Last-Minute Trip to Panama

Hey, it's on the same time zone as Boston? And they use American currency? I'm there.

I took this trip pretty much on a whim, on the advice of a colleague who had traveled extensively in the region. I told her I enjoyed wandering around big cities and desperately needed some time at a beach, preferably in a hammock. The postcard I sent her from Bocas Del Toro, five days into my trip, read "THANK YOU!" I had very little time to do research or reading, and made plans on the fly after arriving in Panama city.

I stayed in Casca Viejo and El Cangrejo while in Panama City, and stuck pretty close to Bocas town while on Isla Colon.

Quick Tips:

Though bargain-hungry backpackers may break out in hives at the very thought, I mean it when I say that Panama is best experienced in the high tourist season (December to April). I arrived in early November and could tell I was missing out on the best the country had to offer - the weather, in particular, was frustratingly gray.

Make the most of any truly hot showers you encounter, especially after a tumble in the surf, when you've got sand in every crevice of your body, and invest in a viscose towel that will dry quickly in a humid climate. Paying to have your laundry done is an excellent idea, even if your clothes aren't super-dirty - it's the only way it'll ever get really dry.

Eat fish and drink canned 50-cent Cuba Libres.

Best Way To Get Around:

Cabs are cheap, plentiful and eager for your business in Panama City - when you're on foot, they'll slow down and honk, just to make sure you're absolutely sure you wouldn't rather have a ride. It's not uncommon to share cabs, so be prepared to go a bit out of your way.

For travel between cities in Panama, I used the domestic airline Aeroperlas, which allows you to book flights online, in English (my Spanish is miserable), which was a big help. There's also overground transit options, which are probably better if you're headed to Panama from other Central America locations.

You might lose a flip-flop to a mud puddle on occasion, but walking's still the best way to get around Bocas Del Toro, with the occasional trip to remoter locations on Isla Colon and other islands by water taxi or chartered boat.

Nine bucks a night gets you a (bunk) bed in an air-conditioned room, breakfast, Internet access, and tons of opportunities to pick the brain of the Belgian expat owner about what's worth seeing beyond Panama city. Ask real nicely and he'll give you a ride to the airport for ten bucks, much less than a taxi would cost. The staff is friendly too, and remembered me when I came back for my second stay. Mamallena is in one of the more upscale areas of Panama city, surrounded by fancy hotels and tons of restaurants, clubs and bars. It's also in walking distance from a 24-hour grocery store, which came in very handy after a long evening of barhopping.

Panama City doesn't have a ton of Euro-style backpacker hostels - most hotels are cheap enough that the hassles a dorm-style bed in a crowded hostel isn't worth the money you'd save by staying there. But I've got a soft spot for hostels, not least because they're such a great place for solo travellers to meet people. I stayed at Mamallena because the older and more established hostel on the same block was full the night I arrived, and ended up staying five nights altogether, at the beginning and end of my trip.

Most of the guests were Europeans on round-the-world gap year trips, or Americans on surfing vacations - friendly, up for a party, and happy to share a bottle of whatever you might like to drink.

Here's really all you need to know: Free Airport Transfer. Panama City doesn't have a real public transportation infrastructure, so your options for getting into Panama City are pretty limited. Included in the cost of my ($28) room was a free ride to the hotel, the equivalent a $20-ish cab ride. Someone from the hotel even called my house shortly after I made my on-line reservation to get my flight number and tell me where the meet the driver.

My flight arrived so late in the evening that I didn't bother with food or a look around the neighborhood - just proceeded straight to bed. Good thing too, as I realized the next morning. The neighborhood surrounding the Marparaiso is not exactly confidence-inspiring, especially for a solo female traveler. In fact, when I found a guidebook (after my trip) that did mention the hotel (my copy of Lonely Planet didn't list it), it advised single women to stay away. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm a lifelong city-dweller, and relatively comfortable in neighborhoods others might consider sketchy, so consider that your grain of salt.

I wouldn't recommend the Marparaiso for more than a one-night stay at either end of your trip. The real value here is in the airport transfer, and for me, that was plenty, but the rooms are about as bare-bones as they get. Don't go looking for steamy showers, or comfy furniture.

Check-out time was late enough in the day that I left my backpack in the room to explore Casco Viejo (a reasonable walking distance from the hotel) for most of the day before heading to a hostel in El Cangrejo for my next night's stay.

I didn't travel to Panama expecting to find awesome Indian food, but it's there, courtesy of an Indian-Canadian expat who makes her chai the elaborate, time-consuming way her father taught her, and will happily chat when the breakfast rush is over. The menu is a good mix of traditional Indian cuisine and Westernized dishes - plenty of tasty breakfast items, including eggs Vindaloo for the adventurous and pancakes for the rest of us.

I stopped in for a solo breakfast on my second day in Bocas Del Toro, intending only to stay as long as it took to finish a bagel-egg sandwich (served with an unexpected but surprisingly tasty dollop of spiced mayo) and cup of chai, but found myself lingering to admire the sights from the second floor patio seating. Watching Bocas Town coming to life as the sun burnt off the morning clouds is one of my fondest memories. It was also from a table at Om Cafe that I saw a man wandering the grounds of Parque Simon Bolivar across the street, spearing coconuts off the ground onto an oversized machete until he had a four-foot-long coconut kebab.

My second visit was in a group of four, in the middle of the dinner rush. We were seated at the only empty table in the cafe, which seats around 20 people, and shared several vegetarian curries, including an excellent paneer korma, and orders of naan. (Om is a good choice for those who for various reasons can't enjoy the massive quantities of excellent seafood in Bocas.) Serving sizes were small, at first glance, but plenty filling, and the prices were quite low when compared to many of the other restaurants catering to tourists in Bocas Town. Dinner for four was under thirty dollars, and included tea, though no alcohol (Hotel Bocas' happy hour took care of that requirement for us!)

This Panama City attraction has great views of the city and a handful of higher-end restaurants ($20-ish per-head meals, including alcohol) and shopping options, but isn't quite the hot spot you may expect based on what you've read in your guidebook. The causeway is a man-made connection between four small islands, built from earth excavated during the building of the Panama Canal, and a former military base. It's the place to catch the ferry to Isla Tagoba, rent a bike to tour the length of the causeway, or do some rollerblading or jogging. Boston residents may be reminded of the Charles River Esplanade, though the views from Amador are much more dramatic! This is also the place to go if you're interested in visiting the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Marine Exhibition Center. (The Smithsonian facilities on Barro Colorado Island are the subject of Elizabeth Royte's book "The Tapir's Morning Bath," an excellent read, whether you're headed to Panama or not.)
I traveled solo in Panama, and would have enjoyed the causeway more if my boyfriend had been along - it's the perfect spot to visit for a nice meal and a moonlit walk, with a fantastic (and romantic!) view.

Panama city doesn't have public transportation in the strictest sense, but that doesn't mean you're stuck with cabs or walking.

Privately-owned school buses (called 'Red Devils') patrol the major thoroughfares, sporting elaborate paint jobs and blasting salsa music from interior and exterior speakers. The ride is bumpy, the conditions are sweaty and cramped (especially if you're on the tall side - I'm 4'11" and felt the pinch) and can be unsafe (18 people were killed when a bus exploded just last month) but are still one of the best ways to see a broad part of the city at one shot, and the price (25 cents) can't be beat. They're due to be replaced by a real honest-to-gosh municipal bus system next year, which will be a real loss, even for those who've never set foot on a Red Devil.

I waited to take a trip until after I'd spent a couple of days in Panama City, when I had a good handle on the lay of the land, and had spent a lot of time admiring the murals and celebrity portraits on the buses that came through the big turnarounds where several routes converged at one intersection. Coming back into the city from a side trip to Bocas Del Toro, I decided to see if I could make my way back to my hostel in El Cangrejo from the domestic airport via bus. The buses show up at major destinations like the Allbrook mall (near the airport) and otherwise stick to single-street routes. I hopped a Via Espana bus crowded with costumed marching band musicians on their way home from a parade. The musicians mostly looked like high-school age kids to me, and they did what high-school age kids do on a school bus - made noise, horsed around, and provided a bit of live accompaniment to the music pumping from the speakers above the driver's head.