Christmas Day in Bocas del Toro

We spent Christmas Day lying on the beach and then had a traditional Christmas dinner at a restaurant on Isla Caranero, our home base, across the water from Bocas town. On the way home, we heard some great music coming from a porch. We stopped to listen (secretly) but were spotted and invited up on the porch. The three singers were not on their first bottle of seco, so they were really very good and having a great time. We stayed and listened for a while and then wandered off right before the sky opened up and the rain poured down.

Bocas del Toro

Bocas del Toro is a great little beach town near the cost of Costa Rica. It was once a home base for United Fruit, and you can see evidence of the company in the wide streets and some pretty leftover colonial-style buildings (first picture).

Our (many) readers who know of our occasional disappointment with Panama's tourism opportunities will be thrilled to hear that we really liked Bocas. It has a bit of a backpacker/college party kid vibe so you have to be careful where you stay so you don't hear techno music all night, but it has a great tourism infrastructure, several islands and secluded places to stay and cheap water taxis for easy travel.

We stayed across the water from the main tourist area (Bocas town) on an island called Isla Carinero, named by Christopher Columbus who stopped there to repair his ships back in the day.

We went out on a catamaran the first day that we were in Bocas and had some of the best snorkeling ever (see picture of JB on the catamaran). The other pics are of daily life in Bocas.

Pickled Parrot

Bocas doesn't have much in the way of sand beaches. There are some, which are inaccessible by water due to the big waves, so an ambitious person usually has to take a water taxi to a trail and climb over some muddy hills to get to them. We are not that ambitious, so we spent a lot of time at the Pickled Parrot, a great little bar located on the surfer's beach about a ten minute walk away from our place on Isla Carenero. The Parrot had great food and tropical drinks and we could swim from the dock.

Our LOUD House in Bocas

We rented a little house across the water from Bocas town for our stay. We were not "away from it all" as we had hoped, as the house was in the middle of a residential neighborhood and directly across the water from the loudest bar in Bocas. Pictured here is our outside shower (interesting as it had a very short wall, and remember we were in a residential neighborhood). It also did not have the promised beach, so we are unlikely to return. However, we did walk around to the back side of the island and discover the surfing beach , which had many little B&Bs and hostels right on the water. Remember this when you come visit, reader/s!

Panama Canal Railroad and Colon

The Panama Canal Railroad originally carried 49ers to California and now primarily carries cargo containers from the Pacific to the Atlantic (along with a few business people and tourists). I recently took the train to Colon to introduce the Ambassador to a large American run port (MIT), a portion of of the logistical architecture of Panama, and the Colon Free Zone (which trades in $17 billion of goods in 2008). Colon is a fascinating city with huge economic growth combined with massive unemployment problems.

The Panama Canal Railroad travels the length of the Panama Canal and is a great ride. However, Colon does not have any tourist attractions, except if you like to see businesses and a seedy Caribbean city.

Pathways to Prosperity Ministerial in Panama

Kellee and I worked to make the 12 country Ministerial - Pathways to Prosperity - a success. The Ministerial supported open trade and economic development of the Hemisphere. Secretary Rice participated along with many other high level Americans and Ministers from 12 countries and several multi-lateral organizations. As with any trip, there was a cast of thousands supporting the Secretary and the Ministerial. Kellee was the liaison between the Secretary's staff and the Embassy. I backstopped my boss who in charge of the content of the Ministerial and I took care of representatives for three federal agencies. We are now very, very tired - especially Kellee who work all night last night.

Edwin's "Traditional" Birthday Party

Our friend Colombia threw a birthday party for her husband Edwin in which almost everyone wore traditional Panamanian dress, including us, but tragically we don't have a photo! Jim got by with a guyabera, which is not traditional but at least is in the ballpark as a short-sleeved linen shirt worn untucked. Kellee wore a vasquino, similar to Colombia's in the photo, which is derived from Spanish basque traditional clothing, and is basically a white linen shirt with lacy frills. We have yet to buy traditional Panamian hats, but have plans to buy some soon. You can listen to some of the music here.