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Panama: Eight Destinations in Which to Spend the Winter Months

First Time Reader: Why Panama? – This blog explains the rational of the trip and this series of blogs.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/excursions/1266327384/tpod.html

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Panama City
Destination No. 1 of 8 (in no particular order)
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Lobo's Real Time

March 19, 2010

I am now back in Victoria, British Columbia where spring has sprung and temperatures are much cooler than tropical Central America. This fabulous trip may have ended but the blogging will go on for many months as I report on Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua including the many interviews that I had with expats. 


March 15, 2010

I am writing this blog (Panama City by Night) on the 6-hour bus ride from David (pronounced Daaaaweed) to Panama City. I will be flying back to Victoria, British Columbia from Panama City via Houston and Calgary on March 18.

March 14, 2010

Paid a return visit to Boquete located in the highlands 38 km north of David. Boquete is touted as one of the world's most popular retirement havens. It is a place to escape the heat and humidity of David and yes I had to do a few more interviews with expats.

March 13, 2009

I went to the David International Fair. That was the good news. The bad news was that due to the fair I could not get my usual $16 room with air conditioning and Wi-Fi at the Residential Avenida. Instead I went to the Hotel Chiriqui where I paid $35 for the same thing.

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Panama City by Night
Part 7 of 9 on Panama City
February 2, 2010


There is no doubt that Panama City is a worthy capital that struts its stuff during the daytime with tall, glitzy office and especially condo buildings that rival Vancouver, Canada.

As I have previously noted on several occasions, the night time view is a different story altogether as darkness descends upon the buildings. In the office buildings it is understandable as electricity is relatively expensive but does no one live in the condo buildings?

To say "no one" of course is exaggerated but in most condo buildings there are very few lights visible and of course the 25% that seem to be under construction or where construction has stopped have no lights to speak of.


It is all a puzzling situation as I discussed in my last blog.

My first Saturday night in Panama City provided an interesting contrast.

Saturday night more than any other night is a night to get out of the hotel room and walk about enjoying the city. There is only one problem - where to walk in an area that is relatively safe or at least perceived to be safe.

The key lies in perception. The presence of lots of other people on the streets conveys rightly or wrongly a perception of safety in numbers. Empty streets of course convey the opposite effect.

Therein lies the contrast that I mentioned earlier.

During last year’s six week research trip for the series of blogs “MEXICO – 23 Destinations to Spend the Winter Months” there was not one time that Barbara and I did not walk around the centres of the towns and cities that we visited.

Why was that?

Firstly every town or city had a “locale” or town square that was a magnet for people to come out at night and linger and enjoy the warm evening. In most cases the zocalo was also connected to well-lit pedestrian streets that further increased the options for an evening “paseo”. During that paseo was the time to find a nice restaurant to pass a good part of the evening.

It was all very pleasant and it was a part of what made Mexico such a great experience.

While I am on the topic of Mexico, shortly after my arrival in Panama I noted a few more contrasting observations because at this point in time I missed Mexico.

Observations:

-       Panama is far less crowded

-       there are few street vendors in Panama City compared to the number in Mexico

-       almost no one pesters the tourist to buy something whereas in Mexico it is a major pain in the posterior that can really get on your nerves

-       in Panama there is very little begging on the streets while it is much more common in Mexico

-       Mexico is a much more vibrant and noisy society – Panama seems subdued and muted in comparison

-       there is no sense of overcrowding in Panama such as there often is in Mexico

-       the restaurant food in Panama is surprisingly neutral with no apparent evidence of a strong Panamanian cuisine whereas Mexico, of course, maybe like no other country, has its distinctive Mexican cuisine

Getting back to Panama City at night……

What is lacking here is a zocalo or major city center with a huge well-lit plaza that would attract people to the downtown. Pedestrian streets connected to the plaza would also do wonders for safe nightlife in this city.

It would appear that urban planning has omitted a downtown nucleus for Panama City. That is easy for me to say given the comparison with the Mexican cities but let’s not forget that in most cases the “zocalos” were a gift from the Spaniards who established the cities with their impressive “centro historicos”. But give the Mexicans credit as they took the ball and ran with it meaning they did their best to renovate and rebuild to maintain the colonial splendour.

On second thought, that is happening in spades in Panama City with the rebuilding of the Casco Viejo. 
 (http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/excursions/1264586509/tpod.html).

The problem with the “Casco Viejo” is that it is located out in left field in relation to the downtown. To get to it at night you have to get there by taxi because it is surrounded by sketchy neighbourhoods whose populations seep into the Casco Viejo making it potentially an unsafe place in Panama City.

I therefore have to admire Kathleen Peddicord and her partner Leif Simons for putting their money where their mouths are and apparently living in the Casco Viejo. Kathleen is the editor of 'Live and Invest Overseas” a competitive website to “International Living”. There must have been a parting of ways as she used to be the former editor of “International Living.” They made the move to Panama from Paris, France and the publication has been touting Panama as the number 1 retirement haven on the globe ever since.

So what does that leave for downtown Panama City that could pass for a relatively safe area – translation – where you are likely to find other people around and about? With my limited exposure to the city, the Via Veneto and the Via Argentina have come to my attention as well as the area around the Marriott Hotel, which has the beautiful Beirut Restaurant just across from it.

These three are all in close proximity to each other. The problem is getting to the area from my hotel, the Hotel Costa Azul, in the beautiful Bella Vista area of Panama City.

It does involve about a 15-minute walk along the busy Avenida Espana to get to the Via Veneto. It is busy in terms of car traffic but empty in terms of pedestrian traffic.

Yes, I could take a taxi but that is not my modus operandus.

So the only alternative, at least on the first Saturday, was to stay in the hotel room.

Later I became more adventurous and I would end up in one of these three areas in the evening after a day’s sightseeing and then walk back to the hotel at night along the Avenida Espana.

The Avenida Argentina is a four-block area that vaguely does recall the tree-lined streets of Buenos Aires. It is full of shops and restaurants and makes for a nice stroll. Not spectacular but nice.

The area around the Marriot is also an area where lots of restaurants and bars can be found. The Beirut Restaurant just across from the Marriot has to be one of the nicest restaurants in the city.

Finally the Via Veneto is the glitziest of the three options as a major casino is located on this street and another is just around the corner. This area in my opinion generates the most night time pedestrian traffic. Therefore it is probably best for people watching.


The casinos bring money and people and therefore attract all kinds of services. Among them is the sex industry, which makes for perhaps the most interesting people watching in this area.

After several visits to the Manolo Restaurant located across from the casino it would have been hard to not notice the clusters of good looking sexy young women. My first reaction was – boy – there are some good-looking Panamanian ladies here.

One evening I went there with “local expert” Robert (pronounced “Row-Bear”) from Quebec City.

It was he who set me straight that the “beauties” are in fact from Medellin, Columbia and that they come here to work in the sex trade. He further informed me that they apparently charge twice as much as the Panamanian sex trade workers.

One evening, I was joined by Robert and Albert, a German from Munich who was in Panama checking out his teak plantation investment. Let it be said that we derived our enjoyment from the scenery around us and that got a whole lot better when three Columbian girls sat at a table right next to ours.

At some point Robert struck up a conversation and found out that the ladies were indeed from Medellin.

While we were sitting at the table I could not resist taking a photo of the young ladies so unfortunately Robert ended up in the line of fire with a questionable grin on his face. That could just as well have been me with a silly grin on my face or even the German. Well no, on second thought, the German was dour enough that I don’t think he would have had a silly grin on his face.


The real show however was taking place at a table in the background where a young Columbian lady was sitting exposing her ample assets in a most revealing manner.

Remember, Medellin used to be famous for Pablo Escobar the drug cartel baron who single-handedly put the city on the world map until he was gunned down by Columbian drug enforcement agents. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar)

Today Medellin is famous for exporting its good-looking young ladies.

Attached I have an article from a newspaper highlighting the assets of a young model from Medellin.

Who would have thought this? In the article she confesses that she does not believe in fidelity. Well I’ll be darned!

The Via Veneto area also has strip bars that for $20 allow the client to drink as much as they want to put them in the right mood for astute negotiations with the young ladies for the next step in the entertainment process. Remember that prostitution is legal in Panama.

If the $20 and drinking turns you off there are massage parlours that offer full services as well.

Before getting too excited about that, it should be remembered that Panama has a relatively high rate of HIV infections.

In case you are still interested, Robert gave me this link that sheds some light on the subject:

Panama City Sex Scene

http://www.costaricapages.com/panama/blog/panamas-sex-scene-671

I cannot report further about the strip clubs nor the massage parlours since even for journalistic reasons there are limits.

When it comes to Panama City by night I would be remiss in not mentioning the Calle Uruguay, that nondescript little street which apparently springs to life late at night with all kinds of nightclubs.

I have not been there since walking from the hotel would take me through some dark isolated streets – not a good idea.

Finally my last point on Panama City by night. Streets are poorly lit making a night time outing more hazardous than it should be. If that is not enough, there is also the odd manhole cover missing in the middle of sidewalks. The hole is at least six feet deep and could easily kill some unsuspecting soul.


Along with the poorly lit streets is the perplexing situation where most streets do not have street signs. The result is that you really have to be sure of where you are going so as not to get lost.

So my enthusiasm for Panama City at night is somewhat muted for the reasons I outlined above.

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Coming Soon: Punta Pacifica, Trump Ocean Club and Cerro Ancon