After early morning coffee at the local McDonalds we settled down to wait for news on the progress of the police inspection and other paper work.

In the afternoon we had arranged a city tour to help give us the lay of the land so to speak. Starting at Ancon hill - the highest piece of land in Panama City we had a good look at the layout of the city. The old part of the city is called Casco Viejo or Old Helmet is just below Ancon Hill near the Pacific Port of Balboa. It consists of narrow, cobbled streets and is well on the way to becoming a tourist mecca.

The commercial center of the city looks from a distance to be composed of a million skyscrapers both apartment and office buildings. We have heard from a number of sources that the population of Panama City is about 1.5 million but it looks bigger than that.

On the drive to the commercial center we got hit by one of the regular afternoon downpours, black clouds, lightening and thunder. The city skyline was unbelievably spectacular against the background of black clouds.

The city has a vibrant feel, and the volume of new buildings and new cars suggest that the city is doing very well financially.

We liked what we saw and feel we could easily spend a lot more time here.