Way To Go Tours - Panama - What's New in Panama

What's New in Panama

Upcoming Projects

RIU’s First Urban Hotel

RIU will develop its first urban hotel to be named RIU Plaza located in Panama. The hotel will be located about 21 kilometers from the International airport and in the heart of the financial and banking district of Panama City. The total cost fo the project will reach $125 million and it’s expected to be open in November 2010.

The 5 star property will have 645 rooms, all with 35” flat-screen satellite TV’s and Wireless Internet distributed along 35 floors of the building. Some of the amenities will include a Gym and Spa and Wellness Center, and 24 hours Room Service. Seventeen conference rooms with capacities of up to 1,000 people will make up the 1,965 sq. meters of meeting room areas. A Business centre with free Wireless Internet and Multimedia PC’s and Free high-speed Wireless Internet throughout the hotel.

Panama’s New Convention Center

The new convention center will located in the Amador sector towards the end of the Avenida de Los Poetas. The project will be completed by 2013 and it will become the best convention center of Central America. The exhibition area is projected to be 15 thousand sq. meters, which is three times the capacity of the existing convention center ATLAPA Center. The new convention center is designed to handle two to three events at a time.

Guide of The Month

Playing Soccer with the Embera Drua Tribe by Jennifer

Just 30 minutes away from the metropolitan city of Panama’s capitol lives one of the indigenous Panamanian Tribes, the Embera Drua. We were 2 pregnant ladies, our husbands and our 2 ten year old children venturing on a day trip into the Chagres National Park to meet the Embera. Escorted by our guide, we were greeted by two men from the tribe with their dugout canoe at the river’s entrance. After carefully being seated in our single row canoe, the tribesmen pushed off with their very long steering poles.

Our hosts were dressed in little more than an orange handkerchief and an arry of multicolored necklaces. I felt over dressed and typically American! Our float down the Chagres was similar to the footage I have seen on the Travel Channel of the Amazon. There was dense foliage by the riverbank sheltering caymans, herons, spider monkeys and white tailed deer. The tribesman worked hard getting our group through the river as the canoes skirted through depths of 7 inches of water in places over river rocks of all shapes and sizes. We cruised by several villages of Embera and travelled to the last one deep in the rain forest.

We were greeted by the incredible sounds of the Embera Drua’s traditional music and warm smiles. The village was a series of small thatched roof huts on stilts. They had a meeting area for guests where the chief welcomed us. The tribeswomen’s heads where adorned with red hibiscus flowers. Their necks were graced with replica coins from the Spanish Conquistadors of yesteryear. The Chief’s wife showed us their woven baskets that were hand dyed with natural pigments. Of course, I had to buy several. We watched as the men of the village drummed while the women danced the Embera’s Snake dance and we joined the dance party in the jungle.

Our children were fascinated by a crazy black monkey that seemed to be the Embera kids’ pet. It was moving fast up and down a tree. It would get close to them and reach out to touch them. They would scream, run and then go back for more. The kids in our group ate some of the plantains and fresh fish that was cooked by the Embera woman, but requested some Cheetos I had brought with us. The rustling of the bag called all the children to me as if I were the pied piper. With the cultural “ice” broken, my daughter joined the group of boys for a soccer match of sorts. She held her own and made some new friends. Kids of all cultures have this ease about them starting new relationships.

I highly recommend a visit to the Embera village while staying in Panama.

Don’t forget to bring the Cheetos!!!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Gracias por yo pollo by Jeannine

Panama was fabulous! I arrived on Thursday, check in to the hotel, and then hurried away to the first of many hotel inspections. This was definitely a work trip, but I still managed to have fun. Panama City is just like any major financial city with lots of large skyscrapers, parks, and traffic. However, it is built on the ocean so that was a plus. Not much excitement on day one…not many stories. We woke up early on Friday and took the train from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and went around the small port town of Portobello where we ventured into the land of Black Christ. They only take the Christ out of his case twice a year. Once for Easter and once for October 21st. People from all over the world make a pilgrimage to Portobello, many of them arriving on their knees. When they parade him around in October they believe that if you ask him for a miracle, it will happen if you believe in it. Many people will buy splendid dresses for the Jesus to wear the next year and that is why he has never worn the same dress twice. There were lots of knick knacks for sell outside of the church made by the Kuna Indians as well as many statues of the Jesus. We then went to see old fort ruins, the Gatun Locks, and more hotels in Panama City. Saturday morning I woke up early and went to the causeway for a partial Panama Canal transit. It was awesome and once again I have included pictures below. We arrive at our hotel, Gamboa, and had to wait 3.5 hours to check in. While we waited we had a few drinks and then decided to take a tour around the property. We got on the tram with a crazy little drag queen named Freschita (little strawberry) complete with a red wig with black dots, red boa, red hoop dress, and large boots. She was screaming and took a megaphone and started calling out to anyone on our path. Now you must understand that we are out in the middle of the jungle and there is a random drag queen screaming and raising cain in this upscale resort. We take her to her apartment and she jumps off, screams “Gracias por yo pollo” and runs into her house. We wander around the property and get to see turtles, kimono dragaons, butterflies, snakes, and orchids. By the time we’re done we can check into our room and I promptly run out to the balcony and crash on the hammock (once again pictures are below).That night at dinner my co-worker ordered me a drink that took 10 minutes to get to the table. When it came out, people were screaming and clapping. She had misunderstood the translation and ordered us 2 coconut drinks inside of coconuts the size of basketballs. They had been chopped open with a machete, hollowed out, and inside was the tastiest beverage I’ve ever had. In fact, I drank mine and half of hers. First time I’ve ever been served a drink on a plate. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera on me, so there are no pictures.The next morning we get up early, drive to the Chagres River and hop on a dug out canoe to visit the Embera Indian tribe. It poured down rain for most of the boat ride, but then the sky opened up and it was beautiful. Our boat was owned by someone other than the Indians so when we met up with the Indians on our way to their village, we had to hop from our canoe to theirs. Now mind you…these are dug out canoes, but I did a beautiful job with the transition and managed not to fall. It was my favorite part of the trip and the memory will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was a hard day and I passed out by 530pm and slept for 12 hours. Monday was spent viewing beaches and cloud forest. Check out all pictures below and you will see why I loved it so much.

Click on the picture below to see my journey to Panama. Enjoy!!!