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Not Just a Canal

By : Mary Jo Catlett
Trip Begins November 3, 2007
Trip Ends November 14, 2007

12 Days in Panama. Do I want to retire here or just visit again and again?
See my photos : Not Just a Canal

Want to go? Discover Panama - Bocas Town, Discover Panama

I went to: Panama
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November 3, 2007
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Triple Rooms/Triple Fun

Panama City, Panama

Our son Jake (33) is visiting and we take off for 11 days in Panama. I've read so many interesting things about Panama and it is touted as an ideal place for U.S. retirees (a couple of years to go yet) so we've decided to give it a look. Our Adventure Life tour should give us a fairly good cross section of the country as we will spend some time in Panama City, Boquete and Bocas del Toro. Adventure Life was able to book us triple rooms throughout the trip.

Day number 1 is all travel. Jake takes one route and Mark and I another (only way to use those precious airline points). We meet in Houston and continue on to Panama City. We don't get to our Hotel, the Albrook Inn, until around 10pm and the little restaurant is already closed but the bar is open and I have a couple of apples and granola bars which are just enough washed down by the cold Panama beer. Our room is basic but clean with 3 beds. The grounds are beautiful with lots of birds and everything is green, green green.

November 4, 2007
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Gatun Lake and Boquete

Boquete, Panama

We're up early for a quick breakfast on the patio. Our guide, Arial, picks us up at 8 for a hike of Camino del Oleoducto (Pipeline trail) which is part of Parque Nacional Soberania. The area is beautiful and we see dozens of birds including motmots and tocans and a tree full of howler monkeys. I attempt to tell Arial the story of how howler got his name (which I learned on our Adventure-Life trip to Peru) and everyone gets a bigger laugh at my attempt to relate the story than at the story itself.

Jake is in heaven taking photos and we finally just hike and don't worry about him catching up. After the hike we go to the Gamboa Resort on Lake Gatun for a guided boat trip of a portion of the Lake. This is the largest man-made lake in the world which is actually part of the Panama Canal. We see a crocodile, white capuchin monkeys and a sloth. The Gamboa Resort was gorgeous - it is now "on the short list" and we will return and stay here. We stopped and had a cold beer on their balcony that overlooks the lake - Arial is worried about getting us to the airport but we decide there is ALWAYS time for one beer.

Off to the local airport for our flight to David and then on to Boquete. Arial gets us checked in with no hassles and off we go on a small plane (always Mark's favorite). Upon arrival in David, our new guide Rolando meets us. We have much to much luggage as we are planning to dive in Bocas and have brought some of our gear with us. He manages to pack all our bags in the back of his 4x4 and we dodge the rain drops as we take off. It rains buckets! We travel twisty turny roads through small towns and the traffic gets heavy and slow at several. Everyone is out despite the rain for a festival. Unfortunately and fortunately, we arrive in each town as the parade has ended. We don't get to stop and watch the parades but we also aren't delayed for an hour or more while the various parades are going on. If it wasn't rainy and muddy I would ask to stop to see a little of the activities but the muddy streets don't look especially inviting.

We finally arrive in Boquete and Rolando helps us get our baggage to our little Round House at Isla Verde. It looks nice here but hard to see the grounds since we're in the midst of a torrential downpour. The house has a double bed on the ground floor, a little kitchenette with a small table and 3 chairs and a loft with 2 twin beds. We settle in, giving Jake the double bed and then go over to the office. Our hostess, Ava, offers to drive us into town and we choose a little Peruvian restaurant for dinner. We've been given a $12 apiece allowance for dinner one evening as part of our package and this restaurant is included. Jake orders a Peruvian dish of beef heart but my stomach doesn't feel quite that adventurous this evening. Mark has a very good shrimp augratin dish and I had steak with grilled onions and vegetables that was delicious. The rain stopped as we ate so we walked home through dark streets with dogs barking. This was fine on subsequent evenings after we had explored the town a bit but was a little unnerving since we hadn't really seen any of the town when we arrived due to the rain. Long day - off to bed.

November 5, 2007
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La Amistad Peace Park

Boquete, Panama

Up early again and Rolando takes us for a long hike through La Amistad Peace Park. They have to wait for me on the up-hills... Rolando is very nice and he and Jake get to chatting - half English and half Spanish. Its amazing how smart, educated and well traveled the guides are. We have a late picnic lunch at the trail head and drive back into Boquete. Its Rolando's birthday and we offer him a birthday cocktail but he's anxious to spend the rest of the day with his family. We will see him in 2 days for our transfer to Bocas.

I'm sore from 2 days of hauling luggage and hiking so Ava arranges for a massage for us by an American woman who is living in Boquete. Ava drives us over to her house and we will take a cab back to Isla Verde after the massage. The massage is heavenly and the woman's house is charming. The back of the house overlooks a babbling creek and gorgeous natural grounds that slope down to the creek.

Jake has taken a little nap and organized his "stuff" and is ready to explore. We walk into town and stop for a cocktail and then find a place for dinner. Town is interesting. It is not overrun by tourists as I expected, just local people going about their business. No rain this evening so we pick up a six-pack after dinner and go back to our little round-house and sit outside under the stars and enjoy the lovely evening.

November 6, 2007
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Free Day in Boquete

Boquete, Panama

Well, while we got our massages yesterday, seems that Jake has done some research. He has found a local place he wants to take pictures. We eat breakfast outside on the patio and head over to "Paradise Garden". This is a garden/animal rescue place run by a "retired" British couple. They spent 2 hours with the 3 of us showing us the grounds and telling us about their efforts to educate the local people about the importance of preserving the local animals and birds. They have several parrots, other birds, a young howler monkey in diapers, a very nervous (previously abused) white capucian monkey, a wild margay cat, a bunch of tamarins and too many other critters to mention. The work they are doing is amazing and we weren't ready to leave when our taxi arrived. We made a donation to the cause and promise to visit again if we return to Panama.

After a "local" lunch in town (always find the spot crowded with local people) we walked to "Mi Casa es Su Casa". This is a private home and grounds that is open to the public for tour. The grounds are quite large with beautiful flowers, bushes, little waterfalls and streams. Mark, feeling the call of nature walks into the house where a maid tells him the house is not open to the public. Despite his look of urgency, she stands firm and Mark does a frantic jog down the street to Ruiz Coffee factory. There is a house for sale across the road from Mi Casa that I have seen on the Internet so as we leave the gardens Mark and I hike up the hill to look at the house. Jake decides he'll meet us at the coffee shop. After a steep hike up the hill we look at the outside of the house and decide not to call a realtor but instead we meet all the neighborhood kids and take their pictures. They like the digital camera and want us to take more pictures as they goof around posing. They spoke no English and my Spanish probably was useless but we still had fun with them for 15 minutes. We met Jake, lounging at the Coffee shop and joined him for a cup. The weather, after the first afternoon of rain while we were traveling has been wonderful; cool and sunny.

Back to Isla Verde to cleanup and rest a bit before dinner. We walk to Panamonte Inn and Spa which has been recommended and we have an elegant dinner complete with wine and after dinner cocktails. This is a lovely old Inn and a perfect ending to our short stay in Boquete.

We have really enjoyed Boquete. It is a small town where everything is within walking distance. We didn't bother visiting the fancy gated (American) communities outside of town but understand that they are very nice and the golf course is quite presentable. The area itself is very beautiful with Volcan Baru in the distance and all the hiking one could wish for in the largest Nature Preserve in Central America, La Amistad International Peace Park. This area is so green that it makes your eyes hurt!

November 7, 2007
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Bocas del Toro (Key West South)

Bocas del Toro, Panama

This morning we transfer to Bocas del Toro. Rolando picks us up early in the morning - so early that we have gotten a "breakfast to go" from Ava. The drive is interesting. Its a grey day and we drive up over the mountains to Almirante. The road was washed out in areas and we stopped to see the view down to the Atlantic. Almirante is a dump - or at least what we see of it. We go directly to the water taxi docks where we will transfer by boat to Bocas. We bid Rolando good-bye. He has been one of the best guides we have ever had. The rest of our trip is unguided except for a couple of hikes that have been arranged. The trip to Bocas is grey, wet and choppy!

We had upgraded our hotel to Hotel Bocas del Toro and then upgraded our room when we got there. This turns out to be our favorite hotel during our stay. Our room was on the third floor and faced the street which turned out to be more interesting than facing the water. The room is very large and comfortable for the 3 of us. The hotel is new but is built with big wide wooden planks as paneling on the walls and has old photos as decorations. It has an old feel with new conveniences. We have arrived in time for lunch and we take big umbrellas supplied by the hotel and stroll over to the main street. We found McDouglas Golden Grill and had chili dogs. We strolled around town taking pictures between rains and Jake left to go check emails etc.

Left to my own devices, I find the local expat bar, Bahmfalks. This is Key West on the crusty side and I feel right at home. As it turns out, we visit this same bar every afternoon during our stay for our afternoon "pick-me-up". This first afternoon, the patrons ignore us until the man in charge wanders over and sits down on a stool next to me. He looks to be in his late 40s and has his arm in a sling. As he sat down, I gestured toward his arm and said "I hope there's a good story at least!" An hour later, we leave the bar to go meet Jake with our sides aching from laughing and vow to return the next afternoon.

THE STORY
Bill has only been in Bocas for about 6 months. He buys the bar and having a big heart and dubious judgement he hires Jacque - an enormous, local black woman (guessing 6'3" 230lbs) with a reputation as a hothead and a bucket full of trouble. He eventually has to fire her because things just aren't working out and that's when the fun begins. There's something about going to employment court and when she loses, she picked up a 2x4 that most of us couldn't lift and halls off and whacks Bill with it.

Bill is a great storyteller and half of the bar patrons join in with their own rendition of the story. We have new friends!

November 8, 2007
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SCUBA Rain and Flat tires

Bocas del Toro, Panama

We haven't read great things about the diving in the Bocas but we've scheduled 2 dives anyway. We check in first thing in the morning and the process seems somewhat chaotic - should have been a sign! I have brought along a camera, housing and flash that I haven't used before and I'm worried that the flash isn't going to work. It doesn't. My rental regulator free-flows as I back roll off the boat and they decide to swap out my tank as I hang precariously on the side of the boat. The water is murky, the reef is awful and the flash isn't working - then I check my air - or lack thereof. I should have had over 1000psi - not so! It was the end of the dive anyway. It's raining and the diving was worse than poor so we cancel our second dive and go back to the hotel and cleanup and dry out but not for long.

The rain has let up so I convince the boys to rent bikes and see how far inland we can explore before we tire out (pun wasn't intended there). Off we go. About 6 miles into the ride with the skies looking very threatening again I get a flat tire. We have to turn around and walk the bikes back 6 miles in the once again ever-present rain. The vendor was at least willing to refund 50% of our rental. But hey, I know where we can get a cold beer and visit with the locals... we cleanup and dry off again and go quench a thirst. Dinner at the hotel later on.

November 9, 2007
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Red Frog Beach and more Rain

Bocas del Toro, Panama

This morning we are scheduled for snorkling and a visit to Red Frog beach on Bastimentos. Guess what! Its rainy and cold. It's never cold in the Bocas. We set out anyway and with a group of about 8 plus the guide. The first stop is in Dolphin Bay where we do indeed see pods of dolphins. The boats in the bay take turns driving around in big circles which inspires the dolphins to follow them jumping out of the water. Impossible to take pictures of them - I just keep getting fins.

Then on to Cayo Crawl and snorkling. Jake decides to stay at our lunch stop. He sees no reason to snorkle in the cold and rain. Mark comes along but refuses to take off his warm but wet clothes to get into the water. I snorkle and its not awful - a far cry better than sitting in the boat and the water is actually warmer than the air. After snorkling we stop for lunch where we had dropped Jake off and we head for Red Frog beach. We are met immediately by little boys who have the tiny red frogs on a giant leaf for us to see and photograph. We hike to the beach and find 2 frogs on the way. I guess they are becoming harder and harder to find due to all the development in the area. The beach is lovely and I play in the surf for 45 minutes while Jake and Mark find the rustic concession stand and have a couple of cold ones. I think they would have rather had hot chocolate. But, rough seas, cold and rain aside, this is a beautiful place and I've had fun!

We're back in Bocas town before 3 and I have arranged for a massage in our room. This is heaven.

The nightlife in Bocas Town looked like it might be interesting but we managed to wear ourselves out every day so that by the time things got hopping we were ready to read for an hour and fall asleep. This evening was a bit of an exception. On our morning excursion we had met a nice young Finnish man. We suggested he meet us at our favorite bar. By the time we got there, he had already made himself at home and was playing poker with the locals.

This evening, we met another character. Poor guy, his wife (#3 I think) had thrown him out and he was all by himself and his boat was still in Florida. He told us that she really was a sweetheart and he still loved her. Everyone has a story.

November 10, 2007
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Last Day in Bocas del Toro

Bocas del Toro, Panama

Just a nice relaxing day in which we bummed around the town, did a little shopping and eating and generally soaked up the atmosphere. We heard the sounds of drums in the distance and followed them to the local school yard where the boys were all practicing the drum corps. while the girls cheered.

One of our new friends at the local bar suggested Om Cafe for dinner. It was Indian food and our best meal in Bocas. Terrific atmosphere.

November 11, 2007
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Transfer to Panama City and Local Tours

Panama City, Panama

This morning we transfer back to Panama City and the Albrook Inn via the Bocas airport. Seamless connections. We are meet at the airport by our guide and taken to visit both Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo which are very old Panama (ruins) and a section of Colonial Panama. Both areas are very interesting, both on the Pacific coast (south) side and it isn't even looking like rain!! Our guide fills us in on some of the history of Panama and why certains things are built where they are. We see the prison cells in Casco Viejo where the cells often flooded. There seems to be sadness and violence in every country's history. Finally, near the end of the day we go to the Miraflores locks and visit the museum there. The history of the canal is facinating and we watch the last ships of the day go through the locks from the Atlantic side to the Pacific. Earlier, while visiting Casco Viejo, we have seen the ships queueing up on the Pacific side to enter the canal from the south.

I've got to say, this has got to be a better way to see the canal than from a cruise ship. We got to boat on Lake Gatun with ships going through the canal on our first day of the trip and we have seen the ships entering from the Pacific and finally visited the museum and watched the final ship pass completely thru the Miraflores locks today. Panama doesn't seem to have missed a beat when they took over the canal. The operation seems to be running very smoothly.

Today is our last day on the Adventure Life portion of our trip. After a full day of touring we go back to the Albrook Inn and check out the swimming pool and hottub. We choose to eat dinner at the Inn and just relax the rest of the evening.

November 12, 2007
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Panama City

Panama City, Panama

Up at our leisure this morning and we have breakfast at the Albrook Inn on their lovely outdoor seating area. The birds join us for breakfast as they have each morning that we have been here. We're all packed and ready to tranfer to the Sheraton Panama Hotel and Convention Center in Panama City. The cab ride to the hotel goes through the entire city to the south where our hotel is located.

This is a beautiful full service hotel with shopping, several restaurants, pool and spa. After checking in and getting settled we venture out to the Amador Causeway for spectacular views of Panama's skyline and a stroll along the causeway.

Jake, a professional photographer, has chatted on-line with a young female photographer who lives in Panama City and they arrange to meet so that she can show him the sites of Casco Viejo and have a cup of coffee. He returns after having a very nice time but complaining about the ever-present grey sky that doesn't make photographers too happy. Do notice the one photo of the Panama skyline (mine - Jake's similar shot is fantastic) where we have blue skies with huge cloads forming.

To see more of Jake's photos of Panama (some of which I included in this album): http://flickr.com/photos/44169863@N00/2097556768/in/set-72157603409165474/

November 13, 2007
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Shopping, Pool time and Las Tinajas

Panama City, Panama

The guys really like this hotel - its hard to drag them out to see more of the city but we do venture out to local shopping areas for lunch and a little sight-seeing. A wonderful little man stops us and directs us to the open-air market where people sell crafts and everything else imaginable. The gentleman is a local tourist ambassador and is charming.

Back to the hotel for some pool time. We've made reservations for Las Tinajas for dinner which is a restaurant that specializes in Panamanian dishes and has a Panamanian Folkloric dance show several nights a week. This turns out to be a very festive evening and we enjoy both the meal and the dancing immensely. One of Las Senoritas pulls Jake out onto the stage to dance... where's the camera when you need it? For anyone considering going to this terrific show, heed the travel guides warnings and book the show ahead of time. Dinner reservations DO NOT guarantee a seat for the show! We were very lucky that they had a cancellation.

November 14, 2007
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Travel Day - Back to Chicago

Chicago, IL

Ahh, last day. This has been a wonderful trip and we actually feel like we have seen some of the real Panama. The canal was fascinating but there truely is much more. The portion of the trip organized by Adventure Life was flawless and the final couple of days on our own was a nice way to unwind and see Panama City on our own terms.

Don't let the rain stop you! Get out there and have fun!

1-5 of 23 imagesMy Travel Photo Album


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