Life in Panama City

Hey!

I've been keeping an online travel diary with lots of photos too, its at http://www.travelpod.com/members/bigjohn

Hope everything is going well in Oz, I hear everthing is pretty dry and it's getting chilly there, which is the opposite to Panama which is very wet and with a tropical humid feel which comes with the rainy season.

So, Panama has been great, I've been up to so much, it's hard to know where to start but I'll try to fill you in as best as I can.

I've been hanging out with, Vance every second day or so and he was a top tour guide to take me here, there and everywhere around the place, from the old city ruins, to a fort town in the Carribean. We went out to the Gatun locks with Vance on the Carribean side of Panama and saw great big ships as high as 10 storie office towers (at least) pass through the locks and raise up above your head, it's a must see, but I just don't think photos do it justice.

Afterwards we headed out to the Carribean to the old fort town of Portabelo to look around at the ruins before catching a boat to Isla Grande for a swim in the turqouise waters and laze on the nice beach and a walk around the island to find modern ruins of a tourist has-been resort, with part of a roof missing and signs of abandonment all around, it's easy to see how a restoration of the site could make the area come alive and you'd make a mint. The people were friendly, with them mostly speaking Panamanian Spanish or a Jamaican sounding tongue as you'd pass by, and they'd be content to go about their business as their dogs followed us around in the search of food, or just a good walk which they hadn't had in a while. Up here, there's a big following of the black Jesus with churches dedicated to it, and it's funny to see a white Jesus statue with no African features painted black, and they have a shrine out in the water with waves crashing up on it. It was around here that one of the dogs found a Pringles container to drag around and it thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. The town center had a MacDonalds play center sitting there that the kids would use, but there's no sign that there was ever a MacDonalds there to begin with, so it's just another one of those funny things you see throughout South and Central America.

One of the first things I did in Panama city was go out to Casco Veijo and looked at the French architecture that the French canal workers settled in their time here, before they got basically wiped out by the Malaria, Degue and Yellow fever that was around these parts. I passed through San Filipo on the way there, and it's the real ghetto area around here, which is as rough as it gets, and the worst I've seen, even worse than Bolivia and Peru, but it's just the basic way that some people like around here, were sorting scrap metal is their day job and guarding cars is how they get by. In saying that it's very colourful and there's modern day ruins of houses that copt a bombing or something amongst the rest of the houses and apartments which are barely standing, and others which just need a paint job and maintenance. The history is abundant everywhere here, and that's especially in the Canal.

Another morning, I went out to the National Metropolitan Park where you can hike a series of different trails taking in the wildlife and getting a glimse of Tucans, 2 toed sloths, leaf cutter ants, monkeys and other animals. I only managed to see the leaf cutter ants, and had a monkey bark at me when I got deep into the jungle, and I saw something scurry off a couple times but I wasn't sure what it was, but it walked on four legs and was a redish brown colour. The rest of the time I'd see brightly coloured lizards and birds, an alligator and some tortoises. But I seemed to go off the track at some point and ended up hiking a path that took me a good 90 minutes with no break, and it turned out it wasn't even on the map, so at least I got to go off the beaten track, and there where moments where I wasn't sure where to go next until I spotted the next marker hanging off a tree branch. The whole time I never saw another person, as it's the low season here and you're lucky to see anyone else anyhow, but only when I stuck to the road on the way back did I pass by one other person, so at least I didn't have to deal with crowds this time and the views of Panama City through the jungle where it was a bit surreal at times.

Another spot I visited was Isla Taboga on the Pacific side, where I went yesterday. Catching the boat was tricky, as the conversation went a bit like. 'Can I buy a boat ticket to Isla de la flores' 'You've missed the boat' 'What time do I come back tomorrow' 'Come back for 8.30am' 'Ok 8.30am is it' 'Yes, now do you want to buy a ticket for today or tomorrow' 'I thought the boat had left, that's why I was coming back tomorrow' 'No, it's here, but did you want a ticket for tomorrow?' 'But you said it left, ok today please, that's why I caught a cab out here' Mandatory eye roll because she has to do work and print up a ticket for me now, and I got on the boat.

So, Taboga is a nice island with a sandbar that joins it to another smaller nearby island until the high tide cuts off the natural bridge between the two. I got the feeling that Gringo's aren't the most favoured even though they'd pump a considerable amount of money into the island, as the place known as 'the friendly island' was far from friendly and everyone seemed to have a scowl on their face, even more so than Panama city. I soon learnt that the island harbours a fair amount of anti-American sentiment (more so than Panama City) for many reasons, but one was that the Americans used to use one side of the island for artillery target practice, and there are a heap of unexploded munitions over that side of the island. So, if you're sick of searching for bomb casings which can be found around the place, you can hike to Cerro de la Cruz which is a Crusafix at the top of a hill, but I took the wrong way going up a winding dirt road that never seemed to end as lizards, snakes and birds dashed off the path as I walked along, until heading back to town. Then I went in search of the bunkers that the US Military had on the island, and I didn't find them either, but just a burning pile of rubbish. However walking around the forest, I managed to spot a poison dart frog with it's brilliant green markings on it's black body, as it jumped around catching sand flies on nearby plants. Some of these frogs and said to be very poisonous, with their bright colours servings as a warning signal to other animals, but they make for some great shots.

Finally, I manageed to catch a short flight out to the Pearl Islands where Survivor is filmed on the uninhabited islands in the Pacific, and Isla Contadora is the main one. They are the picture perfect tropical islands with white sand and turquoise waters and with endless palms. Very similar to the Carribean with beach shacks and locals in hammocks everywhere who live life just like you see it on TV, one day at a time. The beaches on Contadora are those to provide a true island retreat and for a main tourist island with a few hotels around to stay the night, its unbelievably quite and relaxes, with non of the chaos that popular spots with their increases crowds, celebrities and drink prices often harbour.

Some interesting facts about Panama that I've learnt and have noticed around the place are thing like:

- It's not uncommon for people to have a servant, houseboy or maide who cleans and does the 'unpleasant' work for them, and no one pumps their own gas, they'll even pay someone walking on the sidewalk $1 to pump it for them, everyone is really lazy from middle class and up.

- Panamanians will go to the beach with their nice car, get out on the sand in their bathing suits, but never go in the water, but if there's a pool, they'll all be in it, as swimming in the sea is known as dirty, but a pool which can be a soup of the best bits of everyone is ok!

- Panamnians think it's a crime that they have to work and show a definite resentment to you when you ask something of them, like your change back!

- Because your white, you have money - end of story! So, the cabbies will try to charge you as much as they can for a particular zone, I found asking the price to agree on it only helped in raising it. Learn the going rates and just give them the money with no questions, if youre lucky you get change.

- Police are not opposed to bribes, and if or when a cop books you on something and the hat comes off, it's $5 in the hat and you're on your way. They'll even look for bribes around Christmas by booking you on fictional offences, and it's a little extra money around that time.

Take care all, and keep well. Adam