Panama
There's more to Panama than tropical beaches and chicheme, the corn drink, but just how much more is up for debate. For me, personally, Panama was an extraordinary memorable experience, our tour group got in a head on collision, we hiked a volcano and saw a horse tied to the top of it for some reason. After the Panama Canal, we arrived at the San Blas Islands and were surprised to see a Swastika on the flag, which stood for the circle of life, and came before the flag used by the Nazis. We experienced so much in eighteen days, from the car accident in the mountains, to the girls in the tour surprising me with an impromptu proposal after learning that was my favorite thing to photograph. Panama is a fantastic place to visit, but rains more than half the time, so, if you can only afford to go to one or two places, in my opinion, another place like Tulum, Mexico, or Thailand in the dry season, would be a better option because your chances of having good weather would be much higher.
San Blas Islands
San Blas Islands were a life changing experience, maybe not in the way I was expecting. It's hard not to idealize living on a small tropical island with no cares in the world, however, actually experiencing it makes you realize very quickly how many things you're used to that small tropical islands simply don't have. Fast internet, a wide selection of food, lots of people to meet, all of that is out the window. Sometimes dreams and photos are better than reality and this was one of those places for me. However, I'm very happy I got to visit the San Blas Islands, everyone should be able to live on a tropical island at least once in their lifetime. In a dream come true, someone took a ukulele to the island, so I got to play a few songs for our tour group. It was fun, but who are you trying to impress on an island of ten people anyway? Which is one of the experiences of being on a small island, it feels like your reputation simply doesn't matter because you're cut off from the rest of the world. For all we know, the guys on these islands are better than Michael Jordan at basketball, but no one would know because they're in the middle of the ocean with like five other people. It sounds like a dream living on an island in a hut with a sand floor, and playing ukulele on a hammock, but the experience was actually more like a return to a primitive reality. Right away a tour group member got stung by a man o war jellyfish which would have killed him, if it wasn't a baby one. So after that, I was afraid to go swimming (but went anyway to get some photos of the islands from the water). My feet were always wet with sand stuck to them at night and I ate vegetables and rice, every single lunch and dinner. Even a slightly larger island like Koh Rong in Cambodia was so much more exciting and enjoyable, if only for the quality and selection of food, and the ability to explore the island for more than six minutes. If you want to enjoy your life, go to Thailands many islands in dry season, but if you've seen them and want to have a once in a lifetime experience, go to the San Blas Islands.
Boquete
In Boquete, we went horseback riding, which to my surprise, was one of my favorite parts of visiting Panama. We used Franklin's Horseback Riding, and got a tour around his farm and the town. He even took the photo of all of us with my camera (edited by me) at the end!
Bocas Del Toro
Bocas Del Toro is difficult to categorize as being amazing, disappointing, or exceeding expectations or somehow, as it felt to me, all three at once. It was a lot of fun, mostly because of my tour group. The beaches were warm and looked like some of the best in the world, but they were raining or cloudy when we were there, which is common for the area. It felt safe on the San Blas Islands, but in Bocas del Toro, the electricity went out, and our tour guide got roofied, and people from our hostel had belongings stolen. The day after that, in Red Frog Beach, we met a couple people from Canada, who lived in a houseboat near Red Frog Beach for over two years and they loved it. So, maybe we just had an unusual experience. Being a bit of a perfectionist with my photography, I'd love to return here to photograph it in sunny conditions, but I'm not sure I ever will, because the group probably wouldn't be as good, and my curiosity drives me to see new places.
The Road to El Valle de Antón
In this van, I woke up to a head on collision and the screams of the children coming from the other car. Our group was a little bloody and struggling to open the side door, I wondered if our van was going to tip over the edge of the mountain and kill us all, but fortunately we weren't on a steep part of the mountain. Once I realized we were safe, I immediately felt sorry for the other passengers. Life can go from a dream to a nightmare and back again, in the blink of an eye and on this trip, it did just that. One of the things that really came into focus for me, during this trip was how fleeting life is. We leave it as quickly as we enter it, just the briefest moment of time and it all starts or stops. I felt, in the moment of the accident, I'd wished I'd done more to leave the world a better place, but, I was grateful to be traveling, doing something I loved. Incredibly, the experience lead me to travel more, rather than less. I realized I wanted to finish this blog with at least one country from every continent, while also feeling like that was unimportant, even though beauty is important to me. My life accomplishments, so far, songs and photography, felt meaningless. For some reason, I felt very strongly that I should pick up all the litter in Sian Ka'an Mexico, where I was headed next, after Panama. It's a shame that even the most beautiful environmentally protected areas in the world, like Sian Ka'an aren't being properly environmentally protected, and that's something I could change as one person. I decided to clean as many beautiful beaches as possible and photograph them afterwards, to actually make a tangible improvement in the world and die without regrets. Money doesn't bring lasting happiness, we all need friends, a higher purpose, and new experiences to be happy in life. We are here and then gone, nothing more than dust, do we even matter that much? Earth is here far longer than we are, it's important to protect it.
El Valle de Antón
El Valle de Anton was such in intense hike through the rain, that I and I think most of our group, basically forgot we were in a head on accident the day before. The hike only took about four hours, but the wind and slippery terrain made it kind of difficult. Overall, it was still a fantastic experience and better than going to the gym by a long shot. If it didn't rain more than half the time, I'm sure Panama would be one of the best places in the world to live, between the beautiful mountain hikes, horseback riding, and incredible beaches. As for a few week stay, Panama is a great choice and you'll have memories for a lifetime.