Panama City: Much more than just a canal

I returned to Panama on 13th January to resume my efforts to learn Spanish. I intend to remain in the country until the end of March and I am spending the majority of this time in Bocas del Toro, where I was studying for seven weeks in the run up to Christmas.

Yesterday, I arrived back on the archipelago after enjoying a week at each of Habla Ya’s two other campuses. One is in Panama City, and the other is in Boquete, a town high in the mountains in the north of the country. Studying in class for four hours every day and exploring the area surrounding the schools has occupied my time over the past fortnight, so this week's blog post covers my experiences during my time in the capital. Better late than never!

When I was heading to Bocas del Toro for the first time in November, I had a brief stay in Panama City and wrote about my trip along the Cinta Costera. This time, I was soon venturing further afield to see the country’s most famous landmark: the Panama Canal. The incredible feat of engineering is on many travellers’ bucket lists and this was evident by the number of people who seemed ready to kick it.

I had previously walked along the Amador Causeway, which was created by land excavated during the construction of the canal. Huge container ships had travelled under the Bridge of the Americas, passing me as they headed out towards the Pacific Ocean. Yet when I visited the locks at Miraflores the next day, I was convinced they couldn’t have accommodated the largest of the vessels. My eyes weren’t deceiving me. The Miraflores Locks might have helped to establish the prestige of the canal, but in 2016 new, deeper, wider and not publicly accessible locks were built.

The Panama Museum, located in the popular tourist enclave of Casco Viejo, was also worth visiting. The vast majority of the information was written only in Spanish and gave me a chance to practise my reading skills.

I went further back in time by visiting Panama Viejo. This was the first European settlement built on the Pacific coast and was the original location of Panama City. In 1671 the Spanish town was raided by English pirate Henry Morgan, 15 days after a peace accord had been signed between Britain and Spain. Overwhelmed by the marauding attackers, the town’s leader ordered the inhabitants to adopt a scorched earth policy to prevent Panama Viejo falling into British hands. This was unnecessary as the pirates had no such long term ambitions. However, the decision to destroy the majority of the structures means only ruins are now left of this historic site.

Panama City is regarded unfavourably by some visitors, several of whom had warned me there were few places to discover as a tourist. I beg to differ. While I had group Spanish classes in the afternoon, I never found it difficult to find an area of the city to enjoy beforehand. My only criticism would be the cost of these activities, with some of the museums costing up to $18 to enter.

Considering the capital's paucity of space, Panama City has some fantastic parks offering wonderful views of the skyline. I walked up the symbolic Ancon Hill and visited Metropolitan National Park. The latter is regarded as the lungs of the city, and wandering through the forest I spotted sloths and agoutis (long-limbed relatives of rats).

All of these excursions didn’t leave much time for extracurricular study. However, after the wake up call of the first lesson, in class we analysed some of the uses of the subjunctive. Although I had studied the topic before, the difference this time was that rather than just understanding it, I began to apply the tense during conversations in the real world. Boosted by this sign of progress, I headed to Boquete.