http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Panama , Colón en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:17:14 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:17:14 +0000 When we left Shelter Bay Marina of Colon Panama it was a warm sunny day. We were full of emotions sad and excited at leaving friends behind but with hope of seeing new sites ahead. The trip all 2 miles of it was uneventful. The coastline is beautiful with its mixture of palm trees very large hardwood trees and rocky low coastline. The water was flat calm. At the entrance of the rive http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/blog-454210.html the reason why I moved to Panama City was because I wanted to go to Colombia. is not really safe cross the border by landdue to the presence of paramilitary guerrilla colombiana so I had 2 optionsby air according to the seasons the price varies from 200 to 400by sea sailing with a price that ranges from 350 to 420 depending from which port you leaving and type of boat almost always inc http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/blog-428703.html We were on the May 9th sailing on the Freedom 8 night Western out of Fort Lauderdale. This sailing normally goes to Mexico Costa Rica and Panama but our itinerary got switched to Panama Costa Rica and Belize because of the H1N1 virus.May 8th Wee hours of the morninghellip wersquore off to the local airport to catch our flight away from Florida we have to fly west from the east coas http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/blog-409801.html My last entry only talked about the adventure of getting from Vancouver to camp so I really feel like I need to write about the jungle. I've been working everyday in the jungle for the last three weeks so its hard for me to recall my first impressions and first trepidations but I'll do the best that I can. I came to Panama to do a seismic survey with explosives but there was a delay in delivering http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/blog-395539.html Since I'm in a foreign country again I thought I'd start up my travel blog again. Pretty exciting times in Panama so far. We left Vancouver last Friday on a 8am flight to Houston and then caught a flight to Panama City. There were 5 of us from work flying in to replace other colleagues who finished their rotation. Our Russian geophysicist Andrey was really keen to get some duty free Scotch in Ho http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/blog-391696.html My first Blog We are cruising on a Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas repositioning cruise leaving from Colon Panama and arriving back in Ft. Lauderdale. Looking forward to visiting new ports Cartagena and Santa Maria Columbia and Oranjestad Aruba. Will also dock in Limon Costa Rica. Have been on the ship before and we're traveling with good friends so it's bound to be a good tim http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/blog-381456.html This small village arose from the river after an hour and a half long bus ride and 40 minute canoe ride into the jungles of Panama. As our canoe came closer I could see children playing in the waters and hear music being played in the distance. The village consists of only 18 small huts one for each family of this small Indian tribe. These are the indigenous people of Panama. With no modern day a http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/blog-369103.html hellipand then we woke up and there was this huge double rainbow in the sky. We followed it to where it ended on an island where there were no clouds no rain and the sun was shining bright. We hiked up the pristine mountain and along the way discovered an indigenous tribe that had never come into contact with the modern world. They served us the most amazing Christmas dinner even though th http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/Santiago/blog-230816.html We are still hanging out in Santa Fe. We took a short trip to Santa Catalina to visit the beach and take a vacation from our vacation. We stayed at a great little hostal called the Blue Zone. It had hammocks overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There is a huge hype right now about this little town but we just couldnt see it. It has a very small beach. It is suppose to be excellent for surfers so http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/Santiago/blog-131766.html OK..not really a lot of moving around since we last blogged. We did however decide that we liked Santa Fe so much we wanted to stay for a while or forever. We managed to find a house for rent. It is a fantastic little 3 bedroom house with no hot water but...it has an indoor flush toilet It is very quiet and nestled back from the road. The only bad thing we have discovered is the chitra http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/Santiago/blog-123981.html Here we are once again This is the first time we have actually travelled on a bus for an hour and a half to use the internet Since we last wrote we have travelled up to Santa Fe. It is a cute little town in the center of Panama and mountainous. There is excellent hiking here and many rivers that are very clean. The little town itself has no road signs and no real organization but it is fu http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/Santiago/blog-120427.html We woke up early and traveled North to the town of San Francisco. The health fair last year was held at the school in San Francisco. They used the facility to treat around 7000 Guaymis Indians. This year the health fair took place in Sante Fe which is further north and therefore closer to the bulk of the indians the health fair served. The health fair took place a couple of weeks before we arrive http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/Santiago/blog-47552.html On the first morning in Santiago the Santiago Rotary Club got us up early and we headed out into the countryside to see three projects that are being funded by the District major grant. Getting to the projects took quite some time due to rough roads. The first one took us several kilometers up and down very rugged roads and through several streams. I was thankful it was the dry season because I a http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Colon/Santiago/blog-47371.html