I was able to score business class tickets on Copa Airlines which flies out of Panama City in Central America. I had never head of Copa but they had specials on business class. Investigating the airline, overall there were some fairly decent reviews. But if you do fly with them, many of their planes are older and therefore the business class seats, while much better than economy, don’t start to match other major airlines (they are in the process up upgrading their fleet so this might change over time). In fact, one of the flights didn’t even have power available. Not a problem as my devices were fully charged and I always carry a spare battery pack.

The first of the two flights going down was 5 ½ hours to Panama City from Toronto. After a nearly 5 hour layover, it was just another 3 ½ hours to get to Lima. With the comfortable seats, decent meals on the plane and plenty of walk around time in the Panama City airport, it wasn’t too bad of a trip even though it was fairly long. And bonus, the time zone did not change from where I started in Toronto.

In the Panama Tocumen International Airport (Panama City), I was able to enjoy the Copa Club lounge which was nice. The food was simple but good. I did eat lunch outside of the lounge for a break. I wasn’t overly impressed with the selections at this airport but they were adequate (I have been spoiled by flying through Denver International for food options).

Probably the best part of the flight down was as we approached Panama City, I noticed a lot of ships in the ocean off shore. Looking towards the coast, surprise - it was the famous Panama Canal. The good news is that we got to see it twice as we approached. The first landing didn’t go that well - had to do a quick abort just before we touched down (a touch of excitement) and the plane did a wide arc back over the ocean and the ships. The second attempt was very smooth. I never did hear why had to abort the first landing.

I arrived in Lima around 10:30 so it was after dark. I was looking for my ride to the hotel and must have looked a bit lost. One of the ‘questionable’ taxi drivers looking for customers asked me if I wanted a ride. I explained that I had a driver picking me up. He was kind enough to point me to the front of the terminal where all rides do their pickups (they were keeping people outside the terminal to help with social distancing I think). If it weren’t for his kindness I might have been wondering around for quite a while.

What I had not realized was just how big Lima was and how far away the hotel we were staying in was from the airport. After the driver cut through all kinds of small city streets and alleys (including one wrong way), we suddenly ended up on a major highway that was running along the coast. I was beginning to wonder if I had been kidnapped or something. But no, the driver was headed to my hotel (Casa Andina Private Col Lima) in the Miraflores District.

More about Lima in Day 2.