Adventures in Central America: San Jose, Costa Rica

This morning we were up bright and early to cab to Panama City's Albrook (domestic) airport.  We had semi-arranged with our cabbie from the trip to the zoo and from Miraflores to meet us at Magnolia Hostel at 7:30, but I wasn't holding my breath, and indeed he was not there.  I had agreed to pay him $8 for the ride (having been told $10 was normal).  We walked a block down to the Plaza Mayor to find a cab there, and the first one I talked to told me he'd take us for $5.  I was too surprised to bargain.

Our flight was in an Air Panama Fokker 50 and the first leg took us to David, in western Panama.

There we had to go through immigration, and security again, and then re-board the same plane for another hour-or-so flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is an hour behind Panama, so we landed at more or less the same time we had taken off.  By the time we were through immigration and all that it was around noon.

The SJO airport is a fair distance from San Jose, but there's a bus that runs every five minutes and costs 535 colones, or about $1 US.  Figuring out which bus to take proved somewhat more difficult than I expected, but a man at the stop proved helpful and told me twice not to get on particular buses and then confirmed that the next one was the right one.  The bus took us about half an hour to get downtown.  We had been warned that there would be no room for luggage, which was true in the sense that there were no luggage racks, but not true in the sense that the bus was never more than half full.  So, if you have lots of luggage this is not a good option.  If you have a backpack or small suitcase, like us, the bus is a very cheap way to get to San Jose from the airport.

Once in San Jose it was a quick walk down the pedestrian street Av Central to our hotel, the Grand Hotel Costa Rica.

In 1930, the year it was built, I assume this hotel was among the best in Central America.  Even in the 1960s, President Kennedy stayed here when he visited Costa Rica.  But now it is a bit tired and run down.  It still manages to be a little classy, and the location is excellent, and, much to my surprise, the price is not bad.  We're paying $63 for our two-bed room, which looks like this.

There is even a breakfast buffet included, served in the fifth floor dining room which has lovely windows looking out over the square.

We were welcomed on the patio with a complimentary drink.

Once we checked in, we went for a walk, including a stop at this remarkable post office.

Later my brother relaxed at the hotel while I went to see the legislative assembly;

Museo Nacional;

and the National Theater.

Tomorrow we fly to Houston, and then on to Edmonton, where our adventure ends.

Adventures in Central America: Panama Viejo & Amador Causeway, Panama

Once again I began the day earlier than my brother, and once again I spent the morning roaming Casco Viejo.  Today was Easter Sunday, and I got to spy on Easter mass through an open church door.

When my brother woke up we ate breakfast at Super Gourmet, an American owned and operated deli.  We paid $10 each, so it was not cheap, but it was delicious, and even healthy.  Certainly the most "North American" of our Panamian breakfasts.

After breakfast we caught the bus back to Panama Viejo.

Interestingly, a lot of places were closed Good Friday, but open Easter Sunday, including Panama Viejo.  Although it was open, nobody was at the ticket counter when we arrived, so our tour ended up being on the house.

Mostly the ruins are not all that interesting, other than the restored cathedral tower, which is both cool for its historic value, and because you can climb it and have great views in all directions, including the Pacific Ocean;

and the Panama City skyline.

Later in the afternoon, back in Casco, I rented a bike at Casco Bike Rentals ($4/hr) to bike the Amador causeway.

Biking from Casco to the causeway will no doubt be lovely one day soon, but it is not perfect yet, and required cycling on the road and some rather sketchy sidewalks.  I enjoyed the ride nonetheless, until the bike chain literally broke and fell to the pavement.  This was quite a surprise as I have never had that happen, and I cycle a lot.

I picked up the chain, threw it in the basket on the front of the bike, and walked the four kilometers or so back to Casco.

Adventures in Central America: Panama Canal Zone

This morning I was up significantly earlier than my brother, so I did some chores, such as hit up the laundromat around the corner.  The guy working the hostel desk told me emphatically that the laundry would be closed all weekend for Easter, but he had told me the postal place would be closed too, and it hadn't been yesterday, so I was skeptical.  Anyway, it was literally around the corner, so easy enough to check out, and with the heat I was sweating through shirts rapidly (i.e., really needed clean laundry).  The laundromat was open, and I believe it was supposed to be self-service, but I got something much closer to full service (perhaps because I was evidently somewhat clueless), which even included my clothes nicely folded in a clean bag when I came back.  Moreover, the proprietor told me $2.50, but took the $2 I had in my hand and said "okay," as he turned to his other customers.

At 9:00, I visited the Panama Interoceanic Canal Museum when it opened.

The museum is in the main square in Casco Viejo, near the main cathedral.

The entrance fee is a very reasonable $2, but I made sure I would be able to leave and come back once I bought a ticket, because I wanted to be able to leave to go check on my brother.  The museum exhibits are unfortunately all in Spanish, but otherwise it is superb.  The building itself is well over a century old and has served, among other things, as the headquarters of the French company that originally tried to dig the canal.  The exhibits cover lots of information, about the canal, of course, but also about Panamian history and such.  It is very well done, and has lots of interesting artifacts, particularly maps.  Best of all, however, may be the air conditioning--hands down the best A/C I've encountered in Panama.  If you are in the area on a hot day--even a hot morning at 9:00, the $2 admission is worth it just for the A/C!

After about half an hour I had skimmed through most of the exhibits and decided I better get back to the hostel.  I wanted to feel like I would be okay not coming back, but I was certainly hoping to later on.  I confirmed with the lady that my receipt would get me back in as I left.

Back at the hostel my brother was now awake, so we headed out, buying some snacks at the grocery store and bargaining with a cabbie for a ride.  I had been told (again by my unreliable hostel employee informants) that a cab to the Panama Canal's Miraflores Locks would cost $8-10.  I knew how to get there for cheaper by bus, but it would have involved a lot of walking and a lot more time, and really not that much savings.  Plus, it would have required us to get lucky some more without the transit card, or else we would have had to go buy the cards at $2 each, which would have meant the savings would be negligible.

It was not actually Miraflores Locks that we wanted to go to, however, it was the Parque Municipal Summit, a zoo in a national park much further along the highway towards the Caribbean.  At first the cabbie told me it would be $25, then $20, then $15, and then he asked what I would pay and I said $8.  He fussed and fussed but eventually gestured us in.  Given the hostel employee quote, this seems like it was a good deal.

Once again the trip was interesting, taking us by the famous canal administration building (it resembles a provincial legislature, large, historic, and set up on a hill), Albrook airport, the Miraflores Locks, the canal, etc.  In total we were driving probably half an hour or so.

The cabbie began getting very grumpy as we got closer to the park (I'm not certain he realized how far it was when we first set out), and actually dropped us off over two kilometres from the zoo itself at the park entrance.  He insisted the park was closed for semana santa and that there were no taxis or buses and that we would have to walk a long way back.

I was a bit annoyed at all this, as well as a little worried, because if the park was closed we had come here for nothing.  I was not worried about being able to catch the bus, however, since we had passed several on the way.

Of course it was getting extremely hot now, but we walked along for a minute or two in the sun when a park worker in a pick-up truck pulled over to talk to us.  I do not think he spoke a lick of English, and of course I assumed at first he would tell us the park was closed.  Instead he seemed to ask where we wanted to go and I told him and he confirmed and then he gestured us into the truck.  He seemed entirely legit, so we got in, and he handed us a park brochure and asked us where we were from and he was really nice and sure enough a few minutes later dropped us off at the gates of the zoo (which was obviously very much open).  So that was a really neat experience and worked out pretty well for us.      

The zoo itself is not really a zoo in the sense I think of a zoo (i.e., a collection of exotic or foreign animals).  Instead, it had enclosures with various local animals in them (jaguars; monkeys; deer; a crocodile; a harpy eagle;

tapirs;

peccaries;

pumas;

and several birds).

Of course as Canadians all these animals did seem exotic, and best of all, they were all active and looked right at home, as opposed to cold and lethargic as many exotic animals do at the Edmonton zoo (particularly at this time of year).

It was close to 13:00 by the time we had finished at the zoo, and this was pretty good timing, because the large ships do not pass through Miraflores locks between 11:00-14:00 (apparently because they are going east in the morning and then switch to westward bound in the afternoon).

We waited at the bus stop outside of the zoo for quite a while, much longer than I thought we would have to, but eventually a red devil bus came a long (the red devils are the old Panamian buses that are former North American school buses; they lack A/C, do not seem well maintained, and are privately owned and operated; eventually they will apparently be eliminated in favour of the very modern Metrobuses we had ridden yesterday).  We rode the bus for twenty minutes or so before arriving at the Miraflores stop.  We are not sure how much the bus cost, but we gave the driver a quarter each and he didn't blink.  Perhaps we overpaid, or maybe this was the right fare.  Anyway we were happy with it.

From the highway/bus stop we had a walk of fifteen minutes or so, part of which involved crossing a bridge over a lagoon created by a dam.  Far below the bridge we could see a massive crocodile lying with his mouth wide open.

The Miraflores locks are one of three sets of locks the original canal had and has had up to now.  Two of these are on the Pacific side (Pedro Miguel and Miraflores) and one on the Atlantic side (Gatun).  We saw the Pedro Miguel locks as we drove by, but it is at Miraflores that there's a visitor's centre and a bit of a museum.  

Obviously the highlight here is the observation deck that allows visitors to watch ships pass through the locks.

But there is also a bit of a movie to watch explaining some of the history and interesting facts about the canal, and also several floors of exhibits covering much the same sorts of things.  I was actually somewhat disappointed with the information provided in the movie and exhibits, but it really was thrilling to watch the ships and the locks in operations.

It was really only hunger that drove us away--I would have stayed and watched more ships go through for another hour or so if I hadn't wanted food so badly.  There was a $42 buffet option, but we passed on that.

As we descended the steps out front to find a cab, who should we see but the cabbie from the morning!  In retrospect I think he may have dropped us off in the park and then driven to the locks to pick up his next customer, and there he had been waiting ever since.  Either way, there he was, happy to see us.  Despite how he had frustrated me earlier, he seemed a logical choice for a driver back, and we were eager to get back ASAP.  So we agreed to $8 for the return trip and got in.  

We stopped for gas and, believe it or not, for our cabbie to pick up his freshly laundered shirt, but eventually made it back to the hostel.  Truth be told, the somewhat circuitous route was okay, because a) he was apologetic for it and b) he took us through some interesting neighborhoods.

Back in Casco, we finished our afternoon eating at our favorite restaurant (and really one of the few Casco eateries that did not seem overpriced to us).

Adventures in Central America: Casco Viejo, Panama

Panama City is an awfully hot place, even at 9:00 in the morning.  I needed sunscreen immediately as I went for a walk to snap some pictures of Casco Viejo in the daylight.

 

In some ways Casco Viejo is a real dump.  There is lots of garbage, many of the buildings are entirely rundown and vacant, and there are countless stray cats and prostitutes.  On the other hand, it has lots of colour, history, and those buildings that have been restored are really beautiful.  It's been a pleasure walking around it all day and getting to know each of the blocks.

We spent most of our day exploring Casco Viejo and going on a bit of an excursion to Panama Viejo, the original old city that the British privateer Henry Morgan sacked in the 17th century.  The success of this raid proved that Panama Viejo's location was too vulnerable, so the city was reestablished on the peninsula that is now Casco Viejo.

Because it is Good Friday we expected the visitor's centre to be closed, but we were told the ruins of Panama Viejo would still be accessible, and for free.  So we went on a trek out of Casco and past the large seafood market to Cinta Costera, an oceanfront recreation area between Casco and the downtown of modern Panama.  We were able to catch a city bus there.  The bus is only 25 cents, but technically requires a transit card to ride.  A lady was nice enough to use her card for us, and we reimbursed her with a quarter each.

The ride was an excellent tour of downtown, as we passed right through the city.  The number of tall buildings, both office towers and condos, is amazing.  Someone compared the skyline to Dubai and I can see why.  I've also heard Panama described as the "Miami of Central America"--but I think it might have an even more crowded skyline than Miami.

We arrived at the ruins site without difficulty, and indeed the visitor's centre was closed.  Unfortunately, although we could see ruins, they were thoroughly fenced in, with security guards outside.  So this meant our trek was a failure in terms of its objective, although we did, I suppose, still get to see ruins of the original city.

This is the best photo I got (you can see part the wall and some of a bridge), although this was actually outside of the compound while we were waiting for the bus back.

But really we weren't too disappointed, because the getting there had been an adventure in itself.

On the way back there was no nice lady to swipe her card for us (in fact there was only one other person on the bus at all), but the driver smiled, waved us by, and refused our offers of quarters.  I had read that Panamians are friendly, and it really seems to be true, maybe friendlier than anywhere else I've traveled where I don't speak the language.

Adventures in the USA: Denver, Colorado (to Panama City, Panama)

April 2, 2015

The weather was lousy when we woke up--snowy and sleety and cold, but we headed for Red Rocks anyway.  

Actually I missed the exit off the interstate, so we headed west further than we had to, but it ended up being the scenic route as we were well towards the mountains before I could turn around.

Once at the park we almost immediately ran into a bunch of deer along the parking lot.

We went for two short walks and saw lots of red rocks, of course; some interesting plants, including at least two kinds of cacti; a tunnel through the rock; and, besides the deer, rabbits and birds, including a robin and some blue birds we didn't recognize.

There's our car, way down below.

Then we stopped by to see the Red Rock Amphitheater, a depression-era project that created a pretty epic open-air concert venue.  It's not quite the Hoover Dam, but a fairly impressive project nonetheless.

From Red Rocks State Park we drove to the other side of Denver, where we dropped the car and shuttled to the airport for our 13:10 flight to Panama City.

The flight was close to six hours, but was actually a pretty nice flight, because my brother and I each got an entire 3-seat row to ourselves!

We were amazed getting off the plane in Panama at how hot and humid it was.  I had arranged a ride with the hostel, and we were met by Alexis and his friend Isabella.  Alexis is a Chinese immigrant to Panama and Isabella is a Taiwanese graduate student on exchange to Panama to study Spanish.  They were pretty interesting to talk to during the drive, which was about one hour long from the international airport (PTY) to Casco Viejo.

We learned, for example, that there are lots of Chinese in Panama, and they originally came here to work on the railroad, just as in Canada.

It's holy week (semana santa), so Casco Viejo was hopping with churchgoers and partiers.  We checked in at Magnolia hostel, and then went for a bit of a walk around the neighborhood.  There wasn't much to see in the dark and all, but we did get some drinks and fruit at a little grocery store and sat in the Plaza de la Independencia in front of the Iglesia Catedral, which was teeming with Good Friday throngs.

Adventures in the USA: Denver, Colorado

My youngest brother and I are en route to Panama City to take advantage of his spring break and my Easter long weekend.

Our itinerary takes us from Edmonton to Denver to Panama City, and we fly back via San Jose, Costa Rica and Houston.

We spend a night in Denver, San Jose, and Houston, and we are only going for a week, so really we're spending half our trip in Panama City and half of it getting there and back.  But that is okay, because it will be a leisurely trip rather than one that involves sleep-deprivation and jet lag, and it will let us see and do things along the way.

Moreover, we are no longer in Edmonton, where there was an ugly blizzard this morning (although I think similarly bad weather is heading Denver's way overnight).

In any case, tonight driving from the airport we detoured to see the Colorado State Capitol, the Colorado Rockies' stadium, Coors Field, and the first Quiznos ever.  We also got to eat a delicious Mexican dinner that included fresh mint limeade and horchata (a drink made from rice, cinnamon and milk).

Tomorrow morning we are hoping to visit Red Rocks State Park before our trip to Panama continues, but that will somewhat depend on what the weather is like when we wake up.