Panama City Day 330 14/08/2015

After a restless hot and sweat night we packed, had breakfast on the roof top terrace and jumped in a taxi to the airport for our 1130 flight to Panama City via Bogota. We were both still feeling a bit disappointed that we were flying and very sad to be leaving South America after a fantastic 20 weeks here. At the airport check in we were given the option of going on an earlier flight to Bogota, which we took advantage of as it gave us more time to get through immigration for our international flight. The flight to Bogota was uneventful and the drop in temperature was immediately evident as we disembarked the plane. We walked through to the international terminal and wandered around looking for somewhere to have a drink. The food court was basically just western fast food although we spotted 'real italian coffee' at one and thought we give it a go. Whilst it wasn't the worst we've had it certainly wasn't great. We wandered to the gate and stopped at an American bistro for lunch, spending our last few Colombian pesos. Simon had hoped to have a final BBC beer but they only sold American brands but had one anyway! We boarded the flight and left on time. As we flew into Panama City we got a great view of the skyline and the canal entrance with numerous enormous cargo ships lined up no doubt waiting their turn to sail through. At the airport we passed through immigration without any questions or hassle, collected our luggage, walked through customs to find Samuel who we'd arranged to collect us via the b&b we'd booked to stay at. As we drove through the city we were surprised at how many skyscrappers there are. You could easily confuse the view with any western city. We'd booked 4 nights at the Balbao Inn, in the Balbao district, recommended by a friend who'd stayed here a few years ago. The district is very residential and infact the area where we're staying used to be the American district, when they controlled the running of the canal and very much looks like one. The Balboa Inn is managed to two ex-pats from England, Simon and Rosie. After checking in we sat out on the terrace chatting to them and enjoying a few beers. It was too much effort to head out to eat so we attempted to order take away pizza and failed (the phone line was constantly engaged) and instead had a couple of slices of toast. Despite the lack of food it was a lovely relaxed evening with good company.

Leaving the Zana b&b 

Our plane to Bogota