We are about to head for the last country in our world adventure, the home of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I am madly reacquainting myself with the delights of One Hundred Years of Solitude in preparation for the experience.
Here in Panama this week we have enjoyed the beauty of the Bocas del Toro islands in the Carribean north. We stayed on Bastimentos island at an ecolodges run by a young American couple. It is in an idyllic setting on white sanded beaches with turquoise blue waters. We stayed in a beach hut and snorkelled around mangroves where underwater branches were like exquisite garden, full of colour. We even found a bright yellow seahorse. Our journey back to the lodge was accompanied by dolphins jumping through the wake of the runabout.
This is a funny country that runs west to east and is the only place in the world where the sun rises over the Pacific and sets over the Atlantic. Panama City looks remarkably like Singapore as you come in to land with Tocumen International being about as far out of town as Changi. Perhaps the similarities end there. While democracy is clearly alive and well here with multiple presidential candidiates, I am still left with the feeling that it is more Miami vice. The taxi drivers are variable and very willing to take gringos for a ride, whether at breakneck speed or in arguing afterwards as to what price was agreed in advance. The traffic in Panama City is pretty diabolical but is growing very quickly and there is a lot of construction work ongoing. Americans are being encouraged to retire here and given the income generated by the canal, being expanded to allow the biggest cruise ships and supertankers to journey through the middle of the Americas, I am sure this place will continue to have a sunny future. It has been a frustrating week at times but the trade off has been a beautiful Carribean island.
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