THE CENTRAL AMERICAN SERIES PT13
PANAMA – BOGOTA – ARUBA – CURACAO
My flight into Panama came with an incredible view of the city and the canal, which was right at the top of my to do list here!
THE PANAMA CANAL MAKES AROUND $2.6BILLION A YEAR
I checked into El Machico Hostel and got talking to a few travelers about the Sand Blas. Unfortunately I had already booked flights onto Colombia so doing this tour was never an option but it was good to know what exactly I’ll be doing if I return.
WHERE IS THE PANAMA CANAL?
The Panama Canal
SAN BLAS ISLANDS
The San Blas Islands are a group of around 365 islands just off the coast of Panama. As getting across the border to Colombia is troublesome, sailing trips have become the norm and there is fewer places closer to paradise. 49 of the islands are inhabited, some with tribes which really mixes up the tour but as for the other 300 islands at least you wont be rubbing shoulders with hundreds of other backpackers.
PANAMA CANAL
After travelling through other central American countries you can see the money Panama has in comparison. One of the main industries here is finance and their CBD skyline is pretty impressive. I even took a trip to the law firm where it all started, Mossack Fonseca. Their other industry is of course the canal which is only a few minutes from the city. Engineering and being ‘wowed’ are two of my favourite past times, so visiting the canal did not disappoint.
The rest of my trip through Central America took me from a hurricane in Costa Rice, Bogota, Aruba and Curacao.
RELATED READ: POPPING MY FULL MOON CHERRY
BOGOTA
ARUBA
Well it all started off really well, I checked into Aruba Harmony Hostel which ticked all the boxes. It wasn’t cheap for a hostel but very little came close to it’s value.
Anyway I had booked a day excursion to check out the island but had to check out in the morning before I left. I asked the owner to put my backpack of valuables (Laptop, credit cards and money) in her office so it could be kept safe. However it was clear when I got back she had different ideas as it had been left outside by the swimming pool for 5 hours 😫. I’m not going to lie, I was furious and starting f’ing and blinding whilst trying to track her down 🤣. I was lucky the hostel was quite isolated and Aruba isn’t known for it’s high crime rate let alone the clientele in this place probably wouldn’t have even considered it.
VANISHED
In the end she didn’t return which left me with another problem – she didn’t book me a taxi to the airport, which was already paid for 😂. Fortunately one of the long term stays offered to take me and that was that but I decided I would catch up with my friend in the review section of her booking.com page.
After leaving a love filled review thanking her for being the best host 😉 she apologised by way of a private message (the message just said “sorry I wasn’t there” 😆) and then tried to tell booking.com I didn’t check in – so the review would be removed. Obviously I contacted booking.com to make them aware….I’m just honest that way 👀.
A few years on it appears she had to setup a new page on booking.com as the oldest review was from 2019! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t jump on booking.com to write a bad review, I like to add a review after every stay, maybe 1 out of every 10 are less than a 6 or a 7, none have been as bad as that though! Even if my stay was a negative one I’m happy for the host to make amends but unfortunately the young lady didn’t do herself any favours 🤷🏻♂️
CURAÇAO
NEXT UP
Off to Salvador, where I was see both extremes that Brazil would have to offer! Click to read.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
73/229
This post is part of The Central American Series, click to explore or for episode 1 click here.
