Well its been a busy trip to Panama. We came to see dentists and doctors in Panama City and have some fun.

Brett found Einstein

From what we have experienced in the past getting anything done is not simple and typically takes time in Panama but we have definitely been impressed with the medical process. It took us 2 days to get an appointment to see English speaking dentists and doctors, including having tests done. That’s unheard of in Canada.

We could not believe all the things that had changed from our last trip to the city.

The metro (subway) is operational and is only 0.35c to ride.

The ring road around Casco Antiguo is complete and seems to have eased traffic congestion. There is even an amazing bike/ walking paths.

High rise buildings that were under construction are built and the cobblestone roads in Casco Antiguo are done and look great.

The city all looks so much cleaner as there’s not so much road construction compared to our previous trip. There has also been a change in government so it will be interesting to see the changes that will happen there. Hopefully for the good.

The Bio Museum is partially open after being started 10 yrs ago. Great architecture but a little expensive for what’s open.

Some friends Randy and Judy from Pedasi invited us to their Panama City apartment to meet some friends. We ended up meeting Jakub Pustina, a tenor opera singer from Chekoslovakia who was singing in Panama so yes we went along to his concert. A bit of culture and an amazing theatre, which had been built in 1907.

Jakub Pustina; tenor opera singer

With the World Cup being on everywhere was busy with people watching the futböl. Love the half time entertainment in one of the places we were for the final game.

Brett spotted something he really liked. The Unimog not the one on top.

We went on a road trip while waiting for paperwork to be complete.

We caught the bus to Bocas Del Toro, which was great driving through the hills to the town of Almirante. You board a river taxi over to Bocas Town, passing by some pretty derelict homes with drop toilets into the river. The river taxi ride is about 20 minutes to Isla Colon.

After Boquete, which is so green and lush, arriving in Bocas Town is a culture shock that’s for sure. On first sight Bocas Town is dirty with a lot of rubbish piled about on the streets and some pretty run down places. The main street seems to be the place to book water sports activities, organize water taxis to other islands and get out and enjoy Bocas del Toro district. It grows on you as you sit back and chill. There are a pile of hostels and these young buff bodies that come into town, along with these not so young bodies that have arrived and never moved on……..Interesting place needless to say.

We stayed on the main island Isla Colon in a cabin over the water. The place we stayed at was set in a Panamanian part of town in a neighborhood with the locals so very different from the touristy youth hostel part of Bocas Town. It was only a 15 min walk to town so good exercise or a $1 cab ride. Was nice just chilling on the balcony in the afternoon watching the sun go down while hearing the water lap around you. Brought back memories of our boat.

One day we grabbed a couple of beach cruiser bikes and made our way out to Bluff Beach, popular with the surfers. So different getting out of town; really nice scenery. Our ride started on the road and ended on a sandy track where there were a couple of restaurants. The sand at the beach was amazingly golden and the waves were great for playing in, even for us non surfers.

On another day we caught the river taxi back to the main land and met Maoricio who took us to his Ngabe community where 650 people live and they cultivate cacao and produce chocolate. You go through the entire process of obtaining organic shade-grown cacao (yes no chemicals even though the trees have a fungus that is killing many of the cacao pods) whilst explaining every step of the process including growing, harvesting, fermenting, drying and ultimately roasting and making chocolate.

We hiked up into the hills and weaved our way in and out of jungle and cacao trees. We spotted a sloth high in the trees and saw a green poison dart frog.

Rosa a local Ngabe woman, demonstrated how they roast the cacao beans and then ground to make the chocolate the way her mother had shown her. My effort was not quite as smooth taking a little longer to produce the smooth chocolate.

The tour finished with a traditional Ngabe meal consisting of some roots which tasted like potato, the elephant leaf plant similar to spinach and cooked chicken.

After arriving back in Bocas Town we caught a water taxi to Isla Carenero and hiked around the island stopping to swim in the very warm waters. A lot of poverty and derelict homes about. We stopped at the Acqua Lounge for a few beers and a swim in the acqua colored waters.

Bocas del Toro grew on us both.

Back to Panama City for a day and we have incredible views from our hotel of the business district. A balmy 34 degrees out there but probably more like 40 in town. Hot!

Off to LAX.

There is so much to do in Boquete. It’s like a mini Banff or Queenstown set in the hills including having the tourist prices for everything you do that relates to fun. Maybe its something to do with all the Americans and Canadians that have moved into town and set up businesses or retired here. From hiking to river rafting you name it they have it. Choose your activity….

The villa we rented for the week was great, set in the hills. One day a helicopter came up the valley. Lucky there was plenty of parking.

We did do a couple of touristy things, as you do when on holiday.
Tree Canopy zip lining was a blast. There were 13 zip lines, number 11 being the longest at 500 meters thought the rainforest. Great views down the valley and really friendly guides who make you feel comfortable and safe. We both loved the feeling of flying through the air. We hiked out just over 7km and deserved the margarita and fish tacos awaiting us in town. 

Horse riding in the hills around Caldera was fun. It wasn’t your typical nose to tail following a trail. These horses went where you told them and loved racing up the hills to the top for the nice green grass. The views were spectacular around the valley. 

Our week in Boquete at Valle Escondido mainly consisted of relaxing on the balcony at the villa, going to the gym and swimming pool, walking into town to enjoy lunch or dinner at lots of different places and hiking into different valleys around the area to enjoy the scenery. We walked everywhere and enjoyed joining some expats on a hike into one of the valleys we would never have found on a tour. The whole week was very relaxing.

On the not so typical things to do when on holiday, Brett got his hair cut at one of the local barber shops, by Alex who did not speak any English. Luckily my spanish helped us out and while we were there he gave us Spanish lessons as he spoke nice and slow for us. Prices for hair cuts here are so cheap $3. Alex couldn’t believe a male would pay anything over $10 for a cut. Wonder if his prices will go up. I didn’t want to tell him how much a woman’s hair cut is. 

Wandering the streets and valleys you sure could tell the homes of the indigenous people and locals versus the expats. One of the local guides told us how it’s become very expensive in Boquete with all the gringos coming here, which makes it hard for the locals. Only some see the benefits of more money from the development here.

We have decided to head to Bocas Del Toro for a few days.

When looking for accommodation on VRBO we stumbled upon Mañana Madera Coffee Estate, just past the town of Boquete, where we stayed for 3 wonderfully relaxing nights. Randy who is originally from Austin, TX has developed both the coffee estate and built his house and 2 awesome villas in a beautiful valley with amazing views down the Valley to the Pacific and up to Volcan Baru.

Chubbs, Randy’s dog and big baby sits on the doorstep in the morning while you eat an amazing breakfast with as much Mañana Madera coffee as you wish. Randy will then drop you off at one of the many hikes in the Valley and pick you up when you are done. The Ranchito or overlook at the end of the garden beckons you to relax in the hammock or in the wooden chairs while listening to the humm of the hummingbirds coming to feed and gazing out into the scenic green forest beyond. Randy’s margaritas just top things off while Chubbs and Snack the cat sit at your feet relaxing. An amazing part of Paradise.

We enjoyed the hike along The Pipeline and spotted a Quetzal high in the trees. It’s a 2 hour hike past agricultural lands following a water pipeline into the mountains alongside a small river, which you cross a number of times. The scenery is really beautiful everywhere you look and changes as you get up to the waterfall at the end.

The walk out down the road to meet Randy was great passing many coffee plantations and estates. The indigenous people are dotted through out the valley in very small homes close to the lands they work. On the way down there were some climbers on a rock face that looked like fun to climb.

We also went on another hike recommended by Randy, which started in Parque Nacional Volcan Baru and onto Los Quetzales Trail. Once on the Trail you climb high into the mountains walking on a muddy track with the odd placed logs that you jump to and from. There were no scenic viewing areas just rivers and woodland which got thicker and thicker as you continued up the trail. No Quetzales to be seen today on this trail.

We hiked into the rainforest for about 2 hours when I said to Brett this is a place where I think monkeys would be, look at all the limbs they can jump to and from. We stopped and looked around and suddenly could hear noises above us. Howler monkeys and lots of them jumping through the trees to see what we were up to. When they started throwing things at us and peeing from above we knew it was time to leave. Amazingly cool.

After 2 long days of hikes Brett retired to the Ranchito and the comfy hammock while I got a massage from Kat, Randy’s girlfriend. Bliss.

Excellent place to relax. After buying some Mañana Madera coffee Randy dropped us down in town at a house we have rented in Valle Escondido to relax and enjoy more of Boquete.

We decided we wanted to see a little of Panamas countryside but Brett wasn’t brave enough to drive, which was not surprising when you see the locals run traffic lights and stop signs around Panama City. We had heard good things about the bus system so went to Allbrook Terminal Station and got bus tickets to David, where you get assigned seating on an air-conditioned bus. Surprisingly the buses to David are pretty much brand new. After you buy your bus ticket you then work out you need to get a $1 ticket, after showing your passport, to get through the turn stalls to get on the bus; the bus terminal fee. Was quite the experience working this all out but my limited Spanish did suffice.

The 7 hour bus ride to David was actually enjoyable and safe thanks to the air-conditioning, comfy reclining seats, movies to watch, bathroom/ food stops and lots to see outside. We were stopped 3 times at different check-stops and ID cards and our passports checked to make sure we had valid visas. No problems so the bus continued on. Your luggage also receives a ticket, which is great as its only handed over to the person with the ticket at the end of the trip. Perfect!

The road system was a double lane concrete highway most of the way crossing a lot of rivers while the secondary roads appeared to be mainly dirt trails. The countryside was really green with large skyscraper condo buildings scattered along the Coronado beach coast and homes dotted in the trees all the way through to David. Vendors occasionally had stalls on the side of the road.

We arrived in David at about 3:45pm to busy crowded streets, rush hour perhaps or maybe it’s like this all the time? Heading to Boquete tomorrow, which is meant to be really nice with great hikes and lots to do.

We left the heat of Miami for Panama City. After checking into our hotel we decided to wander into town and get our bearings. The roads were empty, very bizzar. Down on Balboa Avenue we found all these people dressed in red, watching the big TV screen, supporting Panama against the US in football (soccer). Amazing backdrop all the high rise buildings.

We decided to head back to one of the many sports bars we had passed and enjoy the atmosphere of the game. Just in time as the sky’s opened and let loose with large raindrops flooding the streets. Unfortunately Panama did not win so no big parties in the streets afterwards.

We jumped both the red city tour and canal tour buses for a day. The views of the city skyline are pretty spectacular. Lots to see as usual and the bus was the best way to get around to all the sights. Panama City was one busy place that’s for sure.

Even the bay was busy with ships and boats waiting to go through the canal.

We could not believe the amount of construction everywhere. Apparently there are 10 mega projects on the go at the moment, including expansion of the canal, a new subway system, infill by-pass road through Panama City central, Casco Viejo town improvements. Construction seems to be everywhere you look!

The canal, museum and Miraflores locks were very impressive. Quite the construction project of its time. There were a lot of freighters waiting in the Pacific to go through the Canal. Between 30 and 40 freighters currently go through the canal on a daily basis and will increase in 2014 with the expansion.

We also wandered along Balboa Ave to Casco Viejo for a day. In the year since Brett had been here there had been so many improvements to the waterfront including a huge park and walkway system to enjoy. We were impressed with the outdoor gym equipment to work out on.

In Casco Viejo, it was amazing wandering around and seeing all the building renovations underway on these 16-17 century colonial buildings. Would be interesting to see how different the place is in 20 years as its going to take a while to fix it up. There’s so many things being worked on in the area and for those projects completed the transformation is amazing. Tough at present though.

There’s a lot of poverty in Panama and you could see it around Avenue Central. People just hang out along the street, which is lined with vendors selling things. All sorts of interesting things to see, including the outdoor hairdressers. 

Off to David and Boquete in the mountains.