Squirt Guns in Casco Viejo: Panama and Costa Rica with Skye

We based ourselves in Casco Viejo, the old quarter of Panama City, in an apartment with a balcony overlooking the square and a church right across the street. And it was that balcony that gave us the single best moment of the trip, on our very first full day.

It was Carnival, and a group of roller bladers came dancing down the street below us in the middle of a full-blown water fight. Skye and I did the only reasonable thing: we grabbed water and poured it down on their heads from above. Instead of being annoyed, they were delighted. When we came downstairs, they handed us squirt guns of our own, we refilled their supply and brought out extra water in bottles, and just like that we were part of the parade. That is the whole reason we travel, right there. You cannot book a moment like that. You can only put yourself in the middle of a place and let it happen to you.

The canal

The other Panama must-do lived up to every bit of its reputation. We went to the Miraflores Visitor Center and watched enormous ships inch their way through the locks of the Panama Canal, rising and falling as the water did all the work. It is one of those things that sounds like it might be boring and is instead completely mesmerizing, especially for a curious kid. We paired it with a rooftop dinner and big views over the city, which is my favorite way to end a hot day anywhere.

We also took a boat out through the mangroves, which turned into the wildlife encounter none of us saw coming. White-faced capuchin monkeys came aboard, and they were completely unbothered by us. One settled onto Cody’s lap like he was furniture, then a second climbed up to join it, and Skye sat cross-legged at the front of the boat with a monkey perched on her shoulder. There is a particular look on your husband’s face when he is being used as a piece of monkey seating, and I am grateful I got a photo of it.

And of course we did the thing we always do. There is a big PANAMA sign in town, and I put Skye in front of it and took the picture, the same way I have in Dubai and Saigon and Amsterdam. I have a whole collection of these now. She is going to be taller than the letters one of these days.

On to Costa Rica

From Panama we hopped a short early flight over to Costa Rica, picked up a rental car, and turned the second half of the trip into a road trip, which is my favorite way to see this part of the world. We started with beach days in Jaco, then pointed the car north toward the Rincon de la Vieja volcano region, where the plan was built around hot springs and horseback riding through the national park. On the way back we stopped at Poas Volcano for a timed crater hike before dropping down into San Jose for our last night and the flight home.

Costa Rica makes this kind of trip easy. The distances are manageable, the beach-to-volcano-to-city variety keeps a nine-year-old endlessly engaged, and the whole country runs on a warmth and an ease that I always miss the moment we leave.

Traveling as a team of two with Skye, from a rooftop in Panama City to a volcano trail in Costa Rica, reminded me all over again how capable she is and how much I love showing her the world. This one was short, sweet, and exactly the reset we needed.