Isla Coiba

In Santiago, a city of 200.000 people 240km from Panamá City, was a big party this weekend. We went there on Friday after work. It took 4,5 hours to get there... the panamericana (panamerican highway) is not as highways are elseweher on the world ;-) Finally we arrived and spent a couple of nice hours hanging around drinking beer with friends.



On the next morning after a short breakfast we drove with the bus to the port where our boat to Isla Coiba waited for us. It was a nice boat trip of about 2 hours and I was lucky lying on the luggage to get some more sleep. Isla Coiba is a former jail colony (penal de coiba) and is now a national park. The park authority maintains a nice area there with a camp site and small huts with beds (I was the only one without a tent). Later we went to a small coral reef for swimming and snorkeling, where I've seen a reef shark, clown fishes, and - of course - lots of corals.



Later we gone back to our "base camp" and had a nice barbecue. Lots of people from the university were there and so I met lots of people I already knew. We drank sangria and rum with coke (ron de abuelo - a panamanian rum brand) and played some games... finally they auctioned some of the guys (including Ed ;-) Since I was also partying on the day before, I went to sleep early and it was raining all night... I was the only one with dry clothes on the next day :-)



After breakfast we jumped on the boat and went to the former jail site of the island. It was very interesting and we had a very friendly guide from Policia Nacional. I was a little bit concerned if really all of the prisoners left the island when I saw a guy with an automatic riffle. We have seen all the former jail buildings as well as the rest of the infrastructure, the graveyard, and the diesel generators.



Later we drove back to the island we've visited the day before to relax a little bit in the warm sea. We had to leave early because it's a long way back to panama city.



It was a very nice trip, you see a lot more if you travel with locals. This was my fourth Island, now I have 2 caribbean and 2 pacific islands on my list. I cannot really see a difference... ;-)

I think I will go to see some the panamanian mountain valleys next....

Link to my Isla Coiba album

Casco Viejo

On sunday morning (honestly it was 12am ;-) we took the Diablo Rojo to Downtown Panama to visit Casco Viejo which is the second oldest part of Panama (after Panama Viejo). Casco Viejo is a nice place with lots of old buildings and the Canal Museum. It is surrounded with the not so nice parts of Panama City ("no-go" areas) and is thus heavily patrolled by a special Tourist Police (very friendly guys) who keep telling you where it is not a good idea to go. Nevertheless, Casco Viejo has the presidential palace, the canal museum, national theatre, the french ebassy, and many more old buildings. It's quite interesting that this (rather important) part of Panama City is surrounded by completely run-down areas.



After striving around a bit - and hitting the "no-go" borders several times - we found the Canal Museum which was cheap, interesting, and with air condition ;-) I found out that Panama has these many National Parks not because they like nature so much, they simply need the water from the rain forests for running the canal. They say it's one of the few examples where nature profits from technology.



After striving around some hours, Angie (from my work) phoned me, picked us up and showed us a few other places in Downtown Panama City. Finally we went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner, which was a quite expensive experience. They played the same bloody playlist as in the Hard Rock Café Munich, where I've been 2 months ago. Finally we decided to go to Albrook Mall, where the only movie in English we've not seen was Fast and the Furious 3 - I've never seen a more stupid movie...

Parque Nacional Metropolitano

This was the first weekend I've spent in Panama City. On Saturday we visited the Parque Nacional Metropolitano with a group of school teachers who where taught of how to visit the national park with their pupils. Obviously the park guide spoke spanish, so no information for me :-)

But I made a lot of pictures. The park is very nice and can be reached within only a few minutes from downtown panama.




In the afternoon I went to the university campus to play football. After 10 minutes heavy rain set in, but rest of the players weren't impressed. The water on the football ground stood about 10cm high at some places, it was funny to jump around in the dirt (my shoes did not dry until now ;-)

Downtown Panama City

Made a little walk through Panama City yesterday after work. Actually I wanted to buy some food, but I took a taxi to Multiplaza Mall. It took about half an hour because the streets where crowded during rush hour. It was an interesting ride anyways. Multiplaza Mall is really huge and modern, with cinema, food court, and, of course, they have an Apple Store. Saw the new black MacBook the first time, quite nice, but not as stylish than my white iBook ;-)



After strolling around a bit in the mall (not without buying a few pieces ;-) I went out to see the skyscapers of downtown Panama City - very interesting. Unfortunately, it got soon too dark for my digicam, so I have just a couple of pics. The difference between tumba muerto (where I work and reside) is amazing. Lots of large jeeps, vans, and german cars around, quite luxurious houses and some little gardens. Had a huge Häagen-Dazs icecream somewhere between the huge skyscrapers. Panama City lies directly on the Pacific Ocean, and later I've found the street on the "coast". Now I understand why it is not recommended to swim within the Panama City bay - quite dirty everywhere. Panamanians don't care much about waste... the Pacific Ocean is large.




Finally I found the street where all the nice bars are, and had a beer - actually 2 because it was happy hour. Since I'd been out the day before, I got tired and went back home at 10... the taxi ride took just 5 minutes now.

Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro

Eduard and me spent the last weekend in Bocas del Toro town on Isla Colón. We hit the road at 5 am to go get our plane from Albrook Airport. Bocas town is about 600 km away from Panama City which is an hour flight for 140$ (round trip). We arrived 8 am and it was raining heavily. We changed our cloth and went out to look for a boat trip. We found one for 15$. At 10 o'clock we started. Ed was clever and bought large trash sacks before to keep his rucksack dry. The boat was very fast and due to the rain it was quite cold. We made ponchos out of the sacks.



There was a swiss guy with his sister, as well as an austrian couple on the boat. The first few words in german were quite hard for me. We had also 2 guys from israel on the boat who finished military service recently (fortunately) and a few older chicks from southern USA.



The first stop on the tour was dolphin bay were we looked the dolphins jumping around. Afterwards we went to a small restaurant built like pile dwelling (Pfahlbau). Most of the group wanted to go back to Bocas town, because it was really cold. Ed insisted to go snorkeling which gave me the chance to get to know the others while drinking hot chocolate. Fortunately the rain stopped and the vibes got better. We decided to continue the tour.

The next stop was Red Frog Beach, named after a kind of red frogs threatened by extinction. After a short walk through the jungle and watching lots of animals (red and other frogs, spiders, mosquitos, ... ) we reached an amazing beach, which high waves, bar, beach volleyball net and some people there. Some of the guys used the waves for surfing on them without a board. I tried as also, but was spitting blood after the first try. Water is very strong. After getting rotated like in a washing machine for a couple of times I finally gave up and played volleyball, which I know better than waves ;-) After having some beer we went back to Bocas town. We had the possibility to snorkel another time and saw lots of beautiful places on our way back.



Later on the evening we met the austrian couple for dinner again and spent a nice evening with them. They told us about their bike tour they made on the day before and we decided to also hit the road by bike on the next day.

On the next morning (11 am ;-) we went to the bike rental and lent us mountain bikes with about 30 kg in an amazing bad condition. Although the island looks pretty flat from the airplane we had to go up and down all the time. The midday sun burned like hell... with one word we had to sweat a lot :-) After an 1,5 hours ride we arrived in Bocas del Drago, a small village on the other side of the Island. We had a drink in the small beach bar and went to the beach for swimming and snorkeling afterwards. It was a really nice and tranquil place. Later we rode back and made a stop at a holy grotto (Grotte ;-). After paying 2$ and receiving a flashlight we went into the cave but stopped after 20m because the top of the cave was covered with spiders of 5 cm and we didn't want to disturb them ;-) They had also little monkeys there which are interesting to watch. They behave quite similar to humans, scratching their balls and ass. After 2 hours we arrived pretty tired in Bocas town. After having lunch and a couple of beers and cocktails in a nice surfer bar, we went to sleep after a long hard day.

On the next day we had to go back. I had a bad headache and hated the world (I think it was the sun, not the alcohol ;-) Fortunately Ed was able to make decisions and hired a water taxi to a nice beach. I took the chance and had a nice walk along the sandy coast watching the flora and fauna of the caribbean. Finally we had to go back to get our plane back to Panamy City at 5pm.



This was now the 3rd Island of Panama and the second Island in the Caribbean Sea I've visited. Its a nice experience, Bocas Town is a nice place with quite some tourists.

La Isla Grande

On Saturday (8th of July 2006) Ed and I hit the road towards Colon to visit La Isla Grande, a small island on the pacific side of Panama. It took us 4 hours to go there by bus. We had a quite new bus with air condition from Panama City towards Colon. But we had to change 20km before Colon to a Diablo Rojo (Red Devil) which has now air condition and was quit full. After a long time we arrived in Portobello where we recognized that we've missed the last bus to the port where we would get the boat to Isla Grande. After waiting some time we decided to get a taxi there. The road was in very bad condition what made the ride an adventurous experience :-) Finally we got a boat to the island for 2$.


There we tried to get a bed for the night. After some expensive experiences, Ed asked an old man in front of a house for a cheap accomodation. And he gave us a cheap bed: used sheets (Leintücher), no bathroom, run-down toilets and shower on the other floor... never let brits negotiate ;-)
Afterwards we went out for eating something, we've found a nice restaurant built on a footbridge (Steg). Ed had fish, I had chicken with rice. Afterwards we looked for a cocktail. Ed started to complain about 1$ with the barkeeper, who throwed us out of the bar. This time I wanted to k*** him... Finally we went to the second bar on the island, where he got his cocktail. We started a conversation with a panamanian couple and Ed told them the story of the other bar. The couple told it the barkeeper who also became angry... I was just keeping my head low drinking my 50 cents beer. I really love to be an Austrian. (Sorry Ed ;-)


On the next day we walked around on the coast after having breakfast. I was sweating like hell, but I liked it. After 1 hour or so, we met a group of people who wanted to visit the light tower of the island. We joined them which was a good choice. On of the guys, Luis, works for the Smithsonian Tropical Institute. On the light tower we had a great view over the caribbean sea and on the north side of the island, where we went afterwards. The weather was quite nice for the rainy season. Luis showed us a natural basin on the shore which is filled by waves. I borrowed the diving goggles from Luis and had my first snorkeling experience - amazing - it's like in an aquarium. We went back to the little village on the south side of the island where we drank lots of water and exchanged phone numbers with Luis.



Finally we went to the public beach for swimming and snorkeling. A little bar had a TV set where we watched the final of the FIFA world cup while having beer and caribbean food. Ed had fish and rice, I had lobster (Langusten), and patacones - fried plantains (Kochbananen) which was great, believe me :-)


Finally we hit the road back to Panama City, where I had the best shower ever.

Pics made by Eduard Blum.

Pix Pix Pix

Since I am too lazy to take my own photos, I asked Ed to give me his.

I've published them at my Gallery.

Greetings, Martin

Shopping in Panama

Yesterday I went out to the electronic store to buy a Bluetooth headset for my laptop, because my girlfriend (mis novia :-), as I've learned today) does not hear me on Skype. Shopping is funny here. When you enter the store you have to leave all bags at the front desk. When you buy something, you have to leave your full address, phone number, credit card number (obviously), and sometimes to show an id (ausweis). When leaving the store a large guy comes to control if you have paid everything you have, after having gone through the security scanner.

Entering the United States is easier ;-)

First Report

Hi Readers!

As I promised l start my weblog today to keep you all informed.

I arrived at saturday 9p.m. after a 24 hours trip. I only wrote a few e-mails with Juana who is the coordinator of IAESTE Panama a few weeks ago, no address, no phone number. Actually I was not sure if someone will pick me up on the airport. Fortunately, Karla and another girl from Panama City University brought me to my new flat. I am sharing a room with a graduate from Panama, his name is Eddy. The other 2 guys in the flat are Edward (Ed) from Manchester, UK and Nicolas from france. Nicolas spends his whole time in lectures and the gym. Ed does some Java 3D stuff I don't understand. After meeting them all, I went to bed...

The first day abroad is always a bit confusing. I was lucky and Ed asked me if I'd like to go to Isla Taboga, a small Island on the Archipello de Panama. Spent a nice day there having a lot of sun, fish and a couple of beers. Had a bad jetlag... tired during the day, awake on 4 a.m.... that really sucks. It was also very hot on the first day, but it is better now, it was just a heat wave on Sunday and Monday.



Monday was my first day at work. Fortunately, Ed brought me to my new office. I am working here with 6 other people from panama: Ernesto, Belkys, Oscar, Salvador, Carlos (Charly), and Kevin. They are all very friendly and glad about the chance to learn some english, and maybe also some words in german, although they are joking about the sound of the german language.
My first task was to set up a webserver using apache, php, openSSL, and MySQL. The basis OS was SuSE Linux 9.3, but they asked me to compile all components rather than using SuSE packages, which took me the whole day (on a PIII 600 MHz %-). They also asked me for my opinion for a problem they have with authentication here. I felt very honored...
Had lunch at the canteen, the food was quite the same as in europe: lentils sauce (Ger: linsensause) and stewed beef. Went to bed early, after sharing a can of beer with Ed.

On Tuesday I made some final steps with my SuSE server. Afterwards I tried to find a solution for the authentication problem. We went out for lunch in a fast food pizza restaurant called Dominos. Eddy (my roommate) came by later on the afternoon and asked me for help with his server which should host a Java Server Faces application on which he writes a whole year now. After coming into trouble with his machine I decided to go home.
I felt very curious this day and asked Eddy if he could take me to Dorado, an american style shopping mall. It was very interesting, had to ask in 5 stores if they have an universal connector for my laptop power supply. After rain set in, I bought an umbrella as well as a new backpack to stow all my new stuff. Finally I fetched a six pack of Atlas (panamesian beer) for 2$ which saved my day :-)
On my way home I took the bus. The bus system is fascinating here. Each bus only drives on one street, for a standard price of 25 cents. The busses are old large Ford busses just like in Cuba. Some of them are customized really nice, with chrome exhaust pipes, incredible HiFi equipment, and lots of Airbrush drawings.
I took a shortcut to see the Hindu Temple which is placed on a small hill near my flat. Panama has really everything I suppose.

Today is Wednesday. I tried to fix Eddies server, but they didn't let me in. When Ernesto came to the office he helped me out and I spent 3 hours in the other office fixing Eddies server. When I came back, my colleagues where quite busy. They locked themselves out of some Sun machine, a common problem for sysops ;-)

So... my first 4 days are gone now. I like it here. The people are friendly, and the equipment here in the university is as modern as in europe. The weather is not mine, its too hot (32°) and humid (90%) for me. The building I work in has air condition, so I wear a pullover when I am inside and sweat when I am outside. Thats somewhat weird in my view of the universe.
The only problem (outside) is that I don't speak spanish... but I am getting better every day :-)

So... thanks for your attention. I will post some pictures as soon as I've made some ;-) I'll ask Ed to give me his pix from out Isla Tobaga trip.

Greetings from Panama,

Martin