PANAMA CITY for EASTER

PANAMA CITY for EASTER

The bus arrived at 5 am!! at a fabulous terminal better than a lot of airports. Went to the Jungle Hostel and waited on the balcony to avoid having to pay for that night. Met an English lady that was moving to another hostel that had better info on boats sailing to Columbia. So after getting set up in my room I shared a taxi over there with her and they reckoned they could get me on a boat within 3 days. It was Good Friday so while going over to the historic Casco Viejo area we were lucky to trip over a Passion of Christ re-enactment that was very moving. The historic area was pretty empty but great buildings. Squares and churches made for a neat walk. Saw the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal from the point and lots of skyscrapers to the south. Back at the hostel they had come up with a boat sailing on the 5^th so I paid the deposit and booked a tour with them for Sunday that looks at the Caribbean side. A pretty good first day in Panama City, given a 5am start but I went back to my hostel and ‘collapsed’ about 8pm.

On Sat I did a lot of catching up on the internet and then went over to the Metropolitan National Park for a great walk that included some nice lookouts over the city and some leftovers from the war against the Noriega regime including the Castillo that may have been a nasty goal for dissidents.