Day One in Panama City, Casco Viejo

Yesterday was a day of travel~ Keith & I flew on LASCA airlines from Medellin to Panama City; it was a flight that made me wish we were in the air longer because the service was so good! We settled into Costa Inn, a simple (cheap for this city) hotel where we will spend five nights. I returned to the airport to pick up Shana Jan around 9 pm, the owner of the hotel was kind enough to drive me there where we both caught the shuttle back to the hotel. A buffet breakfast is included so we had a great start before setting out this morning.


St. Patrick's Day was spent in colonial Casco Viejo. This World Heritage site has everything we were hoping Shana would see in Cartagena. Beautiful churches...





Latin squares...


And restored colonial buildings...



This area is slowly being restored and it is an interesting mixture between the 'high life' and people squatting in rubble. We took a walk from the Fodor's guide that Shana brought with her, it included a tour of the Panama Canal interactive museum. This will help us better understand the Canal on tomorrow's half-day tour on a boat through the canal itself.

The museum was educational, one disturbing thing that I learned about the process of building the canal was the Silver and Gold levels of pay and treatment given to the workers. Those blue-eyed, fair-skinned workers from the USA, and their families, were treated like kings, while the other workers representing 89 countries were housed in barracks with 72 men each. Food rations, sanitary conditions, fresh water supplies as well as pay & types of work was all based on ethnic background.

Another tidbit... this long arch is partially responsible for the canal being built in Panama rather than Nicaragua. Stamps with its image were sent to the US Congress making the decision, it swayed their thinking by proving that Panama was the better location based on its lack of earthquake activity as based on this arch's longevity.
Very interesting history throughout the museum was well displayed, though only labeled in Spanish.

The Presidential Palace, a little 'white house', is located along the peninsula with a striking view of the cityscape across the harbor. Inside the courtyard two African Ibis are free to wander and although security is tight with military and police presence, we were able to walk right up and photograph inside the gates.


A little shopping, a yummy lunch, and a scary taxi ride brought this first day in Panama City to an end. The beauty of this city exceeded our expectations. Tomorrow, the Panama Canal Tour!

Our Last Day In Colombia, Que Lastima!

Spending the afternoon with our friend Fernando was the perfect finish to an awesome trip through Colombia. Fernando is a most generous, interesting fellow with whom we have felt honored to spend time. We met for lunch at Crepes & Waffles where we dined with Fernando and Carla on the first leg of this journey.
The Tesoro Mall is the most incredible place. How many malls do you know that have an amusement park in the center?! The multilevel structure is an open-air wonder filled with highend retail shops, beautiful with amazing views of the mountains and city.

We spent over three hours chatting over lunch and dessert with our hospitable friend. Stopping by a fruit and juice stand on the way home to The Art House we sampled a few exotic fruits including granadilla.

Yes, this slimy fruit is really delicious & good for you! But the big treat of the day was the juice of the tropical Zapote Consteno mixed with milk, super yummy! Fernando was so excited to share these special tastes with us and we are grateful for his attention and care!

Tomorrow we fly to Panama City to meet Shana Jan. Although we are excited to travel this country with her, we hate to leave this beautiful country where we have met wonderful new friends. Colombia, we will return!

Four Wheeling in a Bus Through the Coffee Mountains

We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday taking various buses along one-lane, eroded gravel and mud roads through beautiful terrain where coffee and bananas are cultivated. It was the bumpiest ride ever, but simply gorgeous! Unfortunately it is impossible to get a picture of the travels because everything turns out fuzzy from the movement.
When you look at a map to plan your travels in the Andes it's very easy to underestimate travel time or difficulty. Little did we know the route we chose would be so rough! Our backpacks were totally covered with dust when we arrived in Medellin, I'm planning to wash them with a hose today and leave them in the sun to dry out before repacking.

The first night we stopped in Salamina, colonial town hanging on to the top of a very steep mountainside. It had a lovely park in the historical center and our hotel was located only 1/2 block away. It is the place with the flags, our room had a porch to watch all the action below. We found a bakery across the street with a very friendly shopkeeper where we enjoyed 'bombas', coconut-covered balls with a fruity center along with the great coffee from the area.

Saturday, another dusty ride up and down and around took us to Aquadas, again perched on the top of a mountain with a colonial center. Our hotel room here was very comfortable and affordable, $15.00 US.
Yesterday we decided to skip our last planned little town stop in Santa Barbara and we came back to The Art House in Medellin where we had a fun BBQ with Todd, the owner, Brandon, a long-term guest, and a local woman, a systems engineer, who had lived in Spain for 7 years. Dinner conversation was in Spanish and quite lively.
Our plans here include visiting the national park high in the mountains, just a tram ride away. We also want to meet up with Fernando for lunch. Carmen at the Art School will also be on the list of visits we hope to make while we are here.
On Wednesday we will fly to Panama City where Shana Jan will meet us! Lot of exciting adventures are still ahead!

Manizales Might Be Our Favorite Colombian City

From the moment the bus pulled into the new terminal in the capital city of Caldas and we saw the metro tram that would take us to the top of the hill where the historic center is located, we knew we were going to love this city.



The ride from Salento included a transfer of buses at a flower shop and became more impressively beautiful around each turn, and there were many in the three hour journey.

Colombia's mountains continue to inspire superlatives, they are just so lush, steep and endless. We love this landscape and the Cafeteria, coffee growing land that built the city of Manizales, is some of the most spectacular!

Our hostel here is perfectly located just a block from the top of the tram. Around the corner is a huge mall with a cinema where we took in the 3-D version of Sanctum last night. Down the street in the other direction are more bakeries and empanada shops that I've ever seen on one city block. It is colonial center with many historical buildings.






The city central has a magnificent cathedral where people lined up all day to be 'ashed' on Ash Wednesday; it was easy to tell which church dominates the culture here.







There are many sculptures throughout the city including a large group of bronze statues at the top of a hill which offers a 360 degree view of the city's many neighborhoods and the distant snow-capped volcanic mountain range which is a national park site.




We have had two rather intensive Spanish 'lessons' in the form of guided tours. The first tour told the history of Manizales through the study of various sculptures. Today we loved our guided visit to the Recinto Del Pensamiento, an ecopark with medicinal gardens, butterfly sanctuary, hummingbird hangout and orchard walk. The ecopark tour included a ride to the top on a ski lift and a long walk down the hill learning about the flora and fauna of the area from a botanist who really knew her subject.









With our new friend from Montreal, Michel, we relaxed in thermal pools.




This was a great stop along the trail, we have met interesting people, including a mother traveling with her 11-year old son who are in their second year of eight years on the road. They are traveling for his education, a process she defines as 'unschooling'. Their sponsored blog receives 1000 hits each day and they have been featured in full page newspaper articles and on radio and TV in some of the countries they have visited thus far. You can see what they are doing at their site- Raising Milo on the Road of Life ~ www.raisingmiro.com



As we finish our fifth month on the road our list of places yet to explore grows longer as experiences and new ways of living and seeing the world are shared.