PaPaPaPanamaaaaaaa

Hola amigos!

Out last stop in Central America was muggy, crazy, and memorable. We landed after the 1 hour flight from CR, and toddled on over to the bus stop, 300m from the airport entrance. We headed towarda Via España, and the first bus that came flying by was PACKED. We waited 20 minutes, then hopped on the next one, for the hour long journey into the city. The buses are old school buses from the U.S., like chicken buses, but they are painted an array of vibrant reds and pinks. And they drive like crazy! We found ourselves in the banking neighborhood, and hopped out by Hotel Continental. Walked down a small dead end alley, and found our hostel! Zuly´s was a great choice, with fun people everywhere. However, after living in luxury, it was saddening to share a bedroom with 5 other people... and the sheets were too small so they kept popping off, and Oli and I have found tiny red bites on our arms and legs.... bed bugs? Never saw any, or felt any, but would the marks lie?

Our first night in Panama City, we wandered around a bit, and found out we are situated right by a movie theater, $2.10 a showing. Wow! So we grabbed some lunch, wandered around.. Oli got a haircut and I got a French pedicure, costing us $10 combined. And then we were off to see 007! Great action scenes, very loose plot, and super annoying people! Everyone talks loudly, with no regard to the movie. I guess because it is subtitled anyway it doesn´t bother them, but it bothered me! After the movie, we grabbed some $0.50 beers and hung out at the hostel, playing Kings in the Corner all night.

Day 2 in Panama City- We slept in, then hopped on the bus to the city center, where we were supposed to catch another bus to the Panama Canal. Unfortunately, the bus stop had been ripped out, and we wandered around asking many people before finally a very nice man helped us out and told us we had to go to the bus terminal instead. At this moment, we once again cursed the writers of the Lonely Planet Central America On A Shoestring, 2004 edition. UGH. Guidebooks lie often, and are almost useless when 4 years old! But I digress..

We went to the bus terminal, which was chaotic, to say the least. Finally found our way, squeezed on the bus towards Paraiso, and away we went. Upon arrival at the Mireflores Locks, we walked for about 20 minutes to the brand spankin´new welcome center, which housed a thorough museum. We sprinted through the 4 levels, and up to the top floor viewing deck. What a sight! Words can´t capture the intricate sight, and unfortunately, pictures can´t suffice either! We went down to eat at a very very expensive restaurant(which we found out too late)and ate while we waited for 2 huge boats to approach the locks. We had a great view from here, which is when our camera malfunctioned and corrupted our memory card. Great. We do have pictures from after this incident though, so enjoy!

After lunch we trudged back out to the road to wait in the baking sun to catch a bus to the Summit Botanical Gardens and Zoo. The gardens weren´t so much botanical as they were a giant park with grass and tables and playgrounds... but the zoo was cool. We have never seen monkeys this excited and active in our lives! Cool ocelot, pretty birds, etc.

Waited for an hour for the bus, then headed home to go to another movie! This time, The House Bunny. We grabbed the best street chili dogs EVER, some rum, and then headed into the cinema. Believe me, the rum definitely helped this movie. It actually wasn´t so bad, and made us almost miss LA. Almost. Off to the Istmo Pub afterwards for a snack and some local brews, which tasted like a cross between band-aids, cigarette butts, and bacon. Not a very nice blend. And we tried all 4 on tap! Shame shame. Next time, we´ll stick to the Stella!

The next day we were basically worthless. We bought another camera, so we now have our lovely Fujifilm fancy one, and another Olympus point and shoot. We wandered around, caught up in our journals, and then for the main evernt.. a double feature! First we went and saw Body of Lies, a DiCaprio/Crowe movie. It was good, but not one we need to see again. We grabbed dinner at the pub, Oli tried the beers again with disgust. And then it was off to see movie number 2- Baby Mama! Man, we need to get out of this city. We were basically seeing everything available in English as it was so cheap. Thankfully, we had rum for this movie too.

Then it was off to bed, as we would be leaving for Ecuador in the morning!!