PANAMA:(Guatemala City)>Bocas Del Toro>Panama City

  Panama City, Panama
Friday, June 2, 2006

Here is the latest from latinoamericana land:

OK.................continuing on from my last main stop-off point in Antigua, Guatemala... the following couple of days were spent sat on the long international bus service all the way back down from dodgy Guatemala City (where I spent all of 1 hr visiting the nearby haunts) to San Jose, Costa Rica where my tale began an amazing 2.5 months ago already...Nothing to report from the monotonous journey obviously....deja vu wit border crossings and what not, so slept through it all. no breakdowns etc lol.

So, I arrived back safely on Thurs 18th in San Jose to the sound of pouring rain... Yes, the rainy season had well and truly arrived..... I had to spend the night in the capital regardless, but the weather was already swaying me in favour of leaving the country in order to allow a few more days in Panama..... How things change overnight literally.... I was forced to spend an extra day bedridden in my gloomy hotel due to a violent stomach upset.. no idea why since I had barely had anything hot or fresh on the bus ride the previous day or so. Anyhow, I slept for over 24 hours on and off and eventually caught a last minute direct bus to Changuinola, half an hour beyond the Costa Rican - Panama border on the Caribbean side....From there, I would get a water taxi across to the BOCAS DEL TORO group of Islands....I made the right choice since it was drizzling once more in S.J... so glad I didnt rush the few sites in C.R I wanted to see at the expense of elsewhere....

On the bus, I met a Dutch woman and girl and 2 Canadian sisters whom I befriended. Not any other gringos aboard due to low season drop. The dutch woman owns schools in the area and gave us good advice about the islands etc.... When we arrived at the border, luggage was not even checked.. carefree customs officers seemingly.. however, several over-enthusiastic taxi drivers surrounded us and informed us that if we continued on the bus to the station then onward to the dock, we wouldnt make the last sailing across.. LIES.... made it in plenty of time and I sware the same taxi drivers who tried to con us and pay silly amounts were there and took us to the dock anyway for pittance!! cheeky sods.. felt bad at jilting them before since they desperately need the money of course. sly though. Now it gets better.... We arrive at the dock only to find out that the last sailing to these islands doesnt usually leave without enough people due to low season..so there was never any rush to get there..just us 5... Good job the dutch woman was there, and we ended up bargaining and using charm to pay slightly more p/p than normal, due to there being fewer passengers than minimally required.....haha. democracy?

The sailing was very pleasant with lovely views of the narrow canals and surrounding banana plantations..allegedly the prettiest trip in the country. Sunset was slowly falling as well. Upon arrival, accommodation was priority... Thought I would treat meself a bit by checking into a moderate sea-view hotel for 1 night. Afterwards, we navigated the main streets, which are surprisingly developed, and ate near the port in a nice restuarant with terraces extending out on planks....For the following day, I proposed to check out the tours on offer as at that point I wasn't at all sure how long I would hang around....Ended up selecting an all inclusive snorkelling and island discovery package for a modest price with a cool company.

Sunday was thus spent snorkelling at various points at different islands nearby... it was raining a little to begin with, with overcast skies...didnt really matter because we started off, anchored in Dolphin Bay, watching dolphins playing and swimming nearby. Taking photos was a mission but I got a couple of videos of them surfacing. only 1 person in 7 years has actually touched one, though I saw one swim parallel to the boat. afterwards we snorkelled around - waters more murky and corals less impressive than Mexico and Belize, but fish were everywhere and varied. In the afternoon, we jetted between isles and docked at another island to swim and stroll the shores/explore the woodlands of red frog beach......tons of tiny little frogs darting everywhere and saw a snake in the middle of our path!

Following on from that we carried on to Hospital Point on another non-civilised remote isle..."Hospital Point" because the place used to function as a recovery and aid centre for sufferers of malaria and other fatal tropical diseases... There we mainly snorkelled and ventured out into the deep waters where we saw divers..tempted to do open water diverrs course but passed in end due to finance and other things...

That day was great and when we got back, our friendly guide offered to take us that night to the beach where these 500lb turtles the size of giant beach balls appear at night to lay eggs on the shore... locals have to take them and look after them etc during the nesting season from May-September.....we thought we would wait until the following day for better weather. That night, I decided to swap accommodation for something more suitable....was amazed at the lack of availability during low season..either sky high american-owned posh hotels, or dark minging brick quarters at the other extreme for pittance.... ended up in downtown at reasonable place.

Monday during the day, I simply lounged around and got a feel for the dusty streets and hired a bike for a few hours.....went along the coastline and chilled in preparation for our 4 hour turtle patrol observation task that night around midnight...so, off we wondered in dark gear and fully covered with repellent in search of these beasts. The tide had been very high and rough that day, so we were kindly informed at the start that the chance of seeing a single one was rather remote, given that turtles only usually surface to lay when the sea is calm etc. We walked kilometres along the shore to no avail, and began to lose hope when we headed back. Finally,we saw just the one already perched on the sand a fair few metres inland.
No eggs were laid since the hole this gigantic turtle was digging kept on filling with water in which case eggs would be damaged. Nevertheless, we were ecstatic to see its sheer size and features - head as big as football, shell so smooth and solid and flippers soft and fleshy. She had trouble returning to her bloke in the sea so we had to get her out of her huge self-made trench. We helped to take details down for records eg size, identity tag number, age.. apparently they can live 100 years..... amazing...about 3 main types can be seen on good days..

Tuesday: my last day on the Islands. I decided to take an escort boat to a more remote Island to take in the atmosphere and contrasting sights. The whole day was spent swimming in the atlantic ocean and lounging in hammocks sipping cool drinks. We also ventured round bit and walked around the coastline in between the tide, rocks and woodland, hich was great fun. Was nice to escape the tourists and take in the surroundings. Great panoramic photos indeed. At night, a nice dinner was in order to celebrate. Really didn't want to leave the Islands but I had already "overstayed". Retired to bed early to prepare for another long journey the following day all the way to PANAMA CITY.

Wed: a nice scenic boat ride back to the mainland at 6:30am where I hitched a ride to the bus station where I met the only other gringa on the bus, a Swiss-German lass. The 10hr journey wasn't that bad as the windy mountainous roads were impressive and company good. In the capital city, we were flagged down by this hotel promoter who offered us free transport and a room for a modest price in a fab location. Who were we to turn this down for 1 wee night. After dumping our gear, we went out to grab some food and stroll about........Then something terrible happened. We were just admiring the charm, charater and ambiance of the city along Boulevard Bolivar when these 3 tall black men assaulted Yvonne from behind and attemped to mug her..... Thankfully, they only succeeded in pushing her into the street and she escaped with a few cuts and grazes. They went for her bum bag which was fastended over her shoulder and I was a few metres ahead, pacing away as usual. They weren't armed and didn't threaten or anything, just ran off cowardly. Just as well methinks.... they area is renownded for such crime at any time of day but we were just the unlucky ones I guess. Twas at 8pm with a few people about and policemen guarding restaurants instead of street patrol!! bah.So, that kinda ruined the evening in a way although she dealt very well with it. We just took refuge in a nearby cafe and chilled afterwards in disbelief.

Thurs 26th: up bright and early in oder to give the city a little bit of justice within my restricted time parametres of a single day. Obviously, all couldn't be fitted in, so I chose to omit an excursion to the Canal in favour of discovering the city's contrasting ancient, old and new quarters. We started at the Eastern end, in Panama Viejo, or the former city grounds as established by the conquistadores in the 1500s. Following a devastating fire in 1600's, most was burnt down including the cathedral and chapels. The tower reamined in tact and floors were added in later years. This area has scattered low-lying ruins amongst greenery, with a road passing through from the new city.... The view from the tower was impressive - directly opposite, the fairly new carriageway standing above the marshland on the seashore which carries traffic to and from the new city- surrounding towns. In the distance, the high-rise buildings of the new city.....

Then we swiftly moved on to the other side of the city and checked out the Casco Antiguo, where the city eg churches and everything was rebuilt follwoing the fire. This quarter is just beautiful.....abundance of cobbled streets, colourful buildings and green plazas with a nice sea breeze.....We had lunch in a nice authentic cafe. We were lucky enough to bump into two local tourist guides wondering around and they offered to take us on a free walking tour of the sites of interest with fully history...So, we were thus shown the cathedral, churches, theatre, prison, plazas, galleries,souvenir shops...the works..spoilt!!!! On the seafront, we could see the nearby group of islands and in the other direction, the famous Puente de las Americas (Americas bridge or causeway linking the two continents in effect).... got good snaps of all these breathtaking sourroundings...So by the end of the day, all I felt I had literally definitely missed out on was seeing the canal and how it operates. Tough titties. hard cheddar!