Panama and San Blas Islands

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I traveled to Panama City, Panama recently for work and decided to to extend my time to tour the city as well as check out the San Blas Islands.

Panama City

Things to do:

Esclusas de Miraflores (Miraflores Locks visitors center): A great place to learn about the history of the Panama Canal and gain a better understanding of how it works. I would recommend watching the movie they show, walking around the small museum/exhibition area, and then going outside to see the boats go by. The restaurant on the top of the building is also pretty good for lunch.

Museo de la biodiversidad or BioMuseo (Biodiversity Museum): This museum has gotten a ton of buzz even here in the US and travel magazines. It was designed by Frank Ghery and is located on "El Causeway" which is basically 3 islands with a road connecting them together. It's a nice place to go for a walk and see the city specially on the 3rd island. You can rent bicycles there as well.

Casco Viejo: This is the old city, really nice area to walk around and see the old buildings. I would recommend staying in this area if you are a solo female traveler. The area has really great restaurants, art galleries, and a lot of bars. I stayed at Magnolia Inn, which has a nice mix of backpackers who stay in the hostel area and those who prefer private rooms. I particularly enjoyed Cafe Per Due, run by Italians. You can spend a whole day zig-zagging through these streets.

If you're time constrained, I would recommend checking out Casco Viejo and then taking a flight out to San Blas Islands.



San Blas Islands

You can opt to do one of the San Blas tours that require a drive through the Panama terrain and a boat ride to the closer San Blas Islands. These are usually two day excursions and easy to book. The Magnolia Hotel, or really any hotel you stay at, can book these trips for you. I, however, decided to take the $150 flight on a little single prop plane out to Playon Chico to stay at Yandup, a private Island close to Kuna Yala. While a bit pricy, around $170 a night per person (but less if you travel with companions), it was the perfect secluded escape (no internet, limited phone service) that includes food and tours. There is a small beach on the island, but the best beaches were only a boat ride away. There was great snorkeling with many porcupine fish greater than 60cm long! We ate local food basked in Caribbean jerk spices as well as fresh fish and octopus caught that day.

I found the simplicity of Kuna (aka Guna and Cuna) life enchanting. They are the 2nd smallest ethnicity, next to the Pygmies. Their history is passed down through song by a Saila, a political and spiritual leader. Additionally, 1 in 100 Kuna are born albinos, the highest rate of albinism in the world. Albinos in Kuna culture are considered a special race of people, and have the specific duty of defending the Moon against a dragon which tries to eat it on occasion during a lunar eclipse. Only they are allowed to go outside on the night of a lunar eclipse and to use specially made bows and arrows to shoot down the dragon.

I can't believe I packed all this in within 4 days!

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Photos

Casco Viejo
The many beautiful building facades being restored in Casco Viejo.

Yandup Island
My little hut for the weekend in San Blas Islands.

San Blas Islands
One of the many pristine beaches that the Yandup crew would take us to.