Blogs from Panama City, Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 8

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Tom and I left Tennessee during the aftermath of he surprise January 2014 snowstorm. We shuttled the luggage to the Prius at the paved road, then Tom drove the truck (in 4WD with chains) the mile back to the house and walked back down to the road to join me. To avoid an early morning slip-n-n slide trip, we spent Friday night at the Hilton by the Knoxville airport and escaped on Feb 1 to Panama City -- the real one, not the one in Florida. We are staying in Casco Viejo (translates as "the old shell"), the second oldest section of the city. It was started by the Spanish in 1671 after the earliest section was destroyed by Henry Morgan. Yes THAT Morgan, who was a pirate, privateer or British admiral, depending on your point ... read more
My Favorite
Typical Caribbean Building
Also Typical


"I should never have listened to you," said Angela, my wife. "I knew this would happen. I just knew!" I wiped the sweat from my forehead and shook my T-shirt. A smidgeon of wind to cool myself down would be a welcome distraction from the heat and humidity of downtown Panama City. The street was busy, full of shops opening up for the day. I looked at the map and then at the street names around. Nothing matched up. We were lost and it was all my fault. Forty minutes earlier, after finishing breakfast, it had been my suggestion that we head outside for a quick wander around. I wanted to take a photo of a skyscraper I'd seen the previous evening. From the back seat of the taxi, the skyscraper had seemed close to our ... read more
Not the best look I've had...
Panama City
Panama City to Rio de Janeiro by Jason Smart

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City October 6th 2013

Geo: 8.99427, -79.5188Today we were back on the Hop On Hop off bus. We spent some time at a local mall. In the evening we checked out a wine bar at the Trump Hotel before having dinner.... read more

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City October 5th 2013

Geo: 8.99427, -79.5188Today we bought a Hop On Hop Off bus pass that will be good for two days. We enjoy the tour of the city and then head out to view the Panama Canal. We found the museum to be very interesting also managed to see two boats go through the canal.... read more
Panama Canal
Panama canal
Panama Canal

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City October 4th 2013

Geo: 8.99427, -79.5188We all loved the raw natural beauty of Bastimentos Island. After a short flight from Bocas del Toro we arrived in Panama City. Panama City Airport is the largest and busiest in Central America. The first thing we noticed was the dense skyline of mostly high-rise buildings. Panama City holds the 45th place in the world by high-rise building counts.... read more
Trump hotel
dinner out at the Trump hotel
night lights of Panama City

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City September 30th 2013

Weil man nie weiss, wie lange so etwas dauert: frueh aufstehen, 8.00 Abfahrt zum Frachtflughafen, dort werden die MR verladen fuer den Flug nach Bogota. Kaum weggefahren: RG, der nicht aufhoerte, bis zir im Hotel zurueck waren. Ich hatte nur die undichte Regenjacke dabei, unten nix (die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt), war voellig nass, Hose, T-Shirt und alles andere drunter... Waren nur etwa 20 km, aber es ist erstaunlich, wie lang das ist im stroemenden Regen. Kevin verschwand, um herauszufinden, wo wir hinmussten, nachdem die MR aus dem Pass ausgetragen waren. Gebaeude 1: Nein, hier nicht. Gehen Sie in Gebaeude 2. Gebaeude 2: Nein, hier nicht, gehen Sie in Gebaeude 3. Gebaeude 3: Nein, hier nicht, gehen Sie in Gebaeude 1. Gebauede 1: Ja, hier sind Sie richtig. Und da soll man nicht verrueckt werden. Darran hatte ... read more


17th - 29th June Galapagos, Ecuador Surfing Sea Lions and Sneaky Surprises We arrived on the Galápagos Islands in the rain. We were full of big ideas and high expectations. We had heard tales of obscenely abundant wildlife, ridiculously sunny beaches and that it was affordable with a DIY approach. Unfortunately our first couple of days on Santa Cruz Island brought us grey clouds, lashings of rain and very few Kodak moment animal sightings. Hmmm, this was not what we had changed our flights and extended our trip for... Determined as ever we soaked up the prehistoric-esque pelicans that looked as though they had just flown out of a Quentin Blake illustration, and began to tick off the 'must dos' on the island. If we couldn't find animals hanging around in front of us, we'd have ... read more
Mangrove walkway
Kicker Rock
Marine iguana


When I was in graduate school at the University of Texas I made friends from all over the US. But our little group of structural engineers also included Alejandro, who was from Panama. Alejandro spoke perfect English and was a pretty sharp guy. We went on some good adventures back in those days, but after I graduated I moved to Las Vegas and Alejandro stayed around to get his PhD. We kept in touch though and when he told me he was moving back to Panama after he got his PhD I was eager to pay him a visit. Already planning a trip to Peru, I figured the best thing to do was stop in Panama for a few days on my way back to the US. I could get a nonstop flight from Panama City ... read more
Gates of the Canal
Passing Through the Canal
Me at the Canal


After spending five nights on a boat Sailing from Colombia to Panama, 9 of the 10 boat passengers all checked into Luna's Castle in the old town of Panama City to have a final night or two together before parting ways. When we were first checking into the hostel I noticed that they were selling 'koozies' which was their name for a long boy/tall neck beer cooler. My arrival to Panama was instantly made. While it may seem logical for me to be excited about a beer cooler, for those of you who know me from back home this may confuse some. Prior to going to South America I had never actually had a beer before in my life. Present day however, beer and I are good friends and in such a humid place where your ... read more
Classic
Panama Canal
Most developed city I've seen yet


Once again Olly woke us up early as today as we had an 11 hour travel day to Panama City! Unfortunately so early that no breakie places were even open so we packed some muesli bars and what we thought were bananas! We met the group at 7am and make our way to the public bus stop to board a chicken bus again. We managed to get seats together this time which was good but we did not have a good start! When Ben got on the bus I noticed that there was a GIANT red ant crawling on the rim of his cap. I was sitting next to the wide open window and he was in the aisle seat. It was the largest ant I have EVER seen and I was like “OMG Ben...” and ... read more




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