A walk through my neighborhood

I don't think I've done a tour (via the blog) that is of the neighborhood I've been living in here in Panama. We used AirBnB, and originally found a place much closer to the Ciudad del Saber, but less than ideal in a few other respects.  That's fairly normal; I booked that first place for three months, using the time as a chance to get to know the area better while looking around for something that might suit us a bit better.

Just FYI, "a bit better" in this case means (a) closer to grocery stores, (b) having a bit more light, as the first place we stayed was quite dark, and (c) still on the bus line that I'd found so convenient. 

This new place has all that and more.  Our previous neighborhood was a gated community, and so it was very walkable, but also quite homogenous.   The current place has a gazillions of twists and turns; I can get a lot of variety, even on very short walks.  The AirBnB we're staying at is amazing for a bunch of reason, but in this post I'm just going to show you what's outside, within say a half-mile of the place.  

This is the AirBnB where we're staying, from the outside.
Houses here tend to be strong concrete with metal fences surrounding them,
and generally quite attractive.

The streets are wide, and there's not a lot of traffic.  
This is looking past two houses to some hills in the distance

If you walk over that ridge, you see a lake and river, 
with lovely forest.  This is the view to the right.
My AirBnB takes people on crocodile tours in this direction.

And to the right, there's a broad grassy plane.
Just beyond those trees there's a road that leads to 
one of the big grocery stores ("Super Carnes").

If instead of going over the hill and down toward the river, you turn up the hill, you get to a giant masonic lodge.  Okay, maybe the lodge isn't giant, but the statue is. 

Abou Saad.

A nearby sign says, "The Abou Saad Temple was founded in 1918; it houses the ancient Arab Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the philanthropic arm of Freemasonry."

If you continue past the temple, you get to the main road (a small windy road, but one that carries much traffic including the buses). From this vantage point, you can see neighborhoods across the street and also the sky scrapers of Panama City off in the distance.

Sky scrapers in the distance

Turn left on this main road, and you pass the tennis
court across the street, with its many Panamanian flags.

Turn right on this street, and you head
downhill past lovely houses. . . 

. . . and eventually arrive at Albrook Plaza, a small shopping center.

Beyond this shopping center is an open-air vegetable market, another large grocery store, and a bunch of restaurants. 

From the second story of a cute little two-story pop-up pizza shop near the Plaza.  
From the outside, the pizza place looks a bit like a kid's club house/tree house.

Oh, and there's a small airport, and some banks and coffee shops, too. 

Near the plaza, there's a different entrance into the neighborhood.  This one has a park surrounded by houses, with large, lovely trees.

The roots on trees in Panama can be incredibly impressive.

Speaking of trees, the amazing "Guayacanes" are in bloom right now.  I'd been told that they would be a sight to see, and indeed they are!

Guayacanes in full bloom!

One of the things you haven't seen in these photos is power lines or phone lines; that's because they're all beneath ground in this particular neighborhood. (That's not typical of Panama; this neighborhood is part of the former Canal Zone, built by the U.S. during our occupation of the area).

We all love these signs showing swole kids playing
soccer.

This tour doesn't even show some of the things we love walking to that are just a little bit further: 
crocodiles and turtles, St Mary's school, the Russian embassy, a fish pond.  But it gives you a bit of sense of how picturesque the place is, and why I'm so glad to have landed here during my time in Panama.