Panama

Part 2: Bocas Town

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Photo: Lots of waterfront property in Bocas Town!

Photo: The dock at the second hostel/motel. So nice to be on the water!

Photo: Outside the hostel/motel. A welcome relief – AC!

Photo: Boats are the main source of transportation.

Photo: Adam and I heading out to snorkel and explore the islands.

Photo: A birthday celebration at OM!

After a few days in Panama City, we took a quick flight to Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean side of the country. It was a welcome change – finally some beaches! The town is a mixture of hippies, tourists, backpackers and locals all with a Caribbean twist. It was extremely laid back and cool. Tons of awesome restaurants and plenty to see and do.

We spent the first night at Hostel Heike then made our way down the street to Casa Verde. I was ready for some AC and privacy after 3 nights in a hostel. Casa Verde was perfect – quiet and right on the water. I could have stayed there the entire trip and would have been just fine!

The main form of transportation are these little skiffs. You could grab one right in town and they’d take you all around the islands. We did a quick day trip for some snorkeling off of Hospital Point and beach bumming at Red Frog Beach. The guys got hooked on volleyball while I tackled boogie boarding, my new favorite water sport! We also saw a sloth on the way back from the beach – our first major jungle animal siting!

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Part 1: Panama City

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Photo: Panama City Skyline.
Photo: Adam and I enjoying our first day in the city.

Photo: The infamous banana pancakes….harder to make than it looks.

Photo: The streets of historic Panama.

Photo: Outside the hostel bathroom window…..

Photo: Outside the hostel.

Photo: A thunder storm rolls through the city.
We made it back alive. I really can’t believe it. Ten days traveling all over the country of Panama. It definitely was more along the lines of a backpacking adventure vs. a vacation. I’ll take the beaches of Mexico next time around – just sayin’ – though what we did and saw was pretty amazing! These pictures are from the two days we had in Panama City.

We stayed at Aaron and Laura’s hostel, Luna’s Castle, where they’d been running the show for the past year. It was my first hostel experience and it definitely took some getting used to, though I think I could live off of those banana pancakes for the rest of my life!

It’s in the historic part of the city and the neighborhood was fascinating. You had slums, next to mansions all crammed into these small streets. The president of Panama lives down the street too so you had armed guards at every corner – kinda reassuring, kind of not at the same time. The architecure was breathtaking. Then you look across the bay to endless partially built skyscrapers. Seriously, every one has a crane on top. Obviously, the economy has been hit hard down there too.

Spent a lot of time eating, drinking and visiting. It rained a lot too (but was extremely humid), which put a bit of a damper on our sight seeing. I would have liked to see more, but was very glad to head to the beach. Weather like that without a pool, lake or ocean is absolutely no fun.
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Cue that Van Halen song….

PANAMA! Here we come! I can’t believe it’s finally here – our big trip to Central America for Aaron and Laura’s nuptials. We fly out of Seattle at the butt crack of dawn tomorrow for 10 days of adventure in Panama City and Bocas del Toro. It will be cool to see both the Pacific and Carri bean sides of the country. A visit to the Panama Canal will also be on the list for sure as well as plenty of snorkeling, fishing and other beach activities. I’ve heard Bocas Town is a beautiful, quirky tropical location. Lots of mangrove forests and coral reefs. Looking forward to exploring it all! We’ll have very limited access to a computer so I don’t know if I’ll be able to get any photos up during the trip, but I look forward to posting them all right here when we get back! See you in 10 days!

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