Panama City then Home!

We got into Panama City Sunday, April 11th, in the afternoon. I managed to find the only cab in the city that didn't know where we were going. Luckily, after asking directions a few times, we made it to the condo.
Our place was awesome. 10th floor apartment with a bit of an ocean view, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, couches and satellite TV. How totally awesome?!?!?! There was a mall next door, with VIP Movie theatres and a grocery store. We found out later we were in the jewish district, so everything in the grocery store was kosher. We toyed with the idea of getting some King David Sacramental Wine, but decided just to try plain old Isreal Wine.

Monday we had a slow morning, then went to the Summit Zoo. The zoo was layed out over a huge area and didn't have too many animals, but what they did have was cool. There were Tapirs, Jaguar and Harpy Eagles, along with many different kinds of monkeys and small wild cats. The enclosures were all very big and well taken care of. It was the kind of zoo you left feeling good about, not sorry for the poor animals. Then we headed for the Panama Canal and the Miraflores Locks. These were the first set of locks on the pacific side. We watched a couple to tankers go through. There was a visitors centre with a restaurant, but we just stayed on the rooftop observation deck and watched the boats get lowered through the locks. They would motor in the one area, then the water would drain to the level of the next compartment, the big water gates would open and move though to the next set. Some boats paid between $80,000 to $300K to go through the Canal. They have to pay by weight.

That night we stayed home, drank some Australian wine and watched TV.

Our last day in the City we had lunch with David, our friend who set us up with the apartment. Then we headed to the old part of town called Casco Veijo. It was the main part of Panam City in the 1800s but had since transformed into a ghetto. In the past few years, the City has undertaken a huge renovation project of the area and brought back some of the grandure of what it once was. Apparently it's a lot like New Orleans. So we wandered around taking pictures then had some Mojitos at the Cuban restaurant. We went into the Emerald Museum and learned about mining, then bought a tiny little raw emerald. Ian got excited as there was a reef break just off shore and some surfers and boogies boarders out having great time.

We went back to the apartment for the afternoon then went to the movies with David and his girlfriend. We went to the VIP theatres where we sat in our own leather recliners and had waiters bring us beer and sushi. We watched a movie drinking beer and eating sushi. So rad. These Panamians really know how to entertain.

We got up realy the next morning to go to the airport. David sent over his driver with this Licoln Town Car and for the same price as a dirty old cab, got driven to the aiport in style. The flight to Houston was good, no issues. Our 6.5 hour layover went by ok, we read for a while, then went for dinner then read again then it was time to board the plane. Canadian Customs were really good with us. We declared everything and made it through with no stops.

We are now home and winding down, trying to get our life back together. We've gone through our mail and set some appointments to view potential places to live this weekend. It's hard to believe that our trip is over. Now that we're home, it's hard to believe that it happened at all. But we have our memories and our pictures and our empty bank accounts to prove it. It was definitly the experience of a life time and Ian and I had so many amazing experiences. We're already dreaming of what our next great adventure will be.

Panama City Pictures

Casco Viejo, the old quarter of Panama City. It was once part of the slums but is now being renovated and is compared to New Orleans for it's architecture.

The New part of the City. Looks just like Vancouver.

The Panama Canal Miraflores Locks. We watched a couple of tankers come through, they drain the water until it's level with the lower water then open the doors and let the boats through. It's still all the origial hardware from when the canal was built in the early 1910s.

One of the buses, they all have a unique painting. Rad.

El Valle Pictures

Ladies getting ready for the traditional dancing at the Sunday Market in El Valle.

The Sleeping Indian Lady, I don't remember her name, but there's a myth that goes along with this mountain formation. It's so crazy how you can actually see the face and the body of a sleeping lady in the mountain.

The Petroglyphs. They look like graffiti, but they have just been outlined in different coloured chalk.

Me and a crazy big fruit. They are called Jicaro in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, but I don't remember the Panamaian name for them. They are just ginormous fruit.

Playa Venao Pictures

Me walking out into the beautiful surf.

Ian surfuing a perfect wave.

Ian and his best friend.

This was on our way to Playa Venao, waiting on the street corner for a ride. We got one eventually.

El Valle

El Valle was a beautiful and peaceful town. It was so relaxing being in the mountains, nestled in a pocket on mountains. The first night we went for a great pizza dinner and survived a windstorm.

The next day, Wednesday, we slept in, then went for a long walk around town. We found the Orchid Garden and got a tour of some rare and beautiful orchids. Then, with some help, we found the Serpentarium, a little snake zoo that had some big boa constrictors, fer de lance and eyelash palm pitvipers, to name a few. All very gorgeous.

I got pretty sick off of something in El Valle, not sure what, Ian wasn't affected, but it kept me in bed all day Thursday, I think that was the 8th. I managed to get out and we went for a long walk on Friday to the petroglyphs and up one of the surrrounding mountains to see some waterfalls. Then back down again to see the big 60 meter waterfall then swim in a naturally fed river pool. It was so refreshing I could only stand it for a few minutes. Saturday I didn't make it out much again but the people who ran our hostel had a restaurant down below and fed me some soup and peppermint tea, which made me feel a little bit better. El Valle had such a relaxing vibe that we mostly just layed in bed reading. We were also pretty tired from travelling for the last 5 months that we slowed down quite a bit. Sunday was an awesome market, complete with traditional Panamanian dancing and singing. We took a bus around noon on Sunday to Panama City.

David, a Canadian we met at Santa Catalina, had set us up with a great apartment in Panama City. We had a tenth floor 2 bedroom apartment for the last few days of our trip. We made it there by mid afternoon and settled in the city for our last few days.

Santa Catalina, Panama

Just a little baby scorpion climbing on our tent, this one was only a fraction of the size of the one that crawled on me then Ian played with.

Some crazy abandoned Hippie Mobile. We thought it was cool. We didn`t actually get any pictures of the beach, too busy laying in a hammock.

Matapalo and Pavones, Costa Rica

The beautiful turquoise beach at Matapalo, this isn`t the beach we were surfing, but the view was amazing.

A Helicopter Dragonfly that we found on our walk up the dried up waterfall.

Pavones at Sunset. One of the most beautiful nights we`ve had. Tim and I are out there in the water somewhere, Ian sat it out cause the waves were too small for him. Great for us though!