Bocas Del Toro To
Panama City Monday 9 August 2010
It
was a beautiful morning as we left Bocas by water taxi ($US4) at
7.30. It was still quiet in the streets-the vultures were out picking
at the rubbish but even the dogs weren't out and about yet. There was
more action at the water taxi terminal-people heading off to various
places-some for work or school and tourists leaving for a day trip to
another island or leaving for other parts like us-off to Panama City.
As we pulled into Almirente port we saw Chiquita banana containers
stacked on the wharf., a large dredge and a container ship The homes
around the entrance to the port are pretty ramshackle for the most
part-built out over the water and most with a little box like shed at
the very edge of the deck-a toilet I'm guessing-probably straight
into the water. As we climbed out of our boat-not easy as the awning
was low and we had to both crouch low and climb up onto the jetty at
the same time, a fellow passenger lost his sunglasses
overboard-luckily Lynn had fast reflexes and fished them out of the
water for him. We got a taxi ($US1) to the bus station and waited for
our bus. The tourist guides so far in Panama have been great-they
seem to be everywhere you need them when you need to get
somewhere-taxis, boats, buses -all so helpful and very efficient-and
they don't expect a tip which is so nice.
The
bus ride to Panama was uneventful-we had some children and a baby on
board but you would never have known-we didn't hear a peep out of
them. Which is more than be said for the bird in a shoe box which a
young woman carried the whole 10 hours! It would start squawking
especially when the bus stopped and she got off for break -bird and
all! At least it was in the bus-I saw a dog chained up on the luggage
rack on the roof of a mini bus that we passed along the way! I slept
most of the way-I remember the first part of the journey going
through high steep forest covered mountains which run the length of
the isthmus separating the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. As we ran
down the Pacific side there was a lot of farmland -sugar cane and
grazing paddocks. We stopped about three times for about 30 minutes
each time-long enough for people to eat and drink and stretch their
legs-much needed when there is very little legroom! We had a couple
of changes of drivers-one played Spanish music and another put on
DVDs for us to watch-one was called 'Good Hair'- featuring Chris Rock
it was all about black women and their hair- all the products
invented to deal with it such as “Relaxers” and the hair chemical
industry; weaves (extensions) and all the business that goes with
that i.e. buying the hair from India where people have it shaved off
in a religious ceremony; the cost of these weaves-$US1000 at least
and then the upkeep of it all. The women have their hair done in
cornrows then the weave is stitched in-they go the the hairdresser
weekly for a shampoo and every three weeks have it all
tightened-huge maintenance. According to this film THE HAIR is not to
be touched-no swimming, no saunas and no boyfriend running his hands
through it-its more than his life is worth!! It is a huge issue and
even has implications in the work force-natural Afros are not
considered to be presentable enough and may mean the difference
between getting a job or not-great little film.
Luckily
I had my eyes open as we drove into Panama itself over a huge
bridge-the Bridge of the Americas -Puente de las Americas. I could
see many ships out in the water presumably waiting their turn to go
through the Canal. We drove in through a really nice
neighbourhood-Balboa- which was built to house the wealthy American
canal workers and the military. There are nice homes with gardens and
fences, neighbourhood playgrounds and plenty of trees.
The
bus stopped at Allbrook, the new bus terminal-absolutely massive with
a huge shopping mall. We decided to take a taxi to our hostel where
we hopefully had a room for the night-we weren't 100% sure as there
was a slight language barrier-especially over the phone- and they
hadn't confirmed Lynns email reservation. A big loud man came rushing
up to us and offered to take us for $US8-OK we said and the packs
were in the boot when another man came and offered the ride for $US2!
The drivers were shouting and bickering with each other and we had
enough-we decided to take the other offer and asked for our packs.
The big fella got the shits and grumbled and basically said bugger
off then -or words to that effect-in Spanish! We just stood there and
waited for them to forget about us and sure enough a few minutes
later a very nice quiet well mannered taxi driver came over and
offered us the ride for $US6-done. Off we went and got to Casa de
Carmen to find that no they didn't have a double room but they did
have an empty 6 bed dorm available. We took it-the hostel is fabulous
-it has everything we need- toaster, microwave, hot water, free tea
and coffee, free Wifi, free breakfast......!Very clean and spacious
with a lovely outdoor area and a lounge with a flat screen TV-pure
luxury for $US15 a night! So this is home for a few days. We walked
to the 24 hour supermarket where we found NZ butter for sale and
cheap alcohol really. A baked potato for tea with butter and real
Gouda cheese-not orange American stuff-and a rum and orange-all good!
