Panama

[Ziggy Stardust]

Just thought people here might appreciate some of the pictures from my Panama trip in March. I am not sure what the rules are regarding thumbnails, so I will just provide links (these are in rough chronological order).

Coming into Panama City from the airport

Panama City at night

Panama City skyline from the Causeway

Downtown Panama City as seen from the roof of a bar

Time lapse video of ship going through Miraflores Locks (I finally figured out how to make a time lapse video with my camera!)

Street view, Casco Viejo

Storefront, Casco Viejo

Church facade, Casco Viejo

Park, Casco Viejo

The ruins of Old Town (sacked by one Captain Morgan, no less)

Panama City skyline at day, from Luna's Castle hostel in Casco Viejo

And the same, at night

Bocas del Toro Archipelago

Bocas Town, night

Mondo Taitu, legendary backpacker's hostel in Bocas town

Mondo Taitu, interior (hallway)

Mondo Taitu, interior (reception/dining room)

Playa Bluff, 5km of isolated beach

Our camp on Playa Bluff

Fresh coconut!

Me on a water taxi, with Captain Willy (Guillermo)

Water taxi through mangroves (video)

Isla Bastimentos

Ngobe-Bugle children

Taking a boat into the mangroves

Deeper into the jungle ...

To a cave

I didn't bring my camera into the cave, but we went spelunking along an underground river for about a kilometer or so. At two separate points we had to go completely underwater to get through to the next chamber. It opened up into a beautiful underwater lake with a waterfall. The cave was also FULL of bats. I got this picture right near the cave entrance:

BATS!

As far in as I would dare take my non-waterproof and non-falling on rock proof camera

A dramatic pose after coming back out, muddy and wet and mildly bleeding

Artsy photo on the boat going back down the river

Dock, Isla Bastimentos

Dolphins

Cliffjumping at Red Frog Beach (I don't have any action shots, because I was afraid of bringing my camera - it took a serious little hike to get to the place where we would jump. The cliff on the right of the above is where we jumped. I am pissed I didn't bring my camera out, because even besides action shots, while we were out there I saw both an oceanic sunfish and a red poison arrow dart frog!)

I have around 800 total pictures from the trip, so these are just my personal favorites. If anyone is interested in seeing more, or want to hear the stories behind any of these pictures, let me know. And, just for fun:

Nude beach, Isla Bastimentos (NSFW)

50 cent beers on Bocas

And $5 hookahs (the stickers on the wall are from us ... the bar encourages its customers to leave some sort of mark, so we put the label from every beer we drank on the wall)

Backflip after $1 tequila shot.. (One of the clubs in Bocas had a diving board above the bar!)

[Havok]

Pretty cool, but I was expecting Van Halen.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Pretty cool, but I was expecting Van Halen.

At the hostel Mondo Taitu, Monday nights are "Metal Mondays" at the bar. That song started off Happy Hour.