January 10th - First Day in Panama!

It's hard to believe that more than half of the trip is over, but as we flew out of Costa Rica this morning it finally started to sink in. We were up and on the bus at a fun 5:15 this morning and arrived safely (after a bit of a bumpy ride) in Panama by 10:45am. From the moment we stepped off the plane everything was different. The bus is smaller; the rainforest no where in sight. And then there is Panama City . . .

It was a short drive to the city, which has a huge skyline like NYC or any other major metropolis. It is still visibly a city in a developing nation (the water is very polluted and we passed some slums and broken down houses on the drive), but it also has everything you’d want from a city: great restaurants, shops, beautiful hotels, and all that jazz. Our hotel is called the Riande Granada and it’s located in a very central area of the city. The rooms are simple, but very nice and I’m happy to report that room service (along with seemingly everything else here) is SO INEXPENSIVE! Well, comparatively anyway. Our favorite example of this is that you can get a filet mignon delivered to your room for only $12. Crazy, right?

We checked into our rooms then headed straight to the old downtown area, the historical Casco Viejo, where we had a couple of hours to shop, walk around, eat lunch and take in the sights and sounds. And let me tell you, we took TONS of pictures. I’m sure you’ll be seeing them on our Facebooks very soon so I’m not going to ruin the fun by telling you all about it right now. ;)

After we returned to the hotel we had the rest of the evening off, which I personally used to shower, hand-wash some clothes (it’s amazing how fast you go through them in this heat), and then walk around and have dinner with some friends. We’re all exhausted so I’m staying in tonight and looking very forward to the next 4 days and all of the exciting things we have coming up! This is my last blog entry for the week so enjoy everyone else’s perspectives and we’ll be back on Friday to tell you ALL about it in person!!!

Buenos noches (or as they say in Costa Rica, Pura Vida!),
Makena Sage