San Francisco de Asis, Panama

I just returned from Panama - it's an incredible place.  Spanish colonial architecture, rich cultural and historical sites, and a big canal all await you there.  And friendly people.  And tasty Balboa (their local beer).

I spent my free time exploring and photographing Casco Viejo, which is their historic walled city on a peninsula which juts out into the Pacific Ocean.  It was a slum in the past, but is now a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Truth is - Casco Viejo is somewhere between a slum and a neighborhood on the rise (though it is definitely rising, and fast).  Lots of new things are opening, and lots of redevelopment is occurring here.  However, there are still plenty of "slum-like" parts of it, which I was happy to stick my camera into.

This is the tower atop one of the many beautiful churches there - Iglesia San Francisco de Asis.  Lots more to come as I get time to process my shots.