Lin and I just returned from Panama on a three-week scouting trip, and we only took a backpack & a carryon suitcase each—that’s it for our luggage! Anyone that’s traveled with me knows I usually have my largest suitcase, so why?
The Why To Only a Backpack & Carry On
As Lin researched this trip and gathered information from seasoned travelers, a friend told us it was a good way to go so we wouldn’t have to deal with checking any luggage. United and Copa airlines both charge for checked luggage also. So, we did laundry twice. I followed the 3-1-1 rule and put all my makeup and hair stuff in plastic bottles in a quart ziplock bag. However, I had to used some of Lin’s quart baggie for some of my stuff. Surprisingly it worked easily! Also I bought only one souvenir for my brother—a shot glass!
Our Trip
Monday-Flight Day with a Backpack & a Carryon Luggage
We left here on Monday, April 28 for Panama City bright and early. Again, a friend suggested we stay at this hotel, the Magnolia Inn, they had used in Casco Viejo, similar to Old Town Albuquerque. We stayed there a week doing the footwork and paperwork to finalize our temporary visas and driver’s licenses with our immigration lawyer. And we had plenty of off time to tour Casco Viejo!
Tuesday – American Embassy
On Tuesday we met our immigration lawyer at the American Embassy housed on the old Fort Clayton. “Fort Clayton was located northwest of Balboa, Panama, with the Panama Canal located nearby. It closed in 1999 pursuant to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Clayton
It was simply a paperwork transaction of verifying our driver’s license—the first step in the process after already having gotten other significant paperwork authenticated at the Panamanian consulate in Washington, DC before we arrived. That paperwork was sent to our lawyer in Panama.
Afterwards we waited for any communication from the lawyer, but he basically said it would be Friday or Monday before we finished up.
Our Free Time in Panama City
So we became tourists and enjoyed Casco Viejo.
Wednesday-Walking Tour
On Wednesday, we did a free walking tour that started at our hotel. What a great idea! Elmer, the tour guide, showed us the highlights of the area. The highlight for me was the Geisha Coffee Experience. I had never heard of this super expensive coffee that tastes like strong tea and smells like jasmine. We saw it for as much as $37 a cup in a coffee house! It’s grown in the Boquete area of Panama near the Volcán Barú.
We also saw the golden altar at Church of San Jose which a priest saved from Sir Henry Morgan and pirates in the 17th century by painting it with ashes and deceiving Morgan from stealing it. What a brilliant deception!
That evening, we ventured out for dinner after going to the grocery store for some things for me. In our walking, we saw some policemen and asked where to eat. They suggested the “La Fonda,” so down the hill we walked and found it. What a Panamanian delight! We enjoyed an evening of traditional food and folk dance.
Thursday-Mola Museum
On Thursday, we went to the Mola museum. Jennifer, our immigration lawyer’s helper told us about it when I shared an interest in the local indigenous cultures. It happened to be just a couple blocks from our hotel.
“The Mola Museum is a “virtual museum” dedicated to the art of the Kuna (Guna) Indians. The Kunas live on the San Blas Islands east of Panama, in the Darien region of Panama, and in Colombia. Kuna women make and wear blouses decorated with appliqued cloth, reverse appliqued cloth and embroidery. The blouses, and their decorative front and rear panels, are referred to as molas.”
The molas are so beautiful and colorful!
Friday-Panama Canal Museum
On Friday, we went to the Panama Canal museum. It’s so big we took a break (because they let you go in and out) and went back for more and still didn’t see all of it. Again, it was just a couple blocks from our hotel. Staying in Casco Viejo turned out to be a Godsend! Afterwards, we went to the book store, but they had a limited selection of books in English, so we passed.
Saturday-Monkey Island, Miraflores Locks & Dinner Out with Friends
On Saturday, we went to Monkey Island, a major tour attraction in the area. To get there, we rode in a boat across Gatun Lake within the Panama Canal and saw big tankers heading towards the locks. We saw three types of monkeys: white-faced capuchin monkeys, Geoffroy’s titi monkeys and howler monkeys. We lured some curious ones to the boat with grapes. They were hilarious with their antics—so fast on their grab that we couldn’t get a picture.
Then we went to the Miraflores Visitor Center and saw the IMAX documentary, A Land Divided, A World United, narrated by Morgan Freeman. Afterwards we waited for a ship to go through the locks. Our tour guide had a great app, MarineTraffic, which showed us the queue of the ships lined up to go into the locks.
Finally, the ship arrived and we joined the crowd on the viewing area in the hot, hot sun. It takes a ship eight to ten hours to go through the Panama Canal. Panama earns twenty-five million dollars a day off of the canal—that’s unbelievable!
That evening we went out to dinner with friends we’ve met through Panama Relocations Tour, a tool many use to relocate to Panama.
Sunday-Day to Relax
On Sunday we relaxed and got the timing for our big day on Monday to get our temporary visas and Panamanian driver’s license
Monday-Temporary Visas & Panamanian Driver’s License Day
The day we have been waiting for for four months! On Monday, we got up 5:00 AM to meet our immigration lawyer at 7:00 AM at the Migracíon Panamá. Being anxious, we had our Uber driver pick us up at 5:45 PM, not knowing how long it would take to get there. We arrived at 6:05!
Our lawyer arrived a little late. At 7:00 AM, everyone stood up and they raised their flag. Then the action started. We went downstairs, waited a few minutes then went individually to a desk and gave them our prepared documents from our lawyer. A few minutes later, we walked out with our temporary visa card with our picture on it.
Then our wonderful Uber driver got us a driver to go to Sertracen Panamá to get our driver’s license. We were supposed to meet Jennifer, the assistant, there at 9:00 AM, so being early, we grabbed a latte and a sweet treat. It wasn’t clear what we needed to have for the license, especially for our age. Supposedly we needed blood tests and a cognitive test.
Our coffee and sweets caused Lin’s glucose level on the blood test to be higher than normal. The only cognitive test we decided was answering any questions the doctor asked about our medicines we take.
So we got our licenses easily with a hearing and sight test. We walked out excited with our accomplishments. To celebrate we ate lunch at a Turkish restaurant! Panama City is a multi-cultural city for sure!
Tuesday-Travel Day to David & Boquete—Glad only a Backpack!
On Tuesday, we got up early again to catch our plane to David. Again our dependable Uber driver arrived at 5:45 AM. We easily and quickly got to the airport. Our short flight to David felt crowded in a smaller plane. We deplaned on the tarmac and were thankful for only our backpacks and carryon luggage!
Anna, from Cowboy Cars Rental in Boquete, picked us up and the next leg of our adventure began—two weeks exploring Boquete as our possible future home.
Finally,
because Lin had done the research and we found a dependable immigration lawyer through Panama Relocation Tours, this week’s tasks went by perfectly. We had been told we needed five days, so that’s why we stayed over the weekend making Monday our fifth day. Also, we had a great time exploring Casco Viejo and other attraction near Panama City. Our backpacks and carryon luggage still had some clean clothes to wear but not too many.
Next week, see what we did for our first week in Boquete.
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