Panama Day 4: Back to Panama City and the drive to Pedasi

I woke up with the roosters at about 5:00 and dozed on an off until 6:30 when I finally decided to get up; it is a good thing I did since the alarm on my Blackberry changed to local time (duh… it detected the local network and set it’s time accordingly, while I had set the alarm for American EST).   I said goodbye to Nairobi after my last breakfast just steps from the warm, clear Caribbean and walked to the airport around 7:15.

I got to the airport before the Aeroperlas desk was open and ended up first in line for check-in.  As before, I had to check the bag I usually use as my primary carry-on because it is too big for the ATR 42s that Aeroperlas uses for the flight to Panama City.   I remember noticing when we flew in that the airport runway is right next to the community soccer field.   An errant ball would roll right on to the runway since there is no fence between the two.  Like so many things in Panama, they take a refreshingly lackadaisical view of safety and depend on the individual to look out for themselves rather than having the government perform the role of mommy and daddy.  I think this breeds a more independent spirit.

As Doug had noted, the airport terminal is undergoing a very nice renovation.  It looks as though there will be two departure lounges or at least separate departure and arrival areas.  In Panama, especially in the areas outside of Panama City, they do what works without regard to esthetics.  In the Bocas airport waiting room there is a CPU for the x-ray scanner under the conveyor belt you put your bags on… right on top of a faded Budweiser box; it works and that’s all that matters.

On the flight back to Tocumen I sat with some guys from LSU who were down for some R & R.  What was really funny is that they were headed to PTY as well, but shortly after getting into the Albrook holding area my name was called and I was put on a plane all by myself (after the drug-sniffing dog checked out my bag) – just two pilots and me.  Needless to say I had my pick of seats.  The co-pilot made sure I was settled in with my seatbelt on and then told me that if we have an emergency just crawl out the window over the wing.  With that said he turned back around and we took off.  We didn’t get to see the skyline from the water this time as we made our approach from the North.  Once we landed we taxied to an area that looked reserved for general aviation and I was met by a young guy in a pick-up truck who took me to the domestic terminal.  I entered through the same door the airport employees use, had my bags run through the x-ray machine again (I’m not sure what I would have picked up on the flight from Bocas, but they were following procedure) and I was frisked just like the employees, but not by a woman near as attractive as the one I observed previously.

I will never reserve a car through Thrifty again.  I had to pay an additional $19.00 per day for liability insurance that was NOT disclosed on the Thrifty web site.  My Citi credit card waived the CDW, but I still had to pay for the liability coverage.  The young lady was quite unhelpful in most other regards… there was no offer of a map (in fact, they didn’t have any) and she couldn’t even describe how to get out of the airport!  Rather than waste my time on this useless woman I asked the tourist policeman in military fatigues out front.  It wasn’t hard to figure it out, but if you are in a location for the first time you don’t know what to expect.

On Corredor Sur entering Panama City

From what I could tell on the maps, there is no bypass around Panama City to get to the Bridge of the Americas and onto the Pan American Highway headed west.  As I was driving down the road leading from the airport I saw a small, faded sign that I thought included the word “cuanto.”   I seemed to recall that this means “pay” or “fee” so I did a U-turn and pulled out my maps.  It looked like this would take me to the Corredor Sur that hugs the coast and leads into central PC, which will get me most of the way through town.  Just to be sure I stopped at a Delta gas station and the guy confirmed my suspicion by drawing a route on the map with his finger to get me to the Bridge of Americas.  I paid two tolls on Corredor Sur, $1.25 and $1.40.

From Corredor Sur you get onto Avenida Balboa followed by Avenida de los Martires, an elevated highway, and then onto the bridge.  The route was actually very easy to follow and traffic was not bad since it was a Sunday morning.  Avenida Balboa is a major street that hugs the coast for a bit and takes you past a marina and a number of major hotels (Le Meridien, Intercontinental, and others).  Before I knew it I was through the city and on to the bridge.  The highway signage is non-existent in Panama except for those areas where it is just bad.  The bottom line is that unless you are familiar with the names of towns or, in the case of Panama City, names of areas you will have a hard time trying to get where you are going.  I pulled over from time to time in order to consult my maps and memorize the next six or seven towns so that I had at least a general idea of where I was.  There was very heavy traffic going into PC from the long holiday weekend that reminded me of traffic returning to Washington, DC from Virginia Beach; it was bumper-to-bumper a good part of the way.  I’m glad I was going in the other direction.

Looking north from the Bridge of the Americas

The Pan American Highway (Carretera Interamericana) is quite good and except when passing through towns, I clipped along at about 110 KPH (a little under 70 MPH).  As I traveled I observed a tremendous amount of construction going on; this is a country that is growing and prospering despite the economic downturn elsewhere.  There are signs all over the place for 4G cell phone service, upscale cars and I noticed the Panamanian version of Levittown... suburbia comes to Panama.  Woody Guthrie may have thought those houses were made of ticky tacky but to the people who move into places like these new suburbs, I am sure it is a move up and towards the Panamanian Dream.


I stopped at a road-side grill for lunch and it was amazing.  Not being familiar with the names of local dishes I chose the one item where I could not possibly go wrong… chorizo!  I was not disappointed.  I had an Atlas beer with my lunch of two grilled, smokey sausages and corn cakes; simple, cheap and delicious.  The corn cakes had cheese in the center and were cooked on the grill along with the chorizo, so they had a nice smokey flavor to them as well.  The grand total for lunch including the beer came to a whopping $3.65.

Not far down the road I took the turn off at Santa Maria to head south down the East coast of the Azuero Peninsula.  The trip to Pedasi took about six hours including the stop for lunch. It would have been less if I had not gotten lost in Chitre (remember that bit about there being no signs?). I drove around various sections of Chitre  before finally giving up and coming to the realization that asking for directions on a regular basis was the only way to go.  I would have to get gas again anyway so I stopped at an Esso station and through the use of pointing to the map and various gestures got directions to get out of town and back on Highway 3 to Las Tablas.  Chitre is a good sized town (I would guess somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000) and has several major shopping centers but there was too much hustle and bustle for my tastes; I am glad I chose to stay elsewhere.

On the way to Las Tablas I encountered quite a bit of construction for the new road going south.  This will ultimately be a four-lane highway all the way to Pedasi and the work that is being done is top notch.  The construction slowed things down some but I easily found the Hostal Dona Maria just a short way into town on the left.  I got settled in and went for a walk to find dinner.  I skipped the Italian place since I was looking for more local fare and ended up at the Corner House hostel.  There are quite a few restaurants in Pedasi; not all of them were open and the days and times the others are open is a bit fluid.  I met a young guy hanging out at the bar who cooks at Smiley’s restaurant and he suggested the fresh snapper.  The fish was grilled with the head on and the skin attached and was nicely crispy on the outside.  The fish was served with pickled vegetables and pantacones, a type of grilled mashed plantain.

Most of the town was pretty quiet, having just ended the holidays, but I spent some time on the front balcony of Dona Maria and ran into a German couple that was staying there.  They had just arrived that day by bus and were only staying two days before moving on to David and Boquete.   The next day I would go exploring and maybe check in with one of the local realtors.