January 2025, Panama City. After seeing the ruins at Panamá Viejo, I headed to the city center. Panama City is the most urbanized city in Central America, with a striking skyline of tall buildings. The view from the seaside walkway is unlike any other Central American capital.
Mercado de Mariscos — A Japanese Flag on the Wall
First stop was the Mercado de Mariscos, the seafood market. Right on Panama City's waterfront, popular with both locals and tourists.
On the side of the building was the text "PANAMA – JAPÓN" with the Japanese flag. The market was apparently built with Japanese aid. Didn't expect to see the Japanese flag at a fish market in Central America.
The first floor is the seafood market itself, vendors in white uniforms laying out and butchering fish. Tuna, flounder, shrimp, octopus — a wide range. The second floor is a restaurant where they'll cook the fish you bought downstairs.
Casco Viejo — The UNESCO Old Town
The next day I went to Casco Viejo. The historic old town of Panama City, registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, with Spanish colonial architecture intact.
Cobblestone alleys and colorful buildings stretch on. Streets where white walls and black iron balconies alternate; buildings half-restored, half-abandoned; old buildings turned into restaurants and galleries — old and new mixed together. The atmosphere is similar to Granada, Nicaragua, but the skyscrapers of Panama City visible behind it make Casco Viejo feel distinctive.
Walking the alleys, a large mural caught my eye on the side of a building. A pop-style portrait, paired against an old, half-restored wall — a clean contrast.
I bought a mola at Casco Viejo — a textile craft made by Panama's Indigenous Kuna (Guna) people, characterized by geometric patterns and depictions of animals and plants. The colors are vivid; an easy souvenir choice.
Museo del Canal — The Canal's History
I also stopped by the Museo del Canal Interoceánico in Casco Viejo. It covers the history of the Panama Canal from construction to today, and is one of the larger institutions inside Casco Viejo.
Exhibits included a flag related to Panama's first coup in 1931, and a careful walk-through of history from the colonial era to the present. The canal isn't just a civil engineering feat — it's tied directly to the formation of Panama itself, and the museum gets that across.
I'd thought of Panama City as "the place to see the canal," but Casco Viejo was worth the time too. Far more urbanized than other Central American capitals, with a feel different from both Costa Rica and Nicaragua.