To start off the day our group ate some breakfast and then headed off to the Panama Viejo Ruins where we met our temporary tour guide Derik. Derik was a local child who was turning eight and whose favorite colors are red and blue. He also has a large passion for Hot wheels. We also saw Reynaldo- the Iguana.
The Viejo Ruins
Raymond running
Raymond and Derik
After learning more about the rich history of Panama, we headed to a quick lunch at Nikos- a Panama fast food location. After our amazing lunch, we went to the Biomuseo to learn more about the formation of Panama and its biodiversity.
After the biomuseum, we traveled just a short distance to an ice cream shop on the coast. According to Gabe, our tour guide, this ice cream shop is the best in Panama. We also went to a rooftop restaurant in Casco Viejo to view the skyline.
Hilarious highlight: Standing in front of the ocean talking about the ocean. Victoria,“is that the ocean?”
After a long day traveling in the sun, we headed over to a local spot to have some dinner. Coincidentally, we ran into Amanda Wilson, who works with Ms. Monroe. She joined us for dinner. We had a tableside band who was playing for us, we had amazing food, we got to have an incredibly immersive conversation with the restaurant owner, and we even had a mini celebration for Amanda and Kaden's birthdays this week. A picture of our time at the restaurant is below.
During dinner, Raymond poured the entire bottle of Panamanian hot sauce on his rice, not realizing the extreme of how spicy it really was. We have to give him credit though, because 6 glasses of water and 15 minutes later, there was not a crumb on his plate.
Then, we traveled the short distance back to the hotel. After debriefing about what we learned, we took a little while to swim in the pool before curfew.
Overall, today we learned a lot about the history of Panama and local exploration. So excited to see a pineapple farm tomorrow!!!
Yay! Day 2, Done!
~Written by Heidi and Victoria