It’s my first time on the North American continent. Panama is a country I didn’t know much about and wasn’t planning to visit soon. But circumstances happen, and the best connection I had was via Panama. So here I am for a week. Before, I stayed a month in Colombia, and the only international flight from Santa Marta is to Panama. So I was looking into this connection and found a good one back to Europe connecting via Panama.
Panama is using the US dollar, which I didn’t know. People speak English pretty well, and most things are written in English, which was quite a surprise for me after spending 5 months in South America. Panama is pretty modern and mostly cashless, but I still wanted to get some US dollars from the ATM since it’s always the cheapest way for me to get cash. No exchange office can beat my rate, even with the ATM fee included. Fun fact: I never had a US dollar in my hand, so I took the change to have a third currency (despite the Swiss Franc and Euro) in my wallet, which is widely accepted worldwide as a backup in case I have to exchange cash.
Just after landing, I headed directly into the city centre and to my Airbnb. My place was pretty well located. Some restaurants around, a couple of marks, and a bigger supermarket. So, it’s quite a residential neighbourhood. I just had a couple of days left to work before an upcoming public holiday. A friend from Peru joined me for the extended weekend to explore.
Panama Canal
Panama is famous for its crucial canal through which countless goods move around the world, saving immense costs and travel time. That place I had to go see for sure and watch those huge tankers pass the locks. I was interested in seeing how it actually works since I’ve never really observed something like that. There’s a small exhibition right next to the last gate towards the West side of the canal. There’s also an IMAX cinema that shows a 3D movie about the site’s history and importance.
Old town
Next, my friend and I headed to the old town. It’s a small place and very different from the city centre, which is very modern and with high buildings. Here, the stone roads are narrow, and on the side, a few-story colonial buildings. Totally a different vibe and colourful. We strolled around the place for a bit. Went down to the seaside, passed the church, some museums and just a lot of old buildings. Before it got dark, we headed to a rooftop for a drink to overlook the seaside and, in the back, the city centre.
We got hungry and decided to visit one more place to grab food. There are a couple of small islands off the coast, connected by a road (a dam). There’s a viewpoint and a couple of restaurants out there, as well as not a that small port. We read about a restaurant there that serves very local food and has a local vibe. So we went there and were very happy.
Modern city centre
The next day, we wanted to explore the city centre with its famous twisted building. We headed into the centre and had to shelter quite quickly in a cafe since heavy rain started. The day didn’t look good, and we were happy we’d used the day before to explore more of the outdoors. We decided to switch to indoor plans and found a bowling alley to play at.
Later, the weather improved, and we decided to check out another rooftop and have a drink at sunset. We stayed until it got dark so we could enjoy the skyline by night as well. The humidity was super high, there was always a short rain shower, and then the sun came out for a bit. I guess that’s typical weather in Panama.
Travel back to Europe
The next day was already travel day. My friend headed back to Peru, and I boarded a plane to Madrid. We booked very similar times for our flight, so we could head to the airport together. My flight was 10 hours to Madrid, which is quite decent compared to direct flights from the American West Coast. I had my best flight ever so far. I always book flights that are preferable for time adjustment and, therefore, jet lag. I don’t have issues with time changes, and while watching out for these things, I adjust right away or within 1 day. I went into the plane, had dinner and slept nicely. When I woke up, I just heard the captain’s announcement that we’re landing in 45 minutes. I looked around and noticed they had already served breakfast, which I totally missed. I never had a flight which felt so short. Dinner, sleep and arrival. I was so excited, and I was flying economy as always.
Madrid was just a connection for me. But the time between the flights was tight, so I was well prepared for what was about to happen in Madrid. Our flight was slightly delayed, but because of our tight connection, I couldn’t make it. I would never book such a connection if it weren’t on a single ticket (same airline) and I had a spare day. Those cases were both true. I did not have to be back in Switzerland before Wednesday, and my flight from Panama was on Monday. So I stayed a night in Madrid. Since the airline guarantees the connecting flight, they will reschedule the onward flight to the next available option, and if it’s on another day, they will organise an airport shuttle and a hotel for the night. So I had a chill layover in Madrid, waiting for my flight to Zurich the next morning.