On landing in Panama AB's dad, Dale, joined us for a week of vacation and touring. With him we found a friendly, and now much richer, cab driver who toured us around the city. I acted translator while he showed us all the hot spots for Canal history. He took us to see the Maraflores locks on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. It turns out we were really fortunate for our timing; we got to see a handful of boats cross and the gates open and close for the water to rise. We later found out from our work away experience that the boats only cross at certain hours of the day so timing is fairly critical (not exactly what our hotel or our taxi driver told us, so that fact with a grain of salt). After the famous locks we made our way to Cerro Ancon which has an extraordinary view of the quick growth the Panama Canal created as well as the Panamanian flag where once stood the American flag. It was in this moment that all of us realized we were ready to leave the city. Sky scrapers can be beautiful, but the water and hills behind were far too tempting. In our day's adventures we also managed to visit a hight way constructed from the earth removed to make the canal and stop for local cevichel. No matter what Lima, Peru says I say the ceviche up here is way better. Even though AB's dad didn't like how it "grew in your mouth" he came to like it by the end of his stay.
We spent one day more day in the city getting some souvenirs for Dale to take home, enjoy the pool our hotel had, and eat some Dominican food (yes, con con) and sushi. Something we did learn (or Dale did) even though your taxi driver is nice and helpful don't invite him to join you at your hotel pool-because he will. But more importantly we saw and experienced how such quick growth and clash of culture could change a place. All of us found that the city had quickly sprouted up with little consideration for environmental and health impact resulting in icky water everywhere. We were also able to see the huge income gap. Panama has a 30% unemployment rate, but all the cars we rode in were 2013 with the plastic still on the seat. I also found it one of the least Latin minded places I have been. People were very business and money oriented, they were less likely to greet you on the street with a kind hello than most places I have visited in the US. I even experienced my own kind of culture shock being in a nice hotel and in a city that was what I expected, but so far from what I expected at the same time. That wasn't what I was expecting going from one side of the Caribbean to the other, but it was still good to see.From the city we headed to Isla Toboga. An island off the pacific coast of Panama with a view of all the ships looking to cross with the buildings making up the skyline. Super representative of Panama in as of itself. On Toboga we stayed in a hotel with the dining room hanging over the rocks that became good areas to snorkel at high tide. Although the accommodations and service was less than extraordinary it was super nice to be able to see some colorful fish right off of the hotels steps. We experienced a lot of rain while staying on the island. That didn't stop us from seeing the second oldest church in Central America, hiking to a cross on a hill (with three stories as to why and how it got there), spending a good chunk of time at the beach, and talking a boat around the eight mile circumference of the island. It refreshed me to get some slope under my shoes, it excited AB to some snorkeling in, and Dale was thrilled to get a chance to try and catch a barracuda. When vacation came to a close we headed back to the city to take Dale to the airport and to be picked up by our work away job we had set up before arriving.
From the get go it looked like a pretty sweet gig. We would be selling tours and first had to take a few o the tours in order to know the material. We started off by visiting Casco Viejo. The old town of Panama City with churches and monuments to honor the French and specific individuals for starting the Panama Canal. We stayed that night in the city at a hostel paid for by out work away dude, Manuel, and headed to the area we would be working the next morning. The afternoon was spent with Manuel and his little girls visiting the Anton Vally where we saw a few waterfalls, a zoo with animals in far too small cages, and a petroglyph with a fabricated history of the Anton Valle explained by a local boy.Although I wouldn't have chosen the tour myself and we spent most of the time in the car it was a nice intro to a new place. The day we visited the beaches we were going to sell the tours at. Since all the beaches in Panama are public we walked the water line of some big all-inclusive resorts. This time of year there are never many people so we were really pulling to even talk to people who weren't just visiting from the city. The afternoon was spent in a long car ride to see a pretty awesome waterfall. There was a small hike in and we were able to swim and explore a bit. This was wild! We climbed along the rocks below the actual falling water and I was blown away by the pressure. I am pretty sure I got everything I missed out of my last month of bucket showers in a mere few seconds. Upon getting down from the fall I so gracefully slipped and bruised my tailbone-which proved to be an issue the next day. Although all the small experiences we had seeing the bits and pieces of tours were fun AB and I had a hard time with the big picture. We spent most of the day in the car and if we weren't in the car we were waiting hours (literally) for Manuel to get started or we ere getting back late and not able to leave the fenced house if needed. Beyond that we weren't excited about interrupting the handful of people as they were sleeping and relaxing on the beach. So the next day when AB and I were allowed to hit the beach alone we talked about shortening our stay. By the time we reached the end of the beach after getting a lot of "we are leaving today's from customers" and "this isn't worth it for you girls you should travel" we decided to pack up that afternoon and make plans from there. Mind you, this is my birthday and Manuel is treating is to lunch when we break the news. He was clearly not happy with or decision because he had put a lot into our short visit, but his loss seemed minimal to how miserable and trapped we felt. That afternoon we packed our bags, AB moved her flight home, and I got overwhelmed with the pace of the decisions I would have to be making in the next few days.After having a good Thai birthday dinner to officially start my birthday (we decided it had a delay due to too many emotions and being somewhere where time is a much less strict concept) we were on an overnight bus to they archipelago of islands on the Caribbean known as Bocas del Torro (extremely painful with a bruised tail bone). When we landed ( or floated for our final leg) we found that the main island, Isla Colon, was an environmental awareness festival which made it a little harder to find a hostel, but still doable. AB and I immediately dropped our bags and went to the nearest beach before walking the souvenir shops, fried food, stages, ad booths that made up the festival. We signed a petition raising awareness for the Panamanian government about the dolphins and turtles that are unique to this region and later that night enjoyed a beach side performance of some good ol' Latin times.
The next day I was thrilled to finally have the time and freedom to go for a run and then later go on about tour of the islands. We picked a tour with a mix of everything. Our first stop was to Dolphin Bay where I was captivated by the grace and serenity of their swimming. From there we headed to snorkel and explore at Coral Caye. We saw all sorts of colorful fish and AB picked up a sea cucumber for me to test out. It was totally what we were looking for. From there we headed to paradise... Literally this is what every person wishes they had when they go to a beach. Zapatilla Island is a national park so it is literally untouched white sand beaches with crystal clear lukewarm water. We got to explore and circle the island for two hours. In that time we found another awesome reef with schools of fish, map-like coral, and loads of sea enchants. From Zaptilla we had a break for lunch which we opted out of to save room for sushi and headed (unsuccessfully) to spot sloths. You'd think they'd be able to find them doing these tours everyday seeing how their name is Spanish translates to lazy bear, but that's ok. Our final stop was a place called Hollywood. At Hollywood there are an uncountable number of Star Fish... Another first sighting for me. Super neat! From our tour we made great timing for half off Sushi, got my phone back working since I would now be solo, a packed up to split ways in the morning. AB headed home and I made my way to Costa Rica.
Although Panama wasn't what we expected and I probably won't go back, unless I get a guaranteed sighting of a Quetzal, we learned a lot... Mostly (as always) about ourselves. After getting some time to sort things out I am excited about what is coming next for me. Although I haven't picked exactly what yet I have a few options and plans that all seem like great fits for me, my interests, and my future goals.
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