Bocas del Toro: Spanish under the sun :)

How to talk about Bocas del Toro? That is something I am thinking about since 1-2 weeks, and can't get to finish this blog post. I decided I will do 3 posts about this 2.5 weeks time there: on my Spanish lessons and the village/surroundings; on the sports/island beaches time; and of course, on the friends & party time :)

3 weeks before to head to the archipelagos of Bocas del Toro (West Caribbean side of Panama), I didn't even know it was existing! Originally, I was planning to spend about 2-3 weeks in Costa Rica to learn Spanish and tour the country, before to spend 10 days in Panama then head to Peru. Finally, I spent almost 4 weeks in Panama, out of which 2.5 in Bocas del Toro!


So what's special to Bocas del Toro? Well, nothing really and at the same time... this little, laid-back village with a very relaxed atmosphere has been a great place to cool down after 3 months of intense travel, never sleeping more than 4 nights in the same place.

Note: about traveling, I've started to draft a post about some travel thoughts and tips, got some questions about those, and would anyhow like to lie down my thoughts and feelings ;-)

They key reason I choose Bocas: I was looking for a Spanish school, where I could also have a beach around and be able to learn surf. The conditions here were gathered, so here I come.

PS: as an "secondary" point, it was also said to be a party/backpackers place...

Habla Ya! Spanish school. 
Arriving Sunday June 23rd end afternoon, I got school starting at 8am on Monday! Wow, knowing I'll have a "fix schedule" for 2 weeks is quite a strange feeling, had forgot about this! ;-)

Habla Ya! school's front with my 1st teacher, Gilberto

The school is really nice, the atmosphere serious but relaxed and welcoming. Teachers are locals who barely speak a word of English... very good!

Other students are mostly a mix of Americans/Canadians/Europeans, from 18 to 35 years old, perfect to quickly make friends!

After 2 days of 4 hours morning group lessons, I feel my Spanish basics are coming back a little bit, and I am really happy to improve them and getting a 3rd language back into my mind.

2 books I've been reading a lot these last weeks...

After 4 months without work... it feels good to use the brain again! I know, as you're probably working as crazy everyday, you may not be able to imagine, but really, it was great starting a new challenge to learn Spanish, and I am still working actively on it!

On the beach or around a pool, true, but I'll keep studying by my own in the next weeks, for sure!

Me, studying on the beach :-)

Bocas del Toro village
Strangely, as I quickly notice the 1st day, there is no beach in Bocas town, while we are on a Caribbean island in the middle of an archipelago.They have built houses / hotels all over the waterfront, with boat piers everywhere.
What the f*** would you tell me? Yes, it's what I thought too, and after all nice places visited, it was somehow disappointing... but the reasons are cultural and historic (I've been said): this part of the Caribbean being protected from storms and floodings, locals built their houses above the water on waterfronts. Ok, fine then, and it's anyhow very easy and quick to reach nice beaches 5-10mn away :-)

The Tungara hostel base :-)

The village itself is quite nice, with many Caribeean style colorful houses. Although it has the classic "developing country" destroyed roads, dirty sidewalks and trashes everywhere, it is charming!

You can walk across the village in about 10mn, so very convenient. There are many restaurants & bars, as well as hotels & hostels spread over the main street, where there is always some atmosphere and people walking by day & night.



So while it doesn't strike out as a "paradise on earth" type of place at 1st view, the combination of easy life,  cool people, vibrant nightlife, and a Caribbean's environment have definitely been making Bocas a great place for me :-). To learn Spanish, surf, making good friends or party, I can only recommend you stay there a bit!

Parc

Main street

Secondary street

My hotel street

The street to the infamous Barco Hundido

Other island view... with the Aqualounge bar/club

My base for 2 weeks, same room & bed, wow!!!

Linking Pacific & Atlantic oceans: the Panama Canal

Who hasn't heard about the Panama canal? From what I remember, even at elementary school we are taught about this engineering monster finished early XXth century, which enabled economic growth  of the US and Americas.

As I learnt afterwards, it is possible to cross the canal with a small boat, and if you have time, you could even do it for free, pending you have few days/weeks to wait a sailing boat is looking for someone to pass by with.

I have done the simple visit though, i.e. going to the Miraflores locks, located 15 km from Panama city, and so the Pacific entrance of the canal. That day, again, the sun wasn't really of the party, at least when I was looking at the gates... so my pics miss light, but ok, they should still give fair views.

1st view of the Miraflors lock

Strangely, the 1st impression when I arrived was "oh, that is just that?".

Basically, I was looking at gates with 2 chambers, enabling the boats to go down or up, pending the direction, by 16.5m.

These are the 1st or last step to cross the 77 km isthmus of Panama, which usually takes 24h. Cost is said to be $100,000 for a loaded large vessel, wow!

Russian ship just after the gates, going to Pacific

A Russian ship had just passed, and it was not that full and big.

Still, the view of the vessel's back trapped on the edges of the canal edges, started to be impressive. They really use the max of this 33.5m width!

Specific captains from the Canal's company do "drive" the boats crossing, I can understand why.



But then the big shit came. I mean, sorry, another vessel, fully loaded and really big. the CMA GGN King Fish". Oh My God.

Vessel arriving from the Gatun lake to

Yes, when you see this vessel, 294m long and 32m, loaded with almost 1,000 containers, weighting close to 54,000 tons... being moved down in the pre-chamber before to cross the gates, and maneuvrated in this very thin water corridor... That is f%&§* impressive!!

Or may be that is the engineer part of me expressing itself, but after almost turning my feet back to the taxi after 10mn, I finally stayed there 2h looking at those Miraflores gates, and looking at a 3rd vessel passing through.

Gates view with vessel arriving
Check the water flow created from the boat in the chamber!

Slowly, the boat is lowered in the chamber

Then cross the gates. Smile! ;)

Train locomotives help to guide the boath through the gates

The impressive vessel... so huge, about 80 containers per row,
and I counted 12 rows!!

After this time along the canal, a small museum gives insights on the construction and the role of the Canal. Interesting, as indeed a good part of what we consume everyday or electronics/clothes/food we buy has somehow probably transited by the canal, or at least some parts. 

A pic of a frame showing well how the canal works 

Video view from a vessel's cabin 

Canal's business and routes around the world

How the Canal works? (wiki)
If you are interested, check the following link!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal
The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 48-mile (77.1 km) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. There are locks at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake (85 feet (26 m) above sea-level). Gatun Lake was created to reduce the amount of work required for the canal. The current locks are 110 feet (33.5 m) wide. A third, wider lane of locks is being built.

The center of Americas: Panama City

What a surprise after 46h of travel! It looks like I am back in Dubai!!

Haha, yes, really the first views of Panama City from the plane are made of tall, white with glass-facades skyscrapers, aligned along the waterfront, just behind the Canal entrance. I was clearly not expecting this, and this is not just few towers, there are many.




I will spend about 5 days here with some P&G friends (Ana & Tania), to relax and discover a bit this city in the middle of the Americas.
I slept most of Tuesday, to catch up from this long travel across the Pacific, and was delighted to enjoy at night few Ceviches (raw seafood dishes with various sauces & spices) with Ana and her friends, in a great peruvian restaurant. This will be a pick for the next months to come, clearly!









On Wednesday 19th of June morning, time to move and discover the area. From Ana's flat on the 38th floor, the city's views are as expected from the plane, like Dubai or Singapore: tall towers all around laid along the waterfront.









Ok, though very different from Europeans cities, nothing special for "new emerging cities" I would say, it unfortunately looks like now a recurring theme around the world... architects should stop designing standardized buildings!

So the key city area to discover, is the Casco Viejo, or Old Town. Indeed, located on 1 of Panama's bay tips, Panama's old quarter features many architectural styles, from Spanish colonial buildings to French and Antillean townhouses built during the construction of the Panama Canal. I was visiting while the tropical weather decided to be wet and stormy, so not much light for pictures...

Plaza Francia & the France consulate ;-)

The area is nice, and will be even more in about 1 year, as actually almost every street and buildings are in renovation.















Walking across the small streets of this quarter feels like you are in Spain, with a mix of Carribean influences. And because we are on the tip of the bay, on the opposite, the modern city of Panama rises up, showing its glorious buildings and skyline.

Panama skyline... with a big storm coming!

Ruins & skyline behind

Some ancient building ruins remain, emerging here and there... they are trying to preserve and restore them, it should really be great in few years.

I'll have to come back with more sun and once all constructions / renovations work are done, this will be much better and easier to frame! But so far, posting few pics of the area:

An old church ruins

Street view

Palacio Bolivar

Iglesia Catedral (that is the name!)

Street paintings

Colorful colonial house 

Colorful colonial houses

City skyline view

From Tania's place, North of the city at Costa del Este, we can see the other side of the skyline... and also the mangrove type shores Panama has been built on, and which still makes most of the country's shores.

Crossing the Pacific: how I gained 1 day :)

When you do a round-the-world trip, crossing the Pacific is a dream. Or at least for me it was, as a European, or because it always looked crazy to me that you could reach those 2 extremities of the world-map in 1 flight.
Crossing the Atlantic has been a common trip for me in the last 10 years..., but flying over the Pacific has been an hypothetic move, which I wasn't supposed to do unless I would lived East of Asia or West of US and going to the other side.

With a RTW trip, clearly, you have to cross all oceans :-). So I was looking forward to this trip, even though it has been a long one as I was going from New-Zealand, back to Australia, followed by US/LA, then Panama... in total, 46h of trip for me, but only 26h for my watch. I gained 20h :-)

In details, it happened like this:
- left my Auckland hotel Monday June 17th, 7am
- after missing my 7:30am flight... (humm... yeah i was late, partied on Sunday night, hopefully I had put some buffer here), I grab the 9am flight
- flew for 3h... and landed in Sydney at 10am
- boarded the 747 plane at 1:30pm, to take-off at 2pm... but technical issues made us stay on the ground, in the heat, for 3h before to finally take-off at 5pm
- 13h flight... :-/
- landing in LA around noon, still Monday 17th!
- stayed 2h in the airport to solve administrative, travel issues
- went to the beach 7h
- back to check-in and wait at the lounge at 9pm, for 2h30
- board the plane at 11:30pm then take-off midnight
- land in Panama City at 8am after 5h of flight
- reach my friend's flat Tuesday June 18th, at 9am

Spending more than 16h in the same plane was quite "constraining", but I still liked this crossing experience, thinking/dreaming while I was sleeping that I was traveling in time. As I will not fly in the other direction and "lose" 1 day, I have really gained that day. If you look at me, think I am actually 1 day older than I am saying ;-))
Also, I wonder if we would keep flying a plane eastward, we could gain months, or even years I think... why has no one ever done that to travel in time?

Panama's Caribbean coast view before to land

The LA beach break
Otherwise, with a 12h break in LA airport... I grabbed a taxi to spend the afternoon on the beach. A bit costly for the round-trip ride, but so much better than waiting inside an old airport hall!!

I went to Manhattan beach pier, then walked to Hermosa beach, which looked nicer. As before, a lot of volley-ball courts and players, a lot of runners & walkers... the active & fit California I knew!

An american sandwich. i.e., put as much as possible between
those 2 bread slices...

Hermosa beach waterfront

Los Angeles's bay

wow, I could order a beer without showing my ID...
Definitely older than 10 years ago!

Volley-ball court, sunset & the Californian Republic flag