Canadian World Traveller Spring 2018 Issue

26
Put Panama City on your Bucket List!
Article and photography by Steve Gillick
Most travelers don’t expect to see
Blue Morphos, Howler Monkeys
and Broad-billed Mot Mots in the
morning and then sip on a fashionable
Hendricks Tonic cocktail at an upscale fusion
restaurant in the evening, but then again, this
is Panama where the senses are overwhelmed
with fascinating sights, tastes,
smells and experiences on a routine basis.
After a comfortable Copa Airlines flight to
Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport,
and checking into the equally comfortable
Holiday Inn Express in the Financial District
(see page 68 for hotel review), we set out to
explore. Around the corner of an area filled
with shops, banks, restaurants and the iconic
‘twisty building’, lies a veritable forest of skyscraping
residential towers, extending
around Panama Bay and along the length of
Avenida Balboa, the main thoroughfare that
connects new Panama with Casco Viejo, the
old city.
And on the way, the Mercado de Mariscos,
boasts a large courtyard where speakers
blare bouncy Panamanian tunes and a dozen
or so small restaurants sell Panama’s delectable
specialty: ceviche. We sat down to
savour a $3.00 cup full of raw fish, squid,
octopus, conch, scallops and clams, marinated
in flavorful citrus juices, and accompanied
by an icy cold Balboa beer.
And this was only a taste of what was to
come, as Panama City is a culinary hotspot
showcasing extraordinary dishes, created by
passionate millennial Chefs. Chef Martino
Pace of Caliope, is a great example, where
an appetizer of delicate carpaccio of sea bass
readies the palate for the main dish of grilled
octopus and a decadent dessert of chocolate
stuffed with mascarpone mousse crumble
and warm cardamom vanilla sauce. Other
restaurants, such as Cabana, Segundo
Muelle and Tantalo, pamper the taste buds
with cocktails and creative temptations of
seafood, chicken and beef.
While foodie pleasure abounds, so do opportunities
to explore, shop, chat with locals and
take photos and selfies. Casco Viejo is a relatively
small area that promises the pleasure
of getting lost in the narrow streets and public
squares with balconied houses, historic
buildings, statues, hotels and shops.
Not far away, what appears to be a colorful
jumble of boxes on the Amador Causeway is
in fact, the Frank Gehry-designed BioMuseo
that showcases Panama’s biodiversity. The
Causeway, featuring the city’s best ice cream
shops, is a land bridge connecting the mainland
with four islands near the area where
ships enter the Panama Canal.
But a much closer look is available at the
Miraflores Visitors Center, where both huge
vessels and tiny pleasure craft are lifted or
lowered 54 feet (16.5 meters) as they go
through the Miraflores locks on their journey
from ocean to ocean. A movie and museum
in the Center explain how the Panama Canal
changed the world upon its completion in
1914.
Outside the city, wonders never cease. A visit
to Soberania National Park provides encounters
with electric blue butterflies, known as
Blue Morphos, along with monkeys, 80-90
species of birds, anteaters, caiman, rainforest
and fresh air. And further, island life is front
and center at San Blas or Isla Grande.
The variety of activities in and around
Panama City make it one of the more exciting,
adventurous and culinary places to visit
and one more addition to your list of mustvisit
destinations.
www.copaair.com
www.visitpanama.com
Canadian World Traveller Spring 2018