After an early breakfast featuring the Lodge’s signature chocolate bread – made with cacao liquor produced on the farm but not at all sweet – we all set off back to Bocas, where Steve and I said our goodbyes to Tom and Kate and boarded the mid morning flight back to Panama City. Sitting in the rather old Aeroperlas flight – which looked like something out of ‘Casablanca’ – we watched the jungle islands and lagoon fade into the background, along with our last view of the cacao jungle on this trip.
We hadn’t given up on chocolate yet, and after arriving in Panama City and checking back into our hotel, we set off to find what the city had in the way of chocolatiers. Kate had given us a few names from an earlier visit and we were curious to know if this upcoming city with it’s ever-rising luxury tower blocks had anything decent to offer.
A long misguided walk in the rain and a $2 taxi ride later we arrived at one of the city’s many malls. These seem to be the social focus of Panama City and despite our attempts throughout the day, we couldn’t find anything that resembled a town centre, only more and more residential towers. I’m sure new ones were rising up behind our backs while we weren’t looking. I wonder if there really is a market for all these $2,000,000 apartments. Still, with all that US retiree money around, Panama city should be ready for some good chocolate.
As our hopes weren’t high, we were in mystery shopper mode. Our first planned stop in the mall was a brief one. A ‘Belgian’ style chocolatier who best remain nameless selling very generic type chocolates made with very generic chocolate. A small sample of the dark chocolate prompted a quick exit and the search for a bin in which to spit out what we could of the chocolate
After that experience, Steve and I needed a sit down in one of the malls cafes. I foolishly ordered a mocha, which was quite the most amazingly undrinkable drink I’ve ever sipped. Things soon improved though, opposite the cafe was an ‘all natural’ ice cream parlour, which lived up to its promise and showed that perhaps Panama City is ready for some gourmet confections after all
We headed off to look for another chocolate shop we’d heard of, which turned out to be a very traditional half chintzy gift shop half old style chocolatier. Everything was ‘freshly made’ each day, this might be true, but these over-sweet Belgian candy type chocolates were not really to our taste, though the owner was nice enough. Out of courtesy we bought a small bag to sample later. I must confess to nibbling on a couple of very sweet milk confections later in the day when no other chocolate was to hand – at least if something is sweet and milky you can’t taste anything off in the chocolate. I made a point of leaving the left-overs with Steve, which I think he discovered back in the UK in the depths of his luggage
After all that and traipsing round trying to find a decent gift market like hopeless tourists, we were ready for beer and food, which we again found in the Calle 49 / Calle Uruguay district, and was again excellent. I’d really recommend the cuisine in Panama City as one of its strong points. So ended the last night of a long three week tour, full of adventure and discoveries. I’d be lying though if I didn’t admit I was looking forward to going home tomorrow.
About the Author
