As the pandemic was just beginning outside of the USA, we embarked on a trip to Panama.  We seriously didn’t think the pandemic would amount to much, and didn’t think twice about traveling out of the country during the last week of February in 2020. We were giggling at the vendors selling face masks in the airport on our way home, but we had no idea how much our lives would change in the next two weeks. It was our anniversary trip, and we weren’t going to miss it!  I’m so glad we went, and I am also so glad that we got back early enough in March before international travel completely shut down. 

During my research for this trip, I found that outside Panama City, the tourist infrastructure was not quite as developed as it is in Costa Rica and Belize, which I found surprising. There were some nice resorts scattered around the country, but it seemed to be more of a backpacking type of place outside of Panama City.  It also felt tough to narrow down exactly where in the country we would want to go and where to stay, and it took me a long time to nail down our plans. I changed my mind several times before I finally decided where in the country besides Panama City we would go.

Because we live in the best city in the world, and live close to one of the busiest airports in the world, we were able to get direct, business class flights to Panama City from Chicago O’Hare Airport for pretty cheap.  I am really glad it was cheap, too, because business class on Copa Airlines is pretty darn basic.  Apart from the larger seat and very average meal service, this is a no-frills experience. I think the flight attendants got up one time besides the meal service to see if we needed anything, and I am not a big fan of using the call button to ask for water or other service items so we went without this time.  

We arrived at the bustling Panama City airport and took a cab to our hotel – The Meridien Hotel, Panama City.  The rates were only $150 per night and we were only staying here one night before our flight to Bocas del Toro.  We were on a pretty low floor, and the room was pretty basic, apart from the bed which was mega comfortable.  The room was huge, but nothing very exciting. We did have a view of the entrance to the canal and the myriad ships waiting to go through, which was cool, but the view was probably better on a higher floor.  The windows were also super dirty, but that was probably because the hotel is just about right on the water. 

That first night we ate at a restaurant in Casco Viejo, the old part of Panama City, called Caliope, which has now moved to a different location and is now also a steakhouse.  When we were there, they served elevated food in a very cool atmosphere.  There were massive murals on the walls and gorgeous art everywhere.  I hope they moved the murals because they were stunning. I loved everything we ate here, and the service was good and attentive. This was an excellent intro to Panama for us! I hope the new iteration of this restaurant is good as the original, because I would love to recommend it to others!

The next morning, we departed our hotel via Uber to the local airport. We took Uber everywhere in Panama City as it was SUPER cheap and drivers were plentiful. We took Uber so much, that all of my subsequent Uber ads that I would receive in my email were en espanol! Panama City has an international airport and a regional airport that are NOT close to one another, which is why we chose to overnight in the City before departing the next day.  Our transfer time would have only been about 2 hours, which is definitely not enough to get through customs and drive from one airport to the other with the inconsistent traffic around Panama City.  The regional airport was super tiny, though our Air Panama plane to Bocas del Toro was much larger than I expected.  It was a basic plane with very tiny seats and very little leg room.  Luckily, the flight was only about 45 minutes long.  

In Bocas del Toro, we stayed at Island Plantation Resort on Bluff Beach.  They had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the airport, but someone else staying at the resort took our taxi before we had gotten our bags.  After a call to the hotel, they sent the taxi back for us after we waited at least 40 minutes, so it was not a super great start to this part of our trip.  The drive to Island Plantation was extremely rough, although this is not really a complaint, because we always say that a place is not worth going to if you don’t have a rough drive to get there.  We were greeted, though, with massive apologies from the staff and a bottle of bubbles in our room, so we were ready to chill.  

Our room was ready, and we stayed in one of the luxury beachfront suites.  The room was very large, and had an upstairs living room with a balcony.  It was not exactly beachfront, as you had to walk across a single-lane sandy/dirt road and down a small path to get to the beach, but it was as close as you could get, and you could hear the surf from the room, which was nice.  There is no a/c here, which was not too bad most nights as they did have fans in the room. It is an eco-lodge, so conservation of energy is a big deal here. The bed was really comfortable and the bathroom well appointed.  Everything was basically screened in so it seemed very open air, even if it wasn’t.  We stayed here for 4 nights and did next to nothing but relax!  

The food at Island Plantation was stellar, and one of the highlights of this part of our trip.  In fact, the food in Panama in general was super excellent.  The BomBom Beach Club on the resort’s property by the beach was where we had lunch every day.  They have a wood-burning oven and make excellent pizzas – you could smell it when they started up the oven in the morning every day, it was heavenly!  Bluff beach is a public beach and the Beach Club is a public restaurant, so it can get a bit crowded, but we never had a problem getting a table or loungers. 

We ate our breakfasts and dinners at the main lodge house on their open-air patio.  Breakfast was mainly just coffee and fruit for me, which was perfect. I look forward to our Central American/Caribbean trips every year for the fruit, as it is always so ripe, fresh, and simply tastes better than anything we can get at home. For my husband, breakfast was giant fruit-filled pancakes covered with whipped cream! Dinners changed daily based on what was available.  It was always delicious and we had no complaints.  

After a few lovely, relaxing days listening to the surf on the beach, we headed back to Panama City for a couple days to explore more. 

Panama City is the most cosmopolitan capital city in Central America, and is safe for tourism.  They take US Dollars everywhere, which made it easy.  I loved Panama City for a lot of reasons, and really want to go back soon.  There is a ton of colorful Spanish-Colonial style architecture to gawk at in the old town part of the city.  There are really great shops and restaurants everywhere.  We loved the ice cream at Granclement, and had delicious poke bowls at the Mahalo Snack Shack. We also did a hike through Metropolitan Natural Park in the heart of the city. It is 573 acres and home to diverse flora and fauna. They claim that there are “227 bird species, 45 mammals, 36 kinds of snakes and 14 kinds of amphibians. In addition, there are about 284 plant species, including trees that reach between 100 and 115 feet high.” There are a TON of parks in and around the city, and if we had more time, we would have ventured out to more for more bird watching and animal spotting (no sloths spotted this time). The amazing thing about this park is that when you get to the top of the hike, you have spectacular city and ocean views.  I personally hate climbing hills and hiking, but the views are almost always worth it.  

For our final night in Panama City, we ate at Azahar on the recommendation of a friend, which was only about a block away from our hotel.  Getting to this restaurant, you had to take an elevator, and then walk through, basically, the cooler for a flower shop.  It was strange and unique, and we felt like we were going somewhere very special.  Unfortunately, our experience was not very special. The service was pretty inconsistent.  I ordered from the menu at least two different entrees that I was later told were not available.  Finally, the third thing I picked was available. Note that we were one of the first tables here that evening, so it’s not like the items were sold out for the evening or something…  There were popovers served in a little tiny dresser with drawers that came out which was cool.  The food was pretty good, but nothing memorable.  There was a large party of people dining near us, and I always feel like when that happens, our small little table for two gets ignored.  Perhaps they were having an off night, since this restaurant is generally well-reviewed, and I trust my friend’s advice.  

Our trip to Panama was a bit hit-and-miss, but on the whole, we really loved our time there, and we were, later, even more grateful for out trip since we did not travel after that for a year due to the pandemic.  There is so much going on and changing in the country, and in the city, though, that I will definitely be back to check out new places, and explore the city and its parks even more.