2025-03-07 Toggle map

Ships & Skyscrapers

A busy road with 3 lanes of cars in each direction, some people on the sidewalk and highrise buildings in the back Panama City is an interesting city I didn't really have a clue about before visiting. With more than 1.2 million people in the metropolitan area, it has its fair share of busy streets and traffic of course.

A number of giant tankers with red hulls on blue-grey water under some light clouds View on a bay with small boats on calm, green-blue water in front of a beach and colourful houses reaching up an overgrown hill Since the city is probably best known for its proximity to the Panama Canal, it also makes a lot of sense there are a lot of really massive tankers and cargo ships in the ocean right off the city. We were able to watch them from up close when taking the ferry to the beautiful island of Taboga to enjoy some nature and beaches. Even though I'm very aware of the industry's impact on the environment, I find big ships fascinating and found VesselFinder as a great tool to get an idea about what they are up to.

White boats at anchor scattered over calm, light blue water with a skyline of high-rise buildings far in the background A big road lined with palms and trees on grass strips in the sun, skyscrapers to its left side and the ocean visible on the right What I definitely didn't expect was the number of high-rise buildings concentrated along the coast - even though this may well be a consequence of the city's strategic position as a major logistics hub.

A panorama of high-rise buildings framed by a dense forest blow and branches from the top The green Parque Natural Metropolitano therefore does its name more than justice. When we hiked through the forest on a warm morning, we both encountered a number of agoutis, turtles, a sloth slowly descending a tree and even lizards running over water as well as this great view of the skyline.

A calm, sunny street lined with some plants between light-coloured, renovated old buildings A graffiti of white and yellow letters on sky-blue ground asking "Cuanto vale to dignidad?" Then again, Panama City is not all residential area and skyscrapers either. The Casco Viejo neighbourhood is a very old part of the city that has been heavily renovated and gentrified in recent years. Right by the seaside it has a high number of pricey hotels, bars and restaurants as well as some really good coffee shops (which are not cheap either, though). As so often, it seemed to me that many original residents of the area did not profit from the investment in the area at all.