The Adventure Begins
words by Merlinn & Brendan
We arrived to the airport in Panama at 5am (4am Mountain Time). Some had been able to sleep more than others on the airplane, so we took a few hours to settle in upon arrival. As Kami and Merlinn slept on the floor with Ellie passed out in a chair beside them, Bri, Lydia, Ella, and Brendan killed the time with conversation and candy, but mostly candy.
We began planning an excursion around breakfast time. After eating in the airport, we went through immigration and customs and hit the streets of Panama City. With rough but adequate Spanish, we negotiated with the taxi drivers to provide two vehicles at an acceptable price and headed for Panama Viejo, a series of old ruins in the heart of Panama City right along the Pacific coast.
The old city was muy bonito (very beautiful). Large lizards 🦎 ran along the path and hid in the crevices throughout the ruins. Trees full of green leaves and orange flowers sat with tall city skyscrapers hovering in the background. The downside of this excursion was without question the heat and humidity. With our Colorado, high desert acclimation, the instant sweat in high 85 degree temps had us ready to head back for the airport and AC (and a change of clothes) after a nice excursion.
Everyone slept on the second flight, which was much shorter than the first. Johann, our guide for this week, met us right outside baggage claim, and we enjoyed a beautiful drive through Quito to get to Casa Blanca. We quickly picked our rooms, ate a great dinner of soup with brownies for dessert, and settled in with showers and unpacking.
Tomorrow the adventure will continue with a soccer game and some cultural experiences, but more on that later…
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