12 Days in Panama!

12 days in Panama is a short amount of time to see what this varied country has to offer, but if you want to make it happen, it is totally possible. Below is our itinerary, however in retrospect, I believe it would be more efficient to fly into Panama City and out of San Jose, Costa Rica. The travel time back to Panama City took up an entire day and was kind of exhausting...

Day 1
We arrived in Panama City and had a pre-arranged shuttle from the airport to our hostel in Casco Viejo. However, you could easily catch a taxi for the same price. Agreeing on a price before you get in the cab is a good idea in all of Panama. Expect the ride to cost $25-30. Casco Viejo, the “new” Panama City, is just a few minutes from the hub of Panama City and is completely safe for tourists to walk around at night. There are many great restaurants, cafes and bars. I highly recommend the brewery La Rana Dorada for locally crafted beers and 10 dollar pizzas.

Day 2
We started the day off right by grabbing a cafe con leche at Casa Sucre. After some fuel, we hailed a taxi for $5 to Parque Nacional Metropolitano. This park is incredible. You can hike all the trails in approx 2 hours. We saw titi monkeys, a parrot, some giant bugs and more, all while still hearing the traffic speed by just outside the park limits. The lookout point is definitely the highlight of the park. While surrounded by lush forest, you can see the beautiful architecture of Panama City. After our fill of the beautiful park, we headed back to Casco Viejo, and took a short walk to the Mercado de Mariscos where you can purchase your choice of ceviche for 2 dollars.

Day 3

We took the overnight bus from Panama City to David, because with only 12 days, you really don't want to waste one on a bus! It took about 6 hours and cost $18. In David, we caught a shabby over-crowded bus to Boquete... but hey, it cost $1.75 and really gives you an authentic experience. Boquete is up in the mountains so make sure you have a sweater! We decided to only spend a day there because of the weather, so we made the most of it; we agreed on a coffee tour and a hot spring tour which were both truly enjoyable. The coffee tour taught me a ton about coffee; we tasted different beans, watched the roasting process and of course, got a taste or two! Heading to the hot springs in Caldera was a nice break from the chilly Boquete weather. The water in these naturally forming hot springs was really hot and known to have healing powers. There were three different pools with varying temperatures, and I could barely sit in the hottest one for 2 minutes. Caliente caliente! For dinner we walked over to the highly recommended Big Daddys. It was very good, and the margaritas were even better :) The Flower Festival was quite loud, and if I wasn't exhausted, it could have been a tough night's sleep.

Day 4
The hostel we stayed at in Boquete, Marmallena, offered transportation directly to Bocas Del Toro, which included the water taxi. There are probably cheaper ways to get there, but it's very convenient and stress free. If you stay a night at the hostel, you save $5 as well. Bocas is quite the party island! As soon as you get off the boat, people are offering you a place to stay and handing you a flyer for the party happening that night. We stayed at Casa Verde and we loved it. The beers were $1 all day, the menu was versatile, delicious and cheap, and there were plenty of hammocks to lay in. We decided to try out the party du jour, which was Nasty Monday. $1 tequila shots = eating plantain chips off the floor. 'nuff said.

Day 5
There are two main activities you can try on Bocas Del Toro.... diving or surfing. We decided to try surfing, but booked it for the next day, since we were still feeling a bit 'nasty.' Instead, we checked out Isla Bastimentos, an island which is a short water taxi away with breathtaking beaches: Red Frog or Wizard Beach (or so we heard.) If you attempt to walk to Wizard Beach, make sure you do it on a sunny day. The trek to the beach in the rain, which was our luck, is quite the muddy journey. We walked for about 30 minutes before a woman we encountered suggested we turn back since we still had about 30 minutes to go, and the sun was setting. But the island was beautiful and the mud hike was hysterical, so all in all, we enjoyed our Isla Bastimentos experience. I recommend going left when you arrive on the island, follow the cement path... don't head up the incline, especially if its raining! For dinner we went to a sushi spot called Raw, which I highly recommend. Decent prices, great sushi and a delicious wine selection.

Day 6
We walked around the island trying to find Panaderia y Dulceria, a german owned bakery, for breakfast. The cafe con cafe and carrot cake were worth the hunt. Once we had some fuel, it was time for surfing! There are many surf places on the island offering lessons for around the $60 mark. Our instructor's name was Ernesto, a bit gropey, but overall a nice guy. OK HERE IS MY THOUGHTS ON SURFING... if you are like me and slightly fearful of surfing... wait until you are in Santa Catalina to try it. In Bocas Del Toro, you go out to a reef break. The waves are pretty big and come in sets of 3, the only break you have from the water is on your board, and there are a lot of people out there. On my second attempt, I went flying around, got hit in the head with the board, swallowed a ton of salt water and realized... surfing is not really my thing. However, my travel companion seemed to be a natural and had the time of her life. So... to each your own. Since it was our last night in Bocas, we needed to go out with a bang. Wednesday nights are at Aqua, a bar with many different pools, swings, trampolines and bathing suits galore. Just head down to the docks and catch a water taxi, and don't bring anything you don't want getting wet, people have a tendency to get pushed in :)

Day 7
Our next destination of choice was Santa Catalina, but it's not really possible to get there from Bocas, so we spent another night in Boquete after taking the Marmallena shuttle back. We were so glad we got another day in Boquete because the weather was perfect! We had a wonderful day walking around the flower festival and a spectacular dinner at The Art Cafe. The goat cheese salad may have been the best meal I had my entire trip.

Day 8

We took another Marmallena shuttle over to Santa Catalina, which took about 6-7 hours. We stayed at an amazing hostel called Hibiscus Gardens. It is 10k before the town of Santa Catalina, but it was so relaxing, had an amazing restaurant, and a shuttle that would take you into Santa Catalina at your request ($6.50).

Day 9
We started off the day with a 3 hour horseback ride on the Pacific Ocean, which was pretty much the best start to a day ever! After lunch we took the shuttle into Santa Catalina to try some waves at Estero Beach. Now, this was my kind of surfing! The waves weren't as big, you could touch the ground if you wanted to... or lay on the beach if you wanted to. Chelsie became a surfing pro, and I became a “pescado.”

Day 10

We enjoyed our amazing hostel for the last day. We had cafe con leches from the restaurant, hung out with some other tourists from France and Holland, went back to Estero Beach, drank the last of our Abuelo, and had one last dinner at the restaurant.

Day 11 & 12

After a beautiful sunrise, we had a looooong travel day back to Panama City and then ultimately back to Canada, which is why I would recommend flying out of San Jose. We were lucky enough to catch a ride into Sona with someone at our hostel, and a direct bus to Panama City from there. We arrived around 2 and thought it would be nice to see a different part of the city than our first day, so we hitched a taxi to Bella Vista. Well that was a bad idea, we walked around with our backpacks for an hour looking for a good place to have dinner before settling on some chain in frustration and exhaustion. After that, we took a taxi back to the airport and waited very patiently for our flight out early in the morning. We made it home safe and sound, and best of all tanned and refreshed!