Arrival in Panama

Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012--Panama City, Panama

There were no problems at the airport in San Antonio this morning.  No lines to check in or to go through security.  Our flight was full though, and it was a superliner thanks to the tailwinds that got us to Houston in about 35 minutes!!  In Houston, we had a short walk to our connecting gate where they were just starting to load the flight to Panama, another one that was full.

I sat beside a 31-year-old American surfer from San Francisco who was excited to be away for a few days of surfing here.  He was a talker!!  He really loves electronics and never wanted to shut anything down when asked to do so.  He had a new Asus tablet with an external keyboard, a set of $300 headphones by V-Moda, a Boosteroo portable amplifier to improve the sound from his cell phone, and a Motorola cell phone.  He demonstrated the headphones to me by selecting various songs and letting me hear the sound.  It actually was very good.

There were no problems getting processed through immigration and customs at the airport, and Dan, the surfer, joined us in our collectivo taxi which provided the cheapest way to get into town--$11 per person vs. $14 per person if only two of us took a taxi.

There was one glitch in our plan.  We had trouble finding our hotel.  It's a small place called Entre 2 Aguas. I had marked its location on my map and I guided the taxi driver to within a block of the hotel.  However, we didn't see its small sign when we went past it.  We stopped half a block away and some local people tried to help us with their cell phones.  They found the website and telephoned the hotel, but there was no answer.  They said it should be nearby.  Rather than letting us walk up and down the street and look for it, the taxi driver insisted on taking us.  He drove to a parallel street and we saw nothing.  Then he moved even further away on another street.  I knew it was a bad move.  Eventually, we paid him an extra $3 and he left.  We then walked back to where we had been first, and found our place quite easily.  The biggest problem was the high heat and humidity.  By the time we got back to there--maybe 3 blocks from where the taxi left us--we were really perspiring.  But the man answered the bell and told us he and his wife had just arrived.  That's why they hadn't answered when the first helpful group called the hotel.

Our room is huge--two king size beds, a large flat-panel TV, a safe, a refrigerator, etc.  It's quite convenient to Calle Espana, a street with many shops and restaurants.  Because it is Christmas, we only found a couple of places open.  One was a KFC, so we went there and had some chicken wraps and fries for dinner.  Tomorrow, it should be much easier to find local food available.

Neither of us slept well last night, and we got up at 4:20 this morning.  Therefore, we are very tired and are going to bed early.  Tomorrow, there is a full schedule for exploring!