Blogs from Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 11

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Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City November 11th 2014

For the first time ever, I have been able to incorporate a long palindrome into a blog entry title, in a way in which seems fitting and relevant. Panama City is quite probably the most dynamic and modern-looking city in Central America, and one reason why it has that edge over other capital cities in the region is the recent addition to its roster of a metro system, set to expand, and already an improvement on the sorry state of downtown traffic. For all its sleek modern-skyline allure, perhaps the biggest tourist magnet within the confines of the city proper is the well-preserved Old Town quarter known collectively as 'Casco Antiguo', and an absolute must on any tourist's itinerary, for all its colonial charm. In this very quarter, you'll find a museum dedicated to the Panama ... read more
Goethals Boulevard (Gamboa; Panama)
The volcanic crater-created walls of El Valle De Anton (El Valle De Anton; Panama)
Modern architecture at its most impressive (Panama City; Panama)

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama Canal October 19th 2014

We enjoyed our short stay in Panama City, the waterfront has a great walkway and the old town is under redevelopment. Some of the buildings in the old town have been lovingly restored but there are still many that are run down and we were advised some areas are a little unsafe, so we didn't hang around after dark. We decided we couldn't visit Panama and not see the world famous canal so we took a taxi to the bus station and then a local bus to the Miraflores locks. The Panama canal is an 80km waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in one of the narrowest points of Panama. It saves ships huge amounts of time as they can avoid sailing around the bottom of Argentina. It opened in 1914 and has more ... read more
At the Panama Canal lock
Waterfall in Boquete
Panama City at night

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City October 19th 2014

Choices, life is all about choices. You have the life altering choices, and the mundane ones. But each choice in one way or another influences the future. Now I am not going to talk about life changing choices, but the small ones taken before or during my travels. In this case the decision to be in Lima by the 20th of December, in time to spend Christmas with my brother, and the second perhaps more fateful one to start my trip in Panama. I have two months to get to Lima from Panama, it sounds like plenty of time right? But it isn't. I don't normally have a fixed destination which I have to get to by a certain date, so I can spend as much or as little time wherever I want to. This is ... read more
Panama City
Panama City
Panama City

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City September 23rd 2014

Last day of this amazing vacation! Kelly and I planned a 24-hour layover in Panama City which we had heard was as much time as you needed there. Plus if we didn’t make it a 24-hour layover it was going to be a 6-hour layover and we were dreading spending that much time in the airport. Kelly and I had decided to go directly to the Panama Canal since that is the place we really wanted to see; however, the owner of our hostel convinced us to go to the Canal after lunch. Usually the ships only go through the canal from 9-12(ish) and then from 2-5(ish) and the owner told us that all the tour guides visited the canal at 9 so it was better to go after lunch so we would have the place ... read more
Old town Panama City
Lake feeding into the last lock of the canal
Maraflores Locks

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá September 18th 2014

Nur gut 90 Flugminuten trennen Panama City von Medellin. Spät in der Nacht gelandet und mit dem Taxi Richtung Downtown gefahren. Als ich die Skyline sah, dachte ich zuerst ich bin doch in der falschen Stadt gelandet. Die vielen Hochhäuser sowie die teuren und bekannten Hotelketten oder auch der Trump Ocean Club sieht man bereits von weitem. Topmodern ist die Innenstadt von Panama gestaltet, voller Lichter, riesigen Werbescreens und vielen Shops und Restaurants. Alles sehr amerikanisch, als Währung wurde auch der einigermassen stabile Dollar eingeführt. Mein Hotel lag bescheiden etwas ausserhalb dieser überteuerten Gegend. Schnell merkte ich wo die Eimheimischen assen und wo die Touristen. Einheimisch bedeutet man isst für 3-4 Dollar während man bei den typischen Touristenspots gut 20 Dollar bezahlt. Kulinarisch genoss ich mindestens einmal am Tag die Sandwiches von Subway. Natürlich wo... read more
Dicke Leute und verdrehte Häuser
Wenn seicht denn richtig
Skyline

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City September 15th 2014

Today we leave Peru for Panama! But before we left Kelly and I did some last minute sightseeing, finally making our way up to Saksaywaman (pronounced sexy woman). Located on a steep hill that overlooks the city, Saksaywaman contains an impressive view of Cusco as well as the entire valley. While it is only a 20 minute walk up there, given our soreness and the high altitude we decided to take a cab. Because of its location high above Cusco and its immense terrace walls, this area of Saksaywaman is frequently referred to as a fortress. In fact much of the fighting occurred in and around Saksaywaman as it was critical for maintaining control over the city. It is clear from descriptions of the siege, as well as from excavations at the site, that there were ... read more
Huge rocks
My first alpaca!!
White Christ

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City September 13th 2014

Dziś będzie wpis 2w1 - 11 wrzesnia byla przymusowa przerwa techniczna - Iberia nie zaserwowala nam na pokladzie wifi ;), a lot przecież długi z założenia (10h) i jeszcze opóźniony o 2h. Nie będę zanudzac o lataniu - wrzucę tylko 3 grosze. Nie wiem, czemu, ale założyłam, że wszystkie samoloty na trasach miedzykontynentalnych mają indywidualne tv z opcją co najmniej stu filmów do wyboru. A jako człowiek żyjący na codzien bez telewizji miałam po prostu ochotę na taki luksus. No i rozczarowałam się. Szybko zorientowalismy sie o co chodzi - wiozla nas maszyna jeszcze chyba z lat 80tych. Wskazywalby ma to przede wszystkim wystrój biznes klasy (materiał obić foteli), w której brakowało tylko meblościanki ;) chociaż może to tylko taka stylizacja pokładu! Wyszliśmy z lotniska po 18tej tutejszego czasu, co oznaczało, że jest absolutnie ciemno. Jechaliśmy ... read more


9 May 2014. What a way to wrap up a hectic schedule. This day started at 12:47 am. It was supposed to start at 12:30 am, but the front desk forgot to give us a wake up call and my standby travel alarm also failed us. Only Linda's internal clock woke us up in time to meet Juan, our guide, and driver at 1:30 am. One thing about going to airports at this time, and especially so in La Paz, is that there is no traffic. So we made it with plenty of time to catch our 4:40 am flight to Bogota, Columbia. Juan stood in line for us, calling us as he got to the check in desk. Great service! We made it through immigration, with the officers just as gruff as those we encountered ... read more
Bob at the Miraflores Lock
Miraflores Lock
Miraflores Lock


I had planned on doing a food blog for each country we visited but after Mexico I found it hard to get excited about the food of the rest of the countries in Central America. Now that we have reached Peru my senses have been re-awakened and I have been inspired to write about my favourite subject again. So as not to be unfair to Central America I will dig deep into my food bank memory and dig out the best bits. Fruit To start with the positive, the best thing about Central America is the fresh fruit. Waking up to fresh pineapple, papaya and mango is a good way to start the day and you can’t beat a wedge of juicy watermelon as a quick snack. All of these fruits are pricy to get fresh ... read more
Where chocolate comes from
Anyone for frog?
Feria Gastronomica in Juayua, El Salvador


Getting into Panama As we are flying out of Panama City the day after the Easter weekend we thought it would be safer to head straight there rather than risk getting stuck somewhere with no buses running. We were right to do so. With only a one day stop-over in David we travelled to the city on the Thursday before Good Friday. Easter is a big deal here so this is a bit like trying to travel on Christmas Eve in the UK. We tried to plan ahead by buying a ticket in advance but that would be too logical for Panama so we were told to just turn up at the bus station an hour before our bus and join the queue. By 7am the ticket office had given up trying to sell tickets and ... read more
The city at night
sloth
panama canal




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