We have been in Panama for 6 months now. I still can't believe it has been so long! Panama only allows you to be in Panama for 180 days before you need to leave for 72 hours. No problem since we wanted to go to Karen and Dave Fraser's wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, which is right at the 6 month mark. So this is where I mea culpa for not calculating correctly and booked the flights out at 184 days. I really didn't think it would be a problem until I dug into it. If you try to leave, they redirect you to Immigration to pay a fine for staying too long. No problem if you know ahead of time. If you don't take care of it before you hit the airport then they won't let you out until the fine is paid. This can really screw up travel plans because it takes a few hours to pay the fine.
So, with the knowledge that we had to pay fines at Immigration, we headed to Panama city a day earlier than our flight to Punta Cana. We checked in to our hotel and headed to the immigration office. We went to go in the office and were not allowed to go in. I had forgot that hospitals and office buildings do not let you in as a man with shorts on (long pants are required) and as a lady with your shoulders showing. So we walked for 10 blocks in the afternoon sun to Price Smart (Costco) and bought some pants and a shirt for Jada.
We got into the immigration office and went to information where we took a number and waited our turn. It only took about 1-1/2 hours of waiting to get to talk to an immigration officer who started the paperwork and sent me out to get passport photocopies. There was a crappy little van parked outside with a photo centre and copiers, so I got the documents copied and headed back inside (80 cents for copies). Back to the lady with the copies, who did some more work and then sent us outside for pictures (now I knew why the van did copies and photos). We only needed Karen's photo and got it done in 20 minutes for $3.00.
We headed back into the office and a new guard followed Karen downstairs to the immigration office. I was following too and he was trying to get her attention for something. I asked what the problem was and he asked me to stay where I was and pointed to my feet. We were both wearing flip flops, which is another no no. The 1st guard let it slide, but this fellow was not happy about it. By the time he reached Karen, she was back with the immigration officer and he was talking fast to here in Spanish and seemed pretty upset (probably because she didn't stop for him). The officer was very good and she talked to the guard who then let us stay. At this point all we had to do was pay the $55 and then get the final paperwork copy, so 10 minutes later we left with everything in hand. Note that I was not over the 180 days (I had gone back to Calgary for a weekend to get the kids schoolbooks) and the kids were minors and did not have to pay the fine.
That night we had a good supper and then hit the VIP theatre for the new Captain America in English with Spanish subtitles. In the morning we headed to the airport and had no troubles getting on the plane (phew!).
We will cover the wedding in Punta Cana in another post, other than the return flight, which fits better in this post.
We arrived at the airport in Punta Cana after the wedding about 3 hours before our plane was to take off (lots of time right?). The lines were short, so we got to the COPA (Panama Airline) ticket counter fairly quick and she pulled up our itinerary and tagged our bags. She then asked for a copy of our return flight information, which we didn't have because we are driving back to Canada. She would not let us board without a plane ticket out of Panama! This is a tricky policy with Panama Immigration.
You need to supply proof that you have at least $500 in your account and a purchased plane or Tica bus ticket out of Panama, so that they knew you would not be a drag on the economy and would be leaving before the 180 days are up. When we entered Panama, was able to talk to the Immigration officer at the border crossing, who let us in without a return ticket, because I had said we were driving out. It was not that big of an issue at that crossing. At the airport, I couldn't talk to an immigration official and the COPA airlines ticket lady had to stick by the rules.
So we left our baggage with her and rushed to the other terminal where there was free wifi so I could purchase tickets to leave Panama that we will never use! I was so pissed at myself for thinking I could work it out with the immigration officer this time, not thinking that I would't be able to talk to one. I thought it would be handled in Panama at the Immigration checkstop and not in Punta Cana at the ticket agent. Another case of fuzzy rules in Central America causing us some problems. All because we drove in instead of flying in.
We found the free wifi zone around a coffee shop, so I got a coffee and the internet information (free wifi - yippee). We tried multiple devices for about 20 minutes to try to get connected with no luck whatsoever. Add to this that the airport had lots less workers in it for Holy Thursday (shops and the media centre shut down for the holiday here). I was really thinking we would miss our plane. I asked a lady for some help and she spoke enough English that we could get our predicament across. I had asked if we could pay to use her phone as a hotspot to buy our tickets. She would not take any money, got us connected to her hotspot and left her phone with us as she went to work. She asked that we leave her phone with one of the other workers when we were done and did not seem worried one bit about leaving here phone with strangers. Really goes to show you that generally people are willing to help wherever you go.
With our internet connection I tried to book us on the TICA bus from David to San Jose Costa Rica (cheap bus tickets). The TICA bus booking system kept freezing on us and kicking us out. When I finally thought I had it ready to purchase, the system would not allow me to book. This wasted another 20 minutes, so time was running short for us to catch our plane. Stress levels increased and I finally gave up on TICA bus and went to Expedia to find flights. I found some refundable flights for the whole family and booked the tickets. I emailed them to the COPA ticket lady and we headed back to the other terminal to finish getting our tickets. Before we left, we could not see the lady who lent us her phone or the other person we were supposed to give it to. I found another officer and tried in my broken Spanish to explain that we needed to get the phone back to the lady. It took a while, but another agent came by and seemed to know what was happening and took the phone. I hope it made it back safely, because the lady saved us big time.
We made it on the plane and back to Panama with about 30 minutes to spare!!!
When we drive out, I have to remember that there will be issues, but that there is always a way around them. Hopefully we find all the ways around issues that are not expensive.
ttfn
Stew
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