Jess and Stacey’s Travels

Click on photo for more Panama pix

We spent two weeks in Panama and really enjoyed it.  Stacey liked it more than Costa Rica.  What is not to love about a country that offers fried dough for breakfast and has $.25 ice cream cones!  We weren’t planning on going to Panama, but were convinced through the recommendations of others-and we’re happy we listened. Panama ranks up there as one of our favorites to visit in Central America.  The landscape in areas is beautiful, particulary on the ride from Bocas del Toro area to Boquete.

We heard mixed reviews of Boquete – too many gringos but a beautiful area.  We ended up really enjoying it.  We stayed there for several days in two different weeks, broken up by a trip to the San Blas islands.  We stayed at Hostal Boquete, which we recommend.  Paul (and Molly) were very helpful and just really nice people. Paul was kind enough to let us leave most of our stuff there while we visited the San Blas Islands so that we didn’t have to lug all of our stuff.  We had good weather for most of the time we were in Boquete with the exception of a few rainy days.  We took a really serene hike through an idyllic area, visited some gardens including a privately created ‘mi jardin su jardin’, lost lots of golfballs on the areas only golf course, and tooled around in the hills in our rental car.  In 2001(?) AARP named Boquete one of the top places to retire.  Consequently, there are lots of “older” Americans there but we didn’t encounter that many until the last couple of days when we ran into a bunch at a few restaurants.  Overall, our experience in Boquete was really nice.   

 

Click on photo for more pictures from Panama

As mentioned above, we went to The San Blas Islands, aka Comarca de Kuna Yala which were also recommended by other travelers.  The 360+ islands that make up the San Blas are located off the northeast coast of Panama and are governed by the Kuna, an indigenous group found in Panama and Columbia.  Only a few of the islands are inhabited.  We stayed on Yandup Island which is next to the Playon Chico community.  Yandup Lodge is the only thing on the island.

As you can see in the pictures, it is a set of cabanas and one larger cabana where guests dine. 

After breakfast each morning, we were taken by boat to a different nearby uninhabited island to snorkel and lounge in hammocks.  We were brought back to Yandup for lunch – usually a meal of fresh crab or fish.  After lunch. we read or napped and then were taken by boat to visit the Playon Chico community for a cultural excursion.  We were brought back for dinner, also a seafood based meal.  In the evenings, we played Uno with the Kuna couple (Johnny and Malwita?) who manages the lodge or we read.  The first day, we were the only ones at the lodge but for the following three days 1-2 other couples came and went which made our Uno games a bit more exciting.  If you’re looking for canopy tours, a bar scene, or a good burger, then this isn’t the place for you.  We enjoyed it very much. 

After San Blas, we rented a car in Panama City and headed back to Boquete to retrieve our stuff and explore the area.  After a few days there, we drove to El Valle de Anton.  On the way, we encountered Panamanian police four times-three license checkpoints and once being pulled over for allegedly commiting infraction #50, as the officer informed us.  We have rented a car now in two countries.  We have been pulled over in both countries.  First, if you remember from a previous blog entry, in Nicaragua for the triangle violation for which were were let off. Now in Panama, violation #50.  By virtue of it being #50, you might surmise that there are 49 other more agregious violations.  As we learned, #50 is driving in the left hand lane when you’re not passing. After the officer determined from us that we would be paying for the ticket and not the rental car company, he let us off. Phew, 0-2 on tickets so far.  We continued on our way to El Valle, in the right hand lane.

We spent four days in El Valle, and by our accounts about three days too long.  We heard great things about El Valle but we were pretty bored in the town.  The best part of our visit was spending part of the day at Playa Blanca (Farallon).  The beach is nice, good for swimming.  Unfortunately, we felt like we were under surveillance by the resort security guards.  There are a couple of resorts that virtually block most access to the public beach.  Most people pay a fee for a day pass to use the resort facilities.  Since we only wanted to enjoy the PUBLIC beach, we didn’t pay, and were quickly informed that we were not allowed to sit on the resort chairs on the beach.  We tried to exit the beach by walking through the resort’s property and were headed off by two resort security guys.  They take their job very seriously.  In El Valle, we visited the hot springs which were more like luke warm springs.  We were going to take a hike but were discouraged by the big group of kids who were hanging out at the trail head to offer their services as guides.  We stayed at Hotel Residencial which was decent and very clean  They had wi-fi access on their roof terrace which we appreciate.  We recommend the breakfast at Anton Valley Hotel.  We ate there a couple of times.  Looked like a nice place to stay but we didn’t stay there.

After El Valle, we drove to Panama City (staying in the right hand lane).  We’re not so good with the directions in Panama City.  We got lost trying to leave the city going to Boquete, and we missed our turn entering the city.  We stayed at Hotel Marpaiso because every other place we contacted was full.  It has it’s pros and cons.  Free internet, an ok restaurant downstairs, and airport pickup.  The rooms aren’t very good but they’re clean.  Panama City is one of the few Central American capital cities that you’d want to spend any time in.  There are decent restaurants and nice neighborhoods to explore.  We really liked Restaurant Beirut, great Middle Eastern food.  We walked quite a bit around the city, although it is not exactly a walkable city-too big.  We also took a bus to the visitor’s center of the Panama Canal.  It looks like a bigger version of the locks in Seattle, but without the cool salmon ladder.

We left Panama on the 22nd for El Salvador to spend Christmas with a fellow returned Peace Corp volunteer, Cynthia, who is living in Santa Tecla with her husband and daughter.  Next blog post will cover El Salvador.   

Tags: Boquete, El Valle, Panama, Panama Canal, Panama City, Travel

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 5:24 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.