Panama (February 2007)


(includes Panama City and San Blas Islands)


 
Link to My Review of the Radisson Decapolis
Link to My Review of the Coral Lodge
Link to My Review of Restaurant Casa Blanca

Panama Pete Adventures  (previously called Adventures in Panama): We used Panama Pete Adventures to coordinate our day trips from Panama City. We paid about $10 more per person per day in order to keep our trips private rather than trying to add on with another couple or group. We were very pleased with the agency, and with Pete Garcia, the director (his wife is the owner) who acted as our guide. He is an America (Florida-born), so his English, as well as his Spanish, are perfect. We took his "Panama Canal Adventure", which can be taken on any day of the week, versus the partial and full transits that take place on Saturdays only. Pete and his driver picked us up at our hotel in Panama City in a nice air-conditioned van, and we drove along the promenade (Balboa Avenue) to Flamenco Island/Amador Causeway (which we later went back to for dinner because it seemed so nice), past the bridges, to the Miraflores Visitors Center (where we had about 2 hours on our own), then to Gamboa, where we got in a small boat with Pete, the driver, and someone piloting the boat, and spent a few hours on the Canal. We also took Pete’s "Jungle Adventure" which was amazing! Again, we were picked up at our Panama City hotel and driven about an hour to a place on the Chagres River where we were met by an Embrera Indian in a dugout canoe. He transfered us by canoe to his village called Parara Puru, where we suited up in rappelling gear. We took another dugout canoe farther into the jungle, where we hiked for about an hour uphill to the place where we started rappelling down four different waterfalls. It's actually called canyoning/canyoneering, which involves hiking, climbing, rappelling, scrambling, swimming through pools in the river, walking in/on the riverbed. Going up was harder and scarier than coming down. We then went back to the Indian village to change and have lunch tilapia (which they were catching from the river when we arrived, accompanied by plantains served in banana leaves and fruit--no plates or silverware involved), and we had some time to look around, shop for handicrafts, etc. You could just take a trip to the Indian village, which was worth it, but the trip that focuses on the village only. The Embrera are a beautiful culture, and completely different than the Kuna we saw later in our trip. Our third full day in Panama City we spent in Colonial Panama, just walking around. We then flew to the San Blas (Coral Lodge) for three nights for some rest and relaxation.
Islands: The island where we had breakfast was very small and very crowded (it was not called Yandup). There were two couples staying there, but it meant using outdoor bathrooms and traveling to the other islands to find something to do. There were no stores, school, church or anything on that island that I could see. It was very small with very little open space to roam. The island of Nalunega seemed much nicer and bigger. There was a decent hotel that had traditional bathrooms and running water, as well as a small beach. Nalunega had a nice school, some small shops (although they were in hut-type structures), a small Kuna museum (again in a hut), a large basketball court, etc. It was possible to walk around there, and that island was really cute and very Gilligan's Island-like. I could have spent the night there if necessary (not like on the first island), although the accommodations were still a bit rustic for my taste. The private island where we snorkeled and had lunch was called Wailydup. There was nowhere to stay on that island. There were two houses for the people who lived there and run the snack-bar (they also had decent restrooms). It was absolutely beautiful with white sand, palm trees, really blue water, and plenty of place to walk around, although the island wasn't huge.














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