The ceiling of the Sephardic synagogue Shevet Ahim, which is located in the Bella Vista neighbourhood of Panama City. (photo by Janice Masur)
My solo trip to Panama City this past February had seemed so far away when I organized it, knowing I would require some respite from caregiving. I had a yen to experience the Miraflores and San Pedro shipping locks, but not on a cruise. I had listened to a talk from Qesher, a website about Jewish communities worldwide, highlighting Jewish life in Panama, so I gathered my courage to travel alone and booked my hotel and flights. And then my beloved husband died.
This changed my reason for going and started me thinking, What would I do there by myself? How would I manage to converse in Spanish and make myself understood? Could I give a talk about my Ugandan vanished Jewish community? (See jewishindependent.ca/honouring-community.) Despite my concerns, I made the journey.
I had a half-day tour with an excellent Jewish guide, Patricia, to see all four of the Orthodox synagogues, each one more beautiful, all situated within a small area of Panama City.
There were all types of Jews staying in my hotel: a Dutch woman who only recently discovered her Jewish heritage, a fur-hatted Jewish man, and two Jewish Tunisian-born sisters, whose family history included having been ousted from their home in Tunis during the Second World War, their home commandeered to be a Nazi headquarters.
At Kol Shearith Reform synagogue, I struggled with the Spanish and Hebrew prayer book, spellbound by my surroundings. The Sephardic tunes of the prayers made only a handful of them familiar to my ear. The Oneg Shabbat was delicious: fish ceviche and crème caramel, a childhood favourite, as well as several dishes new to me. We stood around the loaded tables and talked.
Jews started arriving in Panama in the 15th century and there are about 17,000 Jews in Panama, with most living in Panama City. Apparently, Panama is a “Jewish bubble,” with basically no antisemitism. I was told that there are many families from Vancouver soon moving there. “Why?” you may ask. Imagine 40 kosher restaurants, two very large kosher stores, apartment buildings housing only Jewish families, a Jewish support system from birth to death, Sephardic Shevet Ahim in the Bella Vista neighbourhood with offshoots in Punta Paitilla, Ashkenazi Beth El Synagogue, two Chabad synagogues, and the oldest synagogue, Kol Shearith.
Geographically, Panama City is situated on a narrow isthmus, making it an elongated city running east-west, mainly facing the Pacific Ocean. It is full of incredibly high and distinctive skyscrapers lining the long promenade.
The Old Town is being gentrified. Hotel La Compañía Casco Antiguo has a Spanish, French and American wing, each built in a different century. A large cathedral faces onto Plaza Herrera, and I saw my first modern-day monk. He was wearing a brown habit and many nuns were spilling out into the sunlit plaza. Brightly painted buildings and small shops catered to the tourists. The imposing Opera House faces the ocean.
I felt quite safe on my own and was touched by how a local family pointed out animals and kept an eye on me as we wandered around Metropolitan Natural Park, where I saw turtles, agoutis and my first ever armadillo.
I took myself to the botanical garden situated about 40 minutes outside the city. Along the route were American army barracks now being repurposed. At the garden, I enjoyed seeing flowers I had never seen before. A large red flower that only grows from a tree trunk; an orange flower whose seed pod is hard and round and slightly bigger than a tennis ball. The garden also showcased two- and three-toed sloths, plus several monkey species. In its far reaches, I saw a lone jaguar, who let out such sad, lonely notes with his rib cage working like an accordion that I could not bear to stay near his cage. I wondered about the information exhorting visitors to take care of the planet and not to shoot wild animals. Jaguars are on the at-risk list because of habitation loss and human interference.
On the spur of the moment, I took a Black African walking tour of the old city. The young guide was very good. Highlights included some colourful historic wall paintings and an old church, which is now a Black African museum. We finished the tour at the San Felipe public market, where I had a large, freshly squeezed and most-welcome passion fruit drink in 32˚ C heat and then crashed on my bed for a nap.
The Biomuseo (biodiversity museum), designed by Frank Gehry, is well worth a visit, with a lovely seawall walk and an eco-friendly garden, where I rested and listened to the birds. I also took a private birding tour, which yielded some wonderful sightings. The couple of hours on my own watching close to 100 pelicans circling and diving for fish was spectacular.
And, of course, I took a tour on a small boat that passed through the Miraflores and San Pedro locks. It was fascinating to observe the speed with which large shipping vessels are lowered and raised through the original canal lock gates, which opened in 1914. Tugs and railway engines synchronize the adjustment of a ship in the lock with steel ropes to prevent it from damaging the canal walls – it’s a specialized job, and I was happy to learn there are some women pilots.
I was warmly welcomed in Panama City, and the Jewish hospitality was inclusive and friendly. It was a fun and easy holiday – it has given me the appetite for more solo adventures.
Janice Masur is a Vancouver author and speaker. Her book, Shalom Uganda: A Jewish Community on the Equator, tells her story of growing up in the bygone Ashkenazi Jewish community of Kampala from 1949 to 1961.