We descended through the clouds at 10,000 feet and as we transitioned from the brilliant sunshine above the clouds to the overcast views below, the Continental Airlines Boeing 737-800 completed its crossing of the Panamanian isthmus and turned slightly east to fly over the Pacific Ocean parallel to the coast. The Panama Canal was easy to see with boats lined up to cross the Pacific to the Atlantic and we had a spectacular view of the Pacific entrance to the Canal followed by the profusion of skyscrapers on the waterfront and in the center of Panama City. East of the city, approaching the airport, the beaches were wide and sandy with a backdrop of mountains a few miles distant.
The first leg of our journey was nearly over. A journey that had started eight hours earlier at 4:30 am in Katy, TX and seen us driving along I-10 and up I-45 as dawn broke so we could be at Houston Intercontinental airport at 7:00 am in plenty of time for the flight.
Panama City airport smells and looks new, or perhaps it is the absence of any strong smell of humanity that marks the newness. The airport was quiet when we arrived, there were more people selling duty free than there were passengers in the profusion of stores that lined a wide plaza running parallel to the main concourse and few people were waiting for planes to depart. The next scheduled departure from the airport appeared to be more than three hours away, so perhaps they only have flights arriving and departing in groups in the morning and the evening, with occasional flights at other times.
The dearth of passengers was perhaps fortunate, as there was only one restaurant /coffee shop/snack bar in the airport and there wasn’t a single vending machine selling soft drinks, water or snacks anywhere to be seen. This may only be a temporary problem as it appeared work was continuing on a mezzanine floor that we guessed would contain additional restaurants and snack bars.
Our original plan was to spend the six hour layover eating a casual lunch downtown Panama City in a restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean. An extensive conversation with a Continental representative scotched that idea. Today is Good Friday and since Panama is mostly Catholic, 90% of the restaurants and stores were closed and taxis would be very hard to find. Consequently we spent the next six hours in the airport. 
We ate lunch at the Tierra Firme restaurant, walked from one end of the airport to the other, wandered in and out of the duty free shops and then Graham slept for a while lying flat on a row of chairs while Patricia typed up the log for the day, then we walked some more until, at last, it was time to get on the Aero Republica flight to Cali.
Panama City airport was much busier by this time, planes had arrived and taken off and there were lots of people milling about looking for, and waiting at, the gates. Despite the large number of empty gates, we still had to board a bus and be driven out to the edge of the airport to board our plane then after we taxied to the runway we sat and waited while four incoming flights landed on the active runway. The flight was uneventful (as they should be), we were served a ham and cheese sandwich and a packet of lays chips and I had a free glass of wine.
One hour and fifteen minutes later we landed in Cali. Exiting passport control and customs went reasonably fast and was less onerous than anticipated and Humberto, Mama Leny and Sofia were waiting at the exit to drive us to Mama Leny’s apartment in the south west of Cali. Cali airport is actually in the city of Palmira, about 25 km east of Cali, almost like saying that Intercontinental airport in Houston is in the city of Humble. The drive into town is on a highway at least as good as I45 though we had to navigate city streets to get across the city.
The first leg of our journey was nearly over. A journey that had started eight hours earlier at 4:30 am in Katy, TX and seen us driving along I-10 and up I-45 as dawn broke so we could be at Houston Intercontinental airport at 7:00 am in plenty of time for the flight.
Panama City airport smells and looks new, or perhaps it is the absence of any strong smell of humanity that marks the newness. The airport was quiet when we arrived, there were more people selling duty free than there were passengers in the profusion of stores that lined a wide plaza running parallel to the main concourse and few people were waiting for planes to depart. The next scheduled departure from the airport appeared to be more than three hours away, so perhaps they only have flights arriving and departing in groups in the morning and the evening, with occasional flights at other times.The dearth of passengers was perhaps fortunate, as there was only one restaurant /coffee shop/snack bar in the airport and there wasn’t a single vending machine selling soft drinks, water or snacks anywhere to be seen. This may only be a temporary problem as it appeared work was continuing on a mezzanine floor that we guessed would contain additional restaurants and snack bars.
Our original plan was to spend the six hour layover eating a casual lunch downtown Panama City in a restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean. An extensive conversation with a Continental representative scotched that idea. Today is Good Friday and since Panama is mostly Catholic, 90% of the restaurants and stores were closed and taxis would be very hard to find. Consequently we spent the next six hours in the airport. 
We ate lunch at the Tierra Firme restaurant, walked from one end of the airport to the other, wandered in and out of the duty free shops and then Graham slept for a while lying flat on a row of chairs while Patricia typed up the log for the day, then we walked some more until, at last, it was time to get on the Aero Republica flight to Cali.
Panama City airport was much busier by this time, planes had arrived and taken off and there were lots of people milling about looking for, and waiting at, the gates. Despite the large number of empty gates, we still had to board a bus and be driven out to the edge of the airport to board our plane then after we taxied to the runway we sat and waited while four incoming flights landed on the active runway. The flight was uneventful (as they should be), we were served a ham and cheese sandwich and a packet of lays chips and I had a free glass of wine.
One hour and fifteen minutes later we landed in Cali. Exiting passport control and customs went reasonably fast and was less onerous than anticipated and Humberto, Mama Leny and Sofia were waiting at the exit to drive us to Mama Leny’s apartment in the south west of Cali. Cali airport is actually in the city of Palmira, about 25 km east of Cali, almost like saying that Intercontinental airport in Houston is in the city of Humble. The drive into town is on a highway at least as good as I45 though we had to navigate city streets to get across the city.
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