Puerto Lindo

---

It was a strange relief to step off the dark, “comfortable,” air conditioned coach bus from the capital and into the rain and humidity of Las Sabanitas, a commercial hub outside of Colón. The intersection felt more like Latin America than anywhere else during my Panamá trip. The only constant from our vantage point under the steel supermercado awning were women seated at folding tables selling lottery tickets and counting wads of twenties. Packed repurposed U.S. school buses stopped every few minutes and the locals stuffed themselves into the aisles. Ours arrived about a half an hour later and surprisingly had empty seats.

PUERTO LINDO
Just walking through this village is an experience. A narrow dirt path handlebars off the main camino and cuts between wooden bungalows with the tide at their doorstep and rubbled concrete structures. The most prized possessions don’t seem to be their boats, but rather the enormous speakers that blast music on weekends while most everyone sits along the path chatting and imbibing.

Peggy and I really enjoyed our stay at Wunderbar Hostel, a comfortable spot managed by a high-spirited Venezolano named Carlito, and home to cats, dogs, horses, and howler monkeys.

But we had a pretty difficult time finding what we wanted in the area, probably partly due to the pandemic. Casa Equis, a tasty seafood restaurant with a perpetual breeze, was the only eating option. We walked to the village of Cacique one day to relax on a small, gritty beach protected by two islands. Isla Mamey, unanimously referred to as the prettiest island (other than the San Blas Islands, which were at worst closed to foreigners and at best complicated, uncomfortable, and expensive to get to) was closed to the filming of a Suicide Squad movie. The kayak rental place in Puerto Lindo was closed and most of the local lancha owners were uninterested in taking us to other islands for a fair price. So we eventually walked the 5K to Guiana to take a ferry to Isla Grande but instead settled for a public beach pretty enough to endure DJ Chocomate blaring from a truck with all doors open. Despite all the challenges, we still enjoyed ourselves.

There are more photos far below.

---

Photos

Cacique Beach
It was overcast but the water was still perfectly clear.

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Yes beautiful colors
This is charming.