December 10 to 17- Family Vacation in Panama

For some time my family had been planning to have a family vacation together somewhere south. Since Uwe and I now spend the majority of our time in Ecuador, my daughter and her husband live in Italy, my son in Barrie, Ontario, my nephew and his wife in Stouffville, Ontario and my niece and her children and my grandson and his family all live in Scarborough, Ontario, it is important that we find time to vacation as a family.

We, finally after much research, picked the Decameron Resort in Panama. It is an all-inclusive beach front golf resort which suited everyone. As well, Panama City is a direct flight from both Toronto and Guayaquil, Ecuador. As time came to book last summer, both my son and daughter had to bow out due to work related problems and my grandson and his wife welcomed a daughter ( my great grandbaby!) which restricted their travel for the immediate future. My girlfriend Heather was invited to join us though, so our group became a total of seven.

On Monday , our friend Eddie dropped us off at the airport in Guayaquil for our 2 hour flight to Panama City, Panama.  We flew Copa, a great airline, and arrived on time, flew through immigration and customs to waiting luggage. Far too smooth!!! Our travel agent had arranged a shuttle for us as we had to buy a land package and flight separate. As we entered the arrival lounge, no shuttle. We searched among dozens waiting with name tags, services, tour companies- not ours! In my broken Spanish I got someone to help us and we went to an information desk. She called the number on our documentation and after several minutes plus call-backs, I was told that the shuttle was there to pick us up 2 hours earlier and had the info that we were coming on a different airline, flight number and from an American city.

We now had to go and buy a shuttle from the Decameron booth- not a big deal- however the shuttle would not be there until 1 ½ hours later and it was a 2 hour drive to the resort. Definitely not a good start.

Once we got there though all went smoothly. This is a great place- very laid-back, super friendly staff, great service, good food, nice beach and lots and lots of pools and bars.

                      Here are some pictures of the pools and beach area.

                     The hotel rooms with great balconies overlooking the ocean and pools

                                                    A Blue footed Booby on the beach

                                                                              My golf mates, nice golf course

                                                

                                                                  

   On Thursday, we rented a car and the five girls/women took a trip up the mountain to El Valle, a beautiful village about an hour’s drive away. We did lots of craft shopping at the market.

Then we went to the local zoo- mostly for my niece’s daughter Taylor. It was a bit hocky but great scenery.

We had lunch in a bar owned by a couple of Canadians from Chatham, Ontario- we are everywhere!!!

And then we went to the Thermal pools and mud baths- quite an experience. First you put mud on your face or wherever you might want better skin.

Then you sit on the side of the little pool and wait for it to dry and then shower it off. It is supposed to make you look ten years younger- LOL. I did buy some mud to take home for further treatments.

After the mud treatment, we spend time just floating around in the thermal pool- very relaxing and warm.

All too soon the great week came to an end. We did decide, though, that we would do a family vacation every two years somewhere warm.