When in Doubt, Travel: Panama and San Blas

September 6th - 12th

Still waiting...

Panama is a looooong country - the projected journey was 15.5 hours, and although ours took a little more than 18 hours, more than a third of that time was spent at the border crossing! We were unloaded off the bus on the Costa Rica side to get our exit stamp at about 4:30am. Already exhausted from shaking in the bus's arctic temps (the nausea-inducing kind), everyone was none too pleased when we were relocated outside only to wait until someone showed up to work at the window slightly before 8am. The Panama had similar wait times for the stamp and bag check (PS proof of onward travel required), but we were at least entertained by the various "trajes" of the indigenous people that were passing through as well. Soon after that debacle, our bus had a little breakdown problem for about 45 minutes or so. Luckily, I had taken Bendaryl 50mg in hopes to sleep, so I missed a good portion of the actual driving and, according to Hannah, a checkpoint or two - reason #721 why traveling with someone is advantageous: when they cannot wake you after multiple shakes and taps, they check for chest rise and then go into your bag to hand the waiting policeman your passport! Thanks to Hannah and the makers of Benadryl! When we arrived to Panama, people cheered! Our hostel is situated in Casco Viejo, the "Old Quaters" of Panama and is, quite literally, across the street from the Presidential Palace. The view of Panama City is what you may find on postcards, and they had a paved walking and bike path (or ciclovia) that ran along the water from Casco Viejo into the city center...could not have a better location!

The next couple of days were spent exploring the antiquity and run-down beauty of our area and walking the length of the exercise path. The city itself reminds me a little of Tampa Bay - sky-scrapers, a causeway, great pedestrian paths along the water, and similar climate. We love the presence of sport and exercise here - there are 6 nice basketball courts along the pathway where you will almost always find groups playing (futbol mostly, but occasionally basketball as well). One night, we watched a group of Panamanians "playing" basketball and, although no rules were observed and there was lots of double-dribbling, traveling, bear-hug guarding, and shanking off the backboard (and fence sometimes) going on, they were having a BLAST and it was refreshing to see. Another court had middle-aged women running simple futbol drills while being coached and encouraged by men in business suits - they were of similar athletic caliber as the basketball group, but again, soooo fun! Plus, this is really the first time we've seen kids having the opportunity to be kids! Panama City also provided us entertainment in the form of cab rides - always exciting and rarely legal. by far, my favorite driver was an older gentleman who wore cut-off leather gloves and pretended he was a race car driver - to compensate for the fact he had an automatic, he would shift into neutral at stoplights in order to rev his engine before shifting back into drive once the light changed! Classic!

On the eighth, Hannah and I made our way out to the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal by way of their "chicken buses" (similar use of color to Guatemala's but they use much more chrome and "bling" here). Due to my lack of knowledge about the Canal, I hadn't really understood why it is "one of the greatest engineering feats to date." Now we do! The museum at Miraflores is very comprehensive, interactive, and provides a plethora of visual aids to enhance one's understanding of the canal's history and significance. The canal itself has many different elevations throughout its 27 kilometers and so, to aid in the passage of ships, the locks transfer water between lanes by gravitational flow to either raise or lower the ship to the same level as the upcoming section of the canal! We had the opportunity to watch a rather large ship go through the locks and be lowered for the next portion of canal! It was really interesting to watch - in real time, paint could dry in the time it takes one large ship to be guided through the locks, yet it still was quite exciting! Others thought so too - in less than ten minutes, we went from being two of ten people on the museum roof/canal-viewing area to being squished up against the walls mosh-pit style by a group of 100+ that came out of nowhere. Also, it was nice to learn of the canal's significance within the country - especially since Panama took 100% control over the Canal and it's functioning in 2001, it is a huge source of national pride amongst Panamanians. Miraflores was simply a wonderful experience! On a side note, it won our Central America superlative for "best gift shop," so that's a plus as well.

A ship passing through the canal! Here are the water levels before...

...and after. As you can see in Hannah's face, it is pretty amazing!

The weekend brought us San Blas, an archipelago of 160-plus picturesque islands all owned by the indigenous Kuna! Phones only work about 30% of the time on the islands, so making a reservation at one of the islands with cabanas was quite a production. After the transport van (with A/C!!) picked us up at 5:30, we were then driven to the office to pay all necessary fees. It was there where we told them at which island we planned on staying - when we said ours, we got the same confused look we'd received from, well, everyone we'd spoken to about San Blas. A few phone calls later by the office staff and we were told the island is the furthest out and would take six-plus hours by boat and, resultantly, about $500 more! Whaaaaaat?!?! Thus, we went with his recommendation given our criteria - pretty and as uninhabited as possible! We met two great Aussies, Gemma and Keith, during the transport fiasco - bus ride, border patrol (aka policeman sitting in a plastic lawn chair by the docks who compares your passport to the travel manifest), boat ride to another "immigration control" office on the island of Porvenir (where the "airport" is, and by airport, I mean 70-yard strip of shorter grass that is used by island footballers), and boat trek to our respective islands. One island stood out as more picturesque than many we'd passed, and as we all positioned ourselves to get a clear picture of it, the boat slowed down and Batman Kuna Mullet (the Kuna man with a mullet and Batman visor who drove the boat) announced it was Iguana - the island we were staying on!!! It looked like the islands you see on those "Dream" posters! We explored the views from every point on the island, which is less than 50-square yards of white sand and home to about ten cabanas. That evening, we had a round-table meal (HUGE blue fish caught by the resident Kuna family) with the others staying on our island - three separate Israeli couples, a pair of German brothers, Gemma, and ourselves. The great conversation carried us through the evening. On a side note: so relaxing to be someplace where you don't have to watch your bags all the time and the greatest threats are the falling coconuts - seriously, they would drop FEET away from us...those things can legitimately kill you! We would just hear thuds throughout the night every half hour or so - CRAZY! Hannah and I started looking up when we walked and strolled along the ¨beach¨ in order to evade the potential danger, because really, what an awful way to go!

Batman Kuna Mullet

The island we shared with the Kuna!

Pretty much how we feel being on this island!

All day Saturday, our exchanges would be like "who are we?", "who does this?", and "we are blessed!" We ate dinner with Gemma and Keith, who made it over on an early morning boat to stay on Isla de Iguana because, well, who wouldn't want to move to the best island in San Blas!?! Then, the post-breakfast swim and wade in the crystal blue waters. Hannah and I spotted a group of three teenage Kuna in their wooden canoe who were fishing a little further out...so, like any sane person would do, we joined them! Our skills for, well, anything relating to fishing aren't that great to start with, but then replace the standard pole with a spear + a stick with a rounded piece of metal on the end = we watched. It was a workout in and of itself to simply stay in the canoe and not flip it! Add to that the catches they'd already made, HUGE crabs and lobsters in the bottom of the canoe whose sole purpose was to pinch whoever they thought put them in the boat in the first place. While we "helped" by shoveling warm water from the base of the canoe and replacing it with cooler ocean water via shoes, these kids dove down 15+ meters with only a mask and snorkel...we wouldn't see them for MINUTES!! It was absolutely incredible! When they returned, they held lobsters the size of my neck and head up triumphantly while simultaneously moaning slightly due to the INSANE pressure build-up in their heads! To humor us, and maybe themselves, they paddled the canoe over to shallower water, about 7-8 meters, and dropped one of the lobsters to the ocean floor so we could try and catch it with the stick and metal loop thingy. The pressure in your head is CRAZY...and that was only HALF the depth that they went. Needless to say, whether it was my lack of skill or my vegetarian subconscious, I was highly unsuccessful. Spearfishing...equally unsuccesful and spent the majority of time humming Dori's "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" while underwater. We were called into lunch via conch shell, had a short game of volleyball afterwards, and then futbol with the Australians and two Panamanians vacationing on Iguana as well. Hannah and I were on a team with Kafu Bonton, who we later discovered is a very famous reggae singer in Central America! Hannah, Keith, and I wanted to make it a tri-sport day, so we played catch with...a small coconut, as one does on the best island ever! As the sun began to set, we headed back into the water and were serenaded by Kafu's friend Mario as he rapped to a reggae beat about us being on the island. The best part = we actually understood it!! Dinner brought coconut rice and salad, crazy music, an impromptu dance lesson led by Mario, and a long series of jumping pictures! An AMAZING DAY!!

The end product of all of their hard work! Ours is that exact plate, minus the seafood. So yes, just rice :)

The winning futbol team with our teammate (and first celebrity encounter) Kafu Bonton.

One of many amazing jumping pictures!

Hannah and I hanging out with Aussie Keith.

Sunday brought an early, wet boat ride back to Porvenir for another "Immigration" check. Luckily, the sun came out for the later half of the ride back, allowing us to dry off before getting on the awesomely air-conditioned bus! The driver stopped at Portobelo's fortress ruins that sit on the Caribbean - absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We said our goodbyes to Keith and headed back to Luna's Castle to organize our lives before our flight the next day. There were some street and market vendors in the main square of Casco Viejo, so we walked around a bit and bought empanadas made by a woman originally from Coral Gables, which reminded me of my FAMILY! Love that! We couldn't leave Panama City before a quick pickup game of basketball. As we approached the courts and sat on the bench, one guy asked if we were wanting to play - he literally walked on the court and stopped the game of 4-on-4 to allow us to join! It was refreshing to play again and with HANNAH - she is such a natural athlete and shocked the boys quite a bit!!!! One of the guys on her team, "Ruff Dad," was also a reggaeton artist! That was THE perfect way to end our time in Panama City!