Blogs from Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 9

We have made it to our destination in Panama City. The flight was on time. We took a taxi to the hotel. We have a very nice room and can see the pool from the room. We went out for dinner across the street from the ocean. Pedro found a gelato shop just a couple blocks from our hotel. I am sure we will be back often over the next week. Tonight we took a swim in the hot tub. It was sunny and 88 degrees today. ... read more

The view of Panama City was breath taking from the plane. Modern city with pockets of poverty. Efficient public transportation. A lit on the higher end of backpacking budget. Ate at Mcdonald's majority of the time. Met a friendly African American at the hostel. She was a bit older then the crowd, but was good company to have. She shared her plans of retiring in Panama. I wonder where and how she is doing today... Explored parts of the city, a Frank Ghery designed museum and the Panama Canal. Explored the lower income part of the city, which consisted mostly of Mestizo and citizen of African descent. They were friendly and approachable, but the outer appearance worried me, so I politely hurried off. Would definitely like to revisit when not on a backpacker budget.... read more

EL VALLE DE ANTÓN El Valle de Antón, generally called El Valle, or Anton's Valley in English, is a small town in the mountains of Panama with about 8000 residents and located in the central province of Coclé. Three million years ago a large volcano in the area erupted with such a massive force that it blew off its entire top - creating a crater, nearly four miles across - one of the largest in the Americas ... ... Over the years the crater gradually filled with rainwater creating a massive lake and much later in time, through erosion a large breach opened and the entire lake drained out. The resulting flood created an extensive network of rivers which attracted wildlife and indigenous people into to the region and the valley was born. So now, El ... read more

“Ach wie schön ist Panama” (Uh, Panama is nice!) said once the tiger and the bear in a German children’s story. Due to many wrong directions these two never arrived but after 5 month I found it – and I can agree, they would not have said anything different. I stopped for two nights in the coffee region - Boquete. After spending many weeks in a hot climate, the refreshing temperatures of the coffee region felt very good. Loooots of rain, no power and I had the perfect excuse to get many hours of deeeep sleep (without waking up covered in sweat). The hills around were lush, the air was fresh and the coffee really tasty – a fantastic place to breath in before staying a week in the concrete jungle of Panama City. On the ... read more

2.7. Die Reise zum Tortuguero Nationalpark ist etwas umständlich (Taxi zum Terminal, Bus nach Cariari, Bus nach Pavona, Boot ins Dorf Tortuguero), es klappt aber alles ohne Zwischenfälle, trotz teilweise heftigen Regens und schlechter Strassen. Wir beziehen unsere Unterkunft im Hostel und erkunden danach Dorf und Umgebung. Das Dorf liegt auf einer schmalen Landzunge zwischen Lagune und Meer, es gibt nur schmale Fusswege und ausser Handkarrren keine Verkehrsmittel. Die Küste ist rau, hohe Wellen brechen sich am Strand. Nach Einbruch der Dunkelheit begeben wir uns einmal mehr auf eine Nachtwanderung, wo wir Echsen, Spinnen (inklusive zweier grosser, haariger, schwarzer Taranteln), Frösche und allerlei Insekten beobachten können. 3.7. Um sechs Uhr besteigen wir im Dauerregen ein Kanu und gleiten damit durch die Kanäle des Nationalparks. Dank Regenponchos bleiben wir einigermasse... read more