PANAMA

I arrived in Panama the middle of last week. I got a bus from San Isidro, Costa Rica to David, Panama,about 6- 7 hours. The scenery was pleasant, driving along the coastal plain with plenty of tropical forest. The border crossing at Paso Canoas into Panama was hassle free. Soon after we arrived in David, the capital city of Chiriqui province. It is a big, bustling town with not much to do except shop. I get the sense that Panama is a great place to just that - I´ll wait until I get to Panama city. I spent 2 nights in David - it is so hot during the day that even when standing still, the sweat pours off you. It was quite a relief to arrive in the little mountain town of Boquete, just an hour´s drive on the bus(old school bus). I found a nice hostel to stay at, Mamallena´s. It´s a big, old wooden house with a lot of character. It´s right on the central square. Weekend nights I discovered can be a little noisy due to loud local music (esp sat night when it was disco until the early hours). I discovered that Panama produces some of the best coffee in the world. I did a coffee tour yesterday with Cafe Ruiz (roasted offee for local use) or Casa Ruiz(exports green beans). The coffee farm was beautiful with the cloud-draped background of Volcan Baru. Arabica coffee is grown here - they have other trees growing with the coffee: these provide shade for the coffee trees, some are fruit trees and others provide shelter for birds which feed on insects so that they don´t eat the coffee.It was fascinating to hear about all the different varieties of coffee plants and the progress of the bean. We visited the plant where the beans are washed, dried and packed ( a bit more complicated than that). The beans are exported unroasted  green. After our tour we did some coffee tasting, every bit as complicated and fascinating as wine tasting (does it smell like citrus or chocolate or...) Smells like coffee to me but I think I will appreciate  it more when I drink it now.
Today I went white water rafting on the Chiriqui river. Chiriqui means valley of the moon. We drove about an hour and a half - up near the Costa Rican border - to access the river. At the moment it´s about grade 3 (when more rains comes it will be 4 or 5). It was a nice size group - 5 of us and our guide, Jorge (Jorge of the River/del Rio as he kept making jungle calls). Pepito was in his white water kayak, accompanying us as a safety measure. We were kitted out with life jackets and helnets and had a briefing on how to paddle. Then we were off. It was pretty exciting rafting down the rapids - forwards/backwards/sideways and then relaxing on the quiet stretches and taking in the scenery and wildlife. It was a lovely sunny day. After a few hours we stopped for a picnic lunch and then headed on down for another hour. Jorge and Pepito were excellent and I can recommend Boquete Outdoor Adventure.
It was several hours´drive to Panama city and i got there about 8 p.m. I have been staying at a pleasant hostel,
Mamallena (run by same guy as Boquete). On my first day here I headed staright to the canal, to the Miraflores Locks on the Pacific side, with 2 other people from the hostel. I was in such a hurry that I forgot my camera! The Canal is very impressive: we watched a tanker go through - it just fitted (Panamax size). The canal is being widened so it can take even bigger ships. We also visited Casco Viejo, the charming old part of Panama City. There are beautiful old buildings alongside dilapidated ones. The area is slowly being restored and compares favuorably to the french quarter of New Orleans.
Panama city is big and bustling, lots of colourful buses and plenty of yellow taxis that look as if they aren´t going to stop for pedestrians.
I am going sailing for a few days in the San Blas Islands: an archipelago on the Caribbean side. It is home to the Kuna indians who manage their own territory. A moment ago it was so hot and now the rain is pouring down - the wet season is on its way. I hope to find cooler weather as i head into the south American continent.