Íæż½ã½ã

My perspective will be different than most! If I were coming straight from the US, I'm sure I would find more issues with the driving in Panama, but I've been in the Dominican Republic for the past 5 years, and nothing is worse than there!

Granted, my driving in Panama is limited to David and Boquete, but I found it to be quite orderly! One thing I absolutely loved was that I only saw a handful of motos on the roads while I was there. On one of our first mornings in Boquete, we volunteered with a group that picks up trash on the roadside. Even on the stretches of road with no sidewalk, I wasn't worried. In the DR, even on the sidewalk, I don't like to have my back to traffic - I prefer to watch for the inevitable moto that shortcuts on the sidewalk!

Last February was our first visit to Panama and it was a bucket of cold water thrown in my face right off the bat. We arrived and picked up our car rental right during Friday evening rush hour. I took "the best route" that Google maps suggested which had us going thru very narrow streets in some sketchy neighborhoods. I learned fast, no one is going to be courteous, if you need to change lanes or get onto another street, you just do it and hope someone brakes. After finally getting onto the highway it was either standing still or pedal to the floor. Street vendors straddling lanes on the highway selling everything from cotton candy to beer was a first and they'd just stop right there on the road and buy. People pulling over and standing on the shoulder to pee, what? People on scooters flying past between cars and cops were there at times but just standing there watching, prob waiting for wrecks. Sometimes they'd cone off an outside lane to allow traffic going the other direction be on your side. I've driven a school bus towing a car through St. Louis during rush hour and rode a motorcycle through Houston so I thought, I knew crazy drivers but this was on another level. Once finally out of the worst and going to our stay at Playa Caracol, the road after getting off the highway was one of the worst I've ever been on and I was worried I would end up being charged for damages to the rental because by now it was dark and there were no lights and you didn't see a hole or wash out until it was too late. Going back to the airport, I took the coastal route which was a whole lot better and driving past downtown P City was pretty cool. This next time, we're arriving again in the evening but it'll be a Saturday and we're just getting a hotel in P City close to the airport, then we'll get up and drive out the next morning when traffic should be better and stop for lunch on the pier.