The Purple House of Panama

Trip Start Apr 02, 2009
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Trip End Sep 10, 2009


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Flag of Panama  ,
Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Since our last blog, we've been in two further countries. Our last couple days in the Bahamas were made up of some more sun worshipping on our favourite beaches. We hit French Leave beach again, a real stunner on the calmer atlantic side of Eleathera. It's a funny thing to get used to the sight of a perfect setting, but it was becoming apparent that the turqouise waters would soon be a thing of the past. Our last day on the idyllic island was arguably our best, climaxing in a fond farewell to the bubbly, if not slightly ditsy host, Jean. That evening we went to the local 'Fish Fry', a casual bbq party on the harbour where locals and tourists alike chat over Rum Bubba cocktail or two, some tasty food, whilst the reggae music pumps out and the sunsets in the distance. We left early to make the ferry back to Nassau, leaving the fliockering lights and muffled laughter behind us.
Back at Nassau we explored more of its town, its watertower, fort and yet more eating at Arawak Cay. We also visited a nearby wildlife park, where we watched flamingos march in unison, and let small and vibrantly coloured lory parrots clamber over us to feed on the apple slices we held.

Our holiday was over...now it was time for the real trip! Or so we keep saying!
The journey to Panama, was a long one. Going via Miami airport, it was mad eup of two short flights and a six hour wait inbetween. After being kept on Panama soil, on the runway for over an hour, we were finally greeted by our luggage not turning up! Pretty much worse case scenario. We calmly filled out forms and went to our hostel. Thankfully a while later Charlotte got a call....they had our bags and were sending them to us! Quite a relief!
Panama City is extremely hot and sticky, and the sheer scale of the place isn't immediiately apparent until you can look from afar upon its sprawling cityscape, where everyother block has a new skyscraper in construction. We do stand out here like a sore thumb, as its hard to dress all long sleeved and trousered up like the locals. It's a very busy, noisy [all car alarms endlessly go through every siren sound imaginable], but interesting city. We strolled through its ageing Avenida Central along to the many Plazas of Casco Viejo {its old town}which had a quaintly rustic feel of parts of Spain. We decided to head out of the city to see the 'real' Panama, and the natural beauty that excited us to come here in the first place.

First stop would be David, a large town 6 and a half hours west of Panama City. Our mode of transport was a big air/conditioned coach, stopping off for a speedy meal at a cafeteria half way. En route, we watched two movies dubbed in spanish, and tried to decipher the plots togther...harder than it sounds! After a while of passing through forest/covered mountains, we arrived in David and to our very purple Purple House Hostel.
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