The morning of my last day in Panama City, I decided to take a walk from my hotel to the promenade along the water. It only took me about 20 minutes to get there. With the sun still low in the sky, the City seemed fresh and full of possibility…
I walked for another hour along the promenade, taking photos of the boats and City…
I have to admit, I wasn’t that excited to see the Panama Canal. I guess because I’d seen photos and have gone through the locks/dam on the Ohio River a number of times, so I had a good idea of how it worked. Having said all that, I was glad I went. The driver at our Hotel, the Doubletree by Hilton, offered to take my group and I anywhere we wanted to go for a flat rate of $25 an hour, so we decided to have him drive us to the Amador Causeway and Miraflores.
This is a section of the viewing platform at the Panama Canal…
If you’re planning a trip to Panama City, Panama, it wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Jungle! I found an excursion through a company called JungleLand Panama that picks you up at your hotel, drives you to a small boat for a transfer on the Panama Canal through Lake Gatun to a privately owned lake house, where a delicious lunch and cold beverages await!   After lunch, there were a variety of fun activities to choose from. Jumping into an ice cold river, which by the way felt wonderful, on a hot day!
Here are the others I brought on the trip…
Laying around in hammocks relaxing…
Here’s a view of the lake house from a kayak…
On the boat ride to the lake house we stopped at various places to see alligators and monkeys. Captain Carl (seen feeding a monkey here) gave everyone an un-shelled peanut and some banana to feed to the monkeys…
I find it interesting what our preconceived thoughts/images of a country or city are, or sometimes we have no idea of what to expect. I knew Panama City, Panama would have high-rise buildings and palm trees and hot weather…
and beautiful flowers…
friendly people…
I led my group on a subway ride from our hotel a few stops to visit the Casco Viejo or old town section of Panama City. We had to make our way another 10-15 minutes by foot through a very poor section. These vultures tearing through a smelly garbage dump were both fascinating and repulsive.
Sherry Lachelle Travels 