Panama in Review 2: Island Bound
After a well slept first night in the city, it was time to make up for lost planning due to a faulty online booking system and plan our flight to our island getaway. This time the telephone would be our medium. I confess: I punted on the opportunity to make my way once again with my trusty Spanish skills by saying right off the bat “Hola, err… hablas ingles?” Messing up accommodations for the night is one thing, booking the wrong flight is quite another.
Twelve minutes and a few hundred bucks later we were set with our domestic flight for 6am the following day, giving us another night in the city and the full day to explore.
During our milling about town we got recommendation of the Hotel California from another cab driver. Either it was a really great place to stay or the cabbie conspiracy was a brilliantly executed marketing plan. Either way we were sold, and true to the song by the Eagles, there is in indeed plenty of room at the Hotel California (not to mention it was a worthy place to stay!).
Our morning flight started without a hitch, but the torrential downpour on the island of Bocas del Toro had us pass it over to another airfield some 150 miles away for a 3 hour layover. When we took to the sky once again Tracy and I were a little worse for wear. Fun factoid: to combat growing queasiness on our second flight I thought to myself how bad Hot Tub Time Machine must be. Doing so made me giggle, strongly enough to get my mind off the storm-laden bumpiness of our trusty two-propellor mini jet.
Man, that movie’s gonna be terrible. Thank goodness.
Soon we were in the little town of our island paradise, complete with a dash of monsoon season. Back here at home, thanks to google maps, I can see exactly how the landing strip fits on the little island–I wouldn’t wanna mess around trying to land there in inclement weather either.
You guys are so brave!