We're thinking of going to Panama City/Canal for an all inclusive vacation. The deals look great. I was hoping that someone would have some personal experience/info of Panama they could share with me. Any tips? Safety? Things to know? Thanks so much!!
Good and bad that I remember from when we were stationed in Panama.
Stick to taxi's. Very heavy atuo traffic. Most of the public buses give off enough exhaust to choke a horse. We lovingly refer to traffic lights as honk and go green lights. You can be the 6th car back and several cars behind you will start laying on their horns as soon as the light turns green. VERY AGGRESSIVE drivers. Motorcycles will drive down the center between the two lanes of cars.
Beggers/Street venders are all over. At just about every major intersection, there will be men and kids trying to sell you anything and everything. If you aren't buying, they'll start asking for change. If you go to a restraunt and don't finish all your meal, please do not take a carry out bag. DH and his buddy made this mistake just after they got there and they said that they had 30 kids asking for their food and/or money within 5 ft of exiting the restraunt.
Watching ships go thru the locks is very interesting. Our quarters on FT Clayton were right accross from the lock and I have some really cool video of a lite up cruise ship coming thru at night. We enjoyed the tour we took.
The weather is wonderful. But it does rain every day for atleast 15 minutes. And once it rains, the humidity sets in. I enjoyed wearing shorts, tank top and flip flops on Christmas day.
We didn't travel much north or south of Panama City. We did do a couple of trips between the east and west Army posts. DH did a lot more exploring than I did. I got pregnant within a month of getting there and was very sick the whole 9 months. Before I got there, he and several of the guys from his unit went on a camping trip and snorkling. I'll ask him if he remembers where they went.
At some time, we will be making a trip ourselfs. DS wants to go back and see where he was born. He thinks its uber cool to be a Panamian American with dual citizenship. We told him that it only lasts until your 18, then you have to choose one or the other.
