Albrook

[Kyle]Maryanne wanted to get the lay of the land while I was still here so we spent the next day learning the bus system and going to the Albrook Mall.

Albrook is THE main bus terminal in Panamá City and also the biggest shopping center I have ever seen, ever. The place is complete chaos.

Yep! Just one of the MANY food courts at the mall

We started by focusing on our needs. We topped up our sim card for our Panamá phone and found the gigantic grocery store. Mostly, we were there to see what sorts of things they had, so we didn’t buy much. We then went for about a three-mile walk while never going outside. There are so many stores that sell stuff nobody needs {and a few selling stuff that we wanted anyway!}. We walked by at least five different food courts. At one point, we even saw a little electric train to transport people from one side to the other.

It was overwhelming. By the time we left, I was completely malled out for the rest of the year. Poor Maryanne is going to have to dive into that mess to top up on perishables before we leave. I’m glad we did the super big shop in Colón. It would be a real nightmare trying to get three carts of groceries home on this side.

[Maryanne]This mall is so big (the biggest in Central America), and even has a Hotel for when you get totally lost and can't find your car to get home!