24 Hours in Panama

The flight to Panama city was super quick once again. We were fed and catered to until arrival. (United needs to learn from them). Immigration was a breeze but everyone had to put their bags in the customs scanner. I don't know what they think people are bringing into their country. Our first order of business was to get some local money (or so we thought).We walked to the money exchange station in the airport only to discover that the US dollar is equivalent to the Balboa and they accept US dollar everywhere. (My heart dropped because this meant that things would be expensive). We then walked outside to get transportation to our hotel which is located in downtown area, 30 minutes away. The taxi to downtown is a flat rate of I believe $40, that was a lot so we tried to book an uber instead but we did not have any luck so we settled for the taxi. It was a small van and the driver spoke English. Shoooot...they better speak English if they are going to be using the dollar like theirs. We were staying at Hotel Marbella in downtown. It is a small boutique hotel. We were greeted by a taxi driver upon arrival at hotel. This cab driver camps out in front of the hotel everyday soliciting guests for tour of the city. The driver quickly talked us into booking him for a day tour to explore the entire city including the canal while we were checking in. He was very persistent and had an answer for everything as if he was the mayor of the city. I knew from the "get-go" that he was selling us b.s. This happens to every tourist and has happened to me more than enough times so I could smell his b.s from afar. Hubby was entertaining him because he said the guy was very knowledgeable. I usually like to do my own touring because I do believe that some tour companies overcharge. But hubby assured this man that we would meet him downstairs after we had settled into our room for the tour. I quickly got on the internet and started reading about taxi drivers and fares in panama. And of course the first thing it said was to always negotiate fares before getting into the cab and it also gave sample fares from the downtown area to the tourist attractions. This was perfect! I told hubby about it and we both agreed not to pay this man more than the recommended fare. When we got downstairs, of course he was sitting in his car waiting for us. I wonder how long he had been sitting there that day. I mean is he that lazy or too good to drive around the city looking for passengers like the other taxi drivers? I was very annoyed and ready to bargain if he gave us a ridiculous number. He saw the look on my face and went straight to hubby. lol He's much nicer and more tolerable. We told him we just wanted to go see the canal and find food. We weren't interested in watching the whole operation of the canal. (What he recommended) It makes sense to see this because Panama doesn't really have much to offer but I was not interested. I have already seen this on TV so I was not looking forward to spending hours watching this. So we agreed on a fair price and off we went. This man talked the entire way until we got to our first stop. There are many angles or areas to see the canal. He first took us to the "The bridge of Americas" area where the Chinese monument is.

He gave us the history behind the Chinese in Panama blah blah .lol This man is a "know it all" and had this overconfident persona. After a couple photos here, he took us to the other side of the canal and got different angles of it. He then talked us into going to Flamenco Island. Flamenco Island is a popular destination with lots of restaurants and bars and has a great view of the city's skyline.

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Our driver took us by the marina where the yachts were docked and told us he had to get some food for his fish. I was very confused. He came back with 4 packs of crackers and told us to watch him. He took some crackers out and broke pieces into the sea and there they were...so many fishes! Fighting to eat the crackers...he did this a few times then gave us some of the crackers to feed the fishes. It was soo much fun and probably the highlight of our day. I could not even be mad at him any longer because he is a great business man and tour guide. I wondered how many times he had taken his passengers to do this. He knew exactly what would put our minds at ease about him and he did it. SMH! These hustlers!!

I asked him to take us to the fish market for lunch because we were starving. He warned us that the smell of the seafood market was awful so instead of eating in the heart of the market, we should eat upstairs instead where it smells better. I didn't want to believe him until we got out of the car. Whoa! That smell! It was very very very unpleasant. I mean I don't think I have ever smelled anything that bad in life before. The smell was completely gone when we got to the restaurant he recommended. It was a small open restaurant, restaurante mercado de marisco (The seafood market restaurant) located on the upstairs of the fish market. The driver sat down with us and called a waitress over to help us order. He was way too comfortable which led me to believe that he knew these people and was probably doing them a favor by bringing us there. He kept pressuring us to order the biggest Lobster on the menu. Maybe he got some type of commission for bringing guests there to order lobster. We both ordered fried fish with rice. Oh the driver ordered fried fish too. Dude was living it up. He then recommended that we try the best ceviche in Panama...he asked for $3 and came back with a small cup of ceviche. I was a little apprehensive to try it because I am not a fan of raw foods but boy am I glad I did. It was delicious! Very citrusy, tasty and refreshing. It was a good appetizer before the main course. Main course was okay, didn't hit the spot for me but hubby enjoyed it. Oh and in case you were wondering, we did not pay for the driver's food. Lol We didn't see him pay either which confirmed my theory about working with them.

After our meal and another one of his tour and history of the fish market, I asked hubby to tell him to leave us to explore on our own. I can't enjoy the city with this politician wannabe giving us his own version of history and personal story on everything. We agreed that we would meet up in a couple of hours. We headed downstairs and walked through the actual market to see the various fresh seafood for sale and then outside to see the other restaurants. There were lots of outdoor restaurants or stalls serving all kinds of seafoods and alcohol at affordable prices. This is a good place to eat good food for cheap. It was very crowded and since seating is outdoors which could be overwhelming. And surprisingly there was no foul smell there. He tricked us into eating at that restaurant upstairs. In fact the only place we smelled that awful odor was in the parking lot and the cross bridge. SMH

We walked around to the other side of the marina. There were playgrounds, picnic areas, outdoor gymnasium with exercise equipments and many more. Its a great location for family time and date nights.

We ended our tour here. We were tired of walking so we headed back to the hotel. Our driver got a call from another passenger so he left us alone for the day after he dropped us off but definitely wasn't before he arranged to pick up for the airport in the morning. lol

Later that night, Hubby and I took advantage of our freedom from the taxi driver and walked around the downtown area. We stumbled upon on foodie gem at the Solo restaurant located within the Granada Urban hotel. We weren't hungry but could not resist the sexy ambiance and the menu. It was a great end to our Panamanian adventures. Oh and we caught the blood moon on our way back to our hotel. #goodtimes

Red snapper slow cooked in garlic sauce

Melon and shrimp Gazpacho

Panama city was fun but I personally don't think it is worth more than a stopover. They refer to themselves as the Dubai of Central America with its beautiful skylines. It does not give the real Latin American feel that one would expect from them. It looks and reminds me of somewhere in the U.S

#CentralAmerica #Panama