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Ola a todos,
We just got back to Panama City after spending 3 days on the islands of the archipelago San Blas - or short the paradise. White sandy beaches, turquoise coloured water and a lot of sunshine. But that is not how our trip through Panama started...
Because of the kind of horror stories we read about trekking in the national park Corcovado in Costa Rica we decided to give it a try elsewhere: across the border in Panama. Although we got up at around 4:45am in San Gerardo (Cerro Chirripo) that day it still took us till late in the afternoon to arrive at our next destination: Cerro Punta. Situated at about 2000m altitude it turned out quite chilly contrary to the remainder of Panama... And as we headed for Las Nubes ("the clouds") as entry point to the national park "La Amistad" it did obviously not get any warmer or sunnier... But after climbing Cerro Chirripo we still had our soft shells and fleece jackets right on top in our backpacks...
In "La Amistad" we did several hikes through the cloud forest, to a waterfall as well along a trail known for spotting the famous bird in the region, the "quetzal". However, during that day as well as the day after, while walking the Sendero de Quetzales from Cerro Punta to Boquete, we didn't spot any… Still the environment we walked through was definitely worth it. Beautiful valleys between the impressive mountains, small picturesc rivers running through them… In addition, the places we stayed at in both villages reminded us a lot of either the German Alps or parts of the state Colorado, USA. Nevertheless, after more than a week at high altitude we were pretty much longing for higher temperatures and just walking around in our flip-flops. That's why we headed for the capital city of Panama next.
Panama City is renowned as being the most exciting capital city in the whole of Central America by far (excluding Mexico). We thus had high expectations upon our arrival and weren't disappointed at all! The city resembles a very diverse range of districts (Casco Viejo - the historic city built after pirates destroyed the initial site - vs. the numerous skyscrapers in the commercial and financial centres), nationalities and food. For example there are many Peruvians living in Panama, although no one could really explain us why. But after the first ceviche Peruvian style we didn't mind the answer. In addition, we enjoyed some great food and cocktails in the plazas and at a roof-top bar in Casco Viejo. The view from the bar over the city at night even beat the views from Cerro Ancon, the hill right in the centre of the city, as well as over the Panama Canal and its Miraflores locks.
After a few days of hassle in the big city we really had to relax for some days of course… Travelling can involve quite some stress, don't you think…? ;). And why not choose the paradise right in front - the islands of San Blas, also called Kuna Yala: The home of the Kuna tribe, an independent territory within Panama that was given to the Kuna after their fight for independence. We could describe it in much detail, but we rather let the photos talk for themselves. And it ended up like relaxing as it meant to be: sunbathing, swimming, reading a book, snorkeling, eating seafood caught right from the sea... That was the itinerary of the 1st day. As it was for the other two days…
This time we won't stay in Panama City for long. Tomorrow we will fly to Cartagena in the north of Colombia. The Caribbean beaches of Tayrona and the far north-east are awaiting us; as well as many other destinations throughout Colombia during the upcoming four weeks of our travels. We will keep you posted on our adventures in the final country of our trip!
Saludos,
Anna & Maarten
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