Travel Panama

Our Central/South American Adventure. Part Uno. Miami to Panama

Day 1. Miami to San Jose

The plan was for all of us to meet at FLL airport (Fort Lauderdale I think) so I arrived and went to check in. I was told that I needed to show proof of ongoing travel out of Costa Rica so was forced to buy another ticket. I can't remember where I bought it to but I made sure I could get a full refund on it. It was not the cheapest ticket to buy but is was fully refundable. I called them up for a refund about 24 hours later and they actually gave me back a couple of dollars more than I paid for the ticket. It was through Spirit Airlines and I recommend them.

7 of the people I was meeting managed to get through by saying that they where travelling onward overland. I did try this and so did a couple of others but we had to buy tickets. I guess it was just depending on who was on the counter at the time. Try the overland thing first, if not then just buy a fully refundable ticket.

We stayed at the Bevko hostel. Quiet, friendly and reasonably priced.

Day 2. Still in San Jose

Went to Volcano Izariu and did a walk around the general 'park' area. The walk is worth doing because there is a sulphur like you can see and is not difficult. Worth seeing.

Day 3. San Jose to Quepos

Short bus ride from San Jose to Quepos, still in Costa Rica. Can't remember much of how we got there but can't have been too bad compared to some of the bus rides experienced later on. Stayed at the Pura Vida hostel which is translated to Pure Life. This also happens to be somewhat of a motto for Costa Rica which explains why we had seen it often. Hostel was decent. The people were friendly and there was a free bread breakfast with air con rooms. It certainly looked novel, almost like a tree house and one of the workers was a friendly drunk who tried to get us to go salsa dancing. Wish we went.

Went to the national park and managed to spot sloth's (which were quite hard to spot at the start but by the end of it managed to see a couple), monkeys (which like to steal unattended stuff on the beach), armadillos (I touched one and was surprised to find that their 'hard shell' is actually relatively soft), deer, raccoons and hermit crabs. Wish I had some photos but the big ranga hasn't posted them on facebook yet so I can't steal them. Ill add them if I ever get them.

Day 4 Quepos to Panama, David

Panama was the country we stayed in for the longest because we had already books flight to Colombia. In hindsight I wish we spent less time here and more in Colombia (which was pretty much just travelling through) but it also meant we got to do Panama properly.

Most border crossing are pretty standard, but this is the first time I had done one overland, but wouldn't be the last for the journey. Basically the idea is to check out of one country and pay any leaving taxes, then walk down the road to check into the next country. In line to check into Panama there was a guy selling a passport 'stamp' for 1USD. We weren't quite sure what was going on, but he assured us that we needed it, and the people in front of us had them, so for the sake of $1 we got one. Whether we actually needed it or not is still a mystery. Out of the 8 of us, some of our stamps got taken by immigration, and some of us kept them. Further more, a day or two later we were told that we where supposed to pay a $5 incoming tax, though that never caught up to us either. I think we where also supposed to get our bags checked by authorities, but when they asked us we just said no and walked out of the room. Again nothing happened and we just 'waltzed' over the border.

Our first port of call was David where we stayed at the Purple House. It was run by an American woman who had bought the place (I suppose) and decided to make the whole thing purple. It was painted purple, had purple rooms and cutlery. Everything was purple. It was quite novel. Also there was her dog whom was very placid and you could take it for a 10-15 minute walk in exchange for hot water in the shower. (Most showers in Central/South American Hostel showers were cold). She was nice, very knowledgeable and helpful but also a bit odd. I would definitely recommend the Purple House to stay if your in David.

Day 5. David to Chitre

On our way to Chitre we had to make a switch at the Davisa bus stop. I think we where supposed to get off a bit earlier to make the switch, in a bigger city, but we just didn't. Anyway, we got of the 'big' bus, collected our stuff then walked about 5 minutes around the corner to get to Chitre. There was 8 of us and we wanted to all get on the same ride. After about 20 minutes we gave up on that and 3 of us got on one of the locals and arranged to meet in Chitre. These little buses came past abour every 10 minutes. The 3 of us arrived and got out at the bank to wait for the others. We had the plan to just wait where we got off for the rest as opposed to meeting at the hostel recommended by the lady at the Purple House, and it was lucky we did because as it turns out Chitre was bigger than we originally thought. The others arrived all at once, apparently the next bus was a bigger one which we probably all could have fit on. Those ones must come every half an hour or so. Probably worth waiting for if in a group like we where. Being split up and uncertain in a strange country with no form of contact isn't the best feeling, even if it is only for 20 minutes.

The place recommended was Miami Mikes. We walked around a bit but couldn't find it and none of the taxi drivers knew it so we ended up staying at the Santa Risa. Hot showers and a TV at a decent price (I think about 10us a head, which seemed to be the going rate at hostels also). We did try a different place before this one but the price they quoted us and the price they tried to charge us was different so we left.

We walked around a bit and on the way back stumbled across Miami Mikes which was literally 5 mins down the road from where we where. Went in and had a chat. He seemed cool and had no business so we told him that if we stay another night we'd come to his. Went back, ate, watched American Pie 3 and went to sleep.

Day 6. Chitre

In the morning we relocated to Miami Mikes and chilled there for a bit. Mike was an American and had got the place with his girlfriend. She was supposed to help redecorate it but took off somewhere and he hadn't done much to it. It has potential but was a bit of a dump. Beds were very uncomfortable but had a good view from the rooftop so we sat up there and drank a few.

Had another dinner of Seco de Pollo (rice and chicken) which was one of my regular meals. Other favourites of the group included Bistek Arroz (steak and rice), Arroz frito (fried rice), papas fritas (french fries, which are hand made and awesome), pescado (fish), pizza, chicken nuggets, hamburguesas (hamburgers) and Mcdonalds.

Day 7. Chitre to Santa Clara

This was our beach stay. Hot, humid, tropical. I don't really enjoy the beach, in particular the sand or the heat or the bugs, but was still good time. It was closest that we got to a typical relaxing holiday. We stayed at the Las Veraneras and, according to the locals, down the road has the best hamburgers in Panama. So we went to get one which was at a little caravan park/restaurant which also had a small aviary out the back including Toucans. On the way I managed to get 7 mangoes for $1us. (They accept USD in Panama, and the local money is worth the same, so no confusion)

Day 8-10. Santa Clara to Panama City

Another bus trip and we where in Pnama City where we stayed at the Mamallena hostel. If my memory serves me correct it was a decent hostel. Busy. There was a nice patio upstairs our the back to sit and chat, as well as a BBQ out the back, but we didn't test it. Free internet and and make your own pancakes for breakfast, which could be had at any time of day.

We spent the next couple of days in this hostel while looking around the city. We saw pretty average markets and some ruins of which I was not to phased about since we were headed to Machu Pichu, but was a good time filler. At the ruins I had the best banana smoothie I've ever had from the stall run by the lady outside the 'museum' which is actually markets.

On the last day in Panama we saw the Panama Canal. If you go around 3pm you can see the big ships come in and watch the spectacle. It was an impressive bit of engineering but seeing it once is more than enough. Make sure you go see the presentation beforehand (its only an extra $2 or so) otherwise the impressiveness may escape you. Nationals get it about half price, and you may not be one, but the peroxide blonde in our group got away with it (although no one else did).

We also went for a hike through the Panama City Park. If you like nature walks then its worth doing but don't count on seeing anything extraordinarily amazing except for a nice view of the city and you may spot some animals if your lucky (I didn't but I hear they where out there)

To be Continued...

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