The Trip of A Lifetime: Panama City

I have a great brother. When I told him I was planning to retire he gave me the surprise of a lifetime. He let me use his miles to go on a trip of my dreams. I had to choose between Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, London or Panama. I chose Panama, why?

It is close to New York, only a six hour plane ride, a one hour time difference, reasonably priced hotels, people speak English, and best of all, plenty of kosher eateries to choose from. There were activities for both me and my husband, a relaxing beach vibe for him and sightseeing opportunities for me, the endless wanderer. We only had a week – it was September and we had a family wedding to attend and Rosh Hashanah looming, but we made it work!

We planned our sightseeing excursions before we left with the help of Simi from GoKosher Panama, but Panama is also very accessible on your own. The morning after we arrived, we hurried to get to the Panama Canal by 8:00 am to view the parade of ships. Ships can only pass through the canal twice a day. They head west to east, from the Pacific to the Atlantic in the morning and in the afternoon they head east to west, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. While at the Miraflores Visitor Center, we heard the history of the Panama Canal in French, English and Spanish. We were mesmerized by the huge ships being guided through the narrow canal. The Miraflores Visitor Center is easily reached by public transportation or an Uber. We hired a private guide but it is really unnecessary. If you want to see the boats close up, I highly recommend taking a small boat to Monkey Island, which we did the following day. We were in the same waters as these huge ships, close enough to see the Canal, but far enough away to not be in their wake.

We spent the afternoon strolling in Panama Viejo, the oldest European settlement, built in 1519. Sunset is the best time to get those picture-perfect shots of the settlement. We also visited the Canal Museum, which contains original documents relating to the signing of the canal and is built in the renovated Grand Hotel.

It is worth a visit to the Canal Museum just to tour the building and look at the dynamic exhibits and use of space. Panama Viejo is also a great place to buy authentic handmade souvenirs from the Indigenous peoples of Panama. I bought some handcarved turtles and patchwork style potholders, which make great wall decor. If you are into homemade baskets, this is the place to buy them too. You can enjoy a drink in one of the many hotel bars or visit the kosher restaurant, Lula@Casco, located close to the Canal Museum.

After a busy day, we made a late reservation for the exciting restaurant, Blame Kiki. The restaurant was bubbling with many others celebrating birthdays and there was even entertainment! My husband was thrilled with the beautifully plated desert with his name that arrived accompanied by singing waiters. What a surprise it was on Friday night when someone recognized us and wished him happy birthday again. 

The next day brought more fun and wonderment on our trip to the Embera Village. Oliver, our tour guide from Monkey Adventures, taught us how to say hello in Embera, and became our personal photographer for the day.  We took a small “piragua” fishing boat and visited the village on the banks of the Chagres River. It was fascinating to see how intergenerational people live and learn about their traditions. 

There was more nature for the nature lover in me as we toured the Gamboa Rainforest.I always thought that sloths don’t move very fast, but the sloth we encountered did not live up to the slow reputation. When offered a hibiscus flower, the sloth came alive and very quickly ambulated along the vine with his trainer. We also toured a butterfly preserve and watched some “eye butterflies” devour some very soft bananas. One of the great thrills of the day was following an “ant parade” across the forest floor into a tree. It looked like the cartoon “the ants marched up to the top of the hill” come to life.