Tales & Trails of a Traveling Wiseguy

When I was in Panama a few weeks ago I bought a few bottles of Ron Abuelo rum. Ron Abuelo is Spanish for "Grandpa's Rum", and it's the marquee brand of rum made in Panama. For less than $25 on sale at the Rey mini-supermarket even in the small town of El Valle I got a boxed set of two bottles of Ron Abuelo 12-year aged rum.

I thought about it over the course of a few days before making the purchase. We were making daily trips to Rey to grab food, so it wasn't like there weren't multiple opportunities. But was it a good enough opportunity? I wondered. It was about $24 for a set of two 375mL bottles, I thought. That compares to about $36 for one 750mL bottle of Ron Abuelo 12-year at Total Wine back home in California. I finally decided, "Enh, I'll save one-third and buy it here."



It turned out I was wrong. I was wrong but in a good way! The boxed set wasn't two 375mL bottles, it was a 375mL bottle of special 12-year rum plus a 750mL bottle of "normal" 12-year rum. (I quote "normal" because 12-year aged rum is already upper tier rum.) Together these would cost $60 even at Total Wine in California, so I saved more than half off the price.

And how do these rums taste? I don't know yet! I've yet to try them. Maybe I'll save them to try with friends at our combined birthday party next weekend... or maybe I'll sample them quickly before that and enjoy them with friends a week from Saturday! 🥂😋

Panama Travelog #26
Soberania National Park, Panama - Fri, 27 Dec 2024. 2pm.

This is another blog I've unstuck from my Panama trip backlog.

Today we're driving from El Valle de Antón to Panama City with a a few stops for short hikes. Around noon today we visited El Chorro de la Chorrera. Now we're doing a bit of revenge hiking.

It's revenge because this is a hike we tried to do Monday after we stayed nearby in Gamboa, but we were turned away by a sign that the trail was closed. The parking lot was gated off by a chain. "Maybe it's just closed on Mondays," we shrugged. Not wanting to run afoul of local authorities who might be upset we entered a closed park, we gave up and left.

We gave up and skipped a hike? you might wonder. Yeah, well Monday was a shit day overall. The first hike we did was a bust. It was supposed to be full of wildlife. We saw a butterfly. One butterfly. And the night before we'd had trouble with our room at the hotel. "Let's move past these snafus and get on to the next thing!" we agreed. HAHAHAHHAHA, was that ironic. Everything this trip has been a snafu.

Thus when we arrived back at the trailhead today and saw it's still closed, with the small parking lot still chained off, we were of two minds. One mindset was, "Everything this trip has included an element of failure. Let's just accept our bad luck and leave." The other mindset was, "Fuck it, we're going in!"

The second mindset won.



We parked in a pullout area on the side of the road opposite the small, closed parking lot. There was already another car there, just like there was a car there when we bailed several days ago, so that tempered our worries about whether the authorities would give us a hard time. Plus, when we crossed the street and looked more carefully at the guard hut at the start of the trail, we could see it wasn't just closed for a day or a week but looked like it had been abandoned for years.

The main attraction at this trail is a swimming hole and picnic area near a small waterfalls. There's also a nature trail that loops around about 1km. We opted to hike the trail count-clockwise, putting the falls at the far end as a bit of a reward.

Well, just like that guard shack at the parking lot has seen better days, the nature trail here in Soberania National Park hasn't been maintained in at least a few years either. There are two suspension bridges crossing the creek, and both of them need repair. I mean, we were able to cross both of them, but one needs several planks replaced, and on the other one the joint in the middle of the of the span is broken. Fun times!



When we got around to the falls and the swimming hole it was starting to rain. That didn't seem to bother a small family who were already in the water. I mean, why not? They're literally already wet. When I was a kid we used to go out and play in the rain on hot days.

The folks who were in the swimming hole started chatting with us in Spanish. We used our rusty conversational Spanish to converse with them. We talked about where we're from, where we've visited this week, and what our plans for the rest of the trip are. "What, you're not going to visit our beaches and mountains?" one asked, hurt, in Spanish.

What I wanted to say was, "Have you seen your damn weather forecast?"



It's rained every single day we've been here, and rain is forecast for the next few days, too. And it's not the type of "Oh, it rains for 30 minutes in the afternoon every day then clears up" rain that some tropical areas are known for. No, Panama's rain is on-and-off, all day.

Oh, and this is supposedly the dry season.

Chalk that up as another thing that's snafu this trip. 😡

Panama Travelog #36
Metropolitan Park, Panama City - Mon, 30 Dec 2024. 1pm.

This is one of the journal entries I skipped on our trip to Panama last month to avoid getting too badly backlogged. On our trip to the Metropolitan Park (Parque Natural Metropolitano) in Panama City we hiked to the top of Cerro Cedro for a great panoramic view of the city. But it wasn't just the city view we enjoyed. On the hike up & back down we saw a bit of wildlife.



I put together this video of 3 animals we saw. First is plain, old ants. Yes, ants. But these are the busiest ants I've seen! Each carrying bright green leaves like shields on their backs they look like ancient Greek soldiers headed to battle.

Next is a ñeque, which the name in Panama for the agouti. It's closely related to the Guinea pig— though both are rodents, not pigs.

Finally is a coati. It's rooting around near a guard station at the foot of the trail. I think since this is an area a lot of people pass by it's sniffing to see if any of us dropped food.

After this we called a ridiculously cheap Uber, about $5 for a ride that would cost 2-3x back home, and headed back to our hotel in the banking district to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon.

I've remarked before that I take home a small amount of money as a souvenir when traveling in other countries. It's the easiest memento to buy.... I don't even have to buy anything! Bringing home foreign currency from Panama late last month was complicated a bit, though, by the fact there isn't much of it. Panama's domestic currency, the Balboa, is pegged to the US Dollar, and dollars are accepted as official currency. Panama doesn't even print paper currency for the Balboa, just coins in small denominations.



Here's what I came home with. It's B/3.70. The coins at the top are dollar 1 Balboa coins. There's also a half-Balboa and two 0.10 coins. The latter get mixed freely with US dimes in cash drawers. And cash drawers also contain plenty of US quarters. I don't think a Balboa quarter exists. I didn't see one, anyway. And the coin-op laundry machine we used one night took only US quarters.

The 1 Balboa coins have different designs on them. The one in the upper left is the first I got. I was wondering, "Why does this look like a Swiss coin?" It's from 2017 and commemorates the centennial of the Red Cross (la Cruz Roja) in Panama.

Panama Travelog #40
IAH United Club - Tue, 31 Dec 2024. 4pm.

We're about halfway home from Panama right now. We're cooling our heels at the United Club at IAH. We relaxed in the Copa Airlines club in Panama before our first flight, and on our connecting flight from Houston to San Jose we've been upgraded to first class. These are all benefits of my Million Miler Lifetime Gold status. Yay, status, right? Except today these benefits aren't enough to turn a drag into into an enjoyable experience; they just make it drag a bit less.

Why? Let me count the ways:

First, it's a long day. We were up at 4:30am Panama time and had to solve one crisis at the airport while trying to solve another. Both were resolved without getting too bad, but they contributed to this being a long and trying day.

Second, the Copa lounge wasn't all that great. The food there was all carbs and sugar, and not even tasty-looking carbs and sugar. I passed on all the food offerings and nibbled on the last two pieces of jerky I'd packed from home. But at least the lounge had comfier seats than the gate areas in the terminal. I mean, there's got to be something there that entices people to spend $500/year for a lounge membership.

Third, the flight from Panama to Houston... well, there was nothing wrong with it. It was full, but I had enough room in my Economy Plus seat. I watched a movie, Inside Out 2, to help pass the time. But the flight still seemed to drag.

Fourth, we have a long connection here at IAH, and it is really a drag. Our incoming flight landed at about noon local time, and our connecting flight departs at almost 7pm. Yeah, a 6.5 hour connection isn't ideal, but the alternative was an approximately 2 hour connection— which we were worried we might miss. Today everything ran fairly well on schedule, and we totally couldn've made a 2 hour connection. But you know that if we did book a 2 hour connection, there's a 50% chance the incoming flight would be delayed, there'd be a humongous line at immigration because 3 jumbo jets just landed, luggage would be slow to arrive, and/or there'd be a line to re-clear security.

Fifth, while we caught upgrades to first class, it's basically ghetto first class. It's a bigger seat with a microwave-quality meal and a couple free drinks. I mean, it's better than coach class with no elbow room, a pack of crackers, and half a can of soda, but that's damning it with faint praise.

Sixth, we're both coming down with something. I'm not sure what it is, but right now we're both so achy and tired it's painful. When we planned this itinerary we thought we'd nap on at least one of our flights and be refreshed when we land this evening— New Year's Eve. We told our friends back home we might join them for a low key celebration. Well, change of plans: I've just texted them. "I'm so wiped I may just face-plant on the bed when I get home." 😖

Update: ...And when I got home, that's nearly what I did!

Panama Travelog #37
Back at the hotel, Panama - Mon, 30 Dec 2024. 6pm.

We got back from our hike in Metropolitan Park with great views of the city from Cedar Hill and a few wildlife sightings just after 1pm today. I went back out almost right away to get some lunch from the Rey supermarket around the corner from our hotel.



Speaking of our hotel I realized when I was coming back from the quick shopping errand that I hadn't taken a photo to remember what the hotel looks like. Mostly that's because almost every time we've been here it's gloomy and raining, or at night, or all of the above. In other words, not great picture time. But early this afternoon it was still sunny, so I snapped a few pics around the hotel.



Another one I hadn't taken a photo of is our room at the AC Marriott hotel in Panama City. In this pic Hawk is sleeping on the bed. She was tired when we got home and fell right asleep. (Update: 24 hours later we were both feeling sick, so I think this is the start of it for her.)

The room is kind of a mess in this photo, but that's cinéma vérité. This is how we've lived in this space for the past 72 hours, with a few suitcases and various small bags lining the shelf along the wall. This is actually comparatively orderly as most of my clothes are out of the suitcase and on the hangers/in the drawers in the closet (and the empty suitcase packed away).



Here's the view out the window from our room. It's not quite as good as the view from the pool on the roof, but it's still nice. Note that tall black building, the Tower Bank building, dominating the view. That's the reference point I gave for where to find our hotel in the huge panoramic picture I made from the top of Metropolitan Park.



Speaking of the view from the pool on the roof, here it is... in the daytime, when it's not raining! The trick is it actually just finished raining. Shortly after the pic-from-the-room I capture above, the skies opened up and poured for at least an hour. Hawk woke around 4pm, and we went up to the hot tub for a nice, long soak after the rain cleared.

We've been at the hot tub for a long time today, almost 2 hours. The rain cooled the temperature in the tub so it's more of a warm tub than a hot tub. The difference of a few degrees means we've been able to stay in the water quite a while without overheating.

It's been a few months since I've tallied statistics about blogging, plus now it's the end of the year— time for retrospective.

I posted 70 journal entries in December. At an average of nearly 2.3 posts/day that's well over my stretch goal of 2/day. It was one of my bloggiest months since January 2024. Blogging about the trip my wife and I took to Panama— which I haven't even finished catching up on yet—was a big part of that blogginess but not all of it. Even earlier in the month I was averaging 2 posts/day, mostly through writing about Breaking Bad as I was watching it via our new Netflix subscription. That's also not done... but at least I'm not backlogged on it. I've got two more episodes to watch.

For the year in full I wrote 707 journal entries. That averages out to a bit over 1.9/day... just short of my stretch goal. It's down from my 2023 tally of 760 (2.08/day) and even 2022's total of 765. I was off my pace at various times this year as I struggled for motivation in writing. Nearly nobody I know writes journals anymore. They've all moved to Discord (mostly) and Facebook (some). Those tools certainly have their place, but that place involves short messages, 1-2 sentences at a time. I still prefer to think— and express myself— in longer form.

Panama Travelog #33
Panama City, Panama - Sun, 29 Dec 2024. 4pm.

Today we visited Casco Viejo, the old town section of Panama City. It dates back to plans laid out in the late 1500s, with the city as an actual thing (i.e., streets and buildings actually constructed, not just planned) appearing in the later 1600s.

We toured on foot, and by ourselves. We could have bought into a bus tour like sites like Tripadvisor and Viator recommend, but that's not our style. We don't want to travel in groups of anywhere from 12 to 35, with the speed of the group being limited by the least healthy, least curious about foreign culture and history, members. And to get the full experience of getting around in Panama City we didn't even hire a car to get there. We took the subway.

Panama City's subway is relatively modern and appallingly cheap. A flat fare of 35¢ gets you anywhere you want to go. There aren't a huge number of choices about where to go, though, as there are only 2 subway lines. We boarded from a station 2 blocks from our hotel and rode to the end of the line, which was about a mile from Casco Viejo. That was fine with us, as we considered the walk through the street markets and old town part of the sightseeing.

I've got to say, touring Casco Viejo was not particularly fun. Panama City is not a beautiful city to look at. Yes, when seen from a distance, such as from the window of an airplane, the city's many bank and residential skyscrapers create an impressive skyline. But down on the ground, the spaces between and beyond those skyscrapers look like shit. Even where our hotel is, in the banking district, the streets are a mess. You can't walk 10' without having to step over or around a massive pothole filled with water or someplace where a tile is missing. In the old town seemingly half the buildings are abandoned, their roofs collapsed and once-stylish balconies supporting by scaffolding so they don't collapse, too, and kill pedestrians on the street. It's a shame because many of these buildings show beautiful architectural details from the late 1800s/early 1900s but look like they've been left to rot for at least 50 years.

For lunch we found a humble-looking taco shop in one of the squares. It was next to a total tourist-trap looking restaurant, which we were not going to eat at. Unfortunately it was owned by the same people who run the tourist-trap-looking place. It was the catch-tourists-who-try-to-be-smarter trap. 😖 A plate of 3 small tacos cost $15, a bottle of domestic beer that I could buy at restaurants in El Valle for $2-3 cost $8, and service sucked. But Tripadvisor is full of superlative reviews raving about "best service" and "delicious food". I guess places like that poll well with White Midwesterners who normally travel with tour groups.

Panama Travelog #32
Panama City, Panama - Sat, 28 Dec 2024. 8pm.

Last night we walked a bit around the neighborhood before settling on dinner at the front desk's recommendation, Costa Azul. Costa Azul was... thoroughly mediocre. That mediocrity left us curious about the fast food restaurants we'd seen a block away from our hotel. McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway, Carl's Jr. ... they all looked good. They all had classier items on their menus than are available in the US.

Today we were tired after our halfway transit of the Panama Canal. I was extra tired because I'd woken up a bit after 2am, unable to fall back asleep. I napped for a few hours when we got back to the hotel. After that I was still low on energy, and so was Hawk. We decided against going out for a fancy dinner. Something simple, inexpensive, and nearby would hit the mark for us. It was a perfect time to take a second look at those fast food franchises!



We landed at the Subway. What intrigued us both was their chimichurri sub. Then they surprised us by combining the beef, onion, and peppers in sauté pans. They dabbed in chimichurri sauce at the end (the proper way to sauce stir-fried meats and vegetables) along with shredded mozzarella to melt it all together. Then they scooped it into freshly toasted rolls.

"This is like Subway 20 years ago," Hawk remarked. "None of their stuff tastes as good anymore."

"US Subway never had a hot sub this fresh," I countered gently. Or maybe I just said it in my internal monologue. My mouth was probably too full of delicious chimichurri steak sub to say things aloud.

Panama Travelog #28
Panama City, Panama - Fri, 27 Dec 2024. 10pm.

OMG. What a fucking mess this afternoon and evening turned into. Things have finally gotten under control somewhat by now but I'm still so pissed off.

Around 3 or 4pm today things looked good. We finished a revenge hike near Gamboa and needed to drive into Panama City. The plan was we'd drive to our hotel, check in, stow our bags in our room, then drive to the airport to return the car, and finally Uber back to the hotel. Oh, and squeeze into that list stopping at a Machetazo, Panama's equivalent of Walmart, so I could buy a swimsuit because I forgot to pack mine this trip. (It hasn't mattered until now because our last hotel didn't actually have a swimming pool, just a duck pond.) All these things happened, and in proper order, but how they all happened involved way more frustration than it should.


Back at the hotel Hawk and I divided our efforts.



Once the laundry was de-alcoholized and the phones were working we went out for a late dinner. The front desk had recommended a few restaurants within easy walking distance. We picked their first recommendation, Costa Azul, a restaurant with a huge menu of Panamanian standards. I noticed it's open 24 hours and was clearly popular with the late-evening crowd. And the food was... well, it's available 24 hours. I felt like they'd steered us to Panamanian Denny's.

As for the room temperature, I have temporarily accepted the solution of "Just turn it off". I will approach the front desk manager tomorrow. I expect the day shift manager will have more latitude to authorize a room change.