stubsadventures

Diving in Coiba National Park was really something else. The amount of marine life and the health of the eco system there gives a person hope for our oceans.

The pictures speak for themselves and hopefully you can spot the seahorses!

Stubs.

The Pearl Islands, are, quite simply, heavenly. That statement encompasses many aspects: how they look, the people who live there, the ocean that surrounds them, the animals that inhabit them and I could go on.

A short 20 minute flight from Panama City, yet these islands are a world away. Although the flights are short, and despite the fact that several ferries can shuttle you there if you find the flight expensive, they are, relatively unvisited compared to the San Blas Islands we had just left, which, once you’ve seen both for yourself, is quite shocking. Although San Blas is beautiful, sandy and filled with awesome islands, they are, at least to me, quite boring. An island you can walk around in less than five minutes and a beach with no fish to snorkel on, can only inspire me for so long.

The Pearl Islands however are filled with birds, rock, a wide variety of trees and marine life and some very interesting history, which includes a chapter linking it to Pablo Escobar. While wadding in the beach just off of our hotel, a sting ray came right up to our feet. Most people come and go from the islands, stopping for a one day, sometimes one night visit, mostly to walk around, dunk in the ocean, drink at the bar and move on. I was staying for five nights. Although there are numerous islands that make up the Pearl Islands, I was staying on Contadora Island at The Point Hotel.

This particular island is 1.39km2 but I still left feeling like I could have stayed busy there for a few more weeks. On the island is an abandoned hotel, at one time that hosted over 300 rooms, now empty, the hotel was built from the drug trade here. When its owners plane blew up (with him in it), shortly after leaving the runway on the island, it never really recovered and is now vacant, looted and being left to the elements, as is the ferry that once shuttled passengers from the main land. The hotel can be yours, for a cool $45 million US. At one time, this hotel and island hosted many presidents, prime ministers and was the getaway of choice for many celebrities. Christian Dior has a house on this tiny island. The island hosts homes worth more than $10 million but just down the road will be a run down school with long since used play ground equipment. The contrast is hard to ignore.

One of the coolest things I did was sail (with a guide) to an island with no name. The snorkelling was awesome here and I saw a nurse shark, hiding under some rocks. This island has a colony of Booby birds (no joke) and quite a few varieties of crabs lurking around.

Although I did manage one dive, I have to admit it was a bit of a disappointment. Although there was one very impressive school of fish that was staying close and some interesting rock formations, the area lacked color and in general a variety of anything. The water was warm though, and I’ll never complain about spent under the sea.

Stubs.

Panama is off the wall. I have been to many countries that run on “island time” but no where like here. Today, a flight to the Pearl Islands was three hours later than scheduled. Not because the other plane was late arriving, not because of weather delays, just… because.

It was a bit of an aggressive start, flying to Houston with a five-hour layover, arriving in Panama City at 2am. At 530am, we got picked up at the airport and promptly went on a 2.5 hour drive to the Caribbean coast through the San Blas Hills. Here, we went on a tour of several of the San Blas Islands just off the coast. Not many locals speak English here, which can make things challenging at times. Being good at hand signals really comes in handy.

The first night in Panama was spent on a private cabana, on a quiet island, fast asleep at 5pm, sleeping clear through the night.

The food here is simple and delicious. Most of the fish are cooked fully, minus the tails and you just pick the meat off the bones.

After one night in San Blas, a quick 2.5 hour drive back to Panama City. Downtown Panama City is insane. That’s just the right word for it. You could compare driving to some European countries with traffic circles everywhere, horns blaring constantly and the aggressive driver wins every time. It really is something to see. It never ceases to amaze me where there just aren’t crashes at every turn.

Unfortunately, I forgot an essential cable to upload some photos from my main camera. I have some pictures that I took from some of my back up cameras but I will have to wait to complete the blogs. Until then, a few shots.

Stubs