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| Entrance to Posada 1914 hostel |
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| Inside the hostel |
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| Outside patio area at the hostel | | | | | |
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| Reception area |
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| Outside seating area and rock climbing wall at the hostel |
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| Outside pizza oven |
This
property is a 2-story, 12-room, family owned colonial home located in the heart
of Panama City. It is a short 2-minute
walk to the park, 3-minutes to the Parada Calle 45 Este bus stop and a 10-minute
walk to Estacion Santo Tomas Metro subway station.
My
single accommodation measured somewhere around 5 feet wide and 9 feet in
length, although there are several different room configurations to choose
from. I was assigned room #6, the
“Gold Hill” room, which was just wide enough for the twin bed and a very small
end table and lamp. I did have a screened crank-open window embellished with a
set of turquoise drapes. Between the window and a wall mounted 3-speed
fan, air circulation was relatively good for sleeping in the warm and humid tropical
climate of Panama.
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| My room at Posada 1914 |
The
bed was made with sheets only and was complimented by a foot covering in vivid yellows
and blacks, along with a matching headboard.
I was also provided with a towel and a small bar of soap. The room did not contain a closet or dresser
and had only 1 small shelf for personal affects. For this reason, I found it easiest to live
out of my suitcase which I placed on the floor at the foot of my bed.
The
room shared bathroom facilities, the largest of which was located just a few
steps from my door. It was always available
at 6am.
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| Shared bathroom |
The
complimentary breakfast was served outside on the patio and consisted of
assorted boxed juices along with white bread, butter, jam and peanut butter.
They also provided a toaster. There was
a hot and cold water dispenser for coffee and tea.
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| Outside breakfast area |
Spanish
classes were offered from 8am-noon, Monday through Friday, with a short 15-20
minute break around 10am. October is low
season so my “beginner” class was comprised of just 2 students.
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| Classroom at the hostel |
I found this to be an especially good
situation as it provided an environment for a more open discussion. Our lessons typically followed the Standard
Spanish Level A1 book.
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| Standard Spanish Book Beginner Level A1 |
At
the conclusion of the Monday class, I walked 3 blocks to the very large and
modern Riba Smith Bella Vista Supermarket located at Calle 45 Este. This Supermarket
is clean, very well organized and offered numerous checkout stands.
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| Clean and organized isles |
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| Beautiful fruits and vegetables |
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| Lots of checkers |
I was especially impressed with their chilled
walk-in wine cellar.
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| Chilled walk-in wine cellar |
The building also
houses a large food court, ice cream shop, bakery, pharmacy and even an eyeglass
shop.
Ingrid
has fashioned her traveling classroom to include a number of various activities
each week. While in Panama City she first arranged
for a taxi transport to Casco Viejo,
the
old historical district of Panama City, originally settled in s1673. In 1997 it was designated as a World HeritageSite.
After
a couple hours of walking through the old town it was time for an ice cream break
at Stickhouse.
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| Various fruit bar selections |
Be
sure to experience the Tantalo Rooftop Bar for
their happy hour specials. They offer $4
mojitos and $4 margaritas. I had one of
each but preferred the margarita. We stayed here long enough to watch the sun go down and admire the skyline views, flickering with light as it became dark. It made for a magical evening.
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| Mojitos |
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| Margaritas |
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| L to R: Marci, Jasmine, Sharon, Ingrid |
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| Sunset from the rooftop |
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| Panama City skyline at night |
After happy hour we made our way to Rene’ Café for an intimate dining
experience. This great little family run business is located in Casco Viejo on the corner of Plazade La Independencia and Plaza Catedral, across from the Metropolitan Cathedral.
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| Entrance to Rene' Cafe' |
We were a group of 4 and their
set menu came at a cost of $12 per person, including the tip. We started the
meal with warm bread
accompanied by whipped butter flavored with herbs. Next came spring rolls with a sweet tomato puree accented with bell
peppers. The contrasting flavor was ginger, which was found inside the spring
rolls along with other vegetables.
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| Seating inside Rene' Cafe' |
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| Spring roll appetizers |
I found the staff to be friendly and
attentive as they continued our meal with the presentation of filleted fish and fried rice. The dessert was a fabulously prepared tres leches cake sprinkled with cinnamon.
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| Tres Leches Cake |
After
dinner Ingrid hailed a taxi for our short ride back to the hostel. After a refreshing glass of wine on the hostel
rooftop discussing the adventures of the day, it was time to retire for the
night and prepare for class the next morning.
We
arrived at the locks at 2:30pm. The
entrance fee to the museum and viewing area is $20 but this fee is included with
your school tuition costs. We were given
2 hours here which I found quite sufficient.
The
museum complex covers 4 floors and starts on level 1 with a short 10-minute
video on the Panama Canal, offered both in Spanish and English. They also have viewing areas outside for observing
the canal traffic as vessels navigate through the Miraflores Locks.
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| L to R: Sharon and Marci |
You
can also find an upscale restaurant called Atlantic and Pacific Company, on
the 2nd floor. They offer optional
outside seating overlooking the locks. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner
only.
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| Entrance to Atlantic and Pacific Company |
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| Inside seating at Atlantic and Pacific Company |
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| Buffet at Atlantic and Pacific Company |
Our
Wednesday activity was a Ceviche cooking class followed by Salsa dance lessons. The
dance lessons were on the roof of the hostel with instructor Chris. With an hour and a half lesson Chris was able
to teach us 8 basic Salsa steps which included the “Basic”, the “Side-to-side”,
the “Suzi Q” and other steps I can’t remember now. It was a great workout for sure.
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| Ingrid preparing for cooking class |
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| Cutting the fish for Ceviche |
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| Squeezing the lime for the Ceviche |
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| Chris trying to teach us a Salsa step |
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| Chris teaching Salsa to the 3 of us |
On
Thursday we were up at 5am. Ingrid
arranged for a van to pick us up by 6am.
Today we were traveling to the Guna Yala Region for
a visit to the San Blas Islands, an
archipelago comprising approximately 365 islands, of which 49 are
inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama, east of the
Panama Canal.
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| Map of San Blas Island location |
About
30 minutes after leaving the hostel we made a stop at a supermarket to purchase
personal items to take with us on the island, including water.
Once
we left the store it took another 3 hours to arrive at Barsuka boat landing. I can only describe the ride “over the
mountain” as one similar to an “E” ride at Disneyland. The road was extremely
steep and winding, very narrow and had large pot holes everywhere, making for a
very bumpy ride.
As
we pulled into the Barsuka boat landing there were several small boats tied to
the bank of the quiet river. We were
only a party of 4 and were assigned to our own boat. We were helped into a covered motorboat
equipped with benches. Our suitcases and
backpacks, as well as our bags jammed with newly purchased food, were placed in
a holding area at the bow of the boat.
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| Our boat ready to pick us up |
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| Ready to leave for Franklin Island |
The
islanders provide three meals a day but Ingrid had suggested that we each bring
along some water as well as some extra favorites like cookies or chips. Our boat trip took 45 minutes to get to the
island of Tuba Senika, aka Franklin Island.
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| Tuba Senika Island aka Franklin Island |
Once
on the island we were assigned to hut #6.
It can hold 4 people but we were only 3 as Ingrid was assigned a different
hut.
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| Hut #6 on Franklin Island |
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| My bed in hut #6 on Franklin Island |
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| The calm beach of Franklin Island |
Our
lunch the first day consisted of fried chicken, rice and salad and was very
tasty.
After
lunch we boarded another boat for a quick ride to yet a different island. We had received an invitation to attend a
very special celebration of the Guna people, celebrating
a young girl’s coming of age. This is an event that lasts for 5 days and includes
obscene amounts of rum that the indigenous people drink for 5 straight days while
the young girl is confined to a thatched hut during her purification ceremony.
Simply
walking through the streets invited offers to join in the celebration by ingesting rum out of small little coconut
shells. I felt obliged to participate –
more than once.
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| Rum shot in a small coconut cup |
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| Local Guna women |
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| Guna woman putting a bracelet on Marci |
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| Ingrid purchasing a bracelet from a local Guna woman |
It
was time to head back to Franklin Island, our home for the next 2 nights. First order of business was to try out some of the
local coconuts. Once the milk had been
consumed we replenished the coconut with local rum. Life is good!
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| Coconut drinks |
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| Coconuts refilled with rum |
Dinner
was announced promptly at 6pm by the blowing of a conch shell. The
evenings menu included a whole fried fish, including head and tail, along with boiled potatoes and salad.
The remainder of the
evening was spent with a glass of wine on the beach enjoying the beautiful
sunset.
Friday
morning found us up early to watch the sunrise.
Breakfast was served at 7am and consisted of scrambled eggs, fry bread
with cheese and watermelon.
Beach
life was pretty much the order for the day on this small little island. A time to relax, reflect, unwind and let the cares of
the world pass you by.
Our
lunch for today was a whole fried fish again, along with rice
and salad. After lunch we headed to the
neighbor island of Perro Chico, aka Dog Island. This
is a great area for snorkeling. Very close to shore is an old navy shipwreck of
a gunboat from WWII. The
island provides lots of tables and chairs and also has a small little
restaurant hut where we purchased beer.
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| Restaurant hut |
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| Tables and chairs |
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| Navy shipwreck for snorkeling |
After
spending two hours on the island we headed back to Franklin Island and our home
for the evening. Dinner was served
promptly at 6pm and the evenings fare included fried fish fillet, cassava aka
yuca, and
salad.
Saturday
morning we loaded all our gear into a boat and pulled away from our little
island. We were heading back to Panama
City for 1 final night at Posada 1914. The
following day, Sunday, will be a very full travel day for us as we set our
sights for our second element, the school in Boquete, Panama.
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