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Published: December 29th 2009
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Playa Estrella
this star fish beach is only beautiful because of the abundance presence of star fishes.... I was sad about leaving Colombia, in my heart I considered myself a 'paisa' (a paisa is someone from Medellin and the Antioquia part of Colombia) but somehow I was excited about exploring central America especially Nicaragua and Mexico..........I had the worst experience ever at the Colombian airport, my bags were searched - I mean taking out everything from the bag and even broke open one of my tampons, I do not know what they were looking for ......I was almost crying, anyways that is the past.
Finally I was in Panama, I stayed in a hostel that is extremely hyped -Lunas Castle, for me it was just a big hostel with too many people and unclean. I met a girl from Texas on my very first day and together with other peeps from Israel , we explored Panama City. The most impressive sight is the canal - I have never seen such innovation before, we got to see a cruise ship going through the canal - I can not describe it so I'll upload a video. After 6 days at the Panama City, I was ready to see Bocas del Toro (the Caribbean side). One thing I liked about
Boxing day
with Steven (Manchester) Panama City was the food - the city has great food (better than in Colombia I think) for cheap and a lot of shopping mall selling cheap stuffs - so I got a 2 purses, a scandal, 2 flip-flops, a short and 10 pairs of underwear for only $10 USD - imagine, you can not get that deal anywhere else..........
Bocas is cool & better than Cartagena (Colombia) in my opinion and a lot of beautiful beaches........my favorite so far is the wizard beach, then the playa estrella which has a lot of star fish, red frog beach is great also but you have to pay $3 to get in. The party here is great because every night there is ladies night somewhere so I do not have to pay for drinks -Que Bacano! The hostel I'm staying in - Hostel Heike- is cool, you meet wonderful people and the roof-top area is amazing, however the hostel is not very clean and you cannot get much sleep here either.....Christmas was very interesting, we spent the day at the beach, then went to dinner and party later on. So far there are a lot of people from Israel, Germany and
At the Canal
with Kathy from Texas Switzerland traveling this part of the world and you just have to love the SWISS - I do have a soft spot for them.
I crossed my first land border on the 28th, it was hassle-free - I was sort of disappointed when we got into Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, and more frustrated when we couldn't find a hostel or hotel because they are all fully booked to January 3. Well, we finally found a room in hotel puerto viejo, its not the best but we got to choice...now i understand why people say Costa Rica is very expensive. $10 is 5,000 colones......Now I'm thinking of going to Manizillo -its close to Puerto Viejo because I already do not like it here, I wish I was still in Bocas del Toro........
Well Happy New Year to all of you and thank you for reading my travel blog since I started writing it in August................
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Panama City - Sights: Albrook Mall, Panama Canal, Mi Pueblito (hike up to see the view of the city)
Hostel: I stayed at Lunas Castle however I'll advise to check out other places, I heard Mamallena is better. If you decide
on Lunas Castle, make sure you get a room on the last floor - rooms on the reception floor are very, very, very noisy......
Bocas del Toro - Sights: they have four different types of tours you can take, there is something for people that snorkel, scuba dive and surf as well........do not skip the wizard beach - its the best
Hostels: They have a good number of hostels around usually on the same street, walk around, Mondo Taitu has its own bar, Heike is great as well so are others...........check them out!!
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Central American Chronicler
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Your travels sound really interesting. What about Panamanian food is distinctly better to you than Columbian food? You mention that one of your Panamanian destinations included “Mi Pueblito”. Did this site allow you to experience some of Panama’s preserved natural resources? I know in your blog you mention how expensive Costa Rican travel is, so maybe you’d find interest in visiting some of the less popular Central American countries I mention at travelchroniclesofcentralamerica.blogspot.com/.