Immigration, Customs, and Car Rental
Panama Travelog #4
Cd. Panama, Panama - Sun, 22 Dec 2024. 4pm.
After arriving at the airport (PTY) in Panama City, Panama we had to clear immigration and customs, then pick up a rental car. Guess which of these took way longer than it should have.
Immigration had a huge long line when we arrived. An orange-jacketed employee spotted Hawk on her cane, though, and pointed us toward the diplomatic line, which was also marked for handicapped people. There was just one party ahead of us in that line. It's interesting that most foreign countries we visit have handicap lines at immigration and customs, while the US does not.
Though the line was short the process was slow. The immigration officer didn't really do anything other than iterate a standard process: Check that are passports are valid, ask where we're staying and what our employment is, collect our fingerprints on a digital scanner, and stamp our passports. This still took at least 10 minutes.
Our checked bag was waiting for us in baggage claim by the time we arrived. Not only had it arrived on the belt, it had apparently made so many trips around the belt that employees had pulled it off and lined it up on the floor.
Next was customs inspection. Again, we were motioned to a diplomatic queue, doubling for handicap people. The inspector was surprised to see us, so Hawk waved her cane at her. Again the inspector didn't actually do anything other than follow a rote process, but at least this stage of the gantlet was fast. It was odd, though, that we didn't have to answer any questions about what was in our bags- no questions about weapons, drugs, food, etc., which are common in other countries and are warned about in near-breathless terms on Panama's official visitor immigration pages.
So then it was time to get our rental car. I'd carefully rented from one of the several agencies that's "located in-terminal, walk to car". Well, it was located in the other terminal. A shuttle bus took us there.
At the car rental agency there was just one customer ahead of us. Unfortunately it was a customer who apparently had never rented a car before... or apparently had never rented a car in a foreign country before. She was arguing with the lone employee at the desk about something, likely about whether she needed to pay for insurance (mandatory) or something.
Finally we got our turn in line. Things went smoothly until the agent kept saying, "One moment, please".... I could tell he was having trouble finding keys. Other reservations had paperwork and keys already sorted behind the desk. Ours did not. "They lost our reservation," was my first thought. But then, realizing they did have paperwork, "They don't have our car," was my second thought.
Bingo! They were out of cars in the category I'd reserved. "I can give you a smaller one," the agent offered. "Is it also cheaper?" I asked. It was, so I took it.
The new car wasn't a mystery when I accepted it. It's a Hyundai Venue. It's smaller than the Hyundai Tucson I reserved but seemed like it would be big enough. That said, it is compact. We put down the rear seats just to accommodate our three suitcases (and two shoulder bags) in the cargo area. And the front seats don't recline very far. This vehicle is not designed for drivers over 5'11" (180cm) tall.
Speaking of design, the vehicle's interior looks like a design from 20 years ago... with a digital display carefully pasted onto it. Aside from it supporting Apple CarPlay- which is a massive help for driving in a country where the road signs really suck- we're dealing with features that would have done a model year 2005 Toyota Corolla proud.
Well, now we're en route to our destination for the evening, the Gamboa Reserve. I'll have more to share when we arrive.
Cd. Panama, Panama - Sun, 22 Dec 2024. 4pm.
After arriving at the airport (PTY) in Panama City, Panama we had to clear immigration and customs, then pick up a rental car. Guess which of these took way longer than it should have.
Immigration had a huge long line when we arrived. An orange-jacketed employee spotted Hawk on her cane, though, and pointed us toward the diplomatic line, which was also marked for handicapped people. There was just one party ahead of us in that line. It's interesting that most foreign countries we visit have handicap lines at immigration and customs, while the US does not.
Though the line was short the process was slow. The immigration officer didn't really do anything other than iterate a standard process: Check that are passports are valid, ask where we're staying and what our employment is, collect our fingerprints on a digital scanner, and stamp our passports. This still took at least 10 minutes.
Our checked bag was waiting for us in baggage claim by the time we arrived. Not only had it arrived on the belt, it had apparently made so many trips around the belt that employees had pulled it off and lined it up on the floor.
Next was customs inspection. Again, we were motioned to a diplomatic queue, doubling for handicap people. The inspector was surprised to see us, so Hawk waved her cane at her. Again the inspector didn't actually do anything other than follow a rote process, but at least this stage of the gantlet was fast. It was odd, though, that we didn't have to answer any questions about what was in our bags- no questions about weapons, drugs, food, etc., which are common in other countries and are warned about in near-breathless terms on Panama's official visitor immigration pages.
So then it was time to get our rental car. I'd carefully rented from one of the several agencies that's "located in-terminal, walk to car". Well, it was located in the other terminal. A shuttle bus took us there.
At the car rental agency there was just one customer ahead of us. Unfortunately it was a customer who apparently had never rented a car before... or apparently had never rented a car in a foreign country before. She was arguing with the lone employee at the desk about something, likely about whether she needed to pay for insurance (mandatory) or something.
Finally we got our turn in line. Things went smoothly until the agent kept saying, "One moment, please".... I could tell he was having trouble finding keys. Other reservations had paperwork and keys already sorted behind the desk. Ours did not. "They lost our reservation," was my first thought. But then, realizing they did have paperwork, "They don't have our car," was my second thought.
Bingo! They were out of cars in the category I'd reserved. "I can give you a smaller one," the agent offered. "Is it also cheaper?" I asked. It was, so I took it.
The new car wasn't a mystery when I accepted it. It's a Hyundai Venue. It's smaller than the Hyundai Tucson I reserved but seemed like it would be big enough. That said, it is compact. We put down the rear seats just to accommodate our three suitcases (and two shoulder bags) in the cargo area. And the front seats don't recline very far. This vehicle is not designed for drivers over 5'11" (180cm) tall.
Speaking of design, the vehicle's interior looks like a design from 20 years ago... with a digital display carefully pasted onto it. Aside from it supporting Apple CarPlay- which is a massive help for driving in a country where the road signs really suck- we're dealing with features that would have done a model year 2005 Toyota Corolla proud.
Well, now we're en route to our destination for the evening, the Gamboa Reserve. I'll have more to share when we arrive.