Other than more humidity, Panama was in many ways even nicer than Guatemala.
We tried Panamanian food and found most of it to be too bland. However, we had a couple of Panamanian sandwiches and they turned out to be excellent. Additionally, their preparations of other cuisines were outstanding. In an Italian restaurant, they had an appetizer that had cherry tomatoes in it. I had no idea cherry tomatoes could taste this good until I tried the ones here. The Mexican restaurant we ate at was also great.
In Guatemala, it seemed like cocktails had hardly any alcohol in them. In Panama, they made up for what Guatemala lacked and the drinks were strong (and I mean, really strong)!
We went on a canal tour and it was fascinating. When they built the canal, they decided that it would be cheaper to create a series of 3 locks to raise the ships 85′ than it would have been to move millions of tons of earth in order to keep the canal at sea level. In the process, they also created the largest man made lake in the world at the time (Gatun Lake).
Some of the animals we saw in or near Gatun Lake included: a two toed sloth, a three toed sloth, a neque, Goeffrey’s Tamarin, howler monkey, titi monkey, white faced capuchin, green iguana, slider turtle, yellow cara cara and a Probiscus bat.
Panama City was a fascinating mix of old colonial buildings in the Antigua area and modern skyscrapers in the new city.
We had planned to only spend four nights in Panama. We decided to stay at the Hotel La Compania Casco Antiguo in the old section. It was in a great location and we were able to walk all over the old city. The hotel was fabulous. One of the things I got a kick out of was that in the bathroom by the pool, they used a watertight door from a ship as the bathroom door. Who wouldn’t want one of those in their house for when you absolutely, positively don’t want to be disturbed!
We could have booked it by using Hyatt points. But it would have taken a huge amount (80,000)! Instead we saved these points for other hotels in South America where they will cover at least eight nights. The other reason was this hotel was eligible for a $250 Delta Stays hotel credit (provided through the Amex Delta Reserve card).
Nightlife in Panama City was great. We spent one night at Sambroso Panama restaurant . They had good food and Drinks. They had live entertainment (Panamanian Dancing) and a DJ whose station was in a pimped out bus in the restaurant.
The following night we went to the bar at Villa Ana 1928. This was one of the best bars we have ever been to. The decor was 1920s speakeasy. They had excellent drinks and a great five piece jazz band. I would be willing to come back to Panama to spend a couple more nights just at this place!
Of course, there’s also the longer version: A man, a plan, a cat, a ham, a yak, a yam, a hat, a canal—Panama