Getaway to Colon, Panama

Best Things Nearby:
The nearest area is downtown Colon, which we were told was not safe for tourists, but of course we went anyway. In Colon is an area called the free zone, which has duty-free shops open to tourists and business professionals only (the locals are not allowed in to shop). You can purchase just about everything there: jewelry, clothes, electronics, etc. If you don’t want to spend the day browsing, you can hire a guide to take you to the exact location of stores you need or try your luck with the map. Also nearby is the Gaton Locks, which is the exit into the Atlantic. The hotel offers a free bus tour that will take you at least 30 minutes. We arrived in time to see two ships heading out and one ship heading into the canal. If you venture a little farther, you have beaches, forts, and the black Christ within a half-hour's drive, and one of the best restaurants that serves this dish with coconut rice and seafood. Of course, Panama City is not that far, about 1 hour.

Best Things About the Resort:
The best thing about the resort was the swimming pool and the fact that there were not a lot of people that week.

Resort Experience:
The resort was nice and sat on the river, which you could take a tour on or ride the kayaks. They also have a nature tour. While the resort has a restaurant, we found the food to be overpriced and not as good as the food in the restaurants we visited. I would recommend not purchasing the meal plan.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Fair
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Good
• Service: Good

The casinos in Panama City tended to pay out a lot more then in Colon. They are also newer, as the Colon casino needs updating. I would not recommended going to the Colon casino at night unless you have made arrangements for someone to pick you up.

Panama was an excellent vacation, and we will be traveling there again. We ventured out to new restaurants every night and the casinos, and the local food is good and cheap. The taxi driver who picked us up at the airport became our unofficial but official tour guide for the week. Mr. Yard (686-5680) spoke excellent English, and I could test his history knowledge of the canal since I had read the book "Path Between The Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914" by David McCullough (an excellent book, in my opinion).

I would recommend renting a car, but since we did not know that ahead of time, he was an excellent substitution, and the cost of taxis are nowhere near what they are here in the States. Using Mr. Yard instead of tours allowed us to see more of the normal tourist areas, like old Panama City, new Panama City, the causeway, Malafores locks, and other off-the-beaten-track locations at a more leisurely pace than if we took a tour.

We did give him a couple of breaks and took the tour to the Indian Village, which included a hike to a waterfall. While the waterfall was not the best, the hike there was adventurous because of the rainfall from the morning’s rain. The undercurrent was strong, and we had to make human links to pass people from one bank to the other. At the village we did a tour, saw a show of native dances, purchased local baskets, got temporary design tattoos like those that they wear on their body, and ate another excellent lunch of fresh fish and fruit.