Blogs from Chiriquí, Panama, Central America Caribbean

David is Panama's second city. That's really hard to believe when you approach on the bus and even harder to believe when you are actually there. Most people don't bother stopping and just change bus to get to Boquete. They are missing out on something very different when it comes to city breaks, although speaking Spanish really did make it a more enriching experience. On arrival we fended off the ticket touts trying to get us onto another bus and avoided all of the numerous taxis as it was only a 10-15 minute walk to our hotel. Ok, it was a bit of a hot and sticky walk, but in David the climate makes that in the capital seem fresh, so you have to get used to it. When we got to the url=https://www.booking.com/searchresults.en-gb.html?aid=1769628&sid=9a578de347668f45368f9dd1a856b6cd&sb=1&src=hotel&src_elem=sb&error_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fhotel%2Fpa%2Ftryp-panama-centro.en... read more

Tues 11-Wed 12 December - Day 46 to 47 – Boquete, Panama but day 56 of our travels including Colombia The day was beautiful as we went back to the Panama mainland by boat. We then travelled by minivan onto the highlands and the charming mountain village of Boquete. The 3 hour drive was beautiful through the heavily vegetated highlands. Roads were windy with the occasional bad patched needing repair. One the way we stopped to view the massive dam and hydro electric syste, the biggest in Panama. Located on the eastern slopes of the Volcan Barú, Boquete is quickly becoming a destination for those who wish to bask in the cooler climate and marvel at the exquisite vistas. The climate was very different to the island we had just come from. There was misty rain ... read more

Hi in Boquete which is in the Highlands of Panama.its a coffee growing region with cloud forest above it. Went on a tour of one of the coffee farms, they spent a lot of time talking about the politics and economics of the coffee industry. They favour direct trade over fair trade as a way of ensuring the growers and pickers get a better deal. The picking is all done by the Ngobe one of P anamas indigenous tribes. They're semi nomadic a d travel as far as Costa Rican to pick coffee. In the past this was all along jungle pathways but now they use 'chicken' buses (bright yellow old US school buses) and collectivos (mini vans) to get up the mountains. As we've also been using these ever day to get up to the ... read more

We are on the final count down to departure time. We leave tomorrow for a 7 hour bus ride to Panama City where we will fly Spirit Air to Fort Lauderdale. We will rent a car to take us to the boat in Fort Myers. Our condominium neighbours have organized a pot luck dinner for this evening so we will be saying goodbye to all. It was quiet during the first two months but the season is in full swing so every condo is booked. Canadians, Americans, a Scandinavian and a Jamaican make up the residents. Everyone is friendly enough but they keep to themselves for the most part. We spent January relaxing, reading, swimming and going out to bars and restaurants. We did have occasion to go to the hospital for a broken toe and ... read more

Merry Christmas everyone. It is difficult to get into the spirit here with 95 degree temperature, Palm trees and sand. The Panamanians seem to be into it, with Christmas lights, decorated trees and really crowded shopping areas. We revisited Puerto Armuelles this past week. This is the beach town on the Pacific side that we visited in the rain earlier, I wanted to see it on a sunny day. We were able to walk the beach which is a course dark sand. It was totally deserted except for a hand full of swimmers. The water is quite warm and the sand is too hot to walk on without shoes but it is still very pleasant to stroll along the ocean. There were nicer dwellings at this end of town. We are looking for next year's rental ... read more