Saturday, November 17, 2012

Detour

The plan was to take a flight from Nicaragua to Panama, stopping in Costa Rica for a 1 hour layover.  Well, apparently we weren't supposed to get to Panama that day.  We got to Costa Rica just fine, but after boarding the plane in Costa Rica, which was headed to Panama, they made an announcement that the plane was originally supposed to be going a longer distance to another destination so it had too much gasoline for such a short trip.  This meant that they needed passengers to get off the plane so it didn't weigh so much, 12 passengers to be exact, and I counted at least 12 empty rows in the back of the plane and there were several empty seats throughout the plane.  We first said no to a flight attendant because we had hotel reservations in Panama and we didn't know what we'd do in Costa Rica without any plans for there.  After they got desperate, we decided to say yes, and we were the last 2 off the plane and they closed the gate behind us after we got off.  They offered us a pretty good deal for getting off the plane, so we weren't feeling too bad.

They put us up in the Best Western in San Jose which is a pretty nice hotel (hot water, pool, wifi, free international calls...), and gave us meal vouchers for dinner that night and breakfast the next morning at the Denny's restaurant attached to the hotel.  Frank and I were feeling pretty classy in our swanky hotel and making international calls, but the hot water showers were the best!  The food was also delicious, but our stomachs took a little while to adjust to such rich food.

View from our balcony



The next morning after a bit of a hiccup waiting for the airport shuttle and lots of traffic, we got to the airport and then finally got on a flight to Panama.  We landed in Panama City just under an hour later and one time zone difference.  We gathered our bags and took a taxi to our hostel in the older area called Casco Viejo/Antiguo.  It's a neat area, but a lot of it is under construction right now.






View of Panama Bay & Panama City from our hostel
Some old abandoned buildings near our hostel

Yesterday was a low key day since we were pretty tired from all the traveling, so we just mainly hung out around the hostel and then grabbed a bite to eat.  That's when we found out that this area is pretty fancy, which means expensive meals, small portions.  Well, I think this will be our most expensive part of the trip, food-wise  so I think we'll be ok.

Today we slept in, as the dorm rooms here are dark with dark curtains, and the lights were left off.  It was nice to get a full night of sleep though.  We took advantage of the hostel's free make-your-own pancake breakfast--bananas too!  Then we explored the area.  It really is a neat place and there are some beautiful buildings.

Behind our hostel

Panama Bay low tide




Panama hats!



Just cruising the town





We walked near the bay tonight and enjoyed the cool breeze--it's been pretty warm and muggy here so far.  Tomorrow we're planning on going to the Panama Canal & maybe do a little hiking :)

1 comment:

  1. Great pics...Good to hear from you too..OSU won and .U of O lost their football game so I have been flying pretty high this evening>. Love ya...

    ReplyDelete