Panama 2014

I know this title makes you think of Bora Bora and Kauai and other exotic places. In fact, the Panamanian Pacific coast is less exotic, and a lot less desirable. In contrast with the beaches on the Pearl Islands, the mainland beaches are huge, long, very flat, and gray to black in color in color … Read more

After our adventures in Boquete and Caldera, we headed back over the cordillera to the north coast of Panama, in the province of Bocas del Toro. The ride over the mountains was a breathtaking change from the dry chaparral of the Pacific side to the cloud forest and finally to the Caribbean rain forest to … Read more

The next phase of our trip took us to the western regions of Panama, where we are looking for a place to escape the Pennsylvania winters. Actually, we haven’t totally settled on Panama as our destination country, but it has eclipsed Costa Rica in our calculations, and we haven’t yet ventured to Nicaragua or Ecuador, … Read more

Contadora Island, just twenty minutes from the cacaphony of Panama City by puddle jumper (or an hour and a half by ferry) is a world unto itself, a sleepy little getaway in the middle of the Gulf of Panama. Less than two mile long and a little over a half mile wide, the island is … Read more

Like dutiful tourists, we spent our second day in Panama City seeing the sights: the ruins of “old Panama,” which date back to the earliest permanent Spanish settlements in this area; the newer “old city,” called Casco Viejo, the epicenter of Panamanian government and culture since colonial times; the fabled fish market (mercado mariscos) where … Read more

Why is it that winter vacations always seem to begin with major histrionics and high drama? As we prepared to leave on our most recent journey, we were hit with 18″ of snow and temperatures in the single digits. Our regular snow plow guy didn’t even attempt to plow us out, since our driveway was … Read more