Blogs from Panama City, Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 21

Hola from Panama! Well we´re currently in Panama...not somewhere we orginally planned we would go to, but somewhere we have ended up! Last time we left you, we were taking time out from the backpacker travels and were residing with a Tican family in Potero in Costa Rica studying spanish. Studying in playa flamingo was great fun and a good ´break´from the constant decision making needed when you´re on the road, so we were sad to say goodbye to our friends and Tican family last week, but excited to continue our travelling. Our first stop after Flamingo was Monteverde...the cloud rainforest nearby. Just as we arrived, the weather seemed to take a turn for the worst and it didnt stop raining for about 1 week. Nevertheless, Monteverde seemed used to the fact that it rained all ... read more

Day 206: Traumatic flights, unique bus journeys and famous waterways Having had to wait until nine o'clock to check my luggage in, I was told that I was 'overweight' and would have to pay extra. I didn't know there was a baggage limit, but after some negotiations, I loaded half of my things into my daypack. Initially, this seemed to appease the airport staff, but I was a bit shocked, when five minutes later, they insisted that I got on the scales as well. Initially I thought they were joking, but sadly not and there followed a humiliating weigh in, in front of a queue of people, in which we all discovered that I am now ten pounds heavier than I was when I left Enland. It was all very traumatic, and I was very much ... read more

Baseball...as those of you who have known me for a while know, it has not always been a huge love of mine. However, I think there's some things about it that have made it a love of mine, especially my Minnesota Twins. I think there's a few qualities that do it for me...there's actually the "nerd" factor of stats and numbers that intrigue's me. There's then the sense of the competition and thrill of the chase - who's ahead, who's behind, will they make the run and will they make the base... However, there's also two less obvious qualities...it is the lone sport I played as a kid. I sucked at it, but did play it in Little League. It is also the only sport I remember going to see live as a kid, as part ... read more

Okay, everyone, I know I've gotten a little behind on writing blogs and now have to play catch-up. I have now been in Panama City for a few days and while I wrote more in my other travel journal want to make sure I get something to everything to get some idea of life so far in Panama. Also, I realize a few pictures are not uploading very well to the blog. I'm sorry about that...I am thinking it's because of either a slow connection I'm on or the travelblog site is having problems. I will see if I can upload some pictures in an alternate format soon. I arrived in Panama on the night of the 15th. As a reminder, I was scheduled to fly from Quito to Panama City - via Miami. It was ... read more

We took a trip to Panama over Jason's spring break in March. We started in Panama City, then headed to the mountain town of Boquete, and then spent a couple of days in Bocas del Toro, a chain of islands on the Caribbean side, before heading back to Panama City. On our first night in Panama City we stayed at La Casa de Carmen, a hostel/budget hotel that had gotten great reviews. We met some fun people and hung out for awhile, but had a rough first night's sleep with bus engines and car horns making it hard to stay asleep for long. On our first day we rented a car and drove into the canal zone. The Miraflores Locks, which is where most people go to see the canal, were really cool, and we were ... read more