Hitting the big smoke in Panama City

Leaving the tropical delights of Caribbean island life was always going to be a bit difficult, but it was time to head to the city.

Panama City is the cosmopolitan capital of Central America. And while I had popped into a few cities while travelling through Central America, I never felt safe and these places had a distinct 'you might get shot' kind of feel.




Panama City on the other hand is cool. Now I'm not saying you wont get shot here, but the centre of the town did seem very civilised. I had a wander through some of the seedier areas where we had a taxi driver yell to us to turn around quickly as it wasn't safe, but we kept on wandering. I came out of the local markets alive, and not a sign of a weapon anywhere.

The city shoreline is packed with parks and shimmering skyscrapers. Mmmmm, I was back in civilization.

But the central hub of any city is not where you discover what the place is really about.

I headed to the colonial district of Casco Viejo to discover the true city and it's history. This part of the city was left crumbling into the sea for many years but is now part of a major regeneration project. Feeling like I was back in Havana, I wandered the twisting cobblestoned streets in awe, loving the dilapidated buildings standing next to a funky coffee shops, cute little churches and beautiful plazas. It was obvious to see why this area is now Unesco World Heritage listed.

I could have walked around here for days. In fact I did.

Mmmm, I probably got a bit carried away with the photos then, but the area was amazing.

I also went to the other end of town to see the ruins of Panama Viejo. Yes I know, I'm done with ruins but these weren't the work of the Romans, they are what's left of the orginial city after it was ransacked by Sir Henry Morgan in the mid 1600's.

We might have been told the area was closed for the day but there aren't really any (unopenable) gates, so we wandered around for a while.

But while Panama City itself is wonderful, it is the canal that shot it to world fame when the first ship sailed through in 1914. I spent a morning at Miraflores locks watching sail boats and huge freighters being raised and lowered through the locks. The worlds biggest ever engineering project is truly wonderful, but I did think it was rather narrow. I wouldn't like to be trying to steer a big boat through that little passage. Apparently I'm not the only one who has questioned the width of the canal, a project is about to commence to make it loads wider.

Panama City was also the place where I had to say goodbye to some wonderful travel buddies. That's always sad, but that's life on the road I guess.

Beautiful Bocas .... a panamanian paradise

Sometimes you find a place that suits you. Over the past year I've found quite a few of this places. They typically involve sun, sand and sea.

Bocas del Toro is a place that suits me. A lot.





The name Bocas del Toro is given to the province, the group of islands and the main island. Confusing, I know. This group of islands is amazing. Just over 30 k's from the Costa Rica boarder in Panama it is a short boat ride from the never ending banana plantations on the mainland. It's lucky that the trip is a quick one as my arrival at the wooden shed that is the ferry port coincided with a tropical downpour. I was drenched just grabbing my bag from the back of the bus. But not to worry, I was headed for island life.

These carribean islands are filled with West Indians, Latinos and a few resident gringos so the pace is very relaxed. There are six inhabited islands and loads of others that dot the clear blue waters.

My first stop was Isla Bastimentos. We grabbed a water taxi from the main island and not 10 minutes later pulled up at the verandah/jetty of our home for the next few nights, a cool family run hotel built out over the water.









The water around Bastimentos isn't clear like the main island. It seems that the island picks up all the rubbish fallen in the water from Bocas town. The shore was a bit of a rubbish dump to say the least. But this didn't detract from the charm. And I've seen more than my fair share of garbage filled streets and water ways, so this is nothing new for me. Ramshackled huts and houses are built on stilts out over the water and along the waters edge. Many had seen better days but they were filled with laughing children and relaxed locals.

The beauty of this island is away from the town. The north side of the island is lined with amazing palm fringed beaches. My favourite was Red Frog Beach, although it is more developed than many of the others ....  this is handy is you feel the urge for a coldie on a hot day!

The southern end of the island is covered in mangroves with lots of tiny islands and coral reef filling the marine park area. There is also a spot where you can always find a dolphin or two hanging around.

After a few days of chilling in the hammock, swimming and snorkeling it was time to see what the main island, Isla Colòn or Bocas as the locals call it, had to offer.

There is no beach within walking distance from town so I decided to save money on water taxi's and find a place with a pool. Mmmmm a swimming pools with views of the ocean. I like it. But I did grab a water taxi or two, there was so much to see, I didn't want to miss a thing.

Bocas is a wondeful mix of chilled out locals and even more relaxed gringos. The sandy streets are full of people cruising along on push bikes and there's a load of fun and unique places to eat.

If you are looking to really, really relax, head to Bocas. Mmmmm, think I could live there. Actually, I think I should live there.

Link to all pics
https://plus.google.com/photos/114744556410208547930/albums/5835667949045119105?authkey=CPjkt-unyIOfXQ