Blatts in Panama: Back in Bocas del Toro

We arrived by watertaxi at the Cosmic Crab and met our doppelganger family.  The owners of the seaside hotel were Jews, with 13 year old boy/girl twins.  For 3 days, the twins jumped into the fish-filled ocean, paddled on surfboards and chowed down on junk food at the beach.  

Playa Estrella is still gorgeous-- so nice that we went there twice.  But, sadly, poor care by people and boats have driven the once numerous sea stars away.  We saw about 10-20, when 1.5 years ago we saw 3-4 times as many.  

One day, we took a touristy boat tour to Isla Zapatilla, a white sand island surrounded by turqouse green water.  Our hunt for the perfect beach continued.  As part of the tour, we did some snorkeling at a reef, saw a speedy sloth in a tree, waiting while our guides ate their lunches, and then went to dolphin bay.  The boat driver killed the engine and not 2 minutes later, a group of dolphins emerged from the depths to do what Ilana describes as a "mesmerizing water ballet."  

This was our second time in Bocas and I have to say that it has it's charm.  It's a tropical Venice, with its canals, and waterways, and waters teeming with tropical fish, dolphins, and sea stars.  

Blatts in Panama: Getting Muddy in Santa Fe

Our guide book said that Santa Fe, a sleepy mountain town in the middle of Panama, is a must see.  So, we checked it out. And they were right!

The views on the drive up were spectacular.  We ate a lunch of fresh rice, lentils, Sancocho (a traditional Panamanian soup) at the delicious and inexpensive Cooperativa restaurant. 

Then, we hiked through the forest, jungle, mud and rivers and ate oranges that dripped from the wild orchard trees.  At the Salto de Bermejo waterfall, we jumped into the frigid pools, swam and played.  

Were we to do it again, we'd plan to spend a few days up in Santa Fe, Panama, a pastoral jewel. 

Blatts iin Panama: Having a Brief Blast in San Blas

This was a pricey day trip indeed.  Between the fees to enter the Comarca de Kuna Yala and parking and taxes and boat fee and whatever else they could think of, it cost nearly $180 bucks for the four of us!  

The weather was iffy and the ocean was rough.  Our tiny skff races through the waves, ricocheting around like a tin can in a tornado.  While we all smiled and laughed as the boat crashed down from one wave into the next, we were all thinking of which island we'd swim to when the boat capsized.  

In the end, we arrived at Isla Perro Chico, wet, weary, but excited to see the gorgeous turquoise water and white sand beach.  One of the various highlights was snorkeling in one of the best spots in Central America.  Through the clear water you could see tons of cuttlefish, seargeant majors, parrot fish, needle fish, as they weaved in and out of a old sunken shipwrick that had become a reef off the shore of our tiny island.  This underwater city, just 20 meters off the shore, looked like an aquarium that we were privvy to swim through.

After 2 hours, our time on the island had expired and we had to jump on our trasport back to the shore.  I think we could have used another couple of hours, but we were fortunate to have the experience.  

The drive from the Interamericana to Carti, the embarcadero was an torturous up and down, twisting road that seemed to last an eternity.  Take your motion sickness pills.  Even I, the driver, felt motion sick!

Blatts in Panama: Homestay Happiness Deep in the Darien

We drove and drove for 3-4 hours on the road into the Darien region toward the small village of Ipeti, home to indigenous Embera-Ipeti people. We arrived at the  doorstep of a home with only a name written on a piece of paper.  Despite our sudden appearance, Senora. Gloria and Senor Lana, welcomed us into their humble (and crowded) home and cooked us Patacones and fry bread galore.  

We slept on cots without mosquito nets (yikes) among a throng of extended family who also suddenly appeared to sleep.  Beds unrolled and dividers appeared from nowhere.  Steve rushed Gloria's sister to a medical clinic about 40 minutes away and didn't return until the room was filled with the sounds of sleeping Embera people and 4 gringos.  

  

The next day, we surged deeper into the Darien with the son's wife's sister in tow, eager to make it to a Embera village deep in the jungle.  After hours of driving and a boat ride to a distant outpost called La Palma, we run out of time, patience and money.  La Palma was truly the edge of civilization-- beyond this tiny outpost there was only jungle.  But, they wanted another 100 dollars for a boat ride into the jungle, the sun was starting to get low in the horizon, and it all seemed a bit of a wild-goose chase.  So, we returned to our village, hot, dusty and tired, and jumped into the river.  

The cold, cool, clean water of the river was a highlight of the homestay.   Benji wrote: "The thing I enjoyed most was swimming with a group of local kids.  We lugged heavy rocks across the river to make a small piscina. We called the 10 year old boy in charge "Jefe" and they called me "Monkey" for the face I could make.  Toward the end, dad took out a soap so we coud wash up after smelling a lot.  They got a kick out of making bubbles by rubbing their hands together.  They taught us how to do it and I managed to make a bubble a foot and a half long, which was nothing compared to theirs.  The little girl made a bubble that bounced on the surface of the river."

Later that evening, after a dinner that included hot fried dough, corn meal totters, and fish, we asked Gloria to give us traditional Embera Jagua tattoos, made from the scorched liquid from a jungle fruit.  It paints on a light brown, but darkens over night into a deep black.  Ilana went to sleep with her tatoo pressed up against her face and woke up looking like she was in a bar fight and lost.  

In the end, we truly enjoyed a brief 2 night homestay.  Marina will miss the cachorro; I'll miss the green parrot that hung around, Ilana will miss Gloria, and Benji will miss Sr. Lana. 

Blatts in Panama: Panama City, Causeway, Casco Viejo and Canal

The Panama Canal and other Cosmopolitan Delights  

Panama City wins the award for our favorite Central American Big City! There are so many vibrant spots to visit. We spent more than five days exploring the beautiful sights.

The Canal

Of course we had to go to the Panama Canal and get a load of the huge ships pulling into the locks –veeeeery sloooowly.  It’s a cool process, and we all enjoyed the museum that explored canal history.  The kids liked the virtual ship’s cockpit, where they got to steer the ship through the locks!  “This is you captain speaking. Please pay attention to the fasten seat belt sign. We’ll be cruising at 2 meters above sea level,” Benji says.

Causeway

We picnicked in the parking lot of the picturesque Causeway; the restaurants were way too pricey! But the views of downtown were spectacular.

Mall Intent

We went shopping at three different malls in search of soccer shoes for Benji---the prices are so much lower here than in chichi Costa Rica.  And of course, on New Year’s Day, we went to see the new Star Wars flick, Rogue One – Our young critics gave it two thumbs up!

Panama City Waterfront

Three times we visited the City’s waterfront boardwalk with incredible views and great seafood at the Mercado de Mariscos ----(Mmmmmm—gigantic shrimp-langostinos).  We gobbled down hot dogs and snow comes and marveled at the pretty freworks on New Years’ eve. Great people watching!

 

Old Town – Casco Viejo

The Casco Viejo was a hot, hot, hot day of touring, but we relaxed in the shady squares and all was perfect.  We popped in and out of churches and visited beautiful squares, and milled around the local food art crafts stalls and gaped at the modern, beautiful Panama City skyline in the distance.

Benji writes: “At one of the historical squares, we stopped for a couple of sodas. This was a nice, cool break from the heat. This was funny because we had to reach up to this guy’s window to get our sodas.  He would occasionally peeked his head through the barred window in a very Onceler-like fashion.   Another highlight was the tall, picturesque obelisk located at the French Plaza.

Meanwhile, we searched fruitlessly for a Laundromat.  True. We stink. But we love Panama City!