Blogs from Panama City, Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 20

Last night we had dinner at the Balboa Yacht Club. We decided it is a perfect place to have beer and snacks on a sunny afternoon but no place for dinner although the wine was good. Today we took a tour to the Embera indian village. Interesting trip with a jungle tour and indian dancing. The pictures tell a better story than I can. Glad I wasn't driving because the roads outside the city are not the best. The boat we rode in was also a little unstable as it was hewn from a single log. Seats and back were added (to accomodate their 30hp motor.) The lake/river was stable so the boat ride was not too scarey. We'll be leaving our B&B, La Estancia, tomorrow morning to catch our plane to Costa Rica. It's been ... read more

We arrived here last night after spending about 20 minutes or so getting through immigration and customs. Then the nightmare called renting from AVIS (never again - they are second for a good reason). Luckily we also rented a GPS. After they had gone over our car with a microscope to log every tiny scratch (more waiting), we headed out in the dark to find our B&B across town. Many wrong turns and many "at the next available moment, make a legal U-turn" from our GPS later, we found our B&B. Luckily a McDonalds was across from final street, so the GPS found our way. Now, we're sitting on the balcony with a beautiful breeze. The warm air feels wonderful. We have met many nice people with great ideas (the best was not to rent a ... read more

After over-nighting in a Houston Super 8, Joyce and I had a smooth flight to Panama. Tantalizing glimpses of Mexico (Playa del Carmen and Cozumel?) and Central America were swiftly obscured by huge, puff-ball clouds. Darker towering clouds obscured the Panama Canal as we flew over, yet we did see both the eastern and western entrances, identifiable by the ships at anchor waiting their turn to transit. Immigration was very smooth, and we were met by a smiling young man on behalf of Caravan Tours. Then we had to wait about one hour for people on a Miami flight that theoretically landed just after ours. We grew impatient at waiting in the modest, air-conditioned airport and waited outside in the cloudy warmth – not quite overwhelmed by exhaust fumes from all the taxis and sh... read more

O Hey! Been a couple of weeks since I posted so there's some good stuff to catch up on. First off, last week we had off of class to work on our internships, so I spent a couple days in the city at the Patronato office working with a woman named Danya, then took off for a 3-day tour of really small co-op farms in Veraguas run by campesinos. I was accompanied by Eric, the Veraguas rep for the Patronato who met me in Santiago and drove around with me for the tour, taking me to farms, introducing me and helping me to foster conversations about the (apparently slightly sensitive) topic I'm researching (Geophagy/pica). I had some serious learning experiences, sometimes learning more about how to ask about the topic to get the people to open ... read more

... es war schon etwas komisch wieder festen Boden unter den Fuessen zu haben. Es hat auch nicht wesentlich geholfen das wir erstmal 2h auf unseren Transport in die Stadt warten mussten, in der Sonne stehend und schwitzend waehrend Sandfliegen grossen Spass hatten uns zu belaestigen. Auf dem Achterbahnaehnlichen Weg in die Stadt sind wir noch einem faulen Faultier begegnet, das hatte sich einfach auf die Strasse gelegt... ein selbstmoerderisches Unterfangen, dem unser tierlieber Fahrer ein Ende bereitete.Er hat es sanft und mit Stoeckchen an den Strassenrand befoerdert. Im Hostel angekommen haben wir ausgiebig geduscht und uns die Sicherheitsvorkehrungen der Stadt erklaeren lassen... wir durften nach rechts und links gehen, aber bitte nicht geradeaus ins Gangsterviertel... eine Stadt zum wohlfuehlen :-) Wir waren so platt vom Boot fahren... Dean fuehlte sich noch ein paar Tage ... read more