Blogs from Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 150

On a couple of occasions we've crossed a border and immediately been taken by how different the new country feels to the last, we had that feeling here. No, hold on, the first thing we felt after crossing the border was temporary blindness, after making it over the wooden bridge (with holes big enough to lose a wheel) we'd forgotten to wind our windows up and received a full dose of insecticide spray...welcome to Panama. We chose this border because we were keen to visit the Bocas del Toro archipelago on the north west coast (Panama has an east-west orientation so for a good proportion of the country the sun rises over the Pacific and sets over the Atlantic which is a little difficult to get your head around), the scenery approaching the port town of ... read more

November 8, 2005 (Panama City, Panama) Shannon: Sean and I have been in Panama for about a week now and have settled into something of a routine. We are using Panama City for our base of operations, making day trips to sights around the city (or overnight, as was the case this weekend when we ventured to Isla Taboga). It’s nice to stay somewhere long enough that you begin to have somewhat of a comfort level with the surroundings - we now consider Casco Viejo “our” neighborhood. We get our breakfast from “our” local breadshop and “our” local tienda (small grocery store), eat dinner at “our” comedor (small diner) and usually finish our day with a visit to “our” Internet café ($0.50 per hour - a great deal!). We’ve moved to a different hostel, one that ... read more

GREETING ALL: ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS WOW!!! BOCAS DEL TORO IS A REALLY NICE CITY. THERE ARE SO MANY AMAZING THINGS TO BUY FROM THE VENDORS IN THE STREET. I HAVE JUST ABOUT WHEN CRAZY, BECAUSE YOU KNOW HOW I LIKE TO SHOP. BUT ANYWAYS THE CLUB HERE WAS OFF THE HOOK! PEOPLE REALLY DANCE IN THE CLUBS HERE. I DANCED WITH THIS ONE BROTHER AND LET ME TELL YOU HE COULD MOVE. THE CLUB WAS REALLY NICE WITH A SEA FRONT VIEW. THE BROTHER I DANCED WITH WAS A SCUBA DIVER INSTRUCTOR AND I TOLD HIM I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM AND I WANTED LESSONS. WE ENDED UP GOING TO THE BEACH AND GETTING IN THE WATER IT WAS SO NICE AND WARM. SIMPLY AMAZING. I TOLD MYSELF I WOULD GET INTO ... read more

November 1, 2005 (Panama City, Panama) Sean: I’ve wanted to come to this country ever since I first heard Van Halen sing that refrain. I never understood the connection between the lyrics and the chorus though. But they were Capital B-I-G Rock and Roll stars and I was some punk kid listening to my cool, older brother’s cassette tapes, so who was I to question these powerful and all knowing gods? It must’ve meant something otherwise why would anyone listen to a bunch of grown men innocuously stringing words together and then periodically - for still no obvious discernable reason - yelling out the name of a random Central American country. It didn’t make sense, but then again it’s not like the members of the band were going out and buying my albums. And that was ... read more

Well I know I have a huge blank to fill in and this entry isn't going to do it. I'm supposed to be cruising at 40000 ft right now on my way to MIA but I'm not. Thanks to Wilma my flight to MIA was cancelled for the day. Of course I didn't find out until I got to the airport.... that is what happens when you are M-I--A in the islands of Panama for a week, with no phone, no light no motor car. Not a single luxury. I'm booked on the afternoon flight to MIA tomorrow and I'm going to go and try and fly standby in the morning. Probably just spend the whole day in the airport. Oh well. Its funny the morning flight to Miami went today because that plane had been ... read more