As is our usual routine, we left Vail during the busy Festive Season, after skiing on Vail's opening day November 15th. We decided to spend 50 (decreased to 40) days in Panamá this year. Even with all the income from the canal, it is a third-world country with minimal high-end tourist infrastructure (or any infrastructure outside Panamá City). We had expected it to be cheap but it wasn't that cheap. We had expected to see many US expats but we didn't.
Without any Four Seasons to stay at, we opted for the Waldorf Astoria in Panamá City. We made arrangements to spend 5 nights in the Bocas del Toro region of the northeast at a resort called La Coralina. We also planned to have dinner with a friend of Judy Inglis who lives in Panamá City. Other than that, we did not plan for anything.
We flew business class on Copa Airlines and it was not good ($7,833 round trip for the two of us plus $1363 to change our return date). Actually, it was bad. The time of the flight was 9 pm arriving in Panamá about 6 hours later, which was 5 am local time. Dimitri thought that there would be seats that laid flat but there weren't. They were the old-fashioned first-class seats that reclined minimally. When we boarded we complained that it was cold. During the entire 6-hour flight it was really cold and they didn't have enough blankets for us to have extra. Dinner was the only meal served and Dimitri had it and said it was awful. There was no personal screen for entertainment; there was one movie on a common drop-down screen and no music. Audre took her sleeping potions and then went into her Zen state for terrible travel conditions.
When we arrived, we had to walk a very, very long way to immigration and there were no golf carts to be seen. Once we got to immigration we learned that we were in the wrong terminal. We had to go to the other terminal to get our luggage before going through immigration (but no one had told us that). The luggage took forever to appear but once we got it, immigration was fast. We didn't need to find an ATM in Panamá because US dollars are used everywhere (even though there is a local currency called the Balboa).
Panamá City
Our driver, arranged by the Waldorf, was where he should have been, and off we went. The Waldorf had told us that we would need to wait for our suite until 7:30 am and offered us breakfast in the meantime. The breakfast buffet was not to our liking at all. When we finally got to our designated suite it was not to our liking at all either. We had a rate of US$438 per day for at least 30 non-consecutive days and the suite category was their largest.
We changed hotels that day because the Waldorf room would not have been comfortable. With one bathroom sink, one toilet, very limited storage, no desk and with a bad view, it was actually unacceptable, particularly for our length of stay. The gym at the Waldorf was minimal and we didn't like the look of the Jacuzzi area--it was in a canyon of the tall surrounding buildings. The Director of Operations at the Waldorf, Ruben Ferreria, arranged for us to stay in the master suite at the Hilton (part of the same hotel group) for the same price. We went to look at it with Lille, the head concierge, and it was indeed acceptable.
Our master suite at the Hilton had a great view of the bay and the Pacific, it was over 1000 square feet and had two full bathrooms as well as a kitchen. The storage wasn't good but a clothes rack was brought for hanging Audre's clothes. The kitchen had lots of cabinets with shelves for Dimitri's clothes. We were able to unpack completely and put our suitcases away. The room at the Hilton was personalized and Alexa worked right away. The Hilton even brought us yoga mats so we could do our stretching and toning!
The gym at the Hilton was much bigger and better equipped than the Waldorf and the Jacuzzi was on the wide open pool deck with a sea view. The pool looked good for swimming laps.
Once we had checked in at the Hilton and before we unpacked we took a much-needed nap. After unpacking but before dinner, we used the outdoor Jacuzzi. The temperature was good. The other people in the Jacuzzi were parents of autistic children, with their children. Evidently, there was a stem cell institute in the Hilton building that treated the kids.
On our first evening, we had dinner with a friend of Judy Inglis, Jon Carriel. This was the first time in all of our travels that we have met a friend of a friend and socialized on our very first night! We went to a restaurant very close to the Hilton called Azahar and it was very good but not inexpensive. At that time we didn't know about the 25% discount that restaurants offer retirees (jubilados).
The breakfast buffet at the Hilton was extensive and was better than our experience with the one at the Waldorf. However, the room was crowded and noisy as well as freezing cold. When we met with the Hilton Cluster General Manager, Andrés Korngold, he arranged for us to have in-room dining breakfast daily instead (and included it in our room rate). From then on we sent an email to Luis Perez, the F&B director, telling him what we wanted delivered to us for breakfast et voilá, breakfast arrived at the appointed time. We were nice and warm in our quiet suite, with Alexa playing our chosen classical relaxation music.
Speaking of being nice and warm in our quiet suite, Dimitri was cold in our suite in the morning. Because we didn't have a balcony where he could go to warm up, he wanted a small heater. There wasn't one to be had in Panamá. Ligia Peralta, the Director of Operations at the Hilton, tried to find one for us but they just were not sold (we couldn't find one in KL either). Speaking of Ligia, she did everything she could to make our stay comfortable. Actually, all of the staff made a fuss over us (which we really like).
In our first two weeks in Panamá City, we went on a city tour, used the Hilton gym, went to the old town (Casco Antiguo), had dim sum in the new Chinatown, and biked on a path along the Pacific to the fish market where we bought crab for lunch.
We also had fun visiting the canal. We went to the canal's Miraflores visitor center and watched the 3-D IMAX movie about the canal (narrated by Morgan Freeman). Then we sat in the bleachers and watched a ship carrying natural gas go through the lock in front of us. The process of transiting the canal is long (8 hours) and tedious. We were glad that our one canal crossing experience was the Suez which was simple compared to the Panamá.
The restaurants where we had dinner during our first stay in Panamá City were all good and three of them were delicious and innovative. The dim sum on a Sunday was old-fashioned Cantonese dim sum that we hadn't had for a while.
Although the weather was hot and humid the evenings were a pleasant temperature and we tried to sit outside at dinner. We didn't walk outside during our stay and during our bike outings we didn't get drenched by the torrential downpours. Only rarely were our afternoon moments of Zen in the outdoor Jacuzzi hampered by rain.
Riviera Pacifica-Buenaventura
We spent about two weeks in Panamá City before decamping for 3 days to the northwest coastal area called Riviera Pacifica to stay at a Marriott golf resort called Buenaventura. We rented a little Kia car (for about $35 a day). We went over the Puente Centenario, the nice-looking bridge over the Panamá Canal, and then took the Panamericana Highway. Fifty-five years prior, Dimitri drove that highway in his camper. He was going to sell it in Panamá and then join a sailboat to Tahiti. No one would buy it so he drove it back to NYC and asked his father to sell it (which he eventually did). Dimitri then took a job at Scientific Data Systems (that Xerox later bought). Dimitri stayed with Xerox for around 20 years.
On our 2-hour drive, the Panamericana Highway started out like a highway and then deteriorated into a typical third-world road with ruts. Rocío Bethancourt, director of rooms at the Marriott, gave us a premier room with breakfast for about $300 a day. It was a large 61 square meter room with space for two desks for our laptops as well as a sofa and coffee table. We also had lots of storage with 2 closets and a large chest of drawers. While there was only one bathroom sink, the counter space, and drawers provided good storage so we could both use the one sink at the same time. There was also a mini bar area with drawers and storage. In the morning, Dimitri could warm up (and warm up the room) by opening the balcony door. After our dinners, we would sit on our balcony and it was quiet and pleasant. We liked the room, the buffet breakfast was good enough, and we thought it was nice to have daily housekeeping as well as evening turn-down service. While it was not a 5-star hotel, it was probably a cut above the Hilton.
We drove to the Anton Valley to hike. The road to Reserva Hídrica was good until it wasn't. Then it became almost impassable in our little Kia Picanto. The return to the tiny tourist town of El Valle was even steeper and more treacherous in our little car. Dimitri often used no gas, just gravity, and side slipping. We hiked the Cerro Cara Iguana trail at Reserva Hídrica. We were glad we had our hiking boots and poles--it was steep and slippery.
The town called El Valle was a surprise. We never figured out why there were 3 Chinese grocery stores and a Chinese restaurant there.
While at Riviera Pacifica, we ate at the different restaurants at the Marriott and, except for one, they were acceptable. We used the Jacuzzi and had to keep nagging but they did get the temperature to 38.5 degrees so it was pleasant. Over the Mother's day weekend, it was very busy but on Monday it was quiet and pleasant.
Panamá City again
When we returned to the Hilton in Panamá City, we were given the same master suite, personalized. We returned to going to contemporary Panamanian restaurants where the food was a cut above what we ate over the weekend. We biked the Cinta Costera again, renting the same bikes we had before. The 26" small Rali bike fit Audre better than most bikes (except her Trek, of course). The two bikes cost $20 for 2 hours.
There was a serious obesity problem in Panamá and another thing too. The Kim Kardashian butt augmentation fad that was popular in the States around 2014 was still popular in Panamá. Women who should not have also wore spandex and their butts were lifted up and out and rounded. Another thing we noticed: at the events at the Hilton, people dressed in evening gowns and tuxes. We don't see that often anymore.
We developed a comfortable routine in Panamá. After our (en suite) breakfast, we would work at our laptops for a while (Dimitri was working on our next trip); then we would do something active: go to the gym, do our stretching & toning, go biking, or go on errands. We were lucky: we didn't get drenched by the daily torrential rain storms on our outings (like we did in KL). Each afternoon we used the outdoor Jacuzzi for our moment of Zen. We rarely had people to talk to in the Jacuzzi, unfortunately, and we often had to ask the technicos to come to adjust the temperature. After our showers and so on, we would go out to dinner, using Uber. Uber, by the way, worked great in Panamá City.
There were Chinese cars in Panamá City and they fascinated Dimitri. We even had one that was an SUV for an Uber trip. It was very comfortable and the driver said he loved his Chinese cars (he had two). He said they were easy to maintain and that the SUV only cost him $20000! Dimitri wants one (good luck with that in the USA).
Bocas del Toro
Our second excursion was to Isla Colón, the northernmost and main island in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago. We took Air Panamá from the small Albrook airport and it was awful. The Fokker plane had 50 passengers in a space comfortable for 25. Nothing was served, not even water. Eventually, our luggage was delivered in a most unique and awkward way. When we got it, we exited and found the driver for La Coralina Island House (who did not say "welcome" to us until we were already at the lobby). Bocas is a goldmine for tourist income. Yet it appeared to us that Panamá put no money into infrastructure. Bocas Town looked like the typical third-world tropical town, without any interest for us. Even in an SUV, we 4 guests bumped our way to the resort on roads that were more like off-roading trails.
There wasn't much choice in upper-end accommodation. We chose La Coralina Island House and we were glad we did. We booked the one-bedroom villa ($486 per night) and were given a complimentary upgrade to the Superior Villa. The Superior Villa had two levels with excellent views of the Caribbean Sea, as well as two toilet rooms (which we love to have).
The resort is architecturally and spatially lovely, on a hill, with the well-planned landscaping, stunning Balinese stonework and wood as well as lovely meandering paths. The intricately carved wooden screens from Bali in the main area and in our villa were beautiful. Evidently, all of the stonework and wood came on container ships from Bali. One of the owners was a collector of Balinese artwork and the resort is the museum for it. The result was delightful. It reminded us of all of our visits to Bali in 1993 and '94.
In our Superior Villa, on the lower level, was a living room with a desk for our two laptops and a room with our second toilet. The first floor had a large deck with two chaise lounges, a plunge pool, as well as a table with chairs. Up 17 steep stairs was a large bedroom, a large bathroom (with two sinks and lots of counter and storage space) and closets with drawers. (The clothes-hanging rod was so high in the closets Audre needed a stool to use it.) Off of the bedroom was another deck with a grand view of the Caribbean Sea. Rafael helped us to personalize the room with support from the personable Jessica at the front office. The Balinese motif was everywhere in the villa, it had intricately carved wooden panels too. Audre loved the flowers in the room that included a torch flower (last seen by us in the Seychelles).
While the check-in process and our introduction could have been warmer and more hospitable, we were very happy during our five-night stay. And, we were also very glad that we did not stay at the Nayara resort, a high-end resort on another island. That one was an all-inclusive type of place which would not make any price concession to its $1500 per night price for our not drinking any alcohol and not wanting to have three meals a day.
We loved our view of the Caribbean Sea and could even see surfers. Paunch Beach is world famous among surfers and there were perfect waves on many days. We thought that our view from on high was even better than the one from the main area of the resort because it included all of the beautiful landscaping and Balinese stonework in front of the villa. It was a high view and reminded us of the place we rented in Tahiti Iti where we could see the surfer waves breaking far below us.
Our villa at La Coralina was very private and quiet; we often sat on one of two decks. It was hot and it was humid but sometimes there was a breeze. We never did go into our private plug pool; the water was too cold for us. On our first day, we took the 12:30 house SUV and bounced our way for 20 minutes to the hotel's Bluff Beach. It made us sad that the government did not attend to the infrastructure.
Bluff Beach was a long sandy beach that looked inviting to walk (but we didn't). There were no more chaise lounges when we got there; we had to sit on a kind of Adirondack chair. The time of the house car back to the hotel was around 3:30 so we had lunch and read on our devices (there was wi-fi).
The next day was also sunny and we went to the hotel's Paunch Beach right across the sand road from the hotel. We had a wonderful time there talking to Amal, the young man from the hotel who was a fount of local information. We stayed all day and had a very good lunch at the table over the water. There was also wi-fi at that beach. He promised to get us a couple of young coconuts but sadly never delivered.
The meals we had at the hotel were all very good. We mentioned that we wanted to talk to the F&B manager and Adrian sought us out to introduce himself. We thought that was great. We were able to compliment Adrian and thank him for the F&B successes.
For our first dinner, we sat outside, near the covered part of the restaurant. Breakfasts were in the same restaurant and a la carte. One day the kitchen even made us an off-menu oatmeal cereal breakfast with all of the sides we like. We also enjoyed meeting Ariel Barrionuevo, the Director General at La Coralina. He was cordial and personable. He told us stories of the origin story of the hotel.
There was a hot tub at the spa but it was not hot enough for us so we never used it. Luciano the spa manager and Ariel Barrionuevo, the Director General at La Coralina, wanted to have it made warmer but we thanked them and said they should not. We had open wounds from falling and it would not have been wise.
We went to the restaurants near the hotel. We went to the first one, Ohana, by taxi (at a cost of $6). We had okay service by a young woman from Biarritz and very good tuna. On our third night, we walked to Arboloco. It was a very odd place with a woman co-owner from the States. We didn't like the sampler plate selections or the unusual fried zucchini that we ordered.
During our last day, after a rainy morning, the day turned out to be beautiful and we sat by the pool in the main area of the hotel. We even went into the pool--it was the same temperature as our bodies and it was lovely! On our last evening we went to the indigenous Ngäbe Cacao Shamanic Meditation in the spa. It was popular: all of the yoga mats were taken. We enjoyed it, letting go of whatever ailed us and tasting criollo cacao from San Cristobal Island. Afterwards we had a good dinner with Baker as our server. He was our evening server each night and he remembered all of our preferences. It was enjoyable talking to him.
On the day we left the rain was torrential and continuous. We had been lucky with the weather during our stay and we were grateful!
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