We made it to Panama City on the bus on Saturday night, arriving at the Albrook bus terminal.
This display was at the Albrook bus terminal showing an example of the new metro subway under construction.
I’m not good at overnight travel and red eye flights, so we stayed overnight at the Costa Inn. Panama City is a big city with a lot of hotel options at every price range, but this one works for us. It’s an older hotel but it’s clean, comfortable, and the staff is pleasant and accommodating. A room is about $60, comes with a nice buffet breakfast, and there is a free van service to the airport. That alone would cost about $30 for a taxi, and when include a nice breakfast we think it’s a very good deal.
We ate dinner in the outside part of the restaurant since it was a beautiful evening.
But, when you are outside sometimes the wildlife joins you. There was a wrestling match on TV. This gecko was on the TV and at one point it looked like he was on the announcer’s face.
We had an excellent and relaxing dinner at the hotel. I had corvina topped with mixed seafood in a creamy sauce, and Joel had one of the best steaks he’d had since coming to Panama. We had breakfast at the hotel in the past and it was very good. This time our flight left early so we had to get on the van before they started serving breakfast. It’s really nice to have a free van ride to the airport though!
We were on American Airlines this time, and the airport scene was interesting. By the time we had stood in line long enough to make it almost up to the desk, they took everyone going to Dallas out of the line, and proceeded to process everyone going on an earlier flight to Miami. I was very glad to be at the head of the Dallas line because by the time they got to us, the line was back and forth through the whole waiting area and down the hall and almost past security!
But, we made it through in plenty of time to board our flight. When we landed in Dallas things went equally smoothly. A friend told me bad stories about a disorganized mob scene at customs in Houston, but thankfully we found no such thing. There was a line but it moved along at a decent pace, and though we needed all of our 1 1/2 hr layover they seemed to be getting everything done as efficiently and considerately as one would expect.
The lines of people in Dallas waiting to clear customs.
Leaving Dallas, some pretty scenery below.
Flying into Kansas, the green farmland below.
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Our first stop in the US was Kansas to visit Joel’s son and family, and see his other children and family. I lived there in the past but I hadn’t been back for 16 years. It was a very good visit though! I’ll keep posting updates of our travels as I have free time.
The Panama Adventure 