Keith's Panamanian Travel Ramble

The Dumas Villa

By Keith on Thursday, 13 November 2014

Arriving in Panama City was a large non-event, after our perfect Copa flight from Miami!

Our flight was one of those rare flights where every little detail came together exactly as it should. Our Miami boarding was speedy and efficient and the in-flight service included a movie, hot meal, and an open bar, all without extra charges. It reminded me of what it was like to fly North American carriers, years ago. Very pleasant!

We proceeded to a uncrowded immigration area and walked directly to a smiling agent, who processed us in record time. Our luggage was already starting to arrive on the carousel. Amazing!

My brother, Robert, from Vancouver, and I are meeting our cousin, Janine, from San Diego, here. She is joining us to visit Panama and spend some time with a friend, who lives here. Andrea will join us later in the week at which time we will have a car.

This trip we have decided to try out a B&B for the first week. I located a place from Trip Advisor, called Dumas Villa. It is US $240.00 per week and includes Wi-Fi and air conditioning. The location is great as It is only a couple of blocks from Metro Mall (one of the main malls in Panama City). The owner, a large Haitian woman, picked us up at the airport in her late-model Mercedes SUV, and drove us the 15 or so minutes to the Villa.

The house is spectacular, as you can see. The owner retired a couple of years ago from a lengthy career as a psychologist and opened her house to travellers. It is a beautiful and quiet home, with what I would call a kind of French colonial style.