Panama City & San Blas

We arrive in Panama early evening, but before we head to the hostel (booked back in Hostel Casco Vieja) Lynne makes a stop off in Zara much to David's bemusement. With an early start in the morning we spend the night relaxing in the old town.

Up at 4am for a 5am pick up we are tired when we throw our day bags into the back of the 4x4 that is taking us on our 3 day trip! The trip is to the San Blas Islands.

These are an archipiélago which stretch from the Golfo de San Blas to the edge of the Colombian border. There are in total around 400 islands most of which are uninhabited post-card islands consisting of palm tress on white sands surrounded by crystal clear waters. The islands are home to the Kuna people who have been allowed by the Panamanian government to run the islands as an autonomous region. They make their own decisions and have their own economic system . They have successfully built a strong tourist industry by maintaining their traditional way of life.

The islands are only accessible by plane or by taking a 4x4 from Panama up through the Comarca de Kuna Yala National park and to the “port” where you are taken by the Kuna people on small motor boats to the island of your choice. There are perhaps 10 main islands where tourists (on backpackers budgets) stay and these are chosen before you book the round trip by jeep. The whole excursion isn't that cheap but we had been persuaded to visit by many travellers we have met in Panama. The Jeep journey of 2 hours and boat trip of 1 hour took us to Robinson Island. We were dropped off with four other travellers, all Israeli.

The islands are truly beautiful and we were shown to our beach hut right on the beach. The facilities are basic, being a double bed in a hut on the sand, a toilet flushed using a bucket and gravity and a basic tank shower. But none of this is important as you look upon incredible views, rest in the hammocks between palm trees, snorkel in the crystal clear turquoise waters or just read your book on the white sands listening to the waves lap onto the shores.

All meals are provided with lunch / dinner usually being fresh seafood; in fact we had lobster on the first night! During the 3 days / nights we had on the island, we relaxed completely and had a great time with our Israeli friends. One day we took a boat trip to a artificial coral on a wrecked ship surrounded by tiny desert islands, but apart from this we relaxed on our island's beach and it's surrounding waters.

It was a fantastic few days living in true paradise. However, it was disappointing to find that once you walk round to the other side of the island where the locals live (~20 on our island) the shore is littered with plastic bottles and bags and even used nappies! Although they maintain the tourist beaches, some of the inhabited small islands have a litter problem. None of us could understand how they can litter such picturesque surroundings! Nonetheless this didn't detract from the amazing scenery and a brilliant few days.

We returned to Panama City on the 24th June. With only two nights before we fly to Cuba we headed into town to exchange some money and to have a walk around the downtown area. The stifling heat of the city soon had us back in the hostel and walking around the shore line of the old town to enjoy the sea breeze.

On our last day in Panama, we visited the Metropolitan Park to take in some views of the city from the top of the park and were happy to have the opportunity to see our first ever 3 toed sloth!! In the evening, we took a taxi to the Causeway – a man-made link between the mainland and a couple of islands just off the coast. Here, there are many bars and restaurants and is a popular area for the locals to run, cycle and roller blade etc. We enjoyed a drink by the harbour, overlooking some ridiculous sized boats before returning to the old town for dinner to celebrate our last night in Panama!!

David & Boquete

The bus journey to David is bad! A rammed packed mini bus with no space and as a result, no sleep for the 5 hour journey. Arriving into David, we decide to try out hostel Bambo with Jono and Maria. The cab journey there confirms what we have heard that although this is Panama's second city there isn't a whole lot to do here! Arranging one night at the hostel, we head straight for the supermarket where we purchase beers and wine to enjoy by the pool at the hostel to combat the stifling heat! Later we head to a recommended Libyan restaurant for kebabs before seeing the night through back at the hostel pool side.

In the morning we say our goodbyes as the others head to Panama City and we bus it to Boquete. Only an hour away we arrive late morning and find a room in Hostel Mamallena on the main square. Boquete is a wonderful contrast from David being a small town sat in a valley surrounded by green hills and a river running straight through. The town offers lots of walking and other outdoor sports but is most famous for it's coffee. Coffee farms litter the hillside.
We stay here for 5 nights in total enjoying the cooler climate of the region. The first day we spend relaxing in the town and hostel and researching our activities for the rest of our time there.

The second day we take a collectivo along one of the many tourist routes and enjoy a beautiful walk through lush forest up to a waterfall, (yes we have now seen lots of waterfalls on this trip!). After the walk we visit Cafe Ruiz, a local coffee bean farm that makes the town's most famous coffee; David enjoyed a nice cup after living on instant Nescafe for so long! Next door to the cafe are public gardens...well by public, they are open to the public but actually constitute several gardens of a small community of locals (we think American retirees). They are really quite impressive especially as there is no entrance fee and appear to be a hobby of the locals and offer a nice way to spend a sunny afternoon.

The third day, we decide to go on another long walk, this time on an alternative loop that took us up high above the town offering great views down the valley and the chance to see some more of the beautiful varying greenery which spoils the area. The walk home gave us another chance to visit Cafe Ruiz before a lazy afternoon. In the evening after enjoying some food, we headed out with a large bunch from the hostel to a local haunt where we enjoyed the local cocktails!

After a late night, we awoke not long before the England match....unfortunately!! However, today was to be a lazy day spent in bed and resting because tonight we were to set off on the night hike upto the peak of Volcán Barú – Panama's highest peak and only Volcano, which supposedly is the only point in the world from where you can see two oceans at one time, the Pacific and the Caribbean. Apparently the best way to make the climb and to enjoy the views is to hike up over night and arrive for sunset! David was extremely excited at the prospect of a night hike, Lynne less so. However, after David sold it to two more Brits he met during the England game, we had a team of four and Lynne was on board!!
The weather in Boquete is very changeable with a downpour everyday. This ususally comes between 2-4pm however, on this day it never came....we were concerned it would come in the night time! Either way, it didn't affect our preparations, stocking up on a high-carb content meal and dressing in all our hiking gear with plenty of food and water and waterproofs in our bags.

One of the hostel staff took us in his jeep 8km to the eastern entrance of the National Park 'Volcán Barú' at 22:30 so we were set to get going by 23:00. The path is 14km along a rough dirt/road all the way to the summit. During which we would climb 1.7km from the park entrance to the summit which stands at 3.5km.

Our fellow hikers were Dave and Rob and they proved great company as we set off at a casual pace with plenty of time on our hands. It was certainly a strange experience hiking in pitch darkness using our head torches to keep us on the right path.
After only 40mins into the hike, we were disturbed by another torch in the distance coming up the side of the hill shouting to us. It turned out to be an American girl called Amy who had already taken a wrong turn so early on. As she approached us, we all noticed that she was alone, wearing a lot of clothes, had a avery heavy bag and was using a mini-keyring magnalite that wasn't even strong enough to light up more than a few inches of ground in front of her. Straight away we were amazed that she was out here alone attempting this by herself and so badly prepared. She told us she wanted to go alone but since we were here and after a shocking wrong turn so early she asked if she could join us. So we all set off and it soon became evident that she was struggling with our pace (which was comfortable). We had to continually slow down and give her time to recover after shortish stints of climbs. It turned out that she had just arrived in the town in the afternoon and with only a few days here decided to attempt the climb alone. Soon enough the rain we had feared started to pour!! It got worse for Amy as it turned out here coat was not waterproof but a shower jacket! Combined with the fact the temperature was dropping fast as we went higher she was starting to get cold. To make it worse, she was feeling the altitude (having been at sea level in the morning) and was really struggling to keep up with us even for 5 metres. Our progress was seriously being hampered now and we acted by ordering her to give us her weight by splitting her bag contents between us. It wasn't long before she couldn't continue (after we had suggested she consider returning to town earlier based on our concerns of her condition). She was starting to shiver and couldn't go on, she wanted to pitch her tent and sleep right there, however, we obviously weren't going to let her as she was soaked and struggling with altitude sickness – falling asleep in a wet tent and in wet clothes could have serious consequences. The day was saved by Dave (not Henderson) who being a ski instructor has plenty of mountain rescue first aid and after making the decision told us he was going to abandon his hike and take her back down to a shelter we passed at the bottom. He had a stove and some warm dry layers he would put her in, confident that at a lower altitude and with some warm clothes she would be ok. He convinced us two and Rob to continue to the top and after some goodbyes we started back up and they down!

The events of the past hour or so gave us plenty to talk about, especially the naivety of here heading up here alone so badly prepared. Although all of us are fairly decent hikers and have a good level of fitness, the idea of attempting a night hike alone didn't appeal to any of us.

Anyhow, we were off and after a couple of hours the rain subsided to great relief, however, the temperature continued to fall. Being sheltered by the surrounding forests we weren't exposed to the wind but we could hear it above our heads!
The path didn't very too much at any point but at some points it was fairly steep and with now cold wet feet it was starting to get a difficult and required a few extra breaks and a handful of toffees!

By 05:00 we reached the power station that sits at the top of the path just short of the final path that takes you to the peak. We set off trying to find the path but it was so dark and foggy once we stepped out of the forest we couldn't find it and with some sheer drops and visibility only a few metres we decided to take shelter in the power station grounds until the sun started to rise and could help us find our way. This also gave us the opportunity to put on our warm dry jumpers we had been advised to bring and to have some of the tepid tea from David's thermos. Out of the wind we were able to warm up a little but the wet feet were not going to warm up until the sun came. No-one really spoke as we ate our rations and huddled up in a doorway out of the freezing wind. It was very spooky especially with the thick fog and the odd flashing beacon around us. We were even a little more on edge as we had heard of armed muggings of hikers by plant workers during the night hikes and so we were keen to stay quiet and still!

By 05:45 the darkness and fog was lifting and we headed out to the path to the peak we could now just make out. This last bit involves using the hands to negotiate a few rocky obstacles but we were at the large cross denoting the peak by 06:00.

The wind at the top was very strong and very very cold! So cold that we were forced to find shelter behind some rocks at the peak and spend a few minutes at a time exposed to the winds taking in the 360degrees views.

The views although disturbed by a few clouds that denied us a true clear sunrise, were spectacular! In the distance we could see far into the distance across the mountain ranges and flats of Panama and as advertised the two oceans. The immediate geography of the volcano was also fascinating with a huge crater below us and plenty of rocky peaks forming a contrast against the flats and coast lines. We could also see the Islands of Bocas del Toro and we allowed ourselves briefly to discuss the heat and sun we enjoyed down there!

After taking the obligatory photos we were too cold to hang around any longer and headed back down to the power station, by this point, the sun was heating the air and by the time we started back down the track the feet started to warm!

The walk down was down the same path and it was nice and impressive to see what we negotiated in the night time. The forest /jungle was beautiful and at times the trees broke to offer misty mountain views similar to those seen in Peru. There was plenty of wildlife to hear and see, although we only heard the infamous Maya bird of paradise which sounded like nothing else on earth!

We set off from the power station around 07:00 and arrived back at the park entrance around 12ish. At the bottom we were very relived to hear the park range say he arrived this morning and found Dave and Amy at the rangers hut both healthy. A last painful walk to the local bus station left us waiting only 10mins for the first collectivo back to town! The knees were hurting so much from the walk down that we were soon showered and on the bed falling asleep for the best part of the afternoon!

After enjoying a pizza in the evening, Lynne went back to bed as David enjoyed a few beers with Rob and Dave toasting Dave on his heroics from the night before!!
Saturday, our last day in Boquete was spent recovering further before catching the bus at midday back to Panama City.

Bocas del Toro

We arrived tired after a sleepless night on the bus, relieved that would be our last nightbus of the trip! We were herded in to taxis at the bus station and shuttled to the 'port' where we boarded the boat to Isla Colon. The boat journey was a chance to get some sun on our faces and fresh air as we scoped out the islands. When we got to the island we found that a number of the hostels were already full, so we ended up checking into a cheap hotel for our first night, so we could dump our bags and freshen up then check out the area to find somewhere decent to stay for the two weeks.

We found the lovely Hostel Hansi just off the main road and moved in there early the next day before heading to Bocas del Drago beach for some serious sunbathing. Its a lovely beach located at the other end of the island. Despite only being a small island, it takes about an hour by bus to reach but its well worth the journey. We took the first bus there and were rewarded for the early start by having the place to ourselves! We walked around the bay to reach star fish bay, then found a spot to lay out our towels and jumped into the clear, blue waters.

Whilst in Bocas, David took advantage of the cheap prices to book a diving course. He enrolled on a three day course to obtain his PADI Open Water certificate and got two free dives thrown in to the package. He started the course on Monday morning. Whilst David was swimming with the fishes, Lynne attended daily yoga classes at a local studio.

We met some really great people in our hostel, and spent a couple of evenings enjoying drinks on the balcony. On the Thursday night we headed out for drinks with Debs and Grant, a couple from Clapham. We visited Riptide, a bar on a boat, for sunset drinks before heading back to the hostel for dinner then on to La Iguana for some very loud cheesy music, the girls retired early leaving the boys to a VERY late night out!

The next day the four of us were up early for a boat trip to dolphin bay, Caya Zapatilla and a reef for snorkeling. The clear blue water soon cleared everyone's heads and we had a great time exploring the beautiful Cay Zapatilla, a small, uninhabited island which forms part of a protected national park. After a hard day of swimming and sunbathing we hit the local BBQ restaurant for dinner.

We did have a couple on rainy or overcast days in our Caribbean paradise, one such day we hired bikes from a rasta guy on the corner and went cycling round the coast. It was a great way to see a bit more of the island and its beaches. We stopped off at a hotel perched on a hill overlooking the beach for lunch before continuing along to Bluff Beach.

During our second week on the island, we met a French family who were keen to take their children on the night excursion to see the leatherback turtles at Bluff Beach. There are no arranged excursions here, therefore, its best to get a group together to reduce the cost of the taxi per person. We took a taxi around 9pm to the beach where we found the local volunteers who monitor the turtles to take us on a walk along the coastline to the nesting spots. We followed the volunteers along the beach, with only pink tinted torches to light the way, as full torchlight may confuse or distract the turtles. It was a long walk along the beach, about an hour of trudging through the sand and we were all a bit disappointed when we reached the end of the beach and hadn't seen anything apart from some tracks from turtles who had been and gone already! However, on the walk back, our luck changed and we were fortunate enough to see two full size leatherback turtles on the beach laying their eggs. It was an amazing privilege to witness this act which has been occurring on the same beach for hundreds of years. The turtles were huge, we watched from a distance as they dug a hole, laid their eggs, covered them then created false tracks to confuse any predators before lumbering back down to the ocean.

A couple of days during our second week in Bocas we took a boat to Isla Carenero, across the bay from where we were staying in Isla Colon. We managed to find a small, secluded beach where we could chill and swim, then we popped in to Aqua Lounge for sunset and a beer before heading back across the water to our island.

Needless to say, there was a great deal of build up by the English boys to the Football World Cup. The forthcoming USA vs England was greatly anticipated and so it was with much excitement and expectation that we set off to a local bar to watch the game. Unfortunately England failed to deliver the result we had hoped for but that didn't deter us from heading out for a night on the beers! We met up with a Swedish couple, Maria and Juna and, after a few drinks in the hostel, took the boat over to Aqua Lounge to dance the night away! Unsurprisingly the next day was fairly low key, as we started packing to leave Bocas and continue our travels through Panama.

Panama City

We arrived in Panama City around 7pm after a really great flight with Copa Airlines. The first challenge was to get to our hostel, the Lonely Planet says that there is a bus stop just outside the airport you can walk to, however in 30 degree heat and in the dark this isn't really advisable as it is actually quite a walk. So we settled for a mini bus for $12 each that would drop us of at the door of the hostel. Our hostel in Casco Viejo was the last stop so by the time we had dropped all the other passengers off at their swanky upper town hotels and reached ours it was about 9pm. Hostel Casco Viejo was a cheap but decent hostel located in the old town. This area is a beautiful part of Panama, previously it had a reputation for being a bit dodgy but there has been a lot of effort to clean up the area and there is a large police presence patrolling the central area so its perfectly safe to stroll around at night. We headed to the nearby supermarket for some pasta and sauce and whipped up an easy meal for our first night, getting an early night so we could be up early to get a bus to the Miraflores Locks on the canal.

We took a taxi to the bus station and then a local bus out to the locks, this was a really easy and cheap way to get there. After a walk up from the main road to the canal side buildings , we found ourselves entering a blissfully air conditioned building to view the museum before the first of the ships started entering the locks. The museum was really interesting, telling us about the original building attempt by the French, which was then taken up by the Americans, with a host of workers from many different nations using technology from all over the world, including a steamer from Clydebank in Scotland!! We also saw the plans for the new larger locks which are being built to take larger vessels in today's modern shipping industry. Leaving the museum we found ourselves on the top floor of the building on the viewing platform where we had a great view of the ships coming into the locks. The process is fascinating, there is very little room for error, as there is just a couple of feet clear at each side of the vessel. The captain of the boat must hand over control to the canal pilots who will steer the captain through the locks. Watching these huge vessels rising up as water floods into the lock was pretty cool.

After our morning at the Canal, we headed back to old town, We spent the afternoon wandering around the small cobbled streets, exploring the area. There is a beautiful waterside front area to chill out and some lovely, spanish style architecture to admire here.

After packing up and checking out we had breakfast in a little cafe a few streets away, then we had to go back to the bus station to buy the tickets to take us to Bocas del Toro. As we were there, we decided to pop into the Albert Mall next door for a browse round the stores. We then made the fatal mistake of booking cinema tickets to 'The Prince of Persia'. We didn't know it but this was a terrible error and that afternoon we were subjected to 2 hours of torture courtesy of Disney! Its a truly awful film, with a weak script, wooden acting, we could wait until the final credits came up to end our misery. Then it was back to the hostel to pick up our backpacks to catch the night bus to Bocas del Toro.