Panama – The Adventure Begins

February 7, 2024

It’s winter in Wisconsin and time for another vacation! Last year Pete, Laurie, and Linda went to Mexico for 3 weeks and asked us to join them, but I couldn’t go for that long due to work commitments. I told them to ask me again for 2024 because my situation would be different. As of 1Feb24 I have officially retired from the military and am happy to say that I will be spending the next 30 days in Panama with them! Tom is also able to come for the first 10 days of the trip and in addition, Ryan and his girlfriend Angie and Vicente and his girlfriend Peyton are joining us for the first 7 days. We are so happy and thankful to have Vicente along who speaks fluent Spanish. It is a huge asset everywhere we go!!

The day began early with my alarm set for 3:45a.m. for a 6:30 flight out of Milwaukee. My alarm never went off at 3:45, but thankfully Tom had set another alarm for 4:15 that did go off. When I heard his alarm and looked at the clock I immediately jumped out of bed knowing I was now a half hour behind schedule. Linda had dropped Vicente and Peyton at the airport before she came and got us to take us to Uncle Dennis’ house so he could take us to the airport. Linda arrived at 4:38 and we were still scrambling, but we were able to get out the door at 4:46 (only 1 minute pass the original plan of 4:45). We got to the airport with no problem and got there just before a huge line formed at the American Airlines counter. One thing I’m going to definitely miss as an active military member is TSA precheck. I have already applied for Global Entry which includes precheck, but it takes awhile to get approved and an interview is required before access is given. We still made it through security with plenty of time to spare. Our flight went off without a hitch and I finally got to see the Barbie movie on the flight to Miami (I thought it was actually pretty good). We had a short layover in Miami, but it was enough time to not have to run to the gate and allowed us to get a sandwich at Chick Fil A. The flight to Panama City had some slight turbulence but no major travel issues. We easily went through immigration and customs and found no line at the rental car counters.

When we reserved the rental cars during our trip planning we found the cars to be crazy cheap, but understood we had to buy mandatory insurance; which we did in advance . . . or so we thought. At the counter they told us we also needed their mandatory insurance as well . . . for another $900. I had a feeling that was going to happen because I had just read about it on a Facebook page I had been following. It’s ok, overall the price is still good, although I’m not sure we needed the other insurance we pre-bought. At least we should be covered in the event of an accident.

It took a while for our phones to connect to the network but when they finally did and we got our GPS signal to get directions to our AirBnB, we found that an otherwise 40 minute drive was estimated to be about an hour and a half. We made our way and with 18 Kilometers to go we hit the traffic. It was backed up for about 12 Kilometers. I think this is their normal rush hour because people were selling snacks, sodas, and water on the side of the road and in the middle of traffic. We did buy 10 bananas for $1 from one vendor. They’re not ripe yet, but I’m sure in a few days they’ll be good to go. After what felt like an eternity in the car (our car had myself driving, Tom, Linda, Vicente, and Peyton with the other car Laurie, Pete, Ryan, and Angie and some luggage in the backseat) we finally got off the freeway and followed the GPS to our AirBnB. . . until it wanted us to turn on a road that didn’t exist. I mean there was a grass road with a gate, but that certainly did not look like the entrance we were supposed to use for the Playa Dorada Beach Resort. Tom looked at the map and found another way that seemed more likely, but we still weren’t entirely sure the road went through due to road construction. Thankfully it did and we made it to our destination at a little after 6:30p.m.

We got settled into the BnB and Laurie, Pete, Vicente, Peyton, and I headed to the nearby Jumbo (but we called it Bimbo) grocery store. A little over $200 later we got food for dinner, some adult beverages, food for breakfast, snacks, fresh fruit, paper products, beach towels for Tom and I (I forgot to pack them even though I had said it out loud a couple of days prior that we would need them), water, unique things not found in the States, and more. Overall some of the prices were cheap, while others were a quite bit more expensive (I think a gallon of milk was $6.49, but the beach towel was only $4 and a 6 pack of beer was $4.50). We got back to the BnB and I made a spaghetti dinner for everyone. It took longer than anticipated due to the gas stove not having a real forceful output and it took forever for the water to boil. When we were done eating and had the dishes done (no dishwasher here other than our own two hands), Ryan, Vicente, Peyton, Tom, and I set off for a late night hike to find the ocean and walk off dinner. The beach is an easy 10 minute walk. The tide was super far out and we walked out over a bunch of rocks where the water normally is. I was excited to find a sand dollar! We walked along the beach for a bit and I did find some clear pieces of sea glass, although they don’t appear to be super plentiful. That’s ok though, I always enjoy the hunt! It is now after 1:00am and I must get some sleep! I’m looking forward to what the next 30 days will bring!