My family walking along the Paseo Del Mar towards Panama City

Walking along the Paseo Del Mar, Costa Del Este

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This is a pedestrian path perfect for walking, jogging and small kids on bikes. And, there’s a never-ending dog show of pedigree pooches, particularly in the early morning and afternoons. Weirdly, there’s a surprising amount of huskies – considering the climate! One side of the Paseo Del Mar, or the “malecón” as it is sometimes called (meaning breakwater or esplanade), is lined with high rise apartment buildings that have a great view of the ocean. The other side is thick mangroves through which you usually can’t see much. Here’s what we love about walking on the Paseo Del Mar.

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Hiking with kids from Altos de Campana

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We drove up to Altos de Campana yesterday, aiming to do Sendero La Cruz with the kids. It was our first time here, and we ended up having a lovely walk, just not the one we had hoped to do! We will definitely go back, as there is loads of trails to explore from this point. Here’s what we found out.

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Walking with kids in Panama

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With three kids and a waggy dog to tire out, we’re always looking for a good walk here in Panama.. Here’s what we’ve found out so far. It is not always obvious! Often you can’t take the dog. Official online info is not always up to date, particularly with new Covid regulations. Currently, while any amount of people can cough and splutter all over each other in a bus or supermarket in the city, on a mountain trail, sometimes you need to reserve in advance. Possibly for social distancing. Maybe for rescuing? I’m not sure. But it’s disappointing to drive a long way with the kids to do a hike, all ready to go, to be told you have to register online three days in advance (this happened yesterday at Sendero La Cruz). We had a great walk anyway, just not the one we had planned!

Here’s where we have walked so far…

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Our happy bubble

Our Sparkling Sanctuary

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When we moved to Panama in January 2020, we were lucky enough to rent a house that has a small pool in the backyard. We never imagined we would spend so much time in it. Between school shutdowns, lockdowns and quarantines, those few square metres of cool blue water have been the kids’ world, their playground, our Friday night bar and our sparkling sanctuary safe from the outside world. Until last week…

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Moles

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Blindly we build our burrows

Scraping around in the cold dark earth.

Our subterranean labyrinth reaches out,

Then, grasping nothing, collapses.

Something calls us to the surface.

We emerge confused into the light,

Bedazzled by birdsong and breezes,

The strength of the sun

Whose vast immensity

We have no capacity to comprehend.

We feel something, understand nothing.

We turn tails and scrabble back

To the industrious dark.

By Lizzie Sherwood-Smith

Our Stolen Summer Part 3: Bubbling up by the beach

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Bringing small children to stay with grandparents during the pandemic was terrifying to start with, dangerous throughout and then heart wrenching when it ended. God knows how we managed it, but we are all thanking our lucky stars we got away with it. It will always feel like our ‘stolen summer’. To try and reduce the spread of any germs we’d brought with us, our rule of thumb was simple. For the first 10 days, we’d pretend we had Covid, then for the next 10, we’d ‘bubble up’ with Mum and Dad and pretend everyone else had it. Gulp. Was that really going to work?

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A Day Trip to the Caribbean

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Sounds impossible right? After being locked down in Panama city for so many months, then stumped by endless difficulties getting number plates for our imported American car, it sounded like a serious break for freedom, which we were delighted to take! Less than 2 hours on the road took us from Panama’s high-rise modernity on the Pacific, all the way to the low slung, laid back Caribbean. With colourful, rundown buildings, ruined forts and beautiful little coves, it felt like another world entirely.

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Flying with kids during the Pandemic

Our Stolen Summer. Part 2: Flying back to England.

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Flying home from Panama to London was as normal as it could be, given we were on a humanitarian flight during a global pandemic. As months of confinement in a hot and humid, strange new city dropped away under the clouds, I felt giddy with relief to be going home for a bit, to visit my Mum and Dad. But also filled with gathering sense of foreboding…

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flying with kids on KLM during the pandemic

Our Stolen Summer. Part 1: Escape from Panama!

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We’re back to Panama after two months away, after what felt like some serious bunking off. You know that delicious, sneaky feeling of making time, being somewhere you are not supposed to be, with people you are not supposed to see. First to see horses, then boys, now it seems I’m sneaking back home to see my eldery parents. Funny how things change.

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Todo saldrá bien!

Playing football with a REAL boy

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In its ongoing battle to stave off Covid 19, Panama has imposed one of the strictest lock downs in the world. Since the middle of March, children have not been allowed out on the streets at all until last week, where they had 6 days of limited freedom. Today we are back to total quarantine. Here’s how we are faring!

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