Signed by Scarlett

Welcome to the penultimate entry of my backpacking dairies: Panama!

We started our journey to Bocas del Toro from Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica, as we sorted a shuttle to pick us up from our hostel, little did we know that when we opened that shuttle door early in the morning, we’d be reunited with friends we’d met in Nicaragua!

What a small world and the joys of backpacking!

A shuttle took us to the border control, as we then had to pay $8 dollars to leave Costa Rica in a random phone shop and a further $8 in Panama – a lot of scams happen like this at border controls!

We hopped back on the shuttle which then took us to our water taxi, and a very bumpy ride later, we arrived at the stunning island of Bocas.

Bocas Del Toro

Hostel: South Beach Hostel – £8.55 pppn

We decided to do a cheaper hostel on the main island as we were joining some friends at the last stop of the ‘Filthy Friday’ crawl at Aqua Lounge – and if you want a room where the bunk beds are so close together you could cuddle and feel every single beam of the bed, then this is the hostel for you.

We dropped our bags off and caught a very speedy water taxi across the island to Aqua Lounge to meet up with Patrick and Conrad for some pre-drinks and then reuniting with our travel besties, Kate and Erin at Filthy Friday.

Expect a lot of drunk people, diving into the water and dancing girls on the stage with fire – it was a fun night. Followed by the after party back on the main island at The Selina.

The next morning we joined a group of friends to do a boat tour with Aqua Lounge for $20 where we even made a pit stop to watch dolphins! An incredible experience as they jumped out of the water and swam alongside the boat. A very long water boat journey later, we arrived on a gorgeous island as we chilled and swam for a few hours before heading back to the main island.

Just make sure to wear sunscreen because otherwise the hostel worker will call you a lobster!

Hostel: Palmer Beach Lodge – £16.69

Me and Danni had decided we deserved a break and moved to a stunning island with an insane hostel/hotel on Red Frog Beach.

This felt more like a holiday than travelling and I would go back here in a heartbeat. A private beach, stunning and comfy hostel beds (I was always so excited for two pillows and a duvet!), great showers and the food and drinks – INCREDIBLE.

We highly recommend the Angus Beef Burger, Seafood Soup, Fish Tacos, pancakes and the sangria.

Our couple of days here mainly consisted of catching up on the Olympics, Downton Abbey, eating and swimming.

Before leaving Bocas Del Toro, we headed back to the main island to meet back up with Patrick and Conrad and our new friends Starre and Ebe for pancakes!

Jumping on the water taxi to take us to our next location was very interesting as it took us over an hour on the water through very choppy waves as we had to keep slowing down to control the boat. I got my phone out at one point and Danni thought I was texting my family I loved them…

Finally arriving to shore, we grabbed the next shuttle to our next destination, Boquete.

Boquete

Hostel: Blasnia Beer Hostel – £9.76

Our next hostel was above a beer brewery and whilst it was small, the beds were lovely, had a tv and spaces to chill.

We went on the search for dinner and landed at a place called ‘Red Five’ for some very tasty chicken wings and ended the night with yummy ice cream from Saori’s and Downton Abbey!

The next day we walked the Pipeline Trail (quickly realising why as you walk across some very rickety pipes) surrounded by incredibly large trees. Including a tree estimated to be 1000 years old!

Panama and Boquete inparticularly is incredible for coffee, so we visited a couple of spots for coffee, empanadas and a salted caramel brownie – our favourite spot was ‘Kotowa Chocolate Victoria’.

That night with some friends from Bocas and new friends from the hostel, we went to the hostel beer brewery as they had tons of different flavours of beer to try, we all grabbed some pitchers for $16 and played games all night – a night to remember!

The next morning we were heading off to Panama City, but it was Danni’s university graduation back home, so I surprised her with a sash and some video messages from back home congratulating her!

First taking a bus to David City, we changed buses (to a very luxurious double decker) and headed to Panama City, even getting to go across the Panama Canal during sunset. It was so strange seeing large skyscrapers and buildings after so long, it felt very surreal!

Panama City

Hostel: Magnolia Inn – £10.21

Quick tip: The area around the bus station is very unsafe, especially for travellers, grab an uber to your hostel and stay safe!

Magnolia Inn was interesting as it felt like a hotel but with our hostel room, we had about 12 single beds all in one room just facing each other with floor fans in between each bed – bit strange but it was okay for a couple of nights!

Arriving to our hostel late at night, we quickly headed to ‘Il Padrino’ for Pizza and then headed for bed.

The next day we joined a walking tour around Casco Viejo with the hostel, and even bumped into a friend we had made in Guatemala, Niamh.

We absolutely adored this area, the streets were so pretty – almost a Parisian vibe – and the tour guide was very interesting.

Fun Fact: This area of Panama City was given 3 years to restore the area which meant whilst we were going around, a lot of it was being done up and painted

Another fun fact: We learnt that when a statue of a general is on a horse with one leg up, it means he was in the war, but with two legs up, it means he died in the war.

Afterwards we headed for a lovely fajita bowl at ‘Snack Shack’ before getting an uber to the large Multiplaza Mall – I was so excited to go shopping!

The mall reminded us of shopping centres back home but with a lot more American chains that I’d seen in tv and films like Dairy Queen, Apple Bees and Chuck E’ Cheese. We bought a couple of bits (that we just managed to fit in our backpacks) from Forever 21 and treated ourselves to a Cinnabon.

We also shopped around in some of the little shops near our hostel for magnets and postcards, a necessity on the trip.

That evening we went out for a fancy dinner at ‘Sky Lounge’ to officially celebrate Danni’s graduation, sharing some cocktails and a sharing platter. We were then joined by Niamh for more cocktails as we overlooked the incredible skyscrapers and gossiped, before grabbing an ice cream for a sweet treat to end the night from Granclement.

And that ends our last night in Panama before we headed to Colombia.

I didn’t quite expect to love Panama as much as I did but it was absolutely beautiful and we met so many incredible people that made it the most memorable experience.

Next up: Colombia