Panama!

I've been home for 2 weeks now so I'm probably overdue for writing my post about my awesome trip to Panama!! Jon wasn't able to come with me so I missed him a lot while I was gone. I did however, enjoy my time immensely with my friends! The majority of people I know IRL (in real life) don't know about this blog so to respect their privacy I won't post any photos of them on here.

I went on my first international trip to Panama for my friend's wedding! Having never been out of Canada (except for a quick non-stop road trip through the US)  I didn't know what to expect. But Jon actually went to Panama 5 years ago for his college "final exam" so he told me some of what I would experience.

I love stats so here's a few about my trip:

Travelled over 10,000 miles

Over 20 hours in the air

5 hours by bus

3 different time zones

7 nights in Panama

We stayed at the Royal Decameron Resort which is about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride from Panama City! It is quite a large resort with just over 850 rooms so you get your exercise walking around!



A map of the grounds



This was the view from my Oceanfront room!

The grounds were beautiful! There was always people working on them throughout the day.

This was one of our favorite pools to hang out at.

On one of our first days in Panama we took a taxi van to a small village where a lot of the resort employees live about 20 minutes away. It's not super touristy there so it was a great experience of Panama culture. The van ride itself was quite the experience! They stop at various bus stops along the highway and town roads and pick up anyone who's going our way. They can cram a lot of people in there! At one time we counted 18! No one signals and they swerve in and out of lanes like crazy! But for $2 you can't go wrong!



At a marketplace I bought these handmade sandals for only $10.75 and they are the most comfortable sandals I have ever worn! I totally should have picked up a few pairs!

At lot of the employees of the resort spoke a limited amount of english so it probably would have been very helpful for me to learn Spanish before I went. One of my friends spoke it fluently so she translated things for us when needed. I have a translator app on my phone so sometimes I tried to learn the phrases I needed but I still think they came out terribly wrong!

I burn really easy so I wore 60 SPF all the time! And even with that I still burned! I didn't mind this cloudy afternoon but I was still red later!

On one of the days we went on a canopy adventure! I'm really not the brave adventurous type so I definitely surprised myself when I agreed to go zip lining through the jungle! It started with a 45 minute hike through the rainforest. I really enjoyed the walk despite my fear of spotting a snake!

Then before I knew it I was all geared up and it was my turn to run the first line! For 3/4 of the lines you had to have one hand on the cable behind you so you can slow yourself down and stop at the next platform.

The 3rd line was SO scary! It was the only one that the zip line guides controlled when you stopped. It looked so steep and you picked up speed! The view was amazing as you went right past a waterfall. They stop you so you can look at it. So for one scary minute you're dangling way up there trying to decide if you want to turn yourself around and admire the view, or beg them to keep you going!

After that one, the 4th and last one seemed so easy and fun!

That evening we celebrated my friend's last night of being single! We had a delicious meal and then headed to the discotheque for some dancing! They played a mix of english and latino songs. It was a lot of fun but I definitely can't dance like the Panamanians!

Than it was my friend's wedding!! It took place right on the beach. The weather and the view was gorgeous but was nothing compared to the bride! She looked so amazing in her dress and the ceremony was so beautiful. I was so happy I could be there to see them get married!

The reception was at a beachfront restaurant metres from the where the ceremony took place. The evening was full of great food and speeches, along with lots of laughter and dancing!

Our last full day there was Sunday so we made the most of the beautiful weather and spent the day relaxing. Before I left Canada I looked to see if there were any geocaches near where we would be staying in Panama and wouldn't you know it there was one! So I thought it would be fun to move some tracking bugs from here to there! Tracking bugs are small items that people track from  cache to cache. Some of goals are to travel across a country, visit certain attractions, etc.

This one's goal is to be photographed at interesting and exotic locations! So I thought a beach in Panama fit that criteria!

This one didn't really have a goal but I thought it'd be neat to bring a winter travel coin to a beach!

 Anyways, me and a few friends decided to go look for it

the GPS showed it was about 1 mile down the beach. We arrived at a beachfront restaurant and started looking. We almost gave up a few times because we couldn't find it anywhere! The people who work at the there know about it and told us they knew it was for sure still there so we kept looking.

We got covered in sand but finally we found it! So I signed the book, left the travel bugs, and carefully re-hid it.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach enjoying some sexo en la playas!

The next day we packed and headed to the airport. The overcast and rainy sky made it a lot easier to leave the beach! And home we went! I had such an amazing time on my trip but it was sure nice to sleep in my bed again! If you're thinking about taking a trip to Panama I definitely recommend you go! I had such a great time! I loved the area and their culture is so rich and interesting!