My Stay in Chiriqui Province, Panama

Today is the fourth day of my extended stay in Panama and I have a chance to catch you up on the details.

On November 16th I left British Columbia, flying to Calgary, then overnight to Toronto. After a two hour wait I boarded a COPA airlines plane bound for Panama City. COPA is an excellent airline and I was well taken care of. They fly from Toronto to Panama City on a regular basis, leaving at 8.40am.

International flights to Panama all land in Panama City and it is necessary to cross the city to get to the domestic airport. Each time I have landed in Tocumen International airport it has been a relatively simple process to exit and get a cab to Allbrook Airport.

However, on Saturday it was like a zoo and it took ages to get through all the immigration and customs lines. This left little time to get to Allbrook for the flight to David. Fortunately, my cab driver became a man possessed with the idea of getting me there in time and I arrived with ten minutes to spare!

Air Panama flies a comfortable Fokker jet to David, a journey of 35 minutes. Be aware if you use the maximum 50 lb allowance on international flights, Air Panama’s baggage allowance is much lower and you will pay excess charges.

I decided to stay overnight in the Hotel Ciudad de David before driving on the following day to Las Lajas. While the highway between David and Las Lajas is good, it is not for the faint of heart at night.

I can heartily recommend the hotel Ciudad de David (City of David). It is clean, comfortable and reasonably priced. My rate included breakfast. The staff is very service oriented and able to converse well in English. I am not fond of the food, though the restaurant is elegant.

On Sunday morning I rented a car, stocked up on groceries at the Rey supermarket and drove to Las Lajas. Rey is a magnificent store where you can find just about anything in a modern clean environment. Outranks any supermarket in my home town.

All signs are in English and Spanish.