Blogs from Chiriquí, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 26

Today we flew to David, Panama from Panama City. David is in the West part of Panama about 50 km from Costa Rica. David is the the capital of the Chiriqui Province. Chiricanos have a certain independent attitude that is very simular to Texans in the United States. They are proud of their province and their heritage. You can even get a Chiriqui passport and Chiriqui ID card! David is a thriving city of 80,000 people. We flew out of Panama City from the Albrook Airport. It was one of the former US airbases. The flight was short and pleasant. We were met by several of the David Rotary members and were soon on our way to review the first water project funded by the District 5710 major grant. The David Rotary Club has been assisting ... read more

This has to be one of the most colorful places on earth. Every bush and every tree seems to be covered with blossoms of riotous colors. No staid whites and pale pinks here. Oh no. It's orange and purple and fuschia and gold and red and all the colors in between that I never learned the names of. I walked from Hotel Rebequet at 7 AM to a little neighborhood cafe that Luigi had pointed out last night. There I had french toast and coffee while I watched all kinds of little birds flit in and out of the shrubbery. Blue tanagers were the only one I remember but there were lots of others. (I remind you again, I am not a good bird watcher.) Two delightful ladies from Panama City wearing gorgeous hats allowed me ... read more

Well, I´m doing another blog entry right after the last one. Jord Ry and I have a huge layover (6.5 hours) between when we arrived in David, and when we leave for Panama city. We left San Jose this morning after a grueling walk across town to the bus station, and then onto our bus for the day. It was an absolutely brutal border crossing, everyone telling us to go different places, tired, worn out, stamping in and stamping out, tourist cards etc. For some reason we just didn´t have the patience for it today, and it didn´t help that we think they were seconds away from getting the rubber glove out on Ryan. No idea why but they were really suspicious of us. After all that, we were pretty stoked to finally get into a ... read more

I think the last thing I wrote was a whirlwind update of a week's worth of adventures in Costa Rica.... Now we're in the homestretch - Panama - the last country and final few days of the trip. I can´t believe how quickly it's gone! I'm sad that's it coming to an end, but also feel so lucky, and excited about so many things back home. It´s funny how traveling does that, makes you appreciate the mundane or little things and of course, the people close to you back home. Anyways... back to Panama! After missing a 6:40 am bus and waiting in the rain for two hours for the next one, we finally made our way across the Costa Rican and Panamanian borders. This was definitely the easiest border crossing yet, but also one of ... read more

My word I am so exhausted right now I can scarcely stay sitting up! Yesterday morning Maayan and I took the bus to David and then to Cerro Punta. We quickly realized that we had been missing out on the more beautiful side of the volcano by staying the whole week in Boquete, because Cerro Punta is truly beautiful. It is really hilly and full of neatly manicured little farms and Swiss-style houses, with tons and tons of flowers and streams and waterfalls all over. I wasn't feeling all that great so Maayan took off in search of info once we arrived and found out that there was accommodation available inside the Parque Internacional La Amistad and arranged a taxi to get us there. We hiked the waterfall trail in about two hours and settled into ... read more