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Published: June 25th 2011
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As by now I have really lost ALL my pictures of my central america trip, with that my motivation to write an extended blog on Panama has also gone out the window. Therefore only a short summary of events during my 8 days in Panama;
A long and arduous but fun nonetheless trip all the way from Isla de Ometepe via San Jose, Costa Rica, with an overnight stay at the border with Panama, brought me to
David, the second largest city of Panama. From there it was one more bus to
Boquete.
A lovely town,set in a valley among lush green hills inhabited mostly by rich retirees from north america.
Really a beautiful location with so much green and bougainvillea and waterfalls etc.
Stayed 3 nights in total in which I hiked to waterfalls (Sendero el Pianista, realising how incredibly
wrong and shit the
lonely planet can be sometimes, thinking about switching guidebook) and visiting the hot springs of
Los Pozos de Caldera near the aft-named town of Caldera where I made friends with the local monkey and admired the amazing setting of the guy who lives at and maintains the place.
Left early back to David from
El Valle zoo
Aotus Zonalis / night monkey, only found in Panama and Columbia where I took the bus to Panama city, getting off on the interamericana at the turn-off for
El valle, another great valley, lush and green like the rest of Panama it seemed to me.
A;though it basically rained the 3 nights and two days I was there, the setting allowed the weather to give it a mystical feel. I enjoyed the Pozos Thermales (cheap and well kept hot springs) twice, visited the local zoo, which was great (!) and hiked to the Chorro El Macho waterfall,which was too expensive and not worth it. Had wanted to climb the sleeping indians girl, but the lashing rain kept me from doing so.
Spent one evening with a French couple who had sailed from France via Dominique to Panama for €300 (!) playing cards and drinking games. Was amazed by the amount of Chinese in El Valle, shops and restaurants everywhere, especially supermarkets. I am sure the amount and size of the supermarkets far outweighed the demand.
And then it almost came to an end....
Panama City was to be my final destination before flying back to Fort Lauderdale. Had a great day trip to the island of
Isla Taboga, walking up
cerro de la cruz for amazing views and basking in the sun on the tide-exposed strip of sand between the main island and another smaller island. Spent a morning visiting the indisputably famous Panama canal, at the Miraflores locks which was expensive, but definitely worth it. Would have loved to visit the larger Gatun locks on the Caribbean side. Really liked Panama City,with its drug money-financed and mostly empty, unlit skyline, pelicans flying overhead, its mixed Indian, Caribbean and expat population and its blend of developed v. undeveloped parts of town. (Love the flag too!)
I sat out by public bus to the international airport which drops you off on the highway, leaving a fair walk to the terminal with your bags (which will require a change of clothes before boarding a plane..). From here another midnight flight back to the USA, where I had 3 days in Fort Lauderdale to catch some rays I'd missed with the rainy season in Central America, before flying onwards to Canada.
Overall, I loved Central America. My favourites were definitely Panama and El Salvador, with Guatemala coming a close third. Hopefully I get to visit this region again some day...?!
Adios!
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Juan Tejada
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Sendero el pianista aire puro al alcance dee la mano
yo he recorrido el sendero El Pianista varias veces y pienso seguir haciendolo con frecuencia: belleza de su fauna y su flora; agua pura,incontaminada; oxigeno reconfortante...y tan cerca de la circunvalación principal de Boquete!,