Panama City - day 3

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Today we switched guest houses as we have arranged a boat trip for tomorrow in which we will be picked up from Mamallena's Hostel at 5am. We will be taking a sailboat from Panama City to the San Blas Islands where we will spend a few days and ultimately end up in Cartagena, Colombia. It is quite an expensive trip so hopefully it will be worth it (it has been highly recommended by several travelers we have spoken to). So for the next 5 days or so we will be sailing, snorkeling and exploring the islands. I hope I don't get sea sick - I have never sailed before.

This afternoon we went to 'Casco Viejo' (the Old Compound). It is a beautiful part of the city with several old buildings, statues and churches. We wondered around for most of the afternoon and took a trip through a museum which of course didn't take long as everything was in Spanish. We wish we would have taken the opportunity to spend a night in the area as it is supposed to be a good place for backpackers. Oh well, maybe next time 😊

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Photos

Casco Viejo
This plaza was known in the mid-19th century as 'Plaza del Triunfo' (triunfo = victory). It was used for bullfights.

Comments

[Braeden's Mom]

OLE - cockroach fighters!
Great story about the La cuckaracha (sp?) - too damn funny but what a great initiation to the humidity of Central America. A bit confused as to why you didn't spend more time Costa Rica - take in some of the eco=tour things and do some ziplining in the canopies of the jungle...but that's your choice not mine. Raya - try some Gravol or Dramamine tablets before you start sailing which may aid in your not getting any sea-sickness. Spent the weekend at CA and Mike's packing boxes and cleaning. They bought at 10X6 fully enclosed utility trailer so we filled it to the top for Mike's return trip to GP. He's rented them a small duplex near the office until they sell the house and find another up there to move into. Crappy time of year to move - Braeden remember moving to Saskatoon in the dead of winter? It's been miserable and cold = be glad you left when you did, the daytime high on Saturday was minus 20°C with the windchill .... brrrrrrrrrr Happy Thanksgiving kids! Keep up the great BLOGGING...love reading your accounts of what you both are doing. Take care - be safe - Love Mom (Terri)

[Raya CAN]

Hey Terri! Thanks for the note. To answer your question, Costa Rica was just a landing point for us. We got cheap flights and Braeden wanted to take the boat from Panama to Colombia so it worked out well. While Costa Rica is beautiful, it is also expensive so that is why we have been traveling so quickly to get out of Central America and into South America. Glad to hear all is well there (and we definitely don miss the cold and snow!). Take care/Happy Thanksgiving!