Day 9 - Thurs 28th Mar 2024
Participants: Tam & Kev
We are in Panama City today. At least one of us is. I wake up feeling really unwell and there's no way I can do the Panama City Old Town tour we have booked. Tam has to go on her own as I don't feel like moving around much. When she's gone I go up to one of the pool areas and find a sunbed in the shade until the sun has gone round enough for me to return to the stateroom balcony. The chairs on the balcony are quite nice, but not comfortable enough for a long time as they don't recline fully, they are ok for sitting but not for relaxing longer. I put 3 towels on the floor with pillows off the bed and alternate between there and the bed inside. I manage to sleep for much of the time.
Tam comes back and tells me about the tour. The following is taken from her notes:
Go to the port entrance on the shuttle and find the meeting spot for the tour. I get a WhatsApp message saying that the guide will be 10 minutes late. When we get going we drive to the old town where I join a group of 13 people in total. We first visit some churches and the cathedral and are told some of the history of Casco Viejo, the old part of Panama City. It is 10 blocks long by 5 blocks wide and is on an isthmus with water on 2 sides. We are shown the old city walls and told that most of the city burned down and only 42 houses survived. Stop in a gift shop and wander through squares down to the waterfront where the Panama Canal starts. The tour guide gets me a lift back to the port and we drive through some very rough areas.
This nativity scene was inside one of the churches.
Tam says that
the tour guide was efficient, but not as friendly as our guide in
Columbia. The tour was worth doing to get a feel for the old part
of Panama City.
We spend the afternoon in the stateroom. Come the evening I still
don't want to eat or do anything much , so we go to Movies Under
The Stars and sit around the pool watching Antman and Waspwoman.
I've seen it before, but Tam hasn't. Not a great film, but ok and
it's an experience to watch it outside on a lovely warm evening.
You lie on comfortable padded sunbeds with headrests and there
are blankets available if it gets a bit breezy. I manage a nibble
at a roll and a Coke.
By the way, we were supposed to be doing the Caymus Wine Dinner tonight. Tam rang and cancelled this morning. Fair play to Princess, you are supposed to give 24 hours notice to cancel or you lose your money - not insignificant as it costs £140 each. Anyway, they are very good and refund our money.
We are back in the room at 9.00 pm and watch a bit of The Martian in bed (we are in bed, not the martian) before sleeping at 10.00 pm.