.
Reviews of this resort, Gamboa Rainforest Resort, on TripAdvisor are mixed. (Rooms need updating, service can be slow, but the grounds are amazing.) It is rated the Number 1 resort out of 1 resorts in Gamboa. It is Soberania National Park and surrounded by the Chagres River. This river meets the canal and Lake Gatun. We walked through the lobby (beautiful) and took pictures of the pool, river, swim up bar, and lush grounds. It is very serene. And yes, we used the bathrooms again (spa-like pretty).
Clyde continues to drive along hoping we are still game. Heck yeah. We love stumbling upon things and taking those "short cuts". We came to a sign that said "Camina del Oleoducto". We later figured it out that it says Pipeline Road. (It does say this, but none of us put two and two together for a while--it had been that kind of confusing, but superb, day after all.). The paths were closed to cars and entrance to the pipeline is only at limited times for limited people (Terry later looked it up for a future visit.), but we were allowed to walk the rocky terrain in our flip flops and sandals. No complaints here. It is a rainforest, so the sun wasn't beating down on us, we were walking at a leisurely pace, taking pictures of a Coatimundi minding his own business and amazing leaf cutter ants. (I am on a netbook, so I am unable to post pictures until I get home. I will post all of them in one post once back in chilly Virginia!). When driving away, I noticed a man aiming his camera up at the sky. Terry asked what he was looking at, and there it was...a sloth hanging upside down in the tallest of trees. Again, what a great day!
On the way back to the Amador Causeway, we stopped to see some fishermen cleaning and scaling Peacock Bass and then we stopped at the middle locks to watch two ships go through the locks. There is fencing all around, but there is seating for people to watch without having to pay at Mira Flores. I had mentioned that at some point during my trip, even though I know it is overrated, I wanted to have a drink or an appetizer at TGIFriday's. Here I had read (and I knew Terry and Clyde had stayed at the Country Inn next door and ate at the restaurant) on several blogs that while sitting outside, I could watch ships go by (from the locks out into the Pacific) and catch a sunset. This is where we had dinner. A comfortable dinner of salad, coconut chicken and spicy rice along with the sunset and people watching was exactly how the night needed to end. No more drama.
But wait there's more. Clyde had no problems backing down the hill at Ancon, backing over a one lane bridge at Gamboa, parking in any parking lot where there wasn't any parking, and so he certainly didn't have any problem maneuvering his way down a two lane road that was now piled up on both sides with parked cars. Terry had to stick her head out the window telling him he had clearance so he wouldn't swipe a parked car. Side view mirrors were folded in. We were sucking it all in in hopes that the car would get just a little bit skinnier. An hour of fighting our way out of a crowd of cars (where was everyone going on a Sunday night at seven pm), we made it right back to where we started (we had been directed by parking attendants to leave in one direction). Once we saw Figoli Convention Center and the throngs of teenagers lined up to see something, Clyde only had a five minute drive to drop us off at the hotel. What was five minutes took sixty five minutes because there was, unbeknownst to us, a three day marathon of a concert called "The Day After". (Terry looked it up.)
We said our good byes to Clyde and Terry and hope to see them this week again. Ray and I walked over to Riba Smith in the mall next to our hotel (Multiplaza Mall), because we didn't have any staples in our refrigerator. We had an early morning today and didn't want to go back to Nikos for breakfast. Riba's is just okay. Yes, if you want YOUR brands (from the US), you will find it here. But I wanted local brands. Cheap brands. Which I did find, but the store doesn't have a huge selection of really anything, in my opinion. It has the brands I would find in my store but not enough of selection, and then it has Panamanian brands. I prefer El Rey or El Machetazo or Super 99. Just me. If I need something specifically, I know I will be able to find it in Riba's, but it wouldn't be my "go to" grocery store. We bought Panamanian yogurt, Fresca, water and some more Yucca Chips. Bedtime by 9:30. I thoroughly enjoyed going "along the gringo trail" again with Clyde and Terry. Ray and I cannot wait for the next adventure.
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