Panama is a country I’ve already visited. I traveled there for a few weeks in May/June 2014. It was my final country in Central America after hitchhiking from Mexico to Panama for six months time. I busked in Panama City with my tiny guitar for a week to raise enough funds to book a flight back to Europe via the Dominican Republic.
My route through Panama was from the Paso Canoas border with Costa Rica to Boquete. I tried to hike up Volcán Barú there, however, I remained without success. After more than a week in Boquete where those two Dutch women had been missing for months, I hitchhiked on to Chitré. From Chitré, I hitchhiked to Panama City and across one of the Panama Canal bridges (very cool stuff). In Panama City, I had my first real craft beer encounter at La Rana Dorada in Casco Viejo. Consequently, it was a sort of personal awakening that I don’t need to drink shit beer.
When I hitchhiked through South America in 2017, I also had the idea to travel from Colombia back to Panama with Jonas. But I ran out of time because I had to finish university. As you can see, I didn’t travel that much in Panama, which means I’ll have to go back someday to make a more in-depth trip.
Things I’d Like to Do Next Time in Panama
- Hitchhike even more, mostly in the eastern part of the country all the way to Yaviza/Union Chocó/Capetí
- Cross the Darién Gap. The overland route is supposedly quite dangerous, but I’m not excluding that option right now because I didn’t dig into the details yet. I’ve looked into the sea route before but from the Colombian perspective with the ferries from Necoclí/Turbo to Capurganá at the border. From Capurganá, there’s supposedly a ferry to Puerto Obaldia in Panama, from where one can fly or try to take a different boat. But that’s the Caribbean Sea option, and I’m also wondering out loud whether there’s a Pacific option
- Hike to some waterfalls or other natural places, such as the cascada Kiki and the cuevas Bayano. I was looking for cool lakes as well, but I couldn’t find any non-artificial lakes in Panama that caught my eye
- Return to Panama City and enjoy the craft beer expansion of La Rana Dorada. Also, I’d like to visit the capital as a digital nomad this time and enjoy the city from that point of view. And there’s a metro I’d like to ride, which I didn’t know about during my last visit
- Pass through the Panama Canal. This will probably be part of a different trip and not a Panama in-depth trip, but I really want to do this on a sailing yacht or a cargo ship. This should also be combinable with a good visit to Colón, the northern entrance to the canal
- So this is a painful one, but I’d love to retry the hike to the peak of Volcán Barú (3474masl), the highest point in Panama. In 2014, I didn’t make it up there. I’m sure I can do it as long as I don’t do it in a big hiking group
- See some cool lighthouses, such as the one on Burica island nearby the Limones peninsula/panhandle near Costa Rica
- Visit as many remote islands as I can. So, first of all, the most famous remote islands are of course the San Blas Islands. However, they need to be visited before they disappear under the rising sea. There’s a ferry from Panama City to the Las Perlas archipelago in the Gulf of Panama, which makes this archipelago probably rather easy to visit. The same goes for the well-connected Bocas del Toro archipelago. Honestly, Panama has a lot of island groups. Then there are the Cébaco and Gobernadora islands. However, some of these only seem good for a day trip as opposed to an extended stay
- Perhaps it’s possible to rent a kayak there and go for a paddle in one of these places. Also, the Chucunaque River is the longest one in Panama and I’d like to take a boat trip up there and/or a paddling trip downstream
If you know cool places and things to do in Panama or if you are Panamanian, comment at the bottom of this page so I can always find your suggestions again once I start plotting my return!
So you are a travel blogger and do you have good posts about Panama. Then drop them in a comment below and I’ll read them!
Welcome to Panama! A Border Crossing Adventure
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Hitchhiking Bucket List: #2 A Containership
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Getting My Yellow Fever Vaccine (+Bonus Shot!) in Trujillo, Honduras
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