Back in Panama City

We arrived at our hotel in Panama City right around 3:00 PM yesterday. The drive from Las Tablas was uneventful, although I saw at least seven radar traps on the highway, all of which I managed to pass without being pulled over. Phew!

I dropped Brenda and our luggage at the hotel and then drive off to top up the car's gas tank and return it to the rental agency. As soon as I set foot outside the hotel door the skies opened. A ferocious torrential tropical downpour flooded the streets and reduced visibility to zero, even with the wipers running at double time.

Traffic in Panama City is nightmarish at the best of times and the rain made things even worse. Before leaving the hotel I programmed the address of Sixt Rentals that was shown on the contract into Google maps, which was really the only way I would have found it given the lack of visibility. After twenty minutes negotiating bumper to bumper traffic, countless kamikaze lane changes and a few missed turns, I arrived at the Sixth location only to realize it was not the one from which I had picked up the car. D'oh! Why they used that address on the contract I do not know, but I went back to the drawing board and Google mapped the correct location that was only 500 meters away.

Fortunately, by the time I got there, completed the paperwork and started back to the hotel on foot, the skies had cleared and I had only to jump over a few remaining puddles.

For our last meal in Panama we returned to Beirut restaurant for a second helping of their scrumptious Lebanese food. Plates of hummus, babaganoush, falafel, ful and kibbe ( six of them!) filled our table and we managed to eat our way through most of it. This was probably the best Lebanese food I've had anywhere and I would recommend this place to anyone visiting Panama City.

After dinner we went back to our hotel, did some pre-packing and watched a movie before calling it a night.

Tomorrow we fly out of here at 3:00, but due to a six hour layover in Mexico City, we won't be back in Vancouver until 5:00 AM on Friday.Read more