Panama Day 3: Snorkeling, Sloth Poop and a Great Dinner in Bocas Town

Brittany and me

I had breakfast looking out over the Caribbean towards the marina, and then walked down to the water taxi stand located towards the end of Calle 1.  I stopped in at Starfleet to say hello to Brittany and get a picture since I did not think I would see her before I left.  She starts her PADI Instructor Development Course on Wednesday and is taking a few fun dives before getting into her classes.

Ernesto, the water taxi owner, took me to Hospital Point; a spot Brittany had recommended.  I asked to be picked up in two hours and had this beautiful little cove all to myself for well over an hour.  After a while a couple showed up that looked very familiar and I realized that I ran into the taxi driver that morning during breakfast and they were staying at Hotel Olas.

This couple did what I should have done and just rented the water taxi for the day.  When we arrived at Hospital Point my driver pointed out the hand written signs here and there announcing that there are backpack thieves in the area – just great.  I had my camera with me and a few other items that I would have hated to lose.  After taking a few pictures and casually wandering about the area to scope things out I hid my fin bag under some fallen palm fronds and hoped for the best.  I put my water shoes and bottle of water under a big rock.  At this point there was really nothing I could do, so I swam out about 10 yards and put on my gear.

Swimming straight out into the cove I came across some very nice coral heads and the reef curved out around the bend to the left.  The area would be perfect for first-time snorkelers or kids because it was pretty shallow (less than 20 feet) until you came to a drop off that went beyond the visibility, which was about 50 feet or so.   After exploring for a while I went back into the beach and dropped off my snorkel and mask and just swam for a while under the trees that hung out over the water about 30 feet or so.  I thought I smelled something fermenting and noticed that there was a huge sapodilla tree filled with fruit.  There were a few of the fruit bobbing in the water so they were dropping off and, no doubt, beginning to rot and ferment.

Ginger at the cove

Noam, the manager of Hotel Olas, had suggested that I also check out Red Frog Beach for swimming and to see a sloth.  So when Ernesto showed up at the appointed time, I asked him to take me to Red Frog as well.   Noam is an interesting guy… he is from Israel and speaks better Spanish than English.  I wish I had had more opportunity to talk to him about how he ended up in Bocas running a small inn.

Anyway, Ernesto agreed to drop me off at Red Frog and pick me up another two hours later.  This is when I realized I probably should have worked this whole day out in advance with him because I ended up paying him $28.00 for the trip, not including the $3.00 for the Red Frog entrance.  Oh well, live and learn.

A sloth -- very hairy and oddly cute

Red Frog is not just a beach; it is a resort, marina, restaurants, villas, and hostel all with a very well thought out infrastructure.  You could have a truck deliver you to the beach, rent an ATV or walk.  I chose to walk because I wanted to check out some of the jungle on the way and take pictures.   I had seen a sloth on the way in to the complex, which was pretty cool and I saw some interesting gingers and heliconias on my walk to the beach. I had heard that sloths don’t come down from their perch except for maybe once a week.  I don’t know if that is true but I can attest to the fact that they just poop from where they are hanging in the tree.   I know this because in one of my short forays into the jungle from the road I experienced the joy of sloth poop on my head!  Thank god I had just walked past a shower and toilet facility and quickly walked back, hoping that I would not run into anyone else on the way.  Once cleaned up, I continued on to the beach.

I love playing in the waves and Red Frog beach has some great waves.  Just off the beach there is a restaurant and right on the beach there was a guy cooking sausage and chicken on a BBQ along with the obligatory t-shirt shop.

Once I had returned to Olas, cleaned my gear and took a shower it hit me that I had not had lunch.  So I took my netbook down to Casa Verde to see what Jess was cooking up, do some writing and, of course have a few beers.   I knew that I would be heading to dinner in a few hours so I just ordered from the appetizer menu and had some kick-ass jalapeno poppers along with a couple of Balboas to wash them down.  I guess showing up twice at the same place makes you a local because the bartender gave me my beers for $1.00 each.

Heliconia on Red Frog Beach

While at Casa Verde, I struck up a conversation with Beth and Phil who turned out to be from Marathon, Florida.  They have made a few trips to Bocas now and we talked about their search for real estate among other things.  According to Phil there have been some changes to the pensionado program, including changing the total import duty waiver to $10,000.00 total and vehicles are no longer included.  I’ll have to research this more.   Beth is RN in Marathon but they are looking to pack it in and move south soon.  I mentioned that I was planning on going to the Pickled Parrot for dinner (a bar and restaurant on one of the other islands that both Doug and Brittany had recommended) and Beth and Phil were very familiar with the place and highly recommended it.  While I was at Casa Verde, I observed the car ferry departing for the mainland around 4:00 PM.

Banana flower and fruit

I took a water taxi to the Pickled Parrot on Isla Carenero and shared it with three middle-aged Panamanian housewives (I assume) that were going to Bibi, a bar aimed at the younger set offering special happy hour deals.  We were dropped off at the Buccaneer Resort and I walked the roughly 100 yards down the beach to the Pickled Parrott.  There were two guys playing music; a guitar player and sax player.  They were great and George, the owner, said they just showed up and asked if they could play.  I introduced myself to George as a friend of Doug’s and it turns out that Doug and Wendy had just left after consuming way too much rum.  After a few Balboas I had the ceviche followed by the chicken cooked in a mango and bacon cream sauce; it was amazing!  George was behind the bar so we chatted about various things including the fact that he is originally from Topeka and is a forensic diver who has been called in on a couple of jobs to help out the Panamanian police.

Yellow ginger

The Pickled Parrott is a palapa (about 40’ in diameter) on stilts in the water, very clean and with an open, casual atmosphere. The bar is on one side, the kitchen on another and with about half the perimeter facing the open seas.  George’s Panamanian wife was taking orders and serving while their young son was drawing and occasionally making himself a strawberry milkshake in the same blender the Margaritas are made.

George’s wife (I did not get her name) is an administrator at the hospital in town and knows the various local officials very well, including the police.  This came in handy when they had to call the cops because one of the patrons refused to pay her whole bill due to an argument over how dinner was prepared.  I thought she was loud and obnoxious throughout the night and George said he would have worked something out but one of her party started smoking dope during dinner!  Panama has very strict drug laws and just lighting up in someone’s restaurant and potentially placing their business at risk was an incredibly arrogant and disrespectful thing to do.  So George called the police.  The woman, who sounded French, decided it was better to pay the bill than argue with the Panamanian gendarmes.  The police showed up by boat about two minutes after she left. I think they hire the biggest, meanest guys on the island and these guys don’t fool around.  The leader of the trio was only wearing a side arm, but one of his cohorts had an M-5 slung across his chest and looked ready to use it if need be.

A Northern Tamandua (anteater) sleeping in a tree hollow

George’s wife gave a very animated description of the situation in rapid fire Spanish and the appropriate waving of arms while George got them all sodas or water (they declined the cerveza).  After sitting for a spell and having their drinks they wrote down a few details, including the fact that the woman was renting a house on the nearby island of Bastimentos, and went on their way.

Following their departure, George and I talked about fishing for square grouper (a euphemism in both Key West and Panama for drug running) along with other things.  George said he has noticed that there are a lot of Floridians, especially from the Keys.  I guess we are still hanging on to the dream of finding that really unique place that stays unique.  George also makes his own all-natural insect repellent; a combination of neem oil, citronella, cedar oil and other ingredients.  He handles the production and bottling himself and sells it in small spray bottles for $5.00. I bought a bottle and not only does it smell great, it works!  I used the stuff I brought from the States with 25% DEET and it works, but not as well as the Pickled Parrot Oil.  George said he is hoping to begin marketing it more widely next year, first in Panama and eventually to the states.  His product is all natural and has “none of that toxic DEET shit,” to quote George.

I was ready to call it a night and George’s wife got me a water taxi that was there in about 5 minutes.  It was raining and despite getting a taxi with a bimini, I quickly got soaked. It was a warm rain and a warm night so It didn’t feel so bad. I asked the taxi driver to take me directly to the Olas dock.  After arriving I chatted with Noam a bit before grabbing one more beer and tossing myself on the bed.  The whole time in Bocas I never paid more than a $1.50 for a beer and paid only $1.00 my second visit to Casa Verde and at the Book Bar.  A side note regarding Bocas -- bring cash!  There is at least one bank in town with an ATM, but almost everyone deals in cash.  You may recall that I had to wire my deposit for Hotel Olas as they do not take credit or debit cards.

Panama Day 2: Exploring Bocas Town

Being fairly exhausted from the last few weeks at work and getting up at 4:15 AM to catch my flight out of town, I slept in until 9:00 AM my first morning of the trip and felt no guilt whatsoever.  I had a pastry and a great café con leche downstairs at the hotel and then headed out to see the town in daylight.

The marina as seen from Hotel Olas

A word about Hotel Olas.  It has 24 rooms on three floors, is right on the water and while the rooms are quite simple it is comfortable and convenient; it takes all of five minutes to walk into the main part of town.  My only gripe is that the Wi-Fi does not work in my room and I think it may be because I am at the front of the hotel. In the restaurant area downstairs and on the second floor porch overlooking the water, the connection is good to excellent.  I think I can put up with checking my email while overlooking the beautiful Caribbean!  My room had a simple full sized bed with a TV, refrigerator, shelving units and private bath.  The room might be a skosh crowded with two people especially since there are no chairs in the room, although I also had a small porch with a table and chairs overlooking the street.  Although the view of the neighborhood isn’t the greatest, remember that the housing for regular folks here is still better than some of the hovels I saw in San Pedro and other parts of Belize.  Another great thing about the Olas is its location; close to the action but away from the noise.  The town electrical generator is about a block away and you can hear it when in the restaurant area but I can’t hear it in my room.

As I rounded the corner by the Reef Restaurant on my way into the central town area I heard a cheery “hola” as Joel called out to me.  He was waiting for the restaurant to open up and begin his work day. I had seen groups of folks lining up for a parade and found out from Joel that it was Flag Day in Panama.  Joel remarked that this is a very proud day for Panama.

The beginning of the Flag Day parade

I discovered the last time I used my snorkel gear that I needed a new snorkel keeper because the one that come with the mask had broken.  I tried using a zip-tie when I was diving for lobster with my buddy Craig in Key West but it pulled on the snorkel in a way that caused the mask to leak around the edge – I just couldn’t get a decent seal.  Naturally I didn’t get around to getting a new snorkel keeper before the trip and was more or less depending on finding one at one of the three dive shops in Bocas.  I had asked Brittany if her shop, Starfleet Scuba, might have one and she doubted it since their merchandise selection is fairly limited.  I checked with the other two shops in town, La Buga dive center and Bocas Water Sports, but neither of them had what I needed.  So, despite what Brittany had said I wandered a bit further down the main street and the woman who helped me at Starfleet disappeared into another room and emerged with a snorkel keeper for $4.95.  Now, I remember that South Point Divers in Key West had a jar of them on the counter for $1.00 including tax, but when you gotta have it, you gotta have it!

When I checked in with La Buga about the snorkel keeper, I also asked about surfing lessons.   Unfortunately, the seas are flat so with no waves, no surfing.  As long as I am on the topic of dive shops, Brittany assured me that all three are very professional and reasonably priced.  As I discovered, all three are PADI-affiliated and right on the main street and easy to find.

The Bocas Town marching band

Back to the parade.  I was really impressed by the number of participants and their enthusiasm.  I remember going to parades as a kid growing up in a relatively small town in central Montana.  This was the kind of parade I remembered; not the glitzy Thanksgiving Day parades shown on TV.  All the schools were represented and, it appeared, various civic associations.  Lots of young men beating on drums and majorettes-in-training.  Flags and red, white and blue bunting were everywhere you looked.  It was fun to see moms running into the street to take pictures of their 10-year old boy beating a drum or 7-year old girl going through a dance step and it appeared like the whole town turned out.


In the shops that were open there were TVs with local TV coverage of the parade.   The central park was packed with onlookers along with vendors selling icees and ice cream.  The guys at a construction site moving huge steel beams with levers stopped to respect the flag every time it went by (which was a lot!).  I stopped at the Lavazza coffee shop for an espresso and to watch the parade for a while.  Lavazza is a cute place that serves coffee, pastries and ice cream; the windows had curtains made of burlap coffee bean bags.   I sipped on my espresso as the various segments of the parade went by and quickly concluded that this is much better than anything I have ever gotten at Starbucks and I only paid $1.25.

... and marching girls, too

I went for a walk along the main street past the Angela hotel (my other top choice for lodging) and past the sailing club.  Bocas Town is not that big and I walked through most of the town in no time.  While many buildings were in a bit of disrepair and some homes had junk strewn about the yard I had to remind myself that this is not an antiseptic American suburb; the standards are different.

I called Brittany and we agreed to meet at Casa Verde for dinner where a friend of hers was having her opening night as the chef of her own restaurant.  Jess had been at other restaurants and is leasing the facilities at Casa Verde.  The menu is pretty basic, but she serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and the food I had was done perfectly.  A couple of items on the menu I had never seen before were fried green beans and ñame fries.

Over dinner Brittany remarked on the number of Panamanians on vacation.  I admit I was surprised by the number of “locals” here for the holidays.  The bartender for the night turned out to be a woman from Bozeman, Montana.  It isn’t every day I run into someone from my home state of Montana; no less in such an out of the way location!   I noticed that night that I got bit by a few no seeums, but still not what I was anticipating and not much to get excited about.

After dinner Brittany and I went for a walk down the main street and had one last beer at the Book Bar; a book store run by American expats that turned into a bar.  I met one of the owners, Nancy, and we chatted a bit about the business climate in Bocas Town.  She said that the most important thing to realize is that if you are catering to tourists and even expats, volume is more important than quality; this is such a big backpacker destination that there just is not money to be made (yet) in high quality merchandise or services.   I ran into another woman who had a restaurant in Bocas but gave up trying to do business there because the local government was just too difficult to deal with; she now leases out the property and does not have the headaches of running a restaurant.  I would not take this as a sign that it is difficult to do business here – after all, I have no idea what her patience or competence level is.

All in all, it was another good day and I wandered home in the fairly dark streets without a care for my safety. At no time did I feel uncomfortable while in Bocas. The people are very friendly and accommodating, even to a Gringo who speaks barely a dozen words of their language.

Panama Day 1: Arrived in Bocas del Toro

The Panama City airport (Tocumen International) is easy to negotiate… sort of.  I got through immigration with no problem and I waited maybe 10 minutes in line; they added more agents as the line got longer behind me.  Since I had no checked bags I walked pass the luggage carousel and right through customs where I had to wait all of 30 seconds before a security officer could see me.  Once she examined my form she gestured to have me send my bags through the scanner and I was done.  Once into the arrivals hall I just needed to find the check-in for Aeroperlas Regional – this is when the fun began.

More of Panama City from our puddle jumper

Nowhere could I find a ticket counter for Aeroperlas.  Remembering that this is a TACA-run airline, I ventured over to TACA, which has many counters on the second level of the airport.  After several of the agents conferred I was finally directed to “the little white house” that is outside the main terminal to the left past the taxi queue, which is the domestic terminal.  That makes sense that there would be a separate terminal for regional airlines, but there are no signs anywhere.  So I walked the three minutes over to “the little white house” and there is indeed signage indicating that it is for domestic aviation.  In the domestic flight building there is a security check point for airport employees and another room that looks like security with a scanner.

I went up to the only desk in the room and a young woman came over to me to ask what I wanted.  It turns out she is part of airport security and does a pat down of all the airport employees as they come in from the tarmac.  I observed that she did a somewhat more aggressive pat down of young men her own age and they seemed to enjoy it… joking back and forth and engaging in mutual flirting.  I thought it odd that a security person would be dressed in attire quite that tight and wearing four-inch heels but what the heck, this is Panama.  After a certain amount of gesturing and showing her my ticket information (in both English and Spanish) she pronounced that Aeroperlas was “no here” and I returned to the TACA counter in the main terminal.  The TACA agent, who appeared to be a supervisor, assured me that I was to just wait in the domestic terminal until my flight was ready.

This still did not feel right since there is absolutely no signage in the domestic terminal to indicate that any airline, regional or otherwise, would be leaving from that location.  I still had a couple of hours before my flight was supposed to depart, so as long as I was in the main terminal I grabbed something to eat for lunch.  As I was eating the whole situation was gnawing at me and I finally decided to find someone with more authority.

The Tocumen to Albrook puddle jumper

I ran into Doug, a retired cop from Kansas City, Missouri who was supposed to be on the same flight.  Doug had the same mistrust of the just sit and wait instructions and was more aggressive than I.  He found the TACA office and went in to find out what was going on.  It was there that he found out that our plane had been cancelled due to the bad weather.  True, the weather had turned since I had landed and we experienced some pretty dramatic thunder and lightning.  Bear in mind that I live in the Tampa area, which is the lightning capital of the US; it is no coincidence that our hockey team is called the Lightning!  But when a couple of thunder claps caused car alarms to go off all over the parking lot out front, I knew this was a significant storm.

OK, so our flight is cancelled.  Now what?  The TACA lady said she would arrange for transportation to Albrook Airport to catch our flight to Bocas del Toro.  Now the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to come together.  I thought that two hours plus was a long time to fly from PTY to Bocas… that’s because, contrary to what the Aeroperlas website inferred, there are no flights from Tocumen to Bocas; you have to go to Albrook first.  After making a phone call, and with a little pressure applied, she decided to send a plane for us instead.  We were to remain at  the domestic terminal and we would be met there about an hour before the plane was to take off.

Doug and I had time to swap stories and it turns out we were on the same flight originating in Tampa.  He has his 37’ Endeavor sailboat in St. Petersburg and is planning to go back and get it after Thanksgiving and sail it to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.  He is meeting his wife in Bocas to sail a friend’s boat to Tortola in the meantime.

Our new TACA friend showed up a little later than we expected but got us checked in and through security.  While we were waiting another passenger showed up, Brittany from Maine, who is returning to Bocas to continue her dive instructor education at Starfleet Scuba.  The flight to Albrook took all of 10 minutes and took us up the coast past all the Panama City high rise buildings that make up the coastal skyline and very near the Bridge of the Americas.  I am fairly certain we flew right over the Country Inn & Suites I will be staying at for my final few nights in the country.  Fortunately we had a co-pilot on the short trip as Doug confirmed my suspicion about the pilot after we landed… he was quite inebriated.  Considering his condition he made a pillow soft landing in heavy cross winds.  It was kind of fun being the only three passengers on the plane.

Hotel Olas from the street

We were ushered from our plane to a holding room and sometime later our bags arrived followed by two guys in military fatigues and a dog that sniffed our luggage.  This was getting pretty comical.  Our flight left about 20 minutes late but even with all the adventure we ended up making it to Bocas only 8 minutes past our scheduled landing time.  The flight to Bocas was on a much larger plane, an ATR 42, that held probably 40 – 50 people.  The Bocas terminal is a lot like the old terminal when I first arrived in Key West – very small but functional.  The luggage was plopped on the ground outside while the ground crew checked the luggage tags for some but not all and we eventually collected our bags.  Doug met his wife out front and together we walked the 6 or 7 blocks to Hotel Olas and they continued down the road to where their dinghy was tied up so they could go to their boat in the marina a short distance away.

While the Bocas airport lacked amenities and glitz, I noticed that the tarmac was new and, according to Doug, the terminal is in the midst of a make-over.  On our walk to my hotel I noticed, in stark contrast to San Pedro, Belize, the streets are all paved and there is a concrete ditch system along the roads to collect the large amount of rain this island receives.  The ditches were chock full of minnows, which I am sure eat a lot of mosquito larvae. 

Once getting settled in at Hotel Olas and being welcomed by Nairobi (a rather interesting name) I headed into town to walk around and grab some dinner.  Bocas Town was hopping.  I arrived on a Thursday night and there were quite a few people in town strolling up and down the main street and going to the bars and restaurants.  There is also a lot of active construction going on.

View from the hotel restaurant

Nairobi suggested I try the Reef Restaurant, which turned out to be a good recommendation.  I sat at the bar and had a couple of Balboas (one of several Panamanian beers) before deciding to try the ceviche made with shrimp, squid and langostino.  The Reef is right on the water and a couple of times during the night water taxis stopped to drop off folks coming in from nearby islands or perhaps boats anchored in the bay.  The bar tender and server, Joel and Marie, kept me entertained and the Balboas coming.  For four cervecas and a great dish of ceviche served with freshly made banana chips, the bill came to only $10.50.  I like this place.  I met the owner/chef Derek on the way out and let him know how much I enjoyed the food and atmosphere.

As I walked back to Hotel Olas it hit me that I had not seen a single mosquito even though I did not apply insect repellant.  I guess those minnows in the ditches are doing their job.  I had heard that Bocas is one of the few places in the country where you need to be careful about drinking  the water and meant to pick up a big bottle in town but forgot.  Nairobi got me fixed up with a bottle of water and I spent some time sitting out on the second floor balcony enjoying the sound of the rain on the tin roof and just taking it all in.  Not a bad first day.

Panama Day 1: Getting to Panama City

Although I will try to blog daily, I doubt that will happen.  Instead, I will blog when I can and do a day-by-day account of my trip and add pictures when I can.  Once I get home I will update everything and add a full photo journal.

*********************************************************************************

Of all the airports I have been through around the world, I still think that Tampa International is one of the nicest and most convenient.  Ticketing is on one level, departures and arrivals on another level and baggage claim on yet another… all functions separated from each other.  A tram takes you to the gates and parking is a convenient, short walk away.  The airport is always clean and presentable.  I arrived at about 5:30 am for my 7:15 am flight and there was absolutely no line for security.  One of the things I really appreciate about TPA is the free wi-fi.  Miami charges for internet access as does Atlanta, the other two airports I go through most often.

I usually print my boarding pass at home but for some reason could not on this trip.  I was dreading having to go through the ticketing area even though I have had few problems with American Airlines in the past.  Although these self check-in terminals are supposed to be intuitive, I can never seem to figure them out.   I needn’t have been concerned as I was met by an agent as I walked up to the kiosk and she walked me through the process.

Once I got to my gate I realized that I was not wearing the long-sleeve T-shirt I had planned on wearing.  Planes can often get cold and I usually wear a long-sleeve shirt over another shirt just in case.  Tampa was fine and even the flight was OK, but Miami airport was freezing.  Idiot.  On this trip the long-sleeve shirt was intended to do double-duty – keep me warm on the airplane and to be worn at night to protect against mosquitoes.

Even though I have been through Miami airport a million times, I always forget how huge Terminal D is, the main American Airlines terminal.  This terminal is so large that there is a skytrain with 4 stops between the various sections and 2 Admirals Clubs.  On this trip the timing between flights was perfect.  I had about an hour’s wait before boarding so I had plenty of time to get to my gate, stop in the men’s room and re-arrange a few things in my carry-ons.  I checked my email on my Blackberry (again, no free wi-fi in Miami) and checked the weather in Panama City (90^o with a chance of thunderstorms).  For some reason I could not pull up Bocas on Weather Underground.

Coming into Panama City

Once on board and en route to Panama City, the two and one-half hour flight was uneventful.  I did, however, remember one of the other reasons I like flying American over Delta.  American seats have a handy adjustable headrest.  I brought my blow-up neck pillow since I figured I would want to catch an hour or so of sleep (and did) but the pillow was unnecessary.  Fortunately the temperature on the airplane was considerably higher than in the Miami airport.

So far on this trip my only gripe with American is that although I checked seating about twice a week before flying, I could not get a seat more forward in the plane.  I figured that the plane must be fairly full – not even close.  I would guess that only 25% of the seats were filled, so why couldn’t I choose another seat prior to departure?  The only thing I can think of is that there were large blocks of seats set aside for consolidators and were just not made available.  Anyway, the flight was better than expected because I had three seats all to myself and was able to stretch out and be comfy.

Crossing the t's and dotting the i's for my trip to Panama...

The only items left on my planning list  were choosing a hotel in the Azuero Peninsula, a place to stay should I decide to spend a night in the area of David or Boquete, and selecting the tours I will go on to see the canal and hopefully to visit an indigenous village in the jungle. 

I'm running short of time with only a few days left before I leave, but I promise to list lots of tour sites to help you with your own trip to Panama once I return! 

As I suspected I would, I ended up making a reservation at Hostal Dona Maria in Pedasi.  Arriving on Sunday is good timing because they are completely booked over the weekend.  With only six rooms, Hostal Dona Maria reminds me of the B&B I owned in Key West. 

As far as a tour of the canal goes, I looked over a lot of web sites, sent a few emails and finally ended up booking a tour through the American Airlines website.  It just a Grey Line excursion, but I didn't think that a simple viewing of the canal requires anything really special like a one-on-one escorted tour.  I was amazed that I American had so many offers on their website, but for what I was looking for this turned out to be the best deal.  By the way, the car I rented through Thrifty was also done through the American site.  While I did not get a better price than that offered on the Thrifty web site, I did earn extra Aadvantage frequent flier miles.

For my trip to visit the Embera tribe, I chose Embera Village Tours.  This group is not the cheapest, but they came highly recommended by Trip Advisor and looked the best of the tour companies I looked at.  This is an all-day tour.  We'll drive about an hour or so to a boat ramp where the Embera will meet us and then go up river about 45 minutes in a dugout canoe. There will be presentations on the Embera culture, tradition and crafts followed by a traditional lunch, and a hike in the jungle with one of the village elders to learn about medicinal plants. There will also be a show of their traditional shamanic and celebratory dances and music (I hope this is not hokey… like the luau shows in Hawaii) before heading back down the river and returning to the city.

And finally, I booked my usual car service for my trip to and from the airport here in Florida.  For short trips I just park in long-term parking because it is quick and easy.  For longer trips, like this one, it is cheaper to use a car service and it is nice to know that a friendly face will be there to pick me up on my return.  If you are in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, I highly recommend Jack -- you can reach him at World Corp Travel.  If Jack can't take care of you personally he will get you set up with another service.

Given my schedule before I leave, this will likely be my last post before the trip.  I would like to say that I will make blog entries as I travel, but my Belize trip proved that it is difficult to do and still get the most of my trip.  I'll post a few times while on the go and do a day-by-day accounting of my trip once I return.  

My hotel choices in Bocas del Toro, Azuero Peninsula and Panama City...

My apologies to those of you who have been following my plans for the Panama trip. I have been so consumed by work that I haven't had time to keep you up-to-date let alone have the time to breathe.

Anyway, I have made quite a bit of headway. I have made my booking at Hotel Olas in Bocas del Toro, confirmed my reservation on Aeroperlas Regional airline, and I re-confirmed my Thrifty car rental to be picked up at Tocumen International airport. I had to wire my first night's payment to Hotel Olas via Western Union. I am paying $70.00 per night but the international wire fee was $15.00!!!

I still don't have a hotel picked out for my days in the Azuero Peninsula, but I have narrowed my choices to just a few. I decided against staying in Chitre on the northern end of the Peninsula and instead I have been looking at lodging establishments in Las Tablas or Pedasi. All the Las Tablas and Pedasi establishments have AC, wi-fi, etc. I am waiting on two more emails confirming rates and then will make a decision.

Hotel La Luna and Posada del Mar near Las Tablas are both attractive properties at about the same rate. Posada del Mar is a small B&B right on Uverito beach and is offering rooms at $66.00 per night. While not directly on the beach, Hotel La Luna is close by, has a pool and is a whopping $1.00 per night cheaper. La Luna's rates includes the 10% hotel tax but does not currently take credit cards.

In Pedasi, further to the South, El Sitio Hotel is right on Playa Venao and has a restaurant on site; they even have a surf report on the website. I may have to take surfing lessons! Rooms at El Sitio start at $90.00. Casita Margarita looks like a charming B&B with room rates starting at $99.00 and comes highly recommended on Trip Advisor. Casita Margarita claims to be in walking distance of most everything in Pedasi. Hotel Villa Romana is another boutique B&B with their Junior Suite at $99.00 and includes a continental breakfast. The one that really interests me in Pedasi is the Hostal Dona Maria. Located on the main street of Pedasi, this is a cute, six-room place with rooms at $40.00 or $50.00 including tax and breakfast. While the others in Pedasi look nicer, I think Hostal Dona Maria is more likely to attract my kind of people… the kind of folks I would go out to dinner with and set out to determine the best beer in Panama.

In Panama City, I made a reservation at the Country Inn & Suites in Amador to the west of Panama City proper.  Country Inn is not particularly quaint and it is a little more than I wanted to pay, but the location is incredible -- right on the canal and I will have an ocean front room from which I will be able to see not only the canal but also the Bridge of the America's.   A couple of other hotels I considered are Balboa Inn and Las Vegas Hotel.  Both of these would have been less expensive and had their own advantages, but I just couldn't give up being right at the beginning of the Panama Canal.  Since I won't be spending much time exploring  Panama City, I didn't see much point in staying in the city.

The only items left on my planning list are choosing a hotel should I decide to spend a night in the area of David or Boquete and selecting the tours I will go on to see the canal and hopefully to visit an indigenous village in the jungle.  I promise to list lots of tour sites to help you with your own trip to Panama!

My final days in San Pedro...

Sunday morning I slept in a bit and had the Belizean breakfast at El Divino, the wonderful on-site restaurant at Banana Beach.  It was a simple but delicious meal of black bean mash, watermelon, eggs, fry jacks, orange juice and dark Belize coffee.   Mike was originally supposed to meet me at 10:00 but emailed me that he was running late so I went for a swim in the warm Caribbean and just laid on a lounge chair looking out over the sea and the waves breaking on reef in a white, frothy line about three-quarters mile off shore.  The beach at Banana Beach is much better than I remembered.  Yes, there is turtle grass in places but the dock for the hotel next door (Mata Rocks Resort) is easily accessible and runs about 80 feet into the ocean.  It was a very pleasant time just soaking in the ambience of the ocean lapping against the sea  wall.

The Cloisters and golf cart parking lot

Mike showed up at 11:00 and we spent a relaxing afternoon with no real plan in mind other than to wander the North end on the other side of the bridge and stopping many places for a beer (so much Belikin and so little time).   First stop was a beach bar before you reach the bridge.  Mike introduced me to the proprietor  and we spent some time talking about the general state of real estate on Ambergris Caye.  Once we hit the road our first stop was at the Cloisters where Mike lives and, of course, had to get another beer  at the Funky Monkey Bar and Grill.  The Cloisters is fairly new and needs some landscaping, but the units themselves look nice and appear to be of quality construction.

Next stop was Captain Morgan's, which I was curious about because they routinely have units for sale.  It is a nice property and very large.  Parts of the resort are probably in the neighborhood of 20 years old and they are still building.  There were a fair number of folks in the pool and at the bar.  We went into their little casino where they have a good variety of table games and slots.  There was not a lot of action going on but it was in the middle of the day on a Sunday so I was not expecting large crowds of people fighting for the chance to throw money away. 

Yeah... It would be tough to look at this every day.

Finally, we got to Coco Beach Resort.  Mike and his partner  Daniel Hartin have an office at Coco Beach (the ReMax Property Center)  and are the official agents for the property.  This is a high end property built by developers who know quality.  The bar staff are great (yes, we had another beer or two) and the new three-level restaurant that is nearing completion is gorgeous.  The units have custom-made Belize mahogany cabinetry and plans that make good use of light and high ceilings.   A lot of the landscaping is in place and I look forward to seeing the resort in a year or so… plants grow so quickly in the tropics that I imagine it will have a whole new feel to it when I go back.

All good days must come to an end and after Mike dropped me off back at the Banana Beach, I took a dip in the pool and then walked towards town to have dinner at  the Blue Water Grill.  I had an excellent grilled grouper with sauce of sautéed tropical fruit that was out of this world. 

On Monday I again walked into town and had breakfast at a Cuban place, mainly for the coffee.  The breakfast was just OK and was overpriced.  But that's what you get in the center of town.  I had fun feeding the resident iguana who was partial to watermelon and bits of toast.  I walked around town to check out the signs in the banks -- all of which confirmed that they were closed for Pan-American day but would be open tomorrow.  Back to Banana Beach for some time on the beach.  I caught a nap between beers and listened to the breeze rustling through the palm fronds.  After a suitable chill out period I rented a golf cart and headed to the South end.  Last time I was there I walked quite a ways south, but having a cart made it possible to cover a long distance in a short time.  The roads in the South are in much better shape than the North. 

A croc in the lagoon south of San Pedro.

I continued past condo developments like La Brisas, Hol Chan Reef Resort and Miramar Villas until I just couldn't go any further without a swamp boat.  There are quite a few nice single family homes in the South and many small condo projects with 4-8 units. 

Tuesday  morning finally arrived.  I checked out of Banana Beach and had myself dropped off at Scotia Bank at 8:15.  The young lady at the desk had no clue I was arriving but didn't let that fluster her.  She got ahold of my contact in Belize City and we got the paperwork done so it can all be forwarded to the Central Bank for review.  The main thing was getting the signature card done because that had to be signed in front of witnesses in a branch location.  With the business part of the trip finally done, I dropped my bag at Tropic Air across the street and set out for a last hour of exploring.  Although I did not go in, I noticed that there is a big store aimed at the hotel and restaurant business.  I'm sure many good things can be had there.  I also stopped by British Caribbean Bank and Belize Bank just to pick up brochures and business cards -- just in case.

My flight to Belize City was uneventful and I bought the obligatory trinkets with the last of my Belize dollars.  I finally arrived home in St. Petersburg around 11:00 p.m. to a band of hungry cats who welcomed me home.

My weekend trip to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, Belize

Here is a run-down on my quickie trip to Belize.

Saturday:  I got up at the ungodly hour of 3:30 am to catch my 6:00 am flight on Delta to Atlanta and then on to Belize.  As usual, Delta found a way to screw things up.

If you print your boarding pass at home the night before departure and there is an equipment change, you have to re-confirm your seats at check-in or the gate.  OK, that makes sense, but if they encourage you to use self service options like printing your boarding pass prior to arriving at the airport,  wouldn't you think they would give you a warning regarding this?  Or suggest that you print your boarding pass in the morning so that it is closer to your departure and any equipment change would be taken into consideration? Or at the very least couldn't they make the announcement at the gate more than 30 minutes before departure time so that half the plane isn't in line waiting to re-confirm seats at the time they start boarding?  Those actions would all make sense so I do not expect Delta to even consider them.  The actual flight to Atlanta was fine and surprisingly, it was on time.  Of course the plane that was taking us to Belize was late getting in and we barely got off on time.  The good news is that the right side of the plane was only two seats across and I had a seat to myself for the approximate three hour flight to Belize City.

Leaving Philip Goldson Airport on Tropic Air

By contrast, once I arrived at BZE (Philip Goldson International Airport) I waltzed through immigration in 10 minutes.  I had no checked baggage so I made a hard left turn just past immigration and went around the corner to customs.  Being one of the first to go through, there was no line.  I remember last time that the customs guy was downright surly, but this time was a different experience.  The customs agent asked if I was bringing in more than $10K in cash (I wish  had that kind of money) or any liquor or tobacco.  I responded appropriately and gave the customs form to a man sitting on a stool next to the exit.  When you leave the customs area you either go to the right to get to the taxis and rental cars, or go to left to the airline counters for ticketing and check-in.

Both Maya Island Air and Tropic Air have people standing at the entry to the check-in hall with print outs of who their passengers are so they can get you processed very quickly and efficiently.  If they can get you on the next flight, they do and expedite your processing.  As it turns out they could squeeze me on the next flight, so I called my buddy Mike and confirmed he could pick me up at noon instead of 1:00.  I got checked  in and went through their version of TSA, proceeded into the departures hall where I waited a whopping 10 minutes before boarding my Tropic Air flight to  San Pedro.

The landscape just South of Belize City

Mike met me at Tropic Air and we stopped at Banana Beach so I could get checked in.  Mike just recently got an iPad and asked me to pick up a leather cover for him.  I sent him a link to Amazon where he chose the one he wanted and I had it shipped to me last week and brought it 
with me.  Had he bought this himself he would have probably paid twice as much with shipping and the horrific import duty imposed by the Belize government.  We went to the Blue Water Grill (at the SunBreeze Hotel) for lunch and a beer.  We talked about what I wanted to do in terms of a real estate purchase and we agreed that while I am not ready to jump in at this point, it would be a good idea to check out the North end of the island to get a better idea of what I do or don't want and, at a minimum, rule out some options.  After a wide ranging discussion of  domestic and US politics, the state of the economy and banking, we agreed to meet on Sunday at 10:00 am to check out a few properties and, no doubt, conduct a serious investigation into the quality of Belikin beer. 

The beach at Banana Beach as seen over my toes.

Mike has been in San Pedro for only ten months and has already made enough in the real estate business to buy a condo.  He is still having problems with his golf cart and has paid a fortune in repairs but is on the verge of purchasing a used Polaris.  Mike also said that the Banana Beach ownership has changed.  The Canadian owners apparently were not able to meet their balloon payment and had to give it back to the previous owner that was holding the note.   It is obvious that there is some delayed maintenance that needs to be taken care of.  Most of it is little stuff but the kind of things that most people notice… rusting door hinges, the need for a good paint job on the doors and stained grout in the bathroom.  The wi-fi connection is still pretty bad so I logged in using the neighboring property's connection (Grand Colony).  Grand Colony is also under receivership.  I have not seen any of the rooms but I understand that it is supposed to be a pretty nice place.  It was originally a combination of time-share, hotel rooms and full ownership.  The Grand Colony property includes a very large section of land just to the North.  If someone had the cash to fully develop this property, the potential for a truly impressive property exists.

Saturday afternoon I walked into town and stopped to take a look from the outside of two properties that are currently advertised for sale.  Both Paz Villas and the Sailwinds condo property are just south of the Ambergris Lake Condos and are about a two block walk to the beach.  Paz Villas looks old and faded.  The pool is small and I did not bother to check out the basketball court and grill area because I was not impressed by the front of the property.  There was a broken down golf cart parked near the entrance and it appeared that some of the units were long-term rentals to locals.  The Sailwinds has great photos on the real estate web site, but the building appears to be built practically on the lot line with maybe a three foot setback.  The building looks nice, but it is right next door to a construction yard filled with heavy equipment. 

Coming in for a landing at the San Pedro air strip, Ambergris Caye

I noticed during the twenty minute walk into town that the place was dead; hardly any tourists around.  When I was here in February the town was jammed with people and all the shops were open and you could here music at the bars you passed.  Now a lot of the shops were "closed for renovations," which is always a euphemism for "we were under capitalized and have gone out of business" or "there is no point in being open during the off season, so we'll open back up when the tourists return."  As it turns out, a lot of people must have arrived on Sunday because there were a lot more people out and about the next day.  Walking through town I came across another property that has units listed for sale.  The Mayan Princess is in heart of town and while the rooms face the  ocean, in season it would be very loud.  I made a mental note to cross this property off my list of possible purchases.

After wandering around the central part of town for a bit I headed over to the central square to find a street vendor and dinner.  After checking out a couple of places I settled on two chicken burritos from a guy who swore that he had the best food in town.  After paying a whopping $5 BZ, I had to wonder if he wasn't right… they were really good and I certainly couldn't argue with the price!  I walked up the beach a bit further and then doubled back down to grab a couple of beers at Crazy Canucks before calling it a night.

I'll conclude my posts on this visit in the next few days.  I am slammed at work and have to do all of my month-end reporting before I leave on my trip to Panama on November 3.

Medical planning is important too...

I have had the good fortune to be able to travel a fair amount over the years. I have been places that require a certain amount of preparation and caution when it comes to disease avoidance and health care. Prior to spending a week in the bush along the border of South Africa and Mozambique, my guide insisted on knowing my blood type ahead of time "just in case." He also carried anti-venom for two different types of deadly snakes with us at all times. This was the first trip I recall that required taking an anti-malarial medicine.

Since that trip I have been to other parts of the world where Hepatitis A and Yellow Fever are a concern so being medically prepared for Panama was just a part of my normal planning. Those who have had to get special inoculations prior to traveling are probably familiar with the yellow WHO International Certificate of Vaccination. Some countries are quite insistent on knowing the status of your inoculations, while others are far more lax on this issue. Since you can't know for sure ahead of time, it is a good idea to keep it up-to-date and bring your Certificate with you.

Last week I went to get the last of my Hepatitis B shots (once you have had all three, you're good for life) and was advised that if I will be in the deep countryside or jungle areas of Panama I would need a Yellow Fever shot as well. I also found out that the Certificate itself has been updated, so I got a new one and the nurse recorded all of my current immunizations in it and pointed out that there are pages for other medications that I take on a regular basis. I filled that section out and had my doctor sign it; this provides me with an official record of my regular medicines so that it would be less likely that I would be questioned when traveling. There is also a place to list any medicines you may be allergic to. All of this information would be important if you had an accident, were bitten by something or became seriously ill while abroad.

As a part of my preparation, I went to the CDC web site to read up on malaria prevention. I have usually taken Malarone but it is expensive and I hoped to find an alternative. There are actually many anti-malarial medications and the one you use depends in part on what section of the world you are traveling to because there are two main types of malaria. Mosquitoes are the main carrier no matter where you go so a strong mosquito repellent is a part of a good prevention strategy. Since I won't be spending much time in and around Panama City, an anti-malarial is a necessity.

You take most anti-malarials a couple days before traveling, daily while on your trip and during the week after your return. In parts of Panama certain strains of the bug have developed a resistance to chloroquine and the various forms of it, which reduces your alternatives to Malarone. I learned that because of my history of seizures I should not take Mefloquine so I was left with Malarone or Doxycycline. The Doxycycline is a bit of a bother because in addition to taking it before and during the trip, you have to take it for 4 weeks after the trip. The big advantage of Doxycycline is the cost. I figured out that I need 44 doses for this trip. The grand total at CVS was $3.74.

Back to Panama planning...

OK… So I got my Thrifty car reservations changed and I booked my Aeroperlas flights.  The first task was easy -- I just logged into their website, entered my confirmation number and went through the "change reservation" process.  In a matter of minutes I received a new confirmation number and had the details of my new reservation in my email in-box.

The Aeroperlas ticketing was a little more interesting.  The website is in both Spanish and English… until you get to the actual reservation part.  I speak just enough Spanish to order a café con leche or cerveza and to ask where the baño is to eliminate them both; beyond that I have zero Spanish language skills.  So now I am trying to fill out the form that will let me choose the flights I want and pay for my tickets while simultaneously making good use of the Spanish-English dictionary I bought a month ago.  I was tempted to call one of my Latin American friends but decided that if I am taking a trip there, I will have to learn to figure it out.  Many words are familiar enough to make an educated guess or you could figure out what they were asking by the context or where they were on the form.

Anyway, I got it done but what is hilarious is that the confirmation and itinerary are in both English and Spanish.  At least I was able to determine immediately that I had done it right.

The last two tasks left before I really feel settled on my plans is to book hotel rooms and tours of the canal and Darien Province.  I have researched lodging in Bocas del Toro, Azuero Peninsula and Boquete but still need to find a place to stay in Panama City.  Do I choose a hotel close to the airport or something in the heart of the city?  If the city, what part?  I will probably go to TripAdvisor and other sites to read about the experiences others have had to help in my research.  I suspect at least part of my decision will be influenced by the details of the tours I take.

A quick banking trip to Belize...

I have to make a quick trip to Belize to take care of some banking matters.  It turns out that some of the documentation for the accounts  I opened were not completed properly so they need a wet signature on a new signature card and a couple of other minor items to keep the accounts open.  At first I was upset to learn this but then I realized that the same thing could happen right here at home; the difference being that a trip to the branch in my case involves flying to another country.  I am still glad that I chose Scotiabank since it has a huge presence throughout the Caribbean and Central America in addition to the U.S. and could make future traveling a bit easier.

Having to make this trip presented a timing problem since I have already used all of my vacation days or have them obligated towards my trip to Panama in November.  Fortunately, Columbus Day is coming up on October 10, which is a bank holiday in the U.S. but not in Belize.  My boss agreed to give me a personal day for the 11th so I will fly down on Saturday the 8th and return on Tuesday the 11th.  I was able to get a flight on Delta with frequent flyer miles so my only cost will be a place to stay, in-country transportation and beer money.

I initially thought about renting a car and going up to Corozal to do a bit more investigation of that area while waiting for the branch to open on Monday morning, but ultimately decided to go back to San Pedro instead.  It will cost only a bit more for the flight over to Ambergris Caye than it would to rent a car (car rental prices are outrageous in Belize).

After checking around I got a good deal at the Banana Beach Resort for only $50.00 per night.  This is where I stayed in February and while I would have preferred to stay some place different just to try something new, the price was just too good for a decent room that has a good location (just a 15 minute walk into town) and it's right on the beach.  Quite honestly, it is worth staying at BBR just to have the conch ceviche at El Divino, the excellent restaurant on site.

I emailed the Re-Max realtor I had spent time with on my last trip, Mike Wilson, and he offered to pick me up at the airport.  I am flying this time on Tropic Air for no other reason than to check out the other domestic airline.  After departing Tampa at the ungodly hour of 6:00 am and making connections in Atlanta, I will arrive in Belize City around 11:20 am.  This should give me plenty of time to make it through immigration and customs with time to spare to catch my 12:40 flight to San Pedro.  The short hop across the Caribbean  to San Pedro should take 15 minutes or so unless we stop at Caye Caulker on the way.

As long as I am in town anyway, I hope to check out some of the real estate listings that look interesting.  Both Paz Villas and the Sailwinds condos are only blocks away from Banana Beach with Caribe Island Condos  just another mile or so further South.  The Mayan Princess is right in town and I can stop by after my banking business on Monday morning.  If I have time I might try to head north to check out Captain Morgan's and maybe even take a look around Sapphire Beach.  These properties range in size from a compact studio apartment up to a two-bedroom affair and prices come in at somewhere between $79K to $129K.  I doubt I would buy on this trip, but it is a good idea to continue to get the lay of the land and gain a better understanding of what my dollar will buy.

While I am at it, and since I will have all my documents with me, I might just check out Belize Bank and Heritage Bank.  I can't hurt to spread my money around a bit for safety's sake.