I visited both Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo in january 1999, as part of a prize for winning the 3rd spot in Costa Rica's National Scientific Fair, together with 3 members of our group. We visited also sites outside the WH site, as Cerro Ancón, the Esclusas Miraflores, the aquarium, the canopy observatory "National Park" (from where one can see the best views of the city) and the Smithsonian's Barro Colorado island. And although my peers were most interested in the shopping malls (many Costa ricans go to Panama just to shop, as it is duty free area), I managed to make them come along with me on a taxi ride to the ruins of Panama Viejo.

The most important thing about this component of the site is probably the history it guards, as it sometime, before its destruction, was one of the richest cities in the world, by managing the gold and silver of Peru and Potosí. Its ruins (the old Cathedral stands out among them) are not impressive, but still communicate you a sense of days forgone. About the security...our cab driver warned us that this site had a very poor security record, and had some disbelief that we planned to visit the site, but my enthusiasm worked to convince everyone. Nothing happened, except seeing some homeless people, and I understand that the site was renewed and the conditions have improved since.

Then we headed by cab to Panama Viejo and we had a short taste of some of its monuments (like the Cathedral, and the Golden Altar in San José church), and also saw the state of decrepitude of most of the old houses and buildings. Reading the review from Paul Tanner, it seems that things have not changed so much since, unluckily. We visited also the front of the sea, from where Punta Paitilla was a towering sight even then. It's not nice at all to see that the Panamanian government and UNESCO didn't got to an agreement concerning the Cinta Costera project, which on one side is a need (especially for the personal vehicle-depending panamanians), and on other site breaks the relationship that the city had with the ocean from where once, its richness came. The issue of development of modern cities vs protection of heritage and view axis, is like a neverending tale.