Panama! Our 55th country lived in or visited in the world! We have finished our first week of “living around the world” in 2022 in the country of Panama. We will live here for a total of a month. This is our second international trip since Covid as we spent October, November and much of December living in Spain…more on that fantastic experience in another post!

Our journey to Panama began just over a week ago, up at 3:45 a.m. with an early 7 a.m. flight to Panama City, Panama, from Sarasota via Atlanta. I know, why do we go north to go south, but that’s what you get flying Delta airlines. It was a smooth Delta checkin, TSA pre-check and then time for a coffee. We love the size and convenience of Sarasota (SRQ) airport.

Our allegiance to Delta earned us upgrades to first class to Panama City. The relatively short international flight of around 4 hours was a piece of cake for us…in contrast to the USA to Spain flight time we recently experienced in our first post Covid international trip ending 2021. But it was enough time for a movie, and to enjoy a meal upgrade of salmon, cream cheese and bagel, chased by a Bloody Mary!

We had clear skies flying into Panama and were able to see beach, mountains and Panama City. However, once deplaning, our entry into Panama was not the most welcoming!

Sitting in first class we were about the 4th and 5th person off the plane. Almost immediately a younger man with “credentials” hanging from a lanyard around his neck asked us for our passports. He told us to “follow him”. I was immediately skeptical and of course not going to leave the airport with him.  He did not give our passports back so we had to follow him. I asked him who he was and where we were going and he respond “follow me”.

He took us to an office not far from the gate and there were 4-5 “officers” in the small two room office. It looked like another man dressed in a suit was being held, questioned and eventually photographed.

They asked us for all of our travel documents, passports, tickets….then begin to ask many questions. Where are you from? Are you married? For how long? How “well” do you know each other? How much money are you traveling with? What do you do for a living? Are you retired? 

One of the “officers” said that he was with US “law enforcement” and that they were looking for someone with a similar name. We were asked to provide them with travel info, our email addresses, where were we staying in Panama, for how long, where we were traveling to next.

Eventually the US “officer” warmed up. He said he was retiring soon and might have met the right two people for travel, investment and retirement advice. I told him he didn’t need a lot of money to travel and suggested he take note of the way I was dressed…my usual comfortable travel attire for longer journeys – hiking pants and a t-shirt.

He said I was dressed like “Mark Zuckerberg”, lol.  At least he didn’t discriminate by the way I was dressed, although it may have been why we were “randomly selected”. He suggested that maybe we were travel bloggers and seemed a bit warmer after I gave them my Flipsidetreks/Photography business card.

They did search my carry on “backpack”. They pulled out a banana which interestingly enough had a Costa Rica sticker on it. We had told them we came from the US so perhaps this made them a little suspect. Ironically, I had picked the banana up at a Sarasota, Florida hotel. 

We were eventually “released”. We are still not certain which “law enforcement agency” we were dealing with, but perhaps we will go by that office if we are in the same terminal on the way out of Panama. We made our way to baggage claim, where of course our bags were the only ones remaining on the belt. Surprisingly, we went through immigration without issues.

Unfortunately we had used an off-brand, off-terminal rental car company, “Economy Rental Car”. We’ve concluded that they no longer exists in Panama after trying to contact their local number as well as location. I think their corporate headquarters were unaware of this, as well as Orbitz. 

Long story short, we ended up using National Rental Car at a decent rate. Lesson, pay the few extra bucks and go with a name brand…and avoid Orbitz travel. They have not been helpful in our most recent travels and I found it is best in most cases to deal directly with the “supplier”, be it a hotel, airline or rental car. Of course you may find “cheaper” options from time to time through Orbitz, but at what “total cost”.

After landing at 2:15 pm we eventually made it to our home for the next month in Nueva Gorgona, Panama. The Pan American highway route took us through the city filled with dozens of newer skyscrapers. Our roomy, two bedroom condo on an upper floor (yes this 13th, lol) has a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean to the southwest and mountains to the east.

We spent the week settling into our routine. Typically slow mornings of coffee, walking on the beach, breakfast followed by some investment and real estate work. In the afternoons we try to squeeze in some gym exercise, at least every other day. And then, we enjoy some beautiful sunsets!

While we have made good progress in our diets, our intent is to eat healthier. We have visited the 4 “major” grocery stores in the area and done a fair amount of cooking in our well equipped kitchen. We have managed a couple good dinners out a local spots.

Both places look like “family run” and could be attached to their homes. We enjoyed some good pizza as well as more local Panamanian food…and some Panamanian cerveza!

The long walks on the white and volcanic black sand have been pleasant between the high tides which seem to range from 12-14 feet here. You can walk for miles on these beaches with the Chame mountains in the background.

We will squeeze in as many of these walks as we can and hopefully some hikes in the coming weeks. A couple days in Panama City and their “old town” of Casco Viejo is also in the works…and of course a stop at the Panama Canal! Perhaps a boat trip to an outer island could be in the cards.

Until next time…Hasta Luego!!

And a few more pics…