Christmas Break 2021-having just gone to Hawaii the year before (yup, during the high point of covid) and being nervous about anything in Europe (although I have friends who went), and being unsure of skiing conditions in mere December, and knowing we didn’t want to just lay on a beach in the Caribbean; we were limited in where to go. NOT! How about Central America! 
And hey, what about Panama, a destination I have flirted with in the past. And our friends (remember Mia from our Hawaii trip-her family) were already going. Si, we will come too! And it ended up being a pretty unique and memorable trip with great friends and lots of fun and adventure. Vamos!
Hola Pamama City!
In Panama City, I actually paid for our stay at the Waldorf Astoria Panama as the rooms were only about $170 per night. I didn’t want to waste valuable Amex points by transferring them to Hilton nor did I want to waste any of my free night certificates, especially because in the past, I have used them for some sick stays at the Waldorf Astoria Park City and The Grand Wailea in Maui. However, best-laid plans…I paid for the stay using my Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card excited to earn 14x Hilton Honors points per $1 on our two-night stay. 
But to my dismay, the stay on my Amex was billed as “The Panamera,” not a Hilton Resort, and I only earned 3x. What! I booked this stay on the HILTON WEBSITE, and it said “Waldorf” all over the hotel. I have a case pending with Hilton. Outcome TBD. #annoying!
We stayed two nights in Panama City (at the “non-Hilton Waldorf”) spending one day on a tour of the City. We booked a City Tour thru Viator (BTW-I have always been happy with Viator), including a visit to the Panama Canal. We started our day meandering along the narrow avenues and colonial buildings of Casco Viejo (“old quarter”). 
This area is a Unesco-protected district and the spot to go at night, especially for the trendy bars and restaurants. 
Every step of the way reminded me of the City of New Orleans. Our tour guide confirmed this observation for me, as many compare the “barrio” to the French Quarter. We went into a few churches (pretty but yawn), coffee shops, and touristy stores. Mason got a Panama hat! We took lots of pictures overlooking the water. It was sweltering and humid!
We visited the port where the cruise ships come in, but fortunately for us, no cruise ships were disembarking when we arrived. We enjoyed the air conditioning in some of the duty-free shops and then headed to lunch, where we had the best ceviche of the entire trip for, um, $6.00! We feasted on that shrimp and crab ceviche and Panamanian sancocho, which is considered the national dish of Panama. This soup is made with only chicken, onions, garlic, oregano, and potatoes. We couldn’t get enough of this hot soup, even in the heat.
The day’s highlight was finally seeing about six ships go through the Miraflores Locks, the most popular and the closest place to see the boats and the canal from Panama City. 
We waited about 2 hours (yawn again) on the observation deck (with many others) to finally watch ships enter the lock, watch the lock closed, and watch the vaults open to fill up the chamber with water (takes about 8 minutes to fill). 
Once the chamber was filled with water, the ship was elevated and passed through. We saw a few huge ships go through-a huge sailboat cruise ship and another massive commercial freight ship. We also watched some small recreational boats go on through. We waved to everyone on the ships. They waved back! Mason did a time-lapse of the whole experience on his phone. Check it out! I posted it to Instagram.
When we visited, unfortunately, the museum and film were closed due to covid protocols. The museum was probably really cool to see how the canal was built, expanded, etc. Not to mention reading about many people who died during the canal’s construction. Next time!
As for dining in Panama City, we had two great dinners. Azahar was close to the hotel, and we needed to enter the restaurant through a boutique flower shop. When the doors opened, we were treated to a chic modern space that seemed trendy and exciting. We feasted on Asian and Panamanian cuisine and got cool drinks to accompany the meal. It was fun to order drinks together, really for the first time (legally) as a family. The drinking age in Panama is just 18.
We headed back to Casco Viejo on our second night and ate at the very popular Fonda Lo Que Hay. It was a weird menu, an authentic Panamanian experience. We ordered many things to try, and the tuna pizza was the winner. The place was not fancy and quite reasonable, and the crowd was young! It was a great place to take our teens (and Mia) for a night out on the “old” town.
Adios Panama City and Hola Bocas Del Toro!
We headed to the smaller airport (Marcos A. Gelabert” International Airport) in Panama City for our smaller airplane ride (gulp) to the smaller city/town of Bocas Del Toro. I was nervous for our one-hour-plus flight on the propeller plane, but the weather was clear and the ride smooth, and we easily made it to Bocas town’s small airport. Some cool things that we saw and experienced upon arrival were a few posters outlining the punishment for money laundering, something I had never seen before in all my travels. Also, they would not let us claim our luggage till dogs went up to each bag and sniffed each one. Did we arrive in the Ozarks? Luckily, we had some Christmas entertainment while we waited to ensure we were all drug-free!
Our hotel, Red Frog Beach Island Resort provided us a van from the airport to their office at the dock in town. From there, our luggage and ourselves were loaded onto a water taxi to make the short boat ride to the resort. Upon docking, we headed on the mangrove-surrounded paths to the outdoor lobby. 
There we checked in, secured our golf cart for the entire stay (it’s a little pricy but I highly recommend getting one, as the resort is spread out with both paved and unpaved roads), and booked a bunch of activities for the next five days. We also did a bit of food shopping for breakfast food and snacks at the market next to the lobby. Onward to our accommodations…
We booked a three-bedroom beachfront villa, and I have to say, we spent so much time on the veranda with our view of the ocean that it was worth that little bit extra we paid for the space. We worked and ate breakfast out there, had pre-dinner drinks and snacks, and even exercised out on the veranda. We also had a small plunge pool, a fun novelty but just the first day. I am not sure we utilized it after that. A path led down to the beach, but it was a bit overgrown, and the beach at this point was a bit desolate, so we never swam here. The unit was furnished with a smart TV, kitchen, washer, dryer, and three bedrooms. It was perfect for my family of 5. Note, we did have a few glitches with the wifi and the coffee maker early on, but the resort was responsive and efficient in ensuring everything was corrected and up to our needs. It seemed like our happiness was a top priority for them!
We took advantage of many activities in the area during our stay and threw in some downtime too. As for our beach time, the water was rough with many scary-looking rocks at the resort. Although we did hang on our beach and dip in the white water a bit, we much preferred the day we spent on the beach at Palmar Beach Lodge, another resort on the island that we accessed with our golf carts. 
This resort was a bit more rustic and on a calmer area of Red Frog Beach. I think we got a cabana for just $50 for the day for the 8 of us. What?? My family never gets cabanas because they are usually so expensive. Not this time! And the waves were perfect for jumping and riding, and the water temperature was terrific! There are two restaurants on the beach at the resort to get lunch, and speaking of those restaurants…
We ate dinner at the Palmar Beach Lodge at least three times (we only had two choices-our hotel restaurant and Palmar). We loved the bohemian vibe and social atmosphere of their main restaurant, Restaurante de Palmar. As we sat with the sand beneath our feet, we thoroughly enjoyed the fresh and locally sourced meals each night so much that we bravely ventured here in the dark, on the unpaved paths, in our golf carts. 
Not to mention, the price of these meals was about 1/2 of what it cost to eat at our hotel. 
We also had breakfast there on our last day, which was terrific, especially the smoothies. We also had lunch at the Palmar resort’s other restuarant, Nachyo Mommas Taco Bar. With a name like that, how could it not be so fun and delicious!
We also had a few meals at our hotel’s beach restaurant, La Rosa Beach Club with views overlooking the beach. Unfortunately, while we were there, the resort’s other restaurant, The Point Pizza Bar, was still closed due to covid.
So we had a few delicious lunches and dinners here, including Christmas dinner, which included fun live music. The restaurant was also quite accommodating in setting up for a special birthday and even prepared a cake!
On our last night, we took our 15-minute boat ride and headed back into Bocas Del Toro for our final Panamanian meal. We had dinner at Kaifish right on the water and toasted with our yummy margaritas to our great trip. Everything was on the menu, from sushi to chicken wings to poke bowls. It was a great last night with buena comida! We jetted back in the dark with absolutely no lights on the boat or anywhere. It was scary and exhilarating to be out on the water in the pitch-black, moving that fast. Kudos to me for being the least nervous of my entire family, a very rare occurrence.
And as for our activities…we did a bunch of local excursions.
We took the resort’s all-day ish boat tour to Bird Island and Starfish Beach one day. Bird Island is just a stop where you stay in the boat, but wow, was it cool to see this rocky island in the middle of the sea with tons of different species of birds in the trees and flying all around the island. We were too far away to get great shots, but we were all fascinated by this habitat and true wonder of nature.
Our second stop on this boat tour and one of my favorite stops was Starfish Beach aka Playa Estrella. This beach allows you to swim with starfish in their natural habitat, and there were tons of them in the crystal clear, beautiful water.
Note, there are many signs asking that people do not pick up, move or lift the starfish out of the water, and I did not witness anyone disobeying. 
When we weren’t marveling at the starfish, we were relaxing at the beach (we paid $5 per lounge chair) and getting massages from the aggressive local women who come around to the sunbathers (they convinced some of us, and it was good!). 
We also had lunch at one of the handful of restaurants along the beach. 
This was one of my favorite meals of the trip, and the price was insanely low too!
Another activity we enjoyed was the chocolate tour and farm-to-table lunch at La Loma Jungle Lodge & Chocolate Farm.
Accessible only by boat, the property sits in the heart of a rainforest and is home to the highest point on Isla Bastimentos, where we ate lunch. 
Before reaching this point, we were entertained by a local guide on a nature walk where we learned about the jungle plants and chocolate (cacao) trees, tasting a wide variety of tropical fruits as we made our way. 
And of course, we picked the chocolate pods and tasted their bitterness and later witnessed them in dried and roasted bean form that we grounded up to make chocolate (sort of). 
Pass the milk and sugar, please, so it tastes like the chocolate I know and love! 
We also were all very nervous while feeding the chickens, 
but we did it nonetheless. All but one of us that is. :-).
And the lunch! The setting where we ate lunch was unforgettable at the highest point on the island above the lush rainforest.
It was modern and spacious with spectacular views. 
We were served a beautiful chickpea salad with many of the restaurant’s vegetables locally sourced from the jungle farm, and did I sense a bit of chocolate in the salad? I made sure not to eat my entire plate because I wanted to save room for the next course. 
Hah, but much to our disappointment, dessert came next. The chickpea salad was the main course! Can I have it back, please? 🙂 Despite my grumbling stomach, it was such a great day at the farm!
Another day we enjoyed a laid-back day out on the water on the Jager Knights 42ft French-made catamaran with a captain and his first mate.
We opted for a private tour because the private route was very affordable, like most things in Panama. We stopped at two snorkeling spots, Dolphin Bay (where we saw no dolphins) and Coral Gardens with its pretty different colored coral with a few fish. In both areas, the water was calm and refreshing, but I have to say that the snorkeling in Hawaii was so much better in terms of the variety of marine life that you see. 
Mason did see a nurse shark that we knew was a possibility, which was the highlight for us. 
Our first mate prepared us a pasta dish for lunch (like spaghetti with cheese), which was weird, but Jessie took good pictures eating it. 
Another great part of the day was when the captain raised the sails and was able to turn off the engine to let the wind take over. We probably traveled about 30 minutes with just the wind as our energy source. It was a very incredible experience!
Adios Bocas Del Toro!
Cheers to a great trip! We headed to the tiny airport in Bocas town for our flight back to Marcos A. Gelabert International Airport in Panama City on the same small plane that brought us to Bocas. Once again, it was a smooth non-eventful flight. 
From there, we got a taxi to take us to Panama City’s main international airport for our flight back to the states, where we did have our first glitch of the trip…
We were flying back amid the big omicron wave when many airline staff shortages occurred. Our flight from Panama City to Miami on American Airlines was canceled just mere hours before our scheduled departure. They scheduled us on a flight the next morning, but we didn’t want to have to stay in Panama City that night with the chance that they may cancel on us again. I sat in that small Bocas Del Toro airport, sweating in my mask, on the phone with American Express for quite some time as the Amex rep handily got us new flights directly back to NY on Copa Airlines that same day. 
Of course, we needed to lay out that money (not cheap) for the five flights. However, upon being home, I put in a refund request to American Airlines (after all, they canceled the flight on us) and, within days, was refunded for those American Airlines flights. Despite the stress of having to figure things out on the fly (hah, get it, fly), in the end, it worked out great as we flew direct back to NY instead of laying over in Miami, and I made about $200 on the difference in the flights. Yay, go me! And Go Amex! I am so grateful that they were able to take care of this for me being so far away in a foreign land. I love my American Express Platinum Card!
I am not sure if we will ever be back in Panama again as I want to start exploring more of South America instead of Central America, having been to both Panama and Costa Rica. (#Galapagos2022). We had a fantastic and unique week. And we were all sad to leave this small country packed with culture, tropical beaches, history, wildlife, and adventure.
Adios Panama!
