Panama with Bernie

Last month, I went on an amazing vacation to Panama! It was fun, steamy, and easy on the wallet. The Quatchis opted to stay at home. I'm glad they did too because the weather was in the high 40s / low 50s, and there were some intense (though brief) thunderstorms. Bernie, the Quatchi's new pal, had never been outside of Toronto. He was the perfect travel buddy!

On our first full day, we went to Contadora Island to go snorkelling and laze on the beach. I didn't bring my cell phone so unfortunately, no photos from that day.

The next day, we went to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. We took a 45-minute taxi ride outside of the city, and then another 45-minute ferry.

We hiked the whole morning, and saw lots of insects, amphibians, birds, and monkeys! See the monkey climbing up the tree?

 This is the Cinta Costera. It was a nice place to walk...until it started to pour!

We retreated to the nearby fish market and tried cheviche from a few vendors.

Not bad for $1.50, eh Bernie?

The rain continued to come down so we headed to Albrook Mall, the largest shopping centre in the country. We spent majority of our time in the supermarket. We bought a bunch of local snacks and drinks to try throughout the trip. Always a foodie at heart!

We stuffed our tummies and realized some exercise would be good for us. Since the sun was back, we went to the hotel pool.

After a swanky dinner at Maito (highly recommended!), we had a few cocktails at the Hard Rock Megapolis. The views were fantastic from the 62nd floor. Cheers to Bernie!

Our hotel was great. While most people tend to stay at resorts when they visit Panama, we stayed in the city centre, and did a bunch of day trips. I don't have a TV at home so it was a real treat to have so many movie channels in Panama. The room had two beds, so Bernie had one all to himself!

I'll post more photo soon!