Panama City

We have a arrived in Panama City!  As we drove over the bridge to downtown Panama City it felt like the scene from the Hunger Games movie where Katniss and Peeta are rising the train and entering the city of Panem!  It was a majestic site to see with some amazing architecture for its modern buildings!

I was scrambling to power up my phone in the taxi to capture the scene but was way to close to the city by the time I launched the camera. 

But I digress. We did manage to partake in breakfast offered at La Quinta before our free shuttle to the airport. Standard fare with the addition of hot waffles but we didn't have time to eat them, having discovered breakfast was available just 25 minutes before our departure. 

On the shuttle we met a Calgarian - she is a second year Med student who is travelling to the Honduras. Very interesting person who has spent time in Haiti and is with the military. Hope she has safe travels alone. 

The Houston airport was a busy place.  Long line to process through United aiines bound for Central America but no lines at security. Hardly any wait at all at our gate before we boarded. I walked on early with E to get settled on this big 737. 

We were pleasantly surprised to see a wheelchair waiting to meet E as soon as we exited the plane. Juan, our porter spoke not a word of English, but whisked us to the front of the lines processing through immigration, then customs and meeting our caravan van transport to the Martiott Courtyard. 

The Caravan tour we are taking includes everything - meals, tourist sights, beautiful hotel rooms and tips for everybody except our guide and bus driver. E & I share a room and J & P share a room. Each room has two double or queen beds. 

Once settled in our rooms, J, P and I went for a swim while E sat in the 

shade.   Our buffet supper had tasty food and a reasonable selection of gluten free options for my Mother in Law. 

We had a meeting at 8 pm with our tour guide Gerardo Morena. 32 guests on the tour and we four are the only Canadians. Two are from St Martin's and the remaining are from the USA. 

P is posing here at the welcome meeting. To to you tomorrow!