December 25, 2024

PANAMA CITY SKYSCRAPERS - Day 2

My favorite port days are when I am in small group with friends sharing a common interest. Day 2 in Panama City was all that! I love architecture and always go out of my way to see the cool shapes up close and try to know the stories of how they came to be. I tried to use the Panama IA resource - but they needed more notice to set up a tour. So, I did a bunch of internet searches and came up with my own plan to investigate the skyscraper zone of Panama City. The HOHO bus didn't go there, you just saw the building in the distance.  Turns out Scott and the Little/ Olson Family shared my interest, and we came up with a whole game plan for day 2. First, I hired an Uber XL to take the 6 of us to the furthest Building of Interest, The original TRUMP Ocean Club - now a JW Marriott. We evaluated the uber comfort - great AC and decent leg room for all, the language skills of drive with Scott and Whitney's spanish language skills and the drivers overall knowledge of city. Turns out we got the PERFECT UBER driver, his uncle was an architect and he knew alot about the city and all it's landmarks. We asked him if we could hire him for rest of day at $15/hr/ car load - he was thrilled and so were we!

Traffic in the CIty was very slow moving, due to all the people in and shopping for Holidays. The stand stills were great for us because we got to see so much of the skyline. Here are some of the best we saw. F&F Tower an office building called El Tornillo - tornado is the most unique!   
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In sharp contrast we left down town wealthy Ex pat neighborhoods and went to old town - El Barro - original old city, still occupied by some of the lowest income levels of people in town. They have a heavy police presence in this area to keep things calm.

Whitney had read about the making of Molas fabric by indigenous women and found us a free museum to visit in old town, afterwards we went to French Market place where they sold Molas products, I got a lovely unique bag from sweet lady, Kids got shaved ice and Whitney got some original fabrics to use as runners in her villa. We walk through more of old town and got a fun group photo.

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Next, we were off to our last Architectural stop, the Frank Gehry Bio Museo, his only project in Latin America. Have to say we were all disappointed in it's poor construction and had little interest up close. Then onto our final stop, the Duty Free Liquor store then back to ship. In total, we were with driver 5 hours after initial uber ride, had a lot of laughs and really enjoyed the day!

The Oreo Gang and Our great Uber driver guide!

PAPEETE, FRENCH POLYNESIA

By Patricia Patrick • January 19, 2026
I got to go Sailing Again! We were supposed to head to the COOK ISLANDS after the lovely Rangiroa and the Tuamotu Archipelago, but due to stormy weather there, with all unprotected tender ports, they made the decision to head us southwest, back to the protected port in Papeeta (Tahiti). We got lucky and Holly ( pictured below) found us a sailboat available for charter.

RANGIROA, FRENCH POLYNESIA - Drone Shots

By Patricia Patrick • January 14, 2026
Since Janette Emerich is generous enough to share her drone photos with all of us on board the Ship, I have to share them with you all. This beauty is why I said we felt like we were in a screen saver the whole day in Rangiroa! I love the height perspective in the photos it really captures so much more. Blue Lagoon below:

RANGIROA, FRENCH POLYNESIA - More Drift Snorkeling

By Patricia Patrick • January 13, 2026
The water in Rangiroa is so spectacular, I wanted to spend more time drift snorkeling and checking out the area called " The Aquarium ". So today I went back out for a 3 hour session to do 3 drift passes in Tiputa pass and then spent an hour in an area with wonderful healthy corals and tons of fish, earning it the nickname " The Aquarium ".