Blogs from Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 137

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The sail boat Melody and Captain Mark. This was a wild trip for me, sailing to Colombia, I had imagined all sorts of amazing adventures on the sea. Instead I think I would class the trip as amusing and very salty. I laughed alot, mainly at the expense of the captain who very quickly all of us came to dislike. The real problems came from him being so greedy that he took 9 people and a motocylce onboard. You might as well call that 10 when you think of the space it took up. He had stipulated that he only carries 8 and he seemed to like his rules so I was very surprised to see him break one of his own straight away. He was flipant about his over count and just expected everyone to ... read more
Sail boat to Colombia
Sail boat to Colombia1
San Blas islands

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Chiriquí » David October 28th 2006

David is the town that I asked the Tica bus to drop me off in, close to the border which was great as it meant I didn't have to sit on the bus for hours more as it head to the capital. I'd seen the Purple House hostel on the internet and felt it was the place for me. Andrea the owner sounded helpful and friendly on the phone and that was good enough for me. Yes the whole house is purple and just about everything in it (those of you who remember my flat in the 'hues of blue phase' will have some idea of what this place looked like). Even Fluffy her dog was friendly and the place had a real welcoming feel to it. I chatted away to Tansy who is a regular ... read more
Panama Canal1
Turtles
Turtles1

Central America Caribbean » Panama October 24th 2006

Panama has really surprised us. Maybe it’s because we didn’t do our homework and learn more about Panama before we came. Or maybe things are changing rapidly here these days. Probably a bit of both. But, this is one amazing, diverse country, and they’re practically giving it away for folks who want to come and live there. Paul and I are tempted. I should probably give a little bit of background on the place, although keep in mind much of this has been gleaned from conversations from taxi drivers that I’ve spoken to and blurbs from our crappy guide book and is not from any scholarly reading or such. As you probably already know, Panama has been a pretty valuable piece of real estate ever since way back when the explorers and pirates discovered the Americas ... read more
The Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal
Food court at Allbrook Mall
Panama´s modern skyline

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City October 16th 2006

We bused into Panama City yesterday from Costa Rica. The roads in Panama are American made so they are much better than anywhere in Central America. In some places in Central America it could take up to 3 hours to only travel about 60 miles or so. Parts of the city are very modern modern with good shopping, hotels and restaurants. This city has many of the amenities that a city in the US would have. Last night we went to a casino, there are a lot of them near the hostel that we are staying at and they are actually pretty nice. Mike and I played some craps, we did not win but at least we really did not lose anything. We went to the Panama Canal today and saw a few ships pass through ... read more

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City October 11th 2006

"Hola" again. The most interesting sight in Panama is without a doubt the public buses. We suspect they were all American school buses on their "young" days, but now on the streets of Panama they star as renovated moving art. Dressed in incredibly colorful attires, they are all unique, displaying names and splashing drawings of loved ones, particularly kids, religious figures, sayings, etc, etc, etc. I wish the joy displayed vibrantly on the outside of the old buses also reflected the mood of the passengers inside them, but that is to wish way too much. How could anyone be cheerful inside such humid, hot and invariably fully packed vehicles, which move living behind great trail of dense smog? On a more serious/political note, let me share with you that our hotel was just a half a ... read more
Colorful Bus 2
Colorful Bus 3
Old Town ruins

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City October 9th 2006

"Buenas" (The most common greeting around here) Panama wasn't on my list of intended destinations, but here I am, as I wouldn't let the opportunity to merge with another culture go by. The trip down to the Central American country between Colombia and Costa Rica was my first since the ban on liquids in carry-on luggage, thus we checked our bags. Well, we made it to Panama City on time, but not our belongins, which arrived 26 hours later. Needless to say, wearing the same clothing for 2 days wasn't very refreshing, to say the least, particularly when the heat and humidity have been so high we feel like melting popsicles under the tropical sun. We started our first day with a pleasant hike on the "Parque Natural Metropolitano", the only protected tropical forest within an ... read more
At the El Valle, more catholic presence
El Valle Indian
Pifa grows on a palm tree

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City October 1st 2006

Sorry to say not much to report today. Apart from we visited probably the worst airport in the world. For an international airport catering for Americans (and there are a lot here due to the canal and the banking industry) we had high hopes. To start with it was just like any small airport with not a lot to do. Once through security we knew there would be restaurants and shops. However we were surprised to find several each of the following: Lacoste store, sunglass shop and perfume shop. And one very small restaurant - charging what it liked as it had no competition. It was like a market with each shop selling exactly the same as their neighbours. To cap it off there was not a single newsagent or any shop selling a book or ... read more

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City September 30th 2006

A day that Ed has been waiting for for a long time, we returned to the ghost town at the end of the causeway in the vain hope of finding some breakfast. Luckily one entrepreneurial lady was selling pastries and homemade orange juice. Our trip was only a partial transit so we started off with a bus journey to Gatun lake, this is approximately the mid point and when it was created it was the largest man-made lake in the world. It is the higest point of the Panama Canal and provides the water for the operation of the locks - one set towards the Atlantic, and the two sets that we would be passing through on our way down to the Pacific. It is hard to describe apart from to say it was incredible. ... read more
Ed and his appropriate new hat
First of many big ships that passed us
Going down

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City September 29th 2006

Since there is absolutely nothing to do within several miles of our hostal - with the notable exception of Miraflores Lock, which we visited yesterday, we caught a bus downtown. Unfortunately downtown Panama City doesn't have an awful lot to offer and to make matters worse it is spread along about 10 miles of ocean. We decided to restrict ourself to one small bit a 3 mile long causeway that stretches out into the Pacific. A hundred years ago there was a clump of 4 small islands of shore, but when they built the canal they put a lot of the excavated earth and rocks to good use by constructing this causeway. This wasn't with one eye on the needs of 21st century tourists but rather was just because they needed a 3 mile long ... read more

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá » Panama City September 28th 2006

We’ve been looking forward to using this famous palindrome for ages, so hopefully everyone will be sufficiently impressed. The day began on the bus and, still half-asleep, we negotiated past the taxi drivers all pretending to be our best friends so they can take us to their cousin’s dump of a hotel. So we were on our way to our chosen hostel, with a taxi driver who was not a good liar. When asked if he was sure he knew where he was going, he said “Yes” when it was totally obvious that he should have said “No”. Eventually we found it (better to be lucky than good, as they say), although we were surprised to find that the hostel was an ex-2 bedroom apartment converted into a 12 person backpackers’ home. And literally miles from ... read more
A bottle of local beer
Close-up view of a giant ship




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