We did it! And we are so happy we did! We booked a 3-hour bike tour yesterday for today. We met at 9:30 am on Tuesday morning.
Here’s how they do bike tours here. We signed up on Viator. I got a message via WhatsApp – almost everyone around the world uses this app except us in the USA. It enables calls and texts via the Internet. If your mobile plan is unlimited, the messages and calls are free. His message confirmed our meeting time and meeting place. Now get this, the guide is an independent. He does not own a storefront business; he does not own the bikes you might ride. Instead, he arranges to rent the bikes for his tour. We pay him; he pays the bike company. Seems to be a pretty good business proposition for both the guide and the bike shop.
Our excursion included a little mix-up. We arrived early at the designated meeting place, but the bike shop was closed. Soon our guide arrived and another rider, John from Germany. This young man is an account manager with Allianz, one of the world’s largest insurance companies. He has 6 weeks holiday per year. Travel is his passion particularly when it’s cold in Germany and in two weeks he will be in Hawaii. Meanwhile the guide was on the phone periodically and assured us the owner would show up soon. While we waited, we got to know each other a bit and learned a little history of the area. Still we waited. No shop owner. Ultimately, our guide David, secured bikes for us from a back-up vendor. We were on our way. We handled this hiccup in typical Spanish culture fashion. We relaxed no worries, manana, no hurry. No one gets upset.
The bikes were great and easy to ride. They had fat tires and sturdy frames and even the seats were comfortable. My bike was pink, of course. Our guide, David, first took us through Old Town, Casco Viejo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is the second-earliest Spanish settlement in Panama dating back to 1671. The first Panamanian settlement, Panama Viejo, founded by the Spaniards in about 1510 was burned to the ground by Captain Morgan and his league of 1400 pirates. Casco Viejo is also known as Casco Antiguo and San Felipe. The ride here in the old town was challenging. The cobble stone streets are very, very narrow and our bikes had to share the space with taxis, delivery trucks and cars. We visited the newly restored La Catedral Metropolitana, which has been in place since 1796. Just take that in. 1796. That’s 225 years ago. I let my mind wander and think of what the city, the people and life might have been like that far back in history. And then I think, someday, our time too will be history.
We took photos of the Museum of Panama—which we will visit someday, the Ministry of Culture, the French embassy, the still-standing ruins of a monastery and other ancient stone structures either destroyed by an earthquake in 1621 or Captain Morgan’s attack. At the Plaza de Francia we looked out over the bay, ewww, tide was out. Scanning the horizon, we could see 60-year old tall bridge, Bridge of the Americas in the distance. It is one of the three bridges spanning the Panama Canal. Look in our photos for the French monument on the Francia Plaza. It features an obelisk with a chicken at the top . . . Alouette?? I waited for a buzzard sitting on the chicken’s tail to leave before I took the photo but he just sat there. He thinks he owns it.
While riding through the streets of Casco Viejo (Old Quarter) was fun, exciting and a little scary, the next part of the ride was simply glorious!!!! Our smooth and wide bike trail wound over 10K from old town along the Pan American Highway with beautiful views in every direction. We passed Mercano, a 1000 seat soccer stadium for schools and for individual teams, and rode past a section of government housing painted in bright colors but said to be a very dangerous place. The highlight of the ride was the spectacular views. The ride gave us a 360-degree view of the highway over the Bay of Panama, the ancient Old Town to the west and the dense new city to our north and east. It flowed like a panoramic photo.
We like our city bike tours. We have taken them in Paris, London, Berlin, Barcelona and Bangkok. We even took a night-time motor scooter ride in Ho Chi Minh City (still Saigon to me). Each has given us a perspective of the city we could not have seen otherwise. Today’s was one of the best and it purely wore us out!!!!! By the time we returned our bikes I was ready to give mine to anyone who might want it. The day was hot and the sun was bright. We burned some serious energy today but it was worth it.
We treated ourselves to cold cervezas and ceviche! And I purely crashed at 8 pm.
Biking Panama City
