VIDEO: Separation of Panama From Colombia Day

The morning after I arrived in Panama City, my plan was to go into the old town for a stroll. When I asked the receptionist how to go about it, she told me that if I hurried I might catch what would be left of the Separation Day parade. I knew I had arrived at the beginning of a long weekend, and that most people would be out of town. The celebratory parade wasn’t on my list of priorities, but since it was “right there”, I thought I might as well. With directions in hand I got on the metro, and headed towards the Cinco de Mayo stop. Getting off the metro, and up to street level, I quickly realised the directions were redundant. People, and hoards of them!! Don’t think everybody was out of town 😀 New directions, follow the crowd! Turned out the parade was still going strong, and it was far from the small procession I had, for some reason, imagined. Everything and everybody came down the streets – marching bands, women dressed in, what looked like, folk costumes, soldiers with guns out, military tanks and speed boats, sports clubs of all kind, you name it. With some streets closed and the rest packed with spectators and partakers, it was not an easy task to move around. Crossing over to the other side of a street was nearly impossible. At one point I found myself “backstage” with people getting ready to walk the parade 🙂 The old town squares became safe havens. With most things closed for the holidays, also most restaurants, to get a breather and some sugar to get me going for a couple of hours more, I got me a coke from a street stall, sat down on the curb behind it, with the owner of the stall and their “neighbours”, with the car stereo blasting out suitable ambience. The Separation of Panama from Colombia Day was the perfect start to my Panama visit!!

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