Bocas del Toro

DAY 6

After a slow, crowded bus ride over the mountains, we finally reached Almirante -- a little town where the ferry (really a panga boat with way too many people crammed in to be deemed safe by most people's standards) took off for Bocas del Toro, a tropical island off the Caribbean coast of Panama.

Once we hit the island, we noticed a number of hostels, restaurants and ads for boating and water sports tours. One thing we didn't see very much of, however, were taxis to get to our hostel, which was a 20 minute walk away -- a slow, sweaty endeavor with our packs. We did, eventually snag one, got to our hostel and enjoyed a nice Balboa beer before heading off to bed.

DAY 7

We had a great full day of fun in the sun with a boating tour through Dolphin Bay, where we saw a number of dolphins (some right next to our boat), went snorkeling in coral reefs by mangroves, and rode a "tabla" -- a simple water contraption similar to a boogie board that you tilt to dip deep into the water. The tabla was an easy way to snorkel and was a lot of fun to dip down right next to coral, kelp and sea creatures.

After boating, dolphin-watching, snorkeling and tabla-ing for a couple hours, we docked the boat on the uninhabited Isla Zapatilla for lunch. After lunch, dad and I explored the island for a couple of hours, walking through the tropical rainforest and kicking it on the white sandy beach for a bit.

After getting back to the mainland (which was technically still an island), we had Mexican (dad's choice, of course) in town and walked back with an older Dutch lady from our hostel.

Boquete

DAY 3

Today, we traveled.

A flight from Panama City at the smallest, dinkiest airport I've ever been in (and I've been to a lot of small dinky airports..), a car ride to the bus station in David from a nice French-Canadian fella who dad met on the plane, and a one hour $1.50 bus ride with locals on an old yellow school bus up the winding, bumpy road to Boquete -- a beautiful coffee-growing mountain town complete with a dormant volcano, great hikes, a river and, of course, great coffee.

DAY 4

Today, on New Year's Eve, we took a coffee tour in the rainy cloud forest about 5 miles up and away from town. The ride in the back of a truck on the steep road was part of the fun with views of lush green landscape, verdant hillsides, coffee plants, banana trees and a beautiful view from the peak of the mountain overlooking the small town of Boquete. Once we got to the coffee plantation, we toured and tasted the coffee bean plants in a heavy downpour, then stepped inside to stir, smell and taste eight of the region's award-winning coffees.

After getting back in town, we decided to take a hike uphill towards Volcan Baru. Along the riverside route, we saw incredible geometric rock structures and vegetation growing upon vegetation-- bananas, oranges, lemons, coffee beans, colorful flowers and even squash growing on a vine atop a palm tree. Life flourishes here in part due to the sunny, yet occasionally rainy climate and nutrious volcanic soil, which creates rich green hillsides in every direction.

At night, the entire town lit up with fireworks for New Year's Eve. They started around 7 p.m. and boomed and busted all night until around 1 p.m. For a town of 5,000 people, it seemed as if there were 20,000 out in town that night. Many of the indigenas trekked into town that night for the special occasion, getting drunk and fighting for women. No gringos were hurt -- they only fought each other -- but  between the fights and the fireworks, our New Year started off with quite a bang.

DAY 5

We took another truck ride up to the cloud forest today. This time for a 12-line zipline adventure through the forest and across the river. The guides said we reached speeds of 60 mph and a descent 1,000 feet during the thrilling ride -- quite an exhilirating experience for a Sunday afternoon. In our ziplining group we met a few good ole hardworking Southern boys who worked in nearby Chiriqui Grande and later a couple from Tennessee who were staying in our hostel -- what a nice taste of home when we were so far away!

Panama City

DAY 1

After leaving the wintry chill in Nashville, we arrived in Panama City, a swelteringly humid metropolis where we would start our trip. We checked into the hostel and took a smelly, crowded bus for 25 cents to Casco Viejo, a vintage town sprinkled with a chic, new touristy restaurants mixed with a smattering of old colonial-style buildings, churches and museums. The view of the skyline was incredible from where we stood, but there was not a whole lot to do in the area, so we started walking back to the city along the boardwalk.

We scoped out some of the town's Christmas decorations and stopped to watch some kids playing basketball. I suppose we got so distracted by activities around us, because before we knew it, we had walked about 1.5 miles, and we were already halfway to the city. So we kept walking... all the way back to the hostel to rest for the night.

DAY 2

Today, we went to Miraflores Locks, the first of three locks in the Panama Canal. The four-story museum and film were informative, but what was even more impressive was watching a huge ship pass through the locks. A few years ago on Semester at Sea, I passed through the canal, so it was neat to see it from the opposite vantage point.

After checking out the canal, we took a taxi to Amador -- a causeway that passes through a few islands with a spectacular vista of Panama City. We walked around a bit, grabbed a beer and a good view, and nearly blew away from all the wind. At the outdoor restaurant, we met Cynthia, an L.A. resident who was traveling alone and joined us for dinner. She had a car, so she took us back to our hostel for the night, saving us a would-be costly taxi ride since the buses stopped service at 5 p.m.

On the road again

After a good nine months of nice hot showers, my own comfortable bed, and easy English-speaking encounters, I am again set to embark on another silly adventure. This time, however, as a result of my father's midlife crisis.

He will be checking out all seven countries in Central America -- Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Belize. I, on the other hand, unfortunately will only be able to join him for 12 short days if I would like to keep my job, so I will only be traveling with him through Panama and Costa Rica.