Playing Tourist in Panama City

Shopping

YMCA Building in Balboa is an artisan center with a building full of shops selling handicrafts from all of Central America. You could spend a few hours walking from stall to stall looking at such items as molas from the San Blas Islands to carved figurines from the Tagua Nut.

Albrook Mall in the Albrook District is a large, well maintained mall located next to the international and national bus terminal. It’s not as “upscale” as Multicentro or Multiplaza but it offers more practical, everyday shopping. You can take the bus from Colon and have lunch at Albrook’s excellent food court, do some department store shopping, pick up a few items at Super 99 supermarket, visit Panafoto, browse Novey hardware, bargain shop at Total Dollar, get a hair cut and catch a movie all under the same roof!

If you enjoy walking,  the Amador Causeway, is a good walk. Start at the Balboa Yacht Club and stroll down to Flemenco Marina and the surrounding shopping area. The wide, paved “malacon” has many shops and eateries along the way. There is also a Abernathey’s Sporting Goods and Central Marine towards the end of the causeway. The view of the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean is beautiful. There is often a ocean breeze making the walk cool and comfortable.
Bicycle rentals are also available on this stretch of road.

Avenida Central – Calidonia District is another area of Panama City that boasts a lot of shopping. This area is in the Cinco de Mayo part of Central Avenue. There are 6 blocks that are for pedestrians only. There are watch and jewelry stores, clothing outlets, department stores as well as a few Ropa Americana stores that sell US style, used and new clothing. Machetazo is a huge grocery/department store that is worth visiting. 4 floors of "stuff", including hardware and a cafeteria. There are also fast food chains along this street and fruit and vegetable venders as well. There are benches spaced along the street if you like to “people watch.”  Be alert while walking in this area for pickpockets and snatch and grab theft.

El Dorado Shopping Center - Located just off Corridor Norte, this shopping area has numerous shops and services of interest to cruisers. There are banks, Super 99, Rey, Do-it Center, Deli Gourmet, Saks Department store, Gran Morison for books in English and a host of other smaller stores in “strip malls” surrounding this shopping area. There are a half dozen fast food eateries and restaurants clustered in this part of town also. Just a short taxi ride down the street is PriceMart, Multimax and Arrocha Pharmacy.

Multiplaza Pacific Mall and the Multicentral Mall are both high end, upscale malls. They are beautifully landscaped inside and out. Both have food courts and modern movie theaters.

Site Seeing

Miraflores Locks and observation deck is a great place to view the Panama Canal in action. The visitors center features a large, four-floor multimedia museum. There is also a snack bar and popular open-air restaurant. We hear the Sunday brunch is excellent.

Parque Nacional Soberania is one of the world’s premier birding sites. The famous 17 km Pipeline Road is within this park. The park headquarters is located in Gamboa. Ask about hiring a guide to fully appreciate the wildlife there. If you are staying in a hotel contact the front desk and they can often make all the arrangements for transportation and hiring a guide.

Wildlife such as Geoffroy’s tamarins, agoutis, white-faced capuchins and mantled howlers as well as both species of sloths can be seen in both Soberania and Parque Natural Metropolitano.

The above mentioned animals, as well as exotic bird life, can also be observed in Parque San Lorenzo adjacent to Shelter Bay Marina. We have a map of trails in the marina office.

Buying Handicrafts of Panama

What is a Mola? Molas are authentic stitchery from the ancient culture of the Kuna Indians who inhabit the Kuna Yala province along the Caribbean coast of Panama. The art began approximately 200 years ago. Molas are two or more layer of cloth that are cut and stitched one on top of the other, to show the colors of the cloth at the bottom. The mola is thought to have originated from early body painting of the women in the seventeenth century, and then applied to cloth and then as blouse decorations. These blouse panels are worn by women in their traditional dress and then sold as crafts.

There are two kinds of molas; traditional, with geometric designs, often of fish, turtles and birds and tourist which use the same theme but with fewer, if any, geometric patterns. These are less time consuming to create and are embellished with embroidery. Both designs represent images and ideas of the Kuna world.

Regardless of the design, Kuna believe the very best molas should always have the following characteristics:

Stitches closely match the color of the cloth they are set against.
Stitches are very fine and neatly spaced.
Stitches are pulled evenly and with enough tension to be barely visible.
Curves are cut smoothly and the sewing follows the curves of the cut.
Outline strips are uniform in width, with no frayed edges.

The Wounaan and Embera Indians in the Darien Province produce breathtaking baskets. Some are simple and used for practical purposes and others are intricately woven with designs using a variety of colors.

These tribes also sell carvings of jungle wildlife from cocobolo, a handsome tropical hardwood, and tiny figurines from the ivory-colored tagua nut.

Huacas are small, palm size reproductions of pre-columbian jewelry in silver or gold. Check out Reprosa in the Campo Alegre district.