Panama Vacation - Panama City

With two days left of my two week vacation, I came full circle and touched down in Panama City.  After the remote, untouched waves of Morro Negrito, the crisp air of Boquete and the humid island vibe of Bocas del Toro, I was thrust into the middle of the biggest city in Central America outside of Mexico.  The contrast couldn't have been greater.  Maybe that's one of the unique things about Panama... with a few hours of travel you can see the country from a totally different perspective.

I caught a taxi to Luna's Castle in the Casco Viejo (Old Town) district of the city.  WARNING - history lesson: Panama City was founded in the 1500s as the Spanish shipped gold and silver from Peru, up the Pacific coast, through the port of Panama City and across the isthmus to the ships waiting on the Caribbean side.  Obviously, this made the city both highly valuable for the crown and highly sought after by pirates.  Over the years the port was subject to attacks but none were successful until Captain Morgan burned the entire city in 1671.  Yes, that Captain Morgan.  The ruins of the original city are known as Panama Viejo (Old Panama) - see my visit there below for more - and Casco Viejo was built a few miles away as a new start.

Reviews were mixed about the area.  The architecture was obviously hundreds of years old and many of the buildings were just shells with collapsed roofs and hollow interiors.  Luna's seemed to be THE place to be for travelers but I heard that parts could get dicey at night.  The well reviewed Relic Bar was located in the basement of the hostel and Lonely Planet advised that I would have to look no further for nightlife.  That was enough for me.

After paying the whopping $13 per night fee for a dorm bed, I asked about scheduled trips from the hostel.  It just so happened that they had an open spot for a trip planned to the Panama Canal's Miraflores Locks in an hour.  I went with a group of five (two of whom were from Atlanta) and we were each charged $6 for the round trip taxi ride.  I found out later that an independent taxi would have only charged us $12 total, so the hostel must have gotten a kickback.  I wasn't stressing since it's just a few extra dollars, but the budget backpackers with me weren't too happy.

It's not the size of the boat...

We got to the locks just in time to see the tail end of a massive ship exiting.  From then on not much happened... an announcer would come on and broadcast little facts about the locks every few minutes.  A few small sailboats passed through and we got to see the water level rise and fall.  For the most part I wasn't impressed.  This was just one of multiple locks and a lake between the Pacific and Caribbean, so I probably would've gotten a better impression had I seen the whole thing.

A few things did interest me.  From what I can remember, the lowest fee paid to cross the canal was $0.36 when a swimmer did it back in the 1920s.  Cargo ships are built to exact specifications so that they can pass through the canal, with just inches to spare on either side.  About 40 ships pass through the canal every day at an average cost of $50,000.  This will increase when the canal finishes an expansion project in 2014 that will increase the traffic capacity by 60%.  That's about all I retained... the canal museum was pretty interesting and it is a thing you HAVE to see while you're in Panama, so go for it.

There was still time in the afternoon so I explored the Causeway that offered a good view of the skyline.  Note that most attractions in the city will say "... and you get GREAT views of the skyline!"  I didn't spend a lot of time there.  Next I wandered around Casco Viejo with a map from the hostel.  The desk clerk had Xed out a third of it, saying "Don't go in this area.  It's not safe."

I wandered through the old buildings and a few churches.  Here are a few shots.

City buses are all personalized and tricked out with neon lights

Barely standing build

Golden altar of Iglesia de San Jose

Later that evening the Peace Corps girls finally made it to Luna's after the 6 hour bus ride turned into 12. There had been a strike that blocked the highway, so note to you - cheaper is not always better. We got a few drinks in Relic Bar which smelled like, well, an old dusty relic, but the patio was nice. I sweated the night away in the dorm room filled with probably 20 bunk beds, ready to absorb as much as possible on my last day in the city.

In the morning the first thing I did was to buy a few souvenirs from a shop a few blocks away from the hostel. Then I started walking around the bay toward the modern part of Panama City. I stopped in the fish market and had the best ceviche I've ever tasted.

If you didn't know, ceviche is made from raw fish that is 'cooked' by soaking it in citrus.  The acid breaks down the proteins... or something.  I got the combination option which mixed white sea bass, octopus, shrimp and conch.  It was served in a simple Styrofoam cup but I was blown away.  You must, must, must go here if you like seafood.

I ended up walking about 3 or 4 miles into the heart of the city before I took a taxi for the remaining few to Panama Viejo (see above for the history).  The taxi driver noticed my new camera and warned me in Spanish, "The ruins are on this side of the street.  Do not go on the left side.  You will lose your camera."  I heeded his advice and got some great shots of the crumbling stone houses and churches.  Luckily the plaques dotted along the route had pictures and were translated into English, so I could understand the significance of what I was seeing.

First cathedral in the city

Muchachos

Old and new

From Panama Viejo I took another taxi to the biggest park in the city - Parque Natural Metropolitano.  I was hoping for sloths, monkey and other cool animals to photograph.  I caught a glimpse of some kind of large rodent the size of a cat running through the bushes but I didn't get a photo.  I also saw a Jesus Lizard run across water but I wasn't fast enough to get it on film.  I hardly passed anyone on the trails for the two hours I was there.  It was so quiet that I think I warned all of the animals away despite my attempt to tiptoe through the dead leaves.  The park offered a good break from the craziness of the city and it had, you guessed it, great views of the skyline.  It took me a while to find an available taxi since I was on the city outskirts, so be prepared for that.

Relic Bar with the Peace Corps crew

That evening I met back up with the Peace Corps crew and went out to dinner on Calle Uruguay.  This was supposedly the center nightlife for foreigners (we were told that although they were fluent speakers we probably wouldn't want to mingle with the local crowds because things could get rough).  We tried out an English style pub and then bypassed the clubby bars with a cover before leaving unimpressed.  We finished the night at Relic Bar again.  Most of the girls were heading down south to Columbia the next day while a few of us had flights back to the States.

I got up at 5 am for my early morning flight pretty happy with the way my vacation turned out.  I saw some amazing places, got to practice surfing, met some cool people and didn't have to spend a lot of money along the way.  For being someone that tries to plan everything, I think I did a pretty good job of going with the flow and figuring things out as I went.  It would've been nice to have a travel companion, but it gave me a lot of time for self reflection and a pause from life - it was a true vacation.  I'm not going to lie though, air conditioning feels soooooo good right now.

All of this is just a 3 hour flight from Atlanta. Yup, that's all. I'm not sure where my next trip will be, but I am certain that I will hit the rest of Central America in the next 10 years and hopefully South America as well. Feel free to contact me if you're interested in visiting Panama, and like the rest of my trips, I'll compile a 'Best Of' post to give you the highlights you should see if you go.

Panama Vacation - Bocas del Toro

Morro Negrito and Boquete down, Bocas and Panama City to go.

I took an early morning bus from Boquete back to David on Monday morning.  Unfortunately there were no direct buses to Bocas because of the terrain (see the map for details).  I was the only gringo on the 5 hour bus ride from David to Bocas which left me to zone out with my music and watch the countryside slowly change from coffee plantations and higher altitude forests to beach shacks and palm trees.  When the ride ended taxi drivers yelled and herded everyone on the bus to get the fare to the port.

Bocas del Toro generally refers to a group of 9 islands, with 'Bocas Town' being located on the largest island named Colón.  Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón en Español) discovered them in the early 1500s while trying to find a passage to the Pacific Ocean.  The archipelago was later used by pirates because of its many natural harbors and lack of nearby Spanish colonization.  In the late 1800s the banana industry started to grow and United Fruit Company (now part of Chiquita) built much of the infrastructure that exists on the islands today.  Many immigrants came from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands to work on the plantations and their culture has survived throughout the years.  So there's your little history lesson about the area and why its different from the rest of Panama.

After a half hour boat ride to Isla Colón I definitely felt like I was in a different country.  I decided to walk from the marina toward my hostel despite the heat - I wanted to get a feel for the town.  I heard a few people speaking English with an almost Jamaican accent.  The buildings were brightly colored but obviously very old.  There were a lot of small food stands and souvenir trinket shops along the main streets.  A lot of people rode bicycles but most were on foot.  The island was small enough to get around without much need for a car (and taxis were really cheap when you got lazy).

I had been warned by a few people in Boquete that Mondo Taitu, the hostel I selected a few days before, wasn't that great.  It seemed to be one of the centers of activity and a friend had stayed there, so I wasn't deterred (and I'm glad I stayed there in the end).  I opted for one of the air conditioned rooms and I'm guessing the backpackers that gave me bad press couldn't afford the extra cost (jumping from $10 to $12 per night for A/C luxury).  The main reason I picked it was because one of the most popular bars on the island was in the hostel.  That made it likely that it would get noisy at night, but I was willing to take the risk.

I went to the front desk to check in and I got a weird look from the guy at the front desk.

"I know you.  Where are you from?"
"Atlanta."
"You play soccer."
"Yeah, I play at the Georgia Tech rec fields a lot."
"No, in the ADASL."
"Yeah..."
"I played against you on the AMG Silverbacks for a few years, my name is Jacques."

Trippy, he totally blew my mind.  After he said his name I remembered him and recognized his face.  Jacques was a top goal scorer for his team and I used to defend him for a few years when I was with the Pelicans.  He told me that he graduated from Emory and had been living in Bocas for close to a year.

I got settled in my room and had another small world experience.  First, there was an Aussie couple from Geelong.  That wasn't too weird.  Then I met a group of American girls from the Peace Corps that had been working in Guatemala for the past two years.  They were on a whirlwind tour through the rest of Central America before heading home.  One was from New Jersey, another from Iowa and two from the LA metro area.  One of those two was from Orange County.  And her parents owned a Thai restaurant.  That I went to when I first moved to California.  Bocas was turning into an episode of "This Is Your Life."

Endangered species

It was after noon and I only had until the end of the day plus another full day before I headed back to Panama City.  Although there were a few good breaks at the islands, surfing was out because the swell forecast was flat for the next few days.  I asked around at the hostel and it looked like Red Frog Beach would be a good place to spend the afternoon.  I took a short water taxi ride to Isla Bastimentos and through my Spanglish and his Englañol I understood that he would hang out on the island and wait for me (otherwise I would be stuck since it was barely inhabited).

On the path to the beach my driver hopped off the trail and started poking around tree trunks.  He waved me over and we saw this strawberry poison-dart frog.  It was about the size of my thumbprint and wouldn't hold still for more than a second. When I got to the beach I had it all to myself. There was a hotel with a few people about 500 yards away but that was it. I took the camera in the water and didn't see much (except for what I got on this video):



I saw a sloth in a mangrove tree on the way back to Bocas town but I couldn't get a good shot of it with my camera. It really just looked like a ball of hair through the leaves and branches.  I went out with the Aussies for dinner at Bambu and drinks later at that night at the hostel bar in what ended up being very low key.  The next day the three of us rented bicycles and rode from the hostel to another empty beach called Playa Bluff.  Sea turtles nest here at certain times of the year but I couldn't tell that any had been there.  I did a bit more snorkeling and hung out in the shallows.  Here are the best shots (story continued below):

The Aussies didn't go out that night so I met up with the Peace Corps crew.  The Mondo Taitu bar was dead so we went to La Iguana, another bar on the island.  The dance music they were blasting wasn't really my thing but their back deck was a dock that you could hang your legs off of (or jump off I guess).  The Bocas del Toro baseball team won their Panamanian league semifinal and the locals were going nuts in the bar.

Bocas Town from the plane

I had an early flight so I didn't push it too hard.  The girls, by coincidence, were also going to Panama City (by bus) and didn't know where they were staying.  I suggested the hostel I had looked into and we agreed to meet up when we got there.  I recommend taking the $60-80 flight rather than the $15 bus ride... that lasts 8 hours.

There were a lot of things I didn't get to do in Bocas.  There were plenty of other beaches, some decent dive spots (according to the girls), you could take a tour of a native/traditional village on one of the other islands, and if the surf had been nice that would've been fun.

The next morning I went to the airport... there were kids walking across the runway on their way to school.  I got on the plane (with no assigned seats) and chose the one right behind the cockpit.  There was no flight attendant, no safety speech, no greeting from the captain even.  They just hopped in, started the propellers on the plane and we were off.  Next stop - Panama City.

Panama Vacation - Boquete

Although my primary reason for going to Panama was for a surf vacation at Morro Negrito, I HAD to see the rest of the country while I was there.  I did some research beforehand through my trusty Lonely Planet series of books and decided that I could see a decent amount of the country in an additional week.  I was only traveling with one medium sized backpack plus a smaller day backpack for my camera equipment, so any extra time would've involved laundry or a bigger bag.

The three places where I decided to spend time after Morro Negrito were Boquete (pronounced boh-KHET-eh), Bocas del Toro and Panama City.  I read through the best places to stay and things to do but I didn't book anything in advance.  I'm a planner, so this was a pretty big step for me.  It wasn't the high tourist season, so I was pretty confident that I could find accommodation on the fly.  Here is my basic route plan.

Route through Panama

Jamie and Sam were a part of the Canadian group with me at Morro Negrito and they had planned a few extra days into their trip to travel to Boquete as well.  We agreed to travel together for the next few days (and they were happy to have me along since their Spanish was very basic).  Everyone said their goodbyes at the surf camp and the three of us took a boat back to the port, a taxi to the bus station.

Of course it wasn't so easy to get to Boquete. First we had to change buses in David, a major city and transportation hub. I had flirted with the idea of staying there for a night but I was convinced that there was nothing much to see and no nightlife to speak of. Everyone uses that city as a means to get other places... it's halfway between San José, Costa Rica and Panama City, as well as being the kickoff point for Boquete, Bocas del Toro and pretty much anywhere else you want to go in western Panama.

With relative ease we switched buses in David and took the 1.5 hour, $1.75 ride to Boquete.  We got off of the bus in the middle of the town square at around 9 pm and it looked exactly as it was described in my guide - a quiet, sleepy town.  The draw to visit here isn't the city, it's the natural beauty and exploration jump off points that exist nearby. Since the early 2000s AARP has rated Boquete one of the best places to retire abroad.  I thought it was very random, but apparently the government gives huge tax incentives and travel discounts to expat retirees.

The biggest feature of the landscape is Volcano Barú which has been dormant since 500 AD.  Jamie and Sam planned to rent camping gear, hiking up the mountain, spending the night and coming back down.  I wasn't quite as ambitious and would be just happy exploring on a lesser commitment level.  The area is full of outdoor activities from ATV tours to horseback riding, birdwatching (I'm not into that, but it would've been cool to see the quetzal), bus trips, camping on the mountain, rafting and more.  It really reminded me of central Costa Rica near Volcano Arenal (my visit there in 2008 during grad school predates my blog, but I'll try to go back and remember some details later for a future post).

We found a Hostel Mamallena conveniently located in the town square and there was room available.  Jamie and Sam were comfortable sharing a room with me, so we split the cost of one of the double bed private rooms for around $30 per night.  After a week of sleeping in the heat on uncomfortable bedding, the night chill and larger sleeping area were great... not to mention the long shower after the short, temporary cooling ones at Morro Negrito.

We didn't have to go far to find good food - Restaurante Barú (no link available) was right next door.  The pizza hit the spot and it was very affordable.  I sampled all of the local beers: of Balboa, Panama and Atlas, my vote for the best goes to Balboa.  Although it was a Saturday night we were exhausted enough from the past week to turn in early.  From the sounds outside the hostel, we probably did miss a little nightlife.

Kid selling pineapples out of his parents' truck

The next morning we explored the central market, walked through the square and up some random streets to get a feel for the quiet town.  Once we were satisfied with that we spoke with people to see what we could get into during the day.  The hostel had a few organized trips planned to the hot springs and another to some waterfalls, but not enough people signed up.  Jamie and I spoke with an ATV operator about riding partway up the volcano but we were concerned about getting caught up there when the daily rains came.  That might not be so much fun.  In the end we decided to hire a taxi and chill out at the nearby hot springs in Caldera (Los Posos Termales de Caldera) on our own.

Sam packed us some sandwiches and we hailed a taxi to the springs.  The $15 ride took about a half hour down an empty country road and ended at a dirt path and crude sign.  I was worried that we wouldn't have a way to get back to Boquete so I tried to communicate with the driver about coming back to get us.  He kept using the same word - 'seguro' - and I had no idea what it meant (*I looked it up when I got back and it's 'insurance'.  I think he wanted us to pay something up front for the return trip).  In the end he said he would be there when we got were finished.

100+ degrees

I visited some "hot springs," and I use that term loosely, in Chile, but haven't experienced real ones.  The owner had placed stones around each spring to form a little grotto that was really peaceful since we were the only people visiting at the time.  The admission was only $2.  And take my word for it because the picture doesn't convey it well - these had to be over a hundred degrees.  You had to do bob up and down, slowly lowering yourself into the water to get used to the heat.  We quickly got over the heat and spent the remainder of the time cooling off in the river about 50 yards from the springs.

The absolute coolest part of the springs and the highlight of my time in Boquete was meeting a spider monkey there.  We later came to know that it was the pet of the owners, but when we first came upon it we weren't sure if it was wild.  He let us pet him before he warmed up and started climbing all over Jamie.  When we walked between the springs and river he would come up to us as if he wanted attention.  As we left the springs a local came down the path and gave the monkey a banana treat.  He had been half eating mangoes and then throwing them on the ground, but he gladly accepted it.  This is the video I shot of the meal.



We talked about going out that night but since it was Sunday nothing was open. We had another relaxing dinner at Barú since most other options were closed and went to bed at a reasonable time.  I was up early in the morning to catch a bus back to David and on to Bocas del Toro while Jamie and Sam were planning to hike and camp on the volcano.

New favorite picture of myself

Part III: Panama Vacation - Bocas del Toro coming soon.

A Man, A Plan, A Vacation, Panama

Morro Negrito is near the western town of Tole

I just got back to Atlanta from Panama - ahhhhhhh AC. Time to catch up on all that went on.

Surprisingly, the flight to Panama City from Atlanta was only 3.5 hours. I've been flying out to California a lot lately, so that was a breeze. I landed in PC at 9 pm, picked up my bags and met the driver the surf camp arranged for me. Morro Negrito was a liiiiitle bit harder to reach.  I felt totally comfortable touching down by myself in a Spanish speaking country after all of the time I spent in Chile.

The taxi driver took me on the half an hour to the bus terminal and instructed the bus driver where to drop me off. Luckily the bus was a proper tour bus with reclining seats, although I sat in the very back row and the AC unit dripped on me every now and then. Annoying, but manageable. Steve, the owner of the surf camp, sent a bunch of email instructions that included - do not fall asleep on the bus. Since the bus left at 10:45 I definitely didn't make it without nodding off a few times.

The driver remembered my taxi drivers instructions and dropped me off at about 4 am. I realized why I was warned to pay attention. The bus stop was nothing more than a police checkpoint (for drugs) in the middle of the jungle. I sleepily staggered off of the bus and saw a car flash its lights at me. This was Jefe, the driver that was to take me to the port. About a half hour later, we pulled into the port for Morro Negrito. After a few honks a young Panamanian came out and unlocked the gate. I understood enough Spanish for him to tell me that the boat captain wouldn't be there until 6 am and I could sleep in a hammock on the patio until morning.

About a half an hour later a rooster started crowing, and has anyone actually tried to sleep in a hammock? Honestly, I don't know how. The boat captain finally arrived and I met a few of my campmates that had gotten to the port earlier in the day. They were lucky enough to get rooms since they got there earlier in the evening.

Morro Negrito

We all hopped on the outboard motorboat for the beautiful 45 minute to the camp. So after a plane, taxi, bus, taxi, boat, I finally arrived around 7 am just in time for breakfast. I don't want you to think I'm complaining. I was really tired but so pumped to start surfing.

Morro Negrito is on a peninsula but it can't be reached by road so they consider it an island.  There were a few locals driving the boats and working in the camp along with our surf guides, Keith and Lucas.  Keith is from Redondo Beach and comes to MN once a year to surf, fish and guide the guests.  He was an expert surfer but also brought his spear gun for something else to do.  Lucas was German, not very experienced and was planning to stay at the camp for about two months.  They were both really cool guys.

As for the other guests, it was a Canadian invasion.  The leader of the group was a guy named Warren.  He visited MN a few years earlier and came back with his fiance, three friends (one of whom was a 2006 freestyle moguls Olympic skier) and their girlfriends/wives, plus a few other friends.  Another Canadian couple
rounded out our group of 13.  The guys were pretty good surfers and also helpful with tops on positioning and timing.

The 6 days were spent surfing, eating, sleeping, with a little bit of snorkeling in between.  I surfed Snickers and Chapel with the beginner group and attempted P-Land and Nestles with the more advanced guys.  The swell wasn't big enough for the other breaks and I'd be tempted to come back to see it.  The week after we left they were getting 20 foot waves!



I brought my camera out every now and then to get some underwater shots.  It was no Great Barrier Reef, but I'll take it.  I added a few at the bottom of this post but you can check out the full album on Picasa.  Keith and I went out for some night freediving to try to find lobsters (the ones there have no claws) to eat, but they were all too small.  Keith did get a wicked jellyfish sting and I flirted with danger as I tried to take a picture of it.

Most evenings were really hot and humid until the rain came.  May is the beginning of Panama's rainy season but don't let that discourage you from going.  It provided a cool off period after the long, hot day.  I heard stories about the conditions during the dry season and I'm glad I picked May.  We even used the runoff from the roof to take group showers.  The surrounding community shared the same water source and we were happy to conserve what they had.  The first few nights were really uncomfortable since I wasn't used to the heat.  I was expecting this from the time I spent in similar accommodations in Costa Rica back in 2008.  I ended up popping a Benadryl (or two) every night to help me cope with all of the mosquito bites and knock me out.

Should've gotten stitches - it's deep, trust me

I got to see a turtle, eat sushi 5 minutes after the fish was caught, and gained a lot of confidence in my abilities (the whole point of the trip).  I tried to push myself and surf with the guys on the reef a few times.  The wave faces were between 6-8 feet which were really big for me.  Unfortunately I got taken by a wave I wasn't trying to surf and dragged across the reef.  I gashed my leg pretty badly and spent the rest of the trip trying to superglue it together to keep out an infection.

Despite that setback I kept at it for the last few days.  I really lucked out with the guides and other guests - they could have easily made or ruined the week.  I started this adventure on my own but I was happy I didn't spend the week by myself.  I know have some people to see up in Vancouver on a trip I hope to take in the not so distant future.  I submitted my experience to Trip Advisor as something I'd definitely recommend to anyone that wants an atypical vacation and enjoys surfing (note that there's more to do than just surf, but it's definitely the focus).

Check out parts II (Boquete), III (Bocas del Toro) and IV (Panama City) of my series of posts on Panama to see all of the other places I visited during my second week.