Blogs from Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 50

What a fantastic day! I went on a personal tour around Panama today with a group of other crew: Kristina & Chelsea (production singers), Ricky, Luke, Ellie & Candice (dancers), Kevin (internet café manager) and Natalia (supper club server). One of the bartenders, Elmer, is from Panama and he arranged to have a couple of his friends rent a van and be our personal guides for the day. We started out in Colon, the city where our ship docks which is on the Eastern side of the country on the Caribbean Sea. We drove to the Miraflores locks and visitor centre on the Panama Canal. It was great to see, only because it’s so famous and such a major achievement in bridging the two oceans. There were big ships and some smaller ferries going through as ... read more

We are finally arriving at the airport in Panama....Aeropuerte Tocumen de Panama. We feared not making our connection between Atlanta and Panama since there was this HUGE wind storm in Michigan the day we left. It even knocked out power at the edtec office and threatened to ruin the beginning of our trip. Believe me, it was one of the scariest take-offs I have ever experienced. Every single plane had to be moved to another take-off location to deal with the wind. In the end, we made it on time and arrived in Panama without incident. Anna... read more

I’m not actually writing these on the dates listed, but they coordinate with what I’m writing about, so I works better for organization sake. Having said that, here is the review of my weekend of Carnivales: Since we didn’t plan ahead that far and the idea of not being able to remember an entire weekend of my life due to an alcohol-induced stupor does not appeal to me, I was at home this weekend. Friday was spent relaxing at home, while Saturday was spent with a few hours at the hospital (volunteering, not as a patient or anything). Saturday afternoon consisted of shopping with the other “party-poopers,” then going out to dinner at Crepes and Waffles with a pretty view of nighttime Via España (crepes…yum). Then we watched Blood Diamond, which was in English with Spanish ... read more

Hello everyone Once again, thanks for keeping the messages coming. It´s been a few days since the last blog entry so I´d better crack on. I set a new trip record with my final central American bus trip from Costa Rica to Panama. A meaty 18 hours. Not all of those hours were spent moving though. For some unknown reason, the bus arrived at the border at 3am in the morning. All fine and dandy for the 24 hour Panama immigration office but less good for completing the Costa Rican exit formalities as their office did not open until 6am! We did finally make it through the border and Panama wins the award for the most interesting passport stamp so far. It was a long old way but we finally started to approach Panama City. We ... read more

Panama City! Big place, home to over a million people. Its skyline looks very similar to Vancouver´s, with many more under construction. Panama is an international banking center with over 80 international banks (including ScotiaBank) and the skyline reflects this. After an extremely cold (like sleeping bag cold) overnight bus from Bocas del Torro, we arrived in the city. Panama city is very influenced by the U.S., with freeways, big bridges and huge shopping malls. The US had full sovereignty over the Canal Zone until 2000 so I guess it only makes sense....(not to mention every American fast food chain is found here too). There are hundreds of semi-retired U.S. school buses on the roads that have been pimped out; including suspension lifts, headers, custom exhausts and detailed paint jobs! Pretty amusing seeing these beasts roaring ... read more