The trip towards Panama quickly threw some curveballs our way, as we embarked on our least successful day of traveling so far. Some fried brains on the back of two days of serious festivities, combined with my stupidity and a seriously dishonest Tica Bus employee led to us getting scammed into buying some extremely expensive bus tickets to appease the border officials. We would later learn one of the tickets had been canceled and the staff member had pocketed US$45 for herself which is a lot of money in Nicaragua (1
weeks accommodation.) In reality we’d had a dream run up until this point and were overdue for some bad luck, but regardless we were left with a fairly dirty taste in our mouths. Arriving into San Jose, the Costa Rican Capital our luck continued to dive as we ended up with a very dodgy taxi ride to our chosen hostel which it turned out has long been closed down. Sitting on the street with no ideas and darkness swiftly approaching in a large city we reached our lowest point, before a savior quickly swooped in to resolve our problems and our faith in the kindness of strangers. A friendly local architect pulled up in his car asking if we needed assistance, before inviting us to hop in driving us to some accommodation, providing a local tour guide service on the way.
San Jose was like arriving out of the jungle and back into the western world. New cars, drinkable tap water, nice buildings and shopping malls, we could’ve been sitting in Melbourne as we ate dinner at a food court amongst hoards of clearly wealthy locals. The only downside to this was paying close to Melbourne prices for our food. The whole place was a far cry from our previous 2 months in Central America and even provided us with our first hot shower in over 30 days and a toaster!! Revitalised and refreshed, we made the 4 hour bus ride to Peurto Viejo, a tiny beach town close to the Panama Border. As luck would have it two of Cushla’s kiwi friends were staying at the same hostel and we had an enjoyable dinner and breakfast with them before making our border crossing and journeying to Bocas del Toro.
Bocas is a premium holiday destination for Panamanians and in comparison to our previous locations extremely touristy. Locals ride around on bicycles constantly offering to take you on their tours, to their restaurants and to put you up in their hostels. Despite all this the group of islands are extremely tranquil with several beautiful beaches just a quick boat ride away. We celebrated Cushla’s birthday as two of only six people on the beautiful Wizards Beach on Bastiamos Island, where she was even treated to an antipasto platter with homemade hummus!! Along the walk we visited an off the beaten track cafe on the hill that provided a coffee and chocolate brownie combo that was the rival of anywhere. Apparently tourists have been getting robbed with machete’s while walking the track to the beach so we were delighted to return to the township with our possessions and heads in one piece. Having a birthday was the perfect opportunity for some rare treats so we enjoyed some martini’s and the first sushi we’ve seen on
the waterfront.
Halloween the following day coincided with ladies night at our hostel, so we were flooded with guests from all over the island, with pirate themed outfits the popular choice, much to Cushla’s delight. Up until this point we’d found Bocas a relatively unfriendly place, however costumes and alcohol are the perfect cures for such problems and we had a brilliant night utilising ocean swings off the deck and meeting loads of travelers. After a couple of days relaxing we were then treated to a fairly underwhelming Panama Independence Weekend parade. Having listened to the
drumming practise all week I had some high hopes we’d be in for something truly special but I was to be disappointed on that front.
After a brief boat journey and an overnight bus ride we arrived at our final Central American destination of Panama City. This is a place with two very contrasting stories, the derelict old town which is reminiscent of many places we’ve been before and the sparkling high rises built to house the flow on financial business from the Panama Canal. We quickly headed to one of the much famed giant shopping malls, our first chance in a long time to stock up on some
very hard to find western supplies like clothing and quality hair products for Cushla.
The undoubted highlight for both of us though was the day trip to the Miraflores locks of the Panama Canal, where you get to see giant container and cruise ships ascend and descend some engineering marvel before heading into the Pacific Ocean. This is something I’d been looking forward to for a long time and it would be difficult not to be impressed with the enormous scale of the operations.
Our last week has been supremely different to the rest of our time in Central America, as the enormous step up in the wealth of the countries has changed our surroundings completely. We’d known very little about Central America before arriving and we’ve been blown away by the landscapes, the culture and the amazing activities as we’ve made our way south. It’s a magical part of the world and given its affordability its hard to believe so few people experience it. While sad to be ending a section of our holiday that had been so rewarding, we are buzzing with excitement for the impending visit to the San Blas Islands and sailing on to Colombia.
Nights stayed –Â San Jose – 1, Puerto Viejo – 1, Bocas del Toro – 5, Panama City – 3
Costs – Costa Rica was comfortably the most expensive country we’ve visited in Central and while Panama was a step down on the price scale, we are a long way from the glory days of living on next to nothing. Panama though did have some seriously discounted electronics products
Best Feed – BBQ’s meat on a stick for $1 a go at the Panama City Independence weekend celebrations. All day long all day strong
Interestingly – Costa Rica is apparently one of only two countries in the world that shares a land border and yet maintains no organised military whatsoever
Stay at – Lunas Castle in Panama City. Aqualounge in Bocas del Toro is the ticket for Wednesdays and Saturdays but Casa Verde was recommended as the best in town
To the wench – from Tica bus in Rivers who scammed us, may the karma train smack you with everything you deserve. To the guy in San Jose who saved us out of the goodness of his heart, thanks for restoring our faith.
Cush is loving – The recent trend of hostels to provide complementary pancake mix for frying for breakfast. A wonderful development
Most underwhelming bit – easily goes to the museum at the Panama Canal. It’s hard to believe you could take such an interesting topic and create such a boring museum. The propaganda delivered by the Panamanian government in the ‘History of the Canal’ 10 minute film is laughable.