Blogs from Panama City, Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 7

Last day of this amazing vacation! Kelly and I planned a 24-hour layover in Panama City which we had heard was as much time as you needed there. Plus if we didn’t make it a 24-hour layover it was going to be a 6-hour layover and we were dreading spending that much time in the airport. Kelly and I had decided to go directly to the Panama Canal since that is the place we really wanted to see; however, the owner of our hostel convinced us to go to the Canal after lunch. Usually the ships only go through the canal from 9-12(ish) and then from 2-5(ish) and the owner told us that all the tour guides visited the canal at 9 so it was better to go after lunch so we would have the place ... read more

Dziś będzie wpis 2w1 - 11 wrzesnia byla przymusowa przerwa techniczna - Iberia nie zaserwowala nam na pokladzie wifi ;), a lot przecież długi z założenia (10h) i jeszcze opóźniony o 2h. Nie będę zanudzac o lataniu - wrzucę tylko 3 grosze. Nie wiem, czemu, ale założyłam, że wszystkie samoloty na trasach miedzykontynentalnych mają indywidualne tv z opcją co najmniej stu filmów do wyboru. A jako człowiek żyjący na codzien bez telewizji miałam po prostu ochotę na taki luksus. No i rozczarowałam się. Szybko zorientowalismy sie o co chodzi - wiozla nas maszyna jeszcze chyba z lat 80tych. Wskazywalby ma to przede wszystkim wystrój biznes klasy (materiał obić foteli), w której brakowało tylko meblościanki ;) chociaż może to tylko taka stylizacja pokładu! Wyszliśmy z lotniska po 18tej tutejszego czasu, co oznaczało, że jest absolutnie ciemno. Jechaliśmy ... read more

Getting into Panama As we are flying out of Panama City the day after the Easter weekend we thought it would be safer to head straight there rather than risk getting stuck somewhere with no buses running. We were right to do so. With only a one day stop-over in David we travelled to the city on the Thursday before Good Friday. Easter is a big deal here so this is a bit like trying to travel on Christmas Eve in the UK. We tried to plan ahead by buying a ticket in advance but that would be too logical for Panama so we were told to just turn up at the bus station an hour before our bus and join the queue. By 7am the ticket office had given up trying to sell tickets and ... read more

Our Arrival We arrived into the Albrook bus terminal in Panama City at 4:25am from David. As we arrived so early we waited in the terminal for a few hours until it turned light. Most things were closed when we arrived. Downstairs and towards the southern bus side of the terminal there was one office open selling cards which you need to use the metrobuses. Card cost $2 and you picked the amount to put on it. We bought one between the two of us. Next we caught a bus to the City. We wanted to stay in Casco Viejo. We had read online to catch the Tocumen-Corridor Sur bus which left from zone E in the south side of the terminal. We caught that bus at 7:35am and it cost $1.25. Tap your card when ... read more

This is the last entry! We are sitting at the Tocumen International Airport waiting for our plane back to the States after a great three weeks of vacation. During our last couple of days on Isla Colon (the "main" island of Bocas del Toro), we took the four-wheeler out to the jungle looking for white-faced monkeys. Didn't find them, but did find a troop of howlers. They talked to us, but we didn't know at the time that we should have talked back. Apparently they like to listen to tourists making fools of themselves, so they'll call back just to get you going. One highlight was a 30-minute ride to another island where a retired dentist from Oklahoma, of all places, runs an organic cacao plantation. He and his eleven employees nurture the trees, some over ... read more