Top Local Tips for Panama City

Don't rent a car, get around by taxi From this hotel, taxi is the best way to get around the city if you are new to the area. Never take a taxi from the hotel, from the mall or any place that tourist would visit becuase the taxi driver will charge you much, much more. Instead, talk a short walk to the main avenue and flag a car down and before getting in ask how much it is to your destination. If its more than three bucks, you're being taken for. If you dont mind paying the small fare of $4 then dont haggel and pay the fare

Panama- a shopper's haven Oh my god!!!! this place is amazing... shop till you drop and the prices so reasonable. Make sure you go to Allbrook Mall out by the canal... this mall is so big it will take you three days to go into every store!!! Also multiplaza which is 2 minutes from the Plaza Patailla hotel. Taxi's are a bargain...no metres... prices are anywhere from $1 to $3. Streets are safe, no homeless people and no visible crime.. not like in the US and Canada.

Plaza Paitilla Stay-1st Time In Panama I've been meaning to commit this to writing since I got back from the conference in Panama City. The conference was held this past May in a beautiful setting along with some truly inspirational people. But, if you're going to Panama for the first time and staying in some of the same places I stayed in there are a couple of things you need to know. #1. NO WASHCLOTHS. Now I never used a wash cloth until my wife pointed out the need for ex foliation. I don't know how I ever survived without instituting this into my life before, but the nightmares have almost gone away. At the Plaza Piatilla they have hand towels and they have bath towels...not a washcloth in sight. The puzzled looks I got from the wait staff was priceless. Just an observation that is hotel specific? Nope. No washcloths in David, Panama hotels either. #2. NO FREE REFILLS. Except for the higher end eating establishments, there is no such animal. I was irritated by this at first. Must be a money thing, huh? Well, yes and no. let's go to the video tape. I was watching the Latin American version of American Idol and I got my answer. You recall how the three judges in the United States version always display the large chalice with the name brand emblazoned so big and so rich in color that it can be seen from the waiting room? Taking a look at the Latin American table, we see cans. Yep, cans. Aha! A clue! Taps filled with co2 are few and far between. Even the star judges don't get that kind of treatment. Coffee is the same way. You'll pay for each and every cup. Found this in David as well. Of course, you don't need too many cups of Panamanian Coffee to get your groove on. Unlike U.S. coffee, this is a REAL cup of coffee. #3 U.S. FAST FOODS. I can eat just about anywhere. Some would say therein lies my problem. It's a heavy burden. But a piece of KFC chicken over at the mall in Panama is not the same chicken you get in the U.S. Seemed to me the spices were cut in half. It was like listening to a song that you can barely make out. You know it from somewhere but you can't hear enough of it to really identify it. No Ranch Dressing either. I can live without it but my better half has been known to leave the premises grumbling in cases of the ranch dressing void. #4. BEEF IS RANGE FED. Now this is a good thing. This is the way God meant it to be. No hormones or antibiotics to mess up your system. Pure, simple, range fed beef. They don't age the beef either. This is probably another key to longevity in the little latitudes. Aged beef is another way of saying "decomposing beef." Aging came about to tenderize range fed beef. A good idea at the time, except that you're basically eating a half rotting corpse. Believe me, you'll live longer by not eating semi-rotten meat.