So I know it has been a long time since I've posted again, and a lot has happened since my last one. Namely: Panama Trip 2008 (End of April/Early May).
So many of you might be thinking, "Panama? Why would you go to Panama?" I asked myself that question at first as well. It was actually our fall back plan for Belize. BUT let me tell ya, I was not even a bit disappointed with Panama... well Panama City wasn't overly exciting. I learned how out of practice my Spanish skills have once again become. Unlike Peru, no one in Panama City would even humor you to try and speak English or slow down their Spanish. Outside of the city, things were much better.
We (my friend, and former roommate, Matt and I) arrived in Panama City and about 1:30
AM and caught a cab to our hostel. After convincing the guard (somehow) that we had reservations (which we did), we found a couple open beds in the dark and bunked for the night. We spent most of the next day trying to figure out what to do in Panama City. In hindsight we should have went to the canal right away but had it planned for later in the trip. We went to a park in the middle 
of the city. This isn't really a typical city park, this is like "state park" in the middle of the city. So we hiked a mountain... twice actually because I mislead us (oops). Then we took a ride on these crazy tricked out school buses which are actually their city buses. We didn't have a clue where we were going and ended up in a sketchy neighborhood. (I serious about sketchy too... we went through the same neighborhood again on bus on the way back to the airport and heard gun shots.) We decided to change our plans a little and head to Bocas Del Toro early.
AM and caught a cab to our hostel. After convincing the guard (somehow) that we had reservations (which we did), we found a couple open beds in the dark and bunked for the night. We spent most of the next day trying to figure out what to do in Panama City. In hindsight we should have went to the canal right away but had it planned for later in the trip. We went to a park in the middle 
of the city. This isn't really a typical city park, this is like "state park" in the middle of the city. So we hiked a mountain... twice actually because I mislead us (oops). Then we took a ride on these crazy tricked out school buses which are actually their city buses. We didn't have a clue where we were going and ended up in a sketchy neighborhood. (I serious about sketchy too... we went through the same neighborhood again on bus on the way back to the airport and heard gun shots.) We decided to change our plans a little and head to Bocas Del Toro early. So we catch the overnight bus to Bocas thinking we'll be able to sleep for 10 hours on t
his bus. Well things were going great until shortly after I fell asleep it got really cold (and I had no warm clothes with as I only brought my small backpack on the trip), then water from the AC started dripping on me, THEN we had to make a rest stop and they forced everyone to get off the bus, THEN we had to stop for the drug test. Needless to say, it wasn't quite as restful as we planned. When we finally get to Almirante at ~5:00AM it is still dark and we have no clue where to go and still cannot communicate in Spanish. Luckily for us, we have made some friends by this point who we follow as they are headed to Bocas as well. So Matt and I get separated at this point into two separate truck taxis and I start praying we end up in the same place, which we do. From Almirante we take a water taxi to Bocas. Where we then sit and wait an hour and a half for the hostels to open.
his bus. Well things were going great until shortly after I fell asleep it got really cold (and I had no warm clothes with as I only brought my small backpack on the trip), then water from the AC started dripping on me, THEN we had to make a rest stop and they forced everyone to get off the bus, THEN we had to stop for the drug test. Needless to say, it wasn't quite as restful as we planned. When we finally get to Almirante at ~5:00AM it is still dark and we have no clue where to go and still cannot communicate in Spanish. Luckily for us, we have made some friends by this point who we follow as they are headed to Bocas as well. So Matt and I get separated at this point into two separate truck taxis and I start praying we end up in the same place, which we do. From Almirante we take a water taxi to Bocas. Where we then sit and wait an hour and a half for the hostels to open.Finally, we get into an awesome hostel. We shower, nap, and then start our vacation. I will be less specific for a little bit. We get a snorkeling trip where we do some snorkeling,
see a bunch of dolphins doing cool tricks, hang out at a sweet beach, see poisonous red frogs, and relax in hammocks talking to newly made friends. Honestly, the people we meet on this really were awesome. People from all over the world and country who have traveled a lot. We went out a few times at night and went to a few beaches. We tried surfing at one; saw a ton of starfish at another. Greatest snack ever: Trits! They are like an ice cream/cookie sandwich but way better than anything I've had here in that category. On our last day on the island, we rented a scooter 
to drive around the island. Yes, I did say "a" scooter as in one. Think Dumb and Dumber and that is pretty muc
h what it looked like. Crazy fun though. The islands were beautiful. I recommend Bocas del Toro to anyone. Note: when snorkeling, make sure to apply lots of sunscreen to your back and triceps. We got REALLY burned. Couldn't sit back against a chair for days. Matt's back looked leprous when he started to peel.
see a bunch of dolphins doing cool tricks, hang out at a sweet beach, see poisonous red frogs, and relax in hammocks talking to newly made friends. Honestly, the people we meet on this really were awesome. People from all over the world and country who have traveled a lot. We went out a few times at night and went to a few beaches. We tried surfing at one; saw a ton of starfish at another. Greatest snack ever: Trits! They are like an ice cream/cookie sandwich but way better than anything I've had here in that category. On our last day on the island, we rented a scooter 
to drive around the island. Yes, I did say "a" scooter as in one. Think Dumb and Dumber and that is pretty muc
h what it looked like. Crazy fun though. The islands were beautiful. I recommend Bocas del Toro to anyone. Note: when snorkeling, make sure to apply lots of sunscreen to your back and triceps. We got REALLY burned. Couldn't sit back against a chair for days. Matt's back looked leprous when he started to peel. We changed our plans last minute and went to the mountains for our last day. (Skipping the Panama Canal). It was one of our best decisions the whole trip. We took this ridiculously cramped bus up to there. It was packed with the locals. I luckily got the inconvenient but cool spot next to the door. Matt was cramped in the hot and steamy back. The mountains were amazingly gorgeous. Our hostel was really cheap and probably the worst one I've ever stayed in but we didn't have much of a choice. We survived though. The owner was super cool and helped us find the Canopy Zipline Tour we went on. Again- wicked fun. (p.s. if you want to pretend you are from New England use "wicked" frequently as an adjective... for anything). We ended the trip with a red eye flight ba
ck home. I'd love to give more detail if you want them. God blessed us with an awesome trip that couldn't have had better weather or run more smoothly. 
Burgers in picture called "Super Burger of Luxury". I don't even remember everything on it, but it was the best burger I've ever had.
ck home. I'd love to give more detail if you want them. God blessed us with an awesome trip that couldn't have had better weather or run more smoothly. 
Burgers in picture called "Super Burger of Luxury". I don't even remember everything on it, but it was the best burger I've ever had.
1 comment:
Sounds like an adventure. I'd like to hear more about the drug test and how the Panamanians responded to the pistachio surprise or, as they would say, sorpresa pistacho.
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