The Hotel Punta Galeon is very compact. Its 48 rooms were built almost at treetop level on a rocky point of land, with a series of wraparound terraces that provide dazzling sea views. Yet, be aware, the Punta Galeon’s beach is very public. Not only do the planes fly overhead to land at the island airport, but this is also where the island’s ferry docks, picking up passengers right off the shore.
“The rooms at the Punta Galeon are small, simple and whitewashed, with built-in beds and bedside tables and cozy balconies attached. The bathrooms showers are attractive and clean, and the water takes only minutes (rather than days) to warm up. This is a hotel best suited to adults; since there are good places to read, and not many places to run around,” travelers have recorded.
The two restaurants at the Punta Galeon are à la carte, one outside for lunch, and one indoors and open only in the evenings. A lunch costs about $20 for sandwiches, salads, and such, while dinner, which could include sea bass, as well as lobster and shrimp, could run as high as $50 to $60 per person, including wine. Lodging at Hotel Punta Galeon for a couple will range from $85 – $130 per night, plus the 10% tourist tax.
Hotel Punta Galeon, (507) 214-3719, fax (507) 214-3721
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
Isla Grande, Portobelo, Colon PA, Tel: 507-225-6722
A cabin/room at the little Hotel Isla Grande cost $45/night for singles or $60 per couple. In addition to swimming, you can dine, dance and shoot pool in ‘Bar el Coral’, the little island’s version of a night club with neon lights.
You can also check out Isla Grande’s beachfront Bob Marley Bar, decorated with painted blotches of red, green and yellow with a big mural of Marley with his tunes blowing on the breezes; there you can meet Pupy, the owner and Sheriff of Isla Grande.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
In the province of Chiriqui, near the border with Costa Rica, are the highland forests of Volcan Baru National Park. They are home to Panama’s highest peak, an 11,300 foot high extinct volcano. The spectacular scenery in the village of Boquete includes rain forests, coffee farms, a river and some of the friendliest people anywhere.
Ascending nearly 3 and a half kilometers, from tropical torpor to mountain cool in an hour, you will feel exhilarated. At a moment like this it’s important to have plans for good lodging. You will be able to relish the remarkable change in the oxygen levels of the air you’re breathing and treasure being surrounded by beauty. Plan ahead so you can enjoy it.
Panama has a good domestic air network, and the prices are low. You can fly from Panama City to David – a city only about 20 miles from Boquete – for about $70 each way. From David you’d hop a bus or taxi to Boquete, for about $20 or rent a 4X4 for a weekend for less than $200. It is important to know that Panama City’s domestic airport was moved last year, and is now at a former American military airport in the Albrook community, about 25 kilometers away from Tocumen (PTY) Airport. If traffic is bad, it might take an hour to get there…so schedule your flights to give yourself plenty of leeway.
Remember that most room rates do not include the required 10% IPAT-TAX (tourism). It will be added to your total bill at the end of your vacation in Boquete. Ah….one less surprise! That’s a good thing.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
Panama is a paradise for the bird enthusiast. Bird watching in Panama is a truly rewarding experience, with over 960 species of birds found in an area of less than 50,000 square miles that are easily reached, avid and the beginner birders alike will enjoy a unique avian adventure
Many migrating birds spend their winters in Panama and you may see, for example, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in the same tree with Keel-billed Toucans. In this small, easily accessible country you will find a wide range of habitats from highland cloud forest to lowland rainforest and coastal estuaries. There are actually seven life zones to be discovered in Panama.
Most extended stay lodging for bird watching in Panama is in association with eco-lodges or eco-travel companies. Here are a few of the best, although there will be a few unguided lodging alternatives, in bird rich locations, offered in upcoming extended stay lodging editions.
Canopy Tower
World-wide Tel No.: 507-264-5720 Panama fax: 507.263.2784
US Tel No.: 1-800-930-3397 US fax line: 1-800-854-2597
http://canopytower.com/cont.php mail to: http://thepanamanetwork.com
If awakening to a tropical chorus of motmots, toucans, and fruitcrows doesn’t remind you that you’re at one of Panama’s leading eco resort’s…. finding yourself in a mosquito net covered bed, high in the treetops will; especially with Blue Cotingas and Green Shrike-Vireos, birds normally glimpsed high in the tops of trees, perched right outside your Canopy Tower room.
Canopy Tower’s all inclusive package includes: entrance fee to Soberanía National Park; lodging based on double occupancy and all meals and a complementary tour in the forest with one of our bilingual birding guides. Rates for some short trips into the forest range from $105 to $220 at this moment, and yet Canopy Tower does offer seven night, eight day packages for a little over $2000.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
Searches for the mostly unrecorded truths about the prehistoric residents of Archipelagos de las Perlas, help to reconstruct the social, political, ideological and natural world of the native peoples; but will we ever truly grasp the contextual nature the ethno-historical sources offer about pearls in the pre-colonial eras? Exploring the context of the sociopolitical and supernatural worlds of the southern Central American Natives, before they ever met a European; how the pearls they collected were used in daily activities and how they functioned as symbols of identity, wisdom, and knowledge are part of understandings gleaned from those truths.
Based on archeological evidence, it is now possible to divide objects forming part of the daily lives of South Central American Natives into three categories: sacred object, “monetary” objects and objects of value. The inhabitants of the isthmus had many means of distinguishing themselves from one another, among which ornaments, clothing, language and bodily ornamentation all played complementary roles. Pearls were a large part of the ornamentation used in all three categories.
In those pre-historic times, jewelry given by Native peoples was believed to have magical-religious powers. Pearls were guarded by the basket in the chiefs’ houses…they were even recorded being taken from the Pearl Islands and transported to the Caribbean where the Chief of Comogre received them. Moreover, on some occasions natives are recorded as having given Spaniards pearls in designs together with gold, as a sign of their hopes and plans for peace.
Yet, even allegedly pearl-free, the Archipelagos of La Perlas continues to enchant each of us to visit again, with amazing sea life in azure seas, and bright skies decorated with beams of sunlight and rays of moonlight. We are privileged to sit on the sea’s shore just as did the pre-historic men, women and children…and admire them.
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http://www.doaks.org/GoldandPower/GoldandPower10.pdf
The history of the pearls from the Archipelago de Las Perlas has been of interest to archaeologists, and other historians as well as the general public for a long time. Some of the pearls gathered in these islands are not in national and foreign museums; instead they are in private collections and in the hands of individuals…and have been discovered more as a result of the manner of the Spanish plundering and their adversities at sea, rather than of archaeological investigation.
In Pre-Columbian times, Las Perlas Islands were ruled by an Indian king whose main focus was pearl-diving. Pearls were then used as ornament and to trade with. Most of the pearls in the world were collected in these waters. First settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, pearls were found in the waters around Contadora, including the astonishing 31 carat, over 400 year old Pelegrina pearl owned now by Elizabeth Taylor. This is pearl jewelry with a renowned history, since its owners have included a Queen of Spain, a French Emperor and an English Queen.
Contadora Island was the destination of the Spanish fleet for all the pearls collected to be counted, in route to the Spanish Court. The Pearl Islands stimulated the greed of many Spanish conquistadors. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, who discovered and gave name to the Pacific Ocean from a point less than 90 kilometers from San Jose Island, was attracted by its wealth in gold and pearls. Later on, the Archipelagos de las Perlas sheltered infamous pirates of many different nationalities, who for several centuries looted the wealthy Spanish settlements and fleet.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
EcoVentures LLC PO Box 3881 Charlottesville, VA 22903-0881
Tel: (434) 831.2575 Toll Free Tel: 800.743.8352
http://www.ecoventures-travel.com e-mail: http://thepanamanetwork.com
EcoVentures has been offering birding tours to Panama for over ten years. Previous tours have generated lists of 350 to over 400 species on the itinerary to Central Panama, the Darien and the Chiriqui western highlands.
The intense nature show exhilarates everyone. A canopy flock arrives and diverts attention to a Slate throated Gnatcatcher and Yellow Green Grosbeaks. Within minutes of this initial encounter all the binocs are adjusted…and yes!! It’s the Rufous Vented Ground Cuckoo, one of the rarest birds in the world. After adding several new birds to their life lists, all you see are smiling faces starting down the trail, ready for a hearty meal and talking about tomorrow’s bird quest.
Rates differ on a wide variety of EcoVenture trips, depending on the time you’re planning to spend in Panama, and the birds you’d like to focus on seeing. Whether you are a serious lister or take a more casual approach to birding, this trip is an excellent chance to increase your life list and experience the wonders of Panama, with guides.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
February’s arrival heralds Shrove Tuesday, or “Mardi Gras” as it is known in some quarters. Toss a pancake if you must, as is the British tradition, but there are far better ways to celebrate the beginning of Lent.
You could try New Orleans “Mardi Gras”. The Parades start the week before and are louder and larger than life. I swear I still have whiplash from wearing all those beads when I was there!
Or try Rio at Carnival time. Easily accessible from a cruise offered by Celebrity Cruises or Royal Caribbean, and the trip of a lifetime for sure.
This year I found myself in Panama. Local advice was to stock up with provisions and hibernate from Friday to Wednesday to avoid crowded roads and huge lines in the supermarket and at the beaches. But I am curious and asked where the wildest festivities would be held, and the reply came back: Go to the town of “Penonome”.
This small town in the Cocle province is approx 150 km. (or three hours) west of Panama City on the Pan American highway. Penonome is so insignificant a town that we actually drove right past before realizing we had blinked and had to do the obligatory U-turn. As we drove along the narrow streets, we kept passing families hauling huge coolers, and more ominously – lots of water pistols.
After parking in the last vacant space anywhere, we leapt out and joined the crowds just as the Carnival Princess came into view, on a float pulled by a huge yellow tractor. The Princess had a beautiful Rio-style costume, complete with tiara and ostrich feathers, but we are still puzzled why she had thick knitted stockings on, attractively bunched at the ankles. Obviously a local tradition, we decided.
Following the Princess’s float was a huge water tanker, with youngsters playing the fire hoses over the elated crowds. The cool water was surprisingly welcome in the dust and heat. Then the party really began. Trumpets played, drums beat, and boom boxes were on every corner. Food stalls opened and enterprising locals offered the use of their bathrooms for 50 cents! Sharp-eyed police kept everything in order, checking bags and coolers to ensure everyone remained safe, while they had a great time.
The children were well armed with water pistols, and aimed at every unwary adult. They even had tanks of water that connected to their pistols by tubing…on their backs to save reloading. This is serious business! Wettest of all were those who walked past the trailers of youngsters, who, armed with barrels of water, were literally pouring buckets of water over passers-by. It was wild and crazy and such good fun for all ages.
Carnival. Where will you be next year?
Email us at The Panama Club
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Beauty and charm are waiting to be discovered, writes Bernd Kubisch. The canal is a magnet for visitors, given its huge locks and the towering ocean-going vessels passing through. But there are also charming colonial towns, sandy beaches, islands to explore and an almost untouched jungle with its luxuriant flora and exotic animals. Innumerable bays, beaches and diving spots are located along the coasts, which run to 763 kilometres on the Caribbean side and to 1227 kilometres on the Pacific. Some of the indigenous inhabitants – such as the Chocoe Indians – still pursue a hunter-gatherer existence in the huge conservation area called Darien. By contrast, the Kuna Indians have long since discovered the financial attractions of tourism on the San Blas Archipelago on the Caribbean coast, raking in the dollars, where formerly the coconut was used as currency. This ethnic group of about 45,000 lives close to the sea and has held fast to its traditions.
The trip to their islands begins at the small national airport in Panama City itself, where tourists board a Twin Otter aircraft.
Soon after take-off the view is spectacular, revealing container and cruise ships passing the Miraflores Locks.
There is not a cloud in sight. The passengers in the propeller-driven plane can see the ruins of Panama Vieja, founded by the Spanish in 1519. A fire in 1673 led to the construction of the new city.
The flight continues for 25 minutes over mountains, valleys and jungle to the Atlantic. Everything below is Kuna territory. Most of the almost 400 islands lie close to the mainland, where the Kuna grow their corn and coconuts.
Forty of the islands are inhabited. Some of the others are so small there is space only for three palm trees.
“We’ve had worse winds,” says Gonzalo Gonzales after the rather bumpy touchdown on the asphalt at Playon Chico. The 40-minute flight costs $US90 ($123).
Ananigdele Guillen works in the Sapibenega Lodge on an island 10 minutes away by boat. Like most of the women here, she has a black line drawn from her forehead down to the tip of her nose.
Strings of pearls are wound round her arms and calves. Shining rings and chains complete the adornment worn by the Kuna women.
“We are a poor people. Tourists are welcome. They create jobs, but we also ask them to respect our ways,” Ananigdele says.
Like all the Kuna she is proud of her heritage. After a bloody uprising about 80 years ago, the Kuna were granted considerable autonomy from Panama.
To this day it is all but impossible for non-Kuna to buy land on the San Blas Archipelago. Most of the hotels and hostels are simple, as a result of the absence of foreign investment.
The same is true 20 minutes away by air in the region around El Porvenir. Here the cruise ships stop for passengers to make a trip to the island, where Kuna women offer handicrafts and their children call out: “Photo, photo. One dollar please”.
In the San Blas Hotel on Nalunega, backpackers can enjoy sand floors, bamboo walls, a communal bathing area, three meals a day and a boat tour, all for about $55 a day.
The slightly more upmarket Kuna Niskua Lodge on Wichub Wala, which is powered by solar energy, offers a similar package for about $68.
Back at Playon Chico, the Sapibenega Lodge is owned by Poliwitur Sapibe and his wife Alexandra. The establishment offers bamboo bungalows, tall palms and a restaurant with a well-stocked bar.
Here a day and night, with full board, cocktails and excursions for fishing and swimming costs $170.
A stroll through the nearby village reveals not only tradition and an untouched lifestyle, but also poverty and its attendant problems. In the wooden meeting hall the village elders combine their siesta in hammocks with a chat with the tourists. Translators render their Kuna into Spanish and English.
On the airport island there is also a school. Almost all the Kuna children can now speak Spanish, and most can read and write.
SOURCE: panama-travel-bureau.com
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
When visiting or exploring Panama be sure to visit the Marine Exhibition Center (CEM) located on Punta Culebra of Naos Island on the Amador Causeway. The CEM is operated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution (STRI), the only bureau of the Smithsonian Institution based outside of the United States. The STRI is dedicated to understanding biological diversity. The Marine Exhibition Center (Centro de Exhibiciones Marinas, or CEM) is a non-profit initiative of STRI that relies on the support of the Smithsonian Foundation of Panama and international entities. It offers visitors an open-air museum focusing mainly on marine science and education, conservation and interpretation of marine coastal environments. More than 450,000 students and visitors have visited CEM since it opened in 1996, and hundreds of schools have taken part in its educational program. (details and photos below)
This afternoon I wandered out to the STRI’s CEM on Punta Culebra of the Amador Causeway. Dr. John Christy, the Director of the CEM received me in his office and told me a little about the CEM, what they’ve been doing to improve the facility and experience for visitors, and some of their plans for the future. This article is a combination of information taken from the STRI’s website about the CEM and my own observations and additions.
The last time I got out to the Marine Exhibition Center was about two or three years ago, and there have been significant improvements and upgrades made since then. The facility is very well kept, clean and painted, and there are several new elements that were not there the last time I went. It was great to see the new signs, turtle pool, aquarium house, observation deck, and all of the other improvements.
Giant Anemone
The Center is a place where individuals can increase their awareness and appreciation of coastal and marine environments in Panama and nearby regions of South and Central America. Its goal is to increase public understanding of Panama ’s past and present coastal environments, promoting their conservation. It is also meant to show how scientific discoveries improve our understanding and deepen our appreciation of the natural world.
CEM occupies a territory of approximately 1 1/2 hectares and is only 15 minutes away from the heart of Panama City. The area has great natural wealth and the appropriate infrastructure so that locals and foreigners of all ages can take part in an enriching experience, as they enjoy the scenic views.
This overview shows Fort Amador, the causeway, and the relative locations of Naos, Perico, and Flamenco Islands and Culebra Point.
Location: With breathtaking views of the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, the Marine Exhibition Center of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is located at Punta Culebra, approximately 3.5 km from the entrance to the Amador Causeway and 15 minutes from the heart of Panama City. You can arrive by taxi, and public transportation to the center is available by SACA bus. If you are driving there is parking available at the facility. If you prefer to get some exercise you can park at the entrance to the Amador Causeway and rent a bicycle.
Closer view showing the entrance, parking areas, and some of the feature areas of the CEM.
The CEM currently hosts the following exhibitions:
* Panama: Abundance of Fish
* Room for screenings and art exhibits
* Open-air historic and interpretative displays
* Turtle Pond: Mysterious Swimmers
* Aquaria
* Touching Pond
* Lookout point with views of the entrance to the Panama Canal and its surroundings
* Two trails across a Tropical Dry Forest
Future plans include a major scale Touching Pond, a Discovery Room, and a project for large aquaria.
“Crab Beach:” Scientists study the animals on this beach in detail (please keep out).
The Visit:The Marine Exhibition Center allows visitors to take a short journey through Panama’s geological, military and natural history, and to learn about marine and terrestrial life through a unique experience.
The Turtle Pond is a new addition since my last visit.
Children at the turtle pond.
You can get a close-up view of the turtles, or maybe they’re looking at you…
Historical Significance: Most of the constructions here are old military bunkers built during the First World War; columns date back to construction of the Panama Canal. There is also a small room, called “la casita”, built more recently by old Panamanian Defense Forces. All of these spaces have been conditioned to hold temporal and permanent exhibitions and to serve as projection areas.
This former military bunker now holds offices and the projection center for educational programs.
The cement columns on the left were part of an isolation unit for patients suffering from yellow fever during the construction of the Panama Canal.
Natural Attractions: There are two trails through a tropical dry forest, a typical ecosystem of the Pacific side of Central America which is almost extinct today. This forest is a refuge and habitat for sloths, iguanas, birds of all kinds and armadillos, among others animals that visitors can admire as they walk around. The rocky shore, the sandy beach and a patch of white mangrove forest have plenty of marine life which is best seen during low tide. The sea life exhibitions show the magnificent biodiversity of Panamanian coastal ecosystems, particularly that of coral reefs from the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. A pond that is home to sea turtles shows a group organisms that is seriously threatened by human activities. As they walk through the natural trails and the exhibitions, visitors will receive information from specially trained naturalists about Smithsonian research. A beautiful view of the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal completes this educational experience.
Oreaster sp, sea star from the Caribbean Sea
The views from Culebra Point are worth the trip all by themselves. The arch of the Bridge of the Americas over the Panama Canal is visible in the distance.
Current Bilingual Exhibitions:
* Panama: abundance of fish
* Sea turtles: mysterious navigators
* Sea life exhibition (aquarium)
* Marine invertebrates touching pool
* Marine Physical Process
* Rise of the Isthmus
* Panama ’s People and Oceans
* Ocean pollution
* From the reef
From the trails that wrap the island you can see sloths, iguanas, and other inhabitants.
Prices: The cost of admission is $ 0.50 for children under twelve years of age, $2.00 for adults, and $1.00 for retirees.
The touching pool is very popular with visitors.
Hours and Schedule: The Center for Marine Exhibits is open to the public from March to December, Tuesday – Friday, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. During the dry season and when the school children are on vacation between December to March, and during the mid-year vacation in July we are open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Contact Information:
* Phone: +507 212-8793
* Fax: +507 212-8820
* E-mail: http://thepanamanetwork.com
* Website: Center for Marine Exhibits
Thanks to Geichel Zamorano, naturalist tour guide at the Center for Marine Exhibits for the great tour.
SOURCE: Don Winner @ Panama-guide.com
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
