In my explorations of Panama I often find myself on long bus rides in search of the “best” things the country has to offer. Although this often pays off, sometimes you forget to look in your own backyard for beautiful and interesting things. For a nice, easy and very rewarding hike I had to look no further than Taboga Island, just a short and cheap boat ride from the city. While I had been to this island many times before mostly just to drink cheap beers on the beach and escape the heat of the city for awhile, not until a recent journey had I truly explored all this wonderful island has to offer. While there are at least 3 Read more
Classifying something as the best is not always an easy task, but after a recent weekend adventure I think I can say with some confidence I’ve found the best island in Panama. Now I have visited the gorgeous party islands of Bocas del Toro and peaceful native islands of San Blas and been thoroughly impressed, but my vote for the best island is neither of these. Slightly lesser known but gaining popularity at a swift pace, Isla Iguana is in the Los Santos province of Panama lying just east of the Azueron Peninsula in the Pacific Ocean. The waters surrounding this legendary island are well known for seeing whales and huge sea turtles when the season is right, but that Read more
At some point or another anyone who’s stared at the mesmerizing waves of the ocean has wondered what it would be like to hop on a board and surf one. Young or old the idea of surfing appeals to many, but it’s not always the easiest thing to do logistically. As I was raised in the mountains of Colorado I’ve always secretly wondered what it would be like to ride a wave and since I stepped foot in the great Isthmus of Panama I have been trying to figure out how to do it. I heard the World Surf Championships were located down on the Azuero peninsula a few months ago, but these massive swells made for world class surfers Read more
There’s no better way to appreciate and understand a city than a birds eye view and for those of us not financially fortunate enough to possess helicopters I have an easy solution in Panama City. Although it’s a place that us residents of the city see every day not many people take the time to venture up the immensely green hill topped with a gargantuan Panamanian Flag that looms over the city. It almost seems to fall into the background most of the time as we drive around to get wherever we are going that day. Last weekend this Gringo was in a “mountain summiting” type of mood and as Ancon Hill (Cerro Ancon) is the highest point of Panama Read more
One afternoon I was running down Via Argentina, one of the main streets in my neighborhood of Panama City, and came across a pack of 30 or so other runners coming straight at me. Rather than get trampled by this herd of sweaty athletes I quickly performed and abrupt 180 degree turnaround and joined the pack like a fish joining a school of others. At that current point in time my Spanish was slim to none so rather than inquire the reason for this mass session of exercise I just went along with it. After an awesome run of about an hour or so all throughout the city we came to an abrupt halt and everybody started talking about cervezas. Read more
The tradition of friends gathering around a television with copious amounts of beer and food, screaming for their favorite sports team is universal to nearly every country around the world. Finding the perfect spot to cheer on your squad is a quintessential part of expat relocation in a new country. This is because there is virtually no better homesickness cure than watching your home team destroy their arch rivals…. Now Panama City has a plethora of viable options with decent TV’s, good drink prices and munchies to get you through the game, but the place I have discovered goes beyond all these simple amenities. This place is the mecca for everything sports related in Panama City and whether you want Read more
This is a question I inquire to locals on a regular basis and I rarely receive the same response. As Panama is an isthmus there are more than a plethora of beaches to choose from so you can imagine many people have different opinions. Another factor that seems to influence people’s decisions is where they are from. Panama City is a massive melting pot of people from all over the country (and the world for that matter) and people from provinces such as Chiriqui, Cocle or Veraguas will all tell you that the best beaches are near to their home. With so many amazing beaches I don’t doubt that each person has reasons to believe they have the best ones, Read more
Colon, Panama is the second largest city in the Republic of Panama and holds the second largest duty free port n the entire world. The city of colon was formed by Americans in the 1850′s who were working on the canal. Colon gained a huge amount of importance and wealth after the completion of the canal; however, Colon had some major health issues due to the fact that it was built on a swampy island. Colonel William C. Gorgas, who was in charge of the sanitation during the canal construction drained the surrounding swamps, installed new sewage and drainage systems an dramatically reduced the plagues of mosquitoes and yellow fever that hindered Colon in the beginning.
Bocas Del Toro Panama is located in the western most region of the country of Panama. It lies about 25 miles from Costa Rica. The province of Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean sea and contains two national parks, many beaches, about 68 islands, lakes, river, one main archipelago and several towns. Bocas is a beach lover’s delight and boasts many white sand beaches with sky blue waters without crowds of people. Many countries have filmed their “survivor” television series here including: Spain, France, Russia and Italy. Bocas has also been called a “biologist fantasy” boasting miles of rain forest alongside rivers, and beaches.
The cuisine in Bocas is very diverse considering the remote location of the area. The Read more
Panama is full of little known wonders and in my time here I have had the opportunity to experience several. Even today there are many unchartered and fairly unknown areas of Panama to those outside of the country and many within. On a random week day I had the chance to visit one of the largest man-made lakes in the entire world. Lake Gatun, which forms a stretch of the Panama Canal and carries ships for about 20 miles of their journey through the Isthmus of Panama, was a strange and beautiful place like I had never before seen.
My venture began as we drove about forty five minutes outside of the city where we met a small Read more
