The Road Home From Bocas del Toro, Panama to Huntington Beach, CA.

It’s not easy to say goodbye to Panama, but this adventure to Panama must now come to an end, for now.

Getting from Bocas del Toro to Home starts with a short Plane ride from Bocas del Toro to Panama City. It takes about an hour to make the flight, which gives me some good views of both the Bocas del toro archipelago and also of Panama City prior to arriving at the Panama City domestic airport (Allbrook – PAC), just west of the city.

I opted to spend one more night in Panama City prior to my international departure back to the US. Upon arriving at PAC Airport, I took a cab into the city to my hotel (Hyatt Place – downtown). The cab ride cost about $10 (US) and took about 20 minutes from the airport. This hotel is not on “Avenida Balboa” (the coast), but just off of it by about 4 blocks. Because it is on a small hill, the views are still impressive. There are good restaurants located within walking distance along with a trip down to the water. It is also within walking distance to the Metro station (El Carman Subway Station). My room had a beautiful view of a Catholic Church (Iglesia Nuestra Sra. del Carman), and great views of the coast between the high rise buildings.

 

The next morning, I caught a cab to the International Airport outside of the city (Tocumen International Airport – PTY), which is located about 23.3 KM (45-minute drive), northeast of the City and my Hotel. The fare costs about $20 (US) and is via a toll road.

As I have said previously, the International Airport is in the process of expansion, and will be a bigger better airport in the future.

My trip back to the States allowed me one last view of the City, Bridge of the Americas, and some great coastline views to the west of the city, which included some great resorts.

Overview of my 7-week trip to Panama – Panama offers a wide variety of living conditions. From the big, growing metropolitan city of Panama, to coastal living both on the Pacific and Atlantic sides. It also has beautiful interior sections, both mountains, valleys, and flat terrain leading to the coasts. This Country is well suited for surfing, diving, watersports,  cosmopolitan living, small towns, farming, nature activities, etc. The city is spectacular and offers everything you would expect in a large metropolitan city in the US. Bocas del Toro offered this Turtle the best opportunity for what I was looking for in relocating, but I am not yet sold on this place due to the requirement to own and / or use a boat to get to/from the dive locations where I can get my flippers wet. I found the people of Panama to be friendly and helpful and did not have any issues with my lack of the Spanish language.

Some of the downsides that this Turtle found were the overall poverty that was visible throughout the country, and the trash and lack of recycling that is done throughout.

This Turtle wants to keep looking for a new home, prior to ruling out any Country, so I will be planning my next trip to Belize and Honduras in the near future.

My next blog will be on my Trip to Belize and Honduras.