Corpus Christi Fiesta: 30 May to 9 June,2013. La Villa

Corpus Christi Fiesta 30 May- 9 June,2013. La Villa De Los Santos

Music, mayhem ,mischief and merriment will be the norm throughout this fiesta in the village of La Villa.
Starts Thursday morning(30 May) and the streets will be brilliantly decorated with flowers and leafs of numerous designs and configurations. Its a photographers photgenic dream!
Also during the early morning hours the mischief maker,The Goat and his sidekick El Torito and partner in mayhem making will be dancing up a storm and terrorizing locals and tourist alike. Warning Ladies:The Goat is quite the pervert........!

The central theme;good versus evil. The "Good",Archangel Michael and The "bad",The Gran Diablo and his devil amigos.
Numerous dance troupes will be performing various dances such as, El Torito,Los Diablicos Sucios,El Montezuma,Cabezona and many more. Eventually after hours of music,fir... more »

Attractions with a taxi from Colón to the capital

My three friends and I plan to take the train one-way to Colón and then taxi back. Are there any attractions between Panama and Colón that we should stop at because they're tough to get to using public transport?

Surfing Schools in or around Bocas del Toro

Hi :)

Me and my girlfriend are travelling to Peru and Panama for the next two months.

We will be in Panama for from the end of June till the end of July.

We were thinking about going to Bocas del Toro and travel to the Islands around it.

Can you recommend any good surfing schools in that area that aren't insanely expensive?

I've been reading about the conditions in June-July and though it isn't the high season, it seems to me, that the weather is good and the surf is fine, do you agree?

Can you recommend any other surf schools in Panama?

Cheers and thanks in advance,
Haffi

Choosing honeymoon destination

Hello fellow travellers,
I'm trying to figure out the best destination for our honeymoon next year in February. I get to choose where we go and prepare the whole shabang, but she imposed the conditions ( to which I agreed). The criteria are few but very precise.:

• see vulcanoes and heavy vulcanic activity (lots of fumaroles, mud pots, volcanoes etc);
• clear skies and good temperatures to have beach time;
• no need to take malaria pills;
• good diving spots
• if possible: see whales (but this is the least important one)

Fire safety in Panama hotel

I was a guest in the Sheraton Marbella Hotel in Panama City from May 8-12/13.
The hotel was a case study in chaos!
The front desk could not find my reservation for over an hour and subsequently mis-spelled my name despite having a copy of my passport and being informed that they had spelled my name incorrectly. My 2 friends who arrived separately the same day had identical experiences. Consequently all callers for me and my friends were told we were not guests.
On the night of May 10-11 shortly after midnight the power went off and as this was not uncommon, I went to sleep.
At 1 or 2 am I was awakened by a burning smell and called the front desk. They informed me "they had a little problem that was now solved" and wished me good night.
I awakened in the morning but the burning smell was still present.
I called switch board and asked to be connected to my friend's room but wa... more »

Review: Darien Gapster/San Blas Adventures

also posted in Colombia forum
After travelling through South America for more than a year we recently had to find our way into Central America, many people had recommended a sailing trip through the San Blas as an exciting way to get to Panama. In Cartagena we stayed at Mama Llena hostel which has plenty of information on the yachts that make the crossing and after meeting lots of people who had done the trip the other way we decided we were not particularly excited about the 2 day open sea crossing with the majority of people reporting heavy sea sickness. I had come across the website the Darien Gapster which does an alternative trip from Capurgana up near the border with Panama. So we sat down with their representative who works in the same hostel and got a bit more information. We could not find a lot of info on the web but what we did seemed to be mostly positive. We liked the id... more »

buying property on pacific coast

Hi All,
Just wondering if anyone can offer information about their experience purchasing property on the pacific side of Panama. If you have any info to share I would appreciate hearing about it. Thanks and happy travels....

Panama- Costa Rica

Question:

My husband and myself plan to travel through Panama and Costa Rica starting December 2013, planning to return March 2014. We hope to use the bus system to get around. Some questions:
a.) Best things to do in Panama and Costa Rica?
b.) Any problems taking a bus into Costa Rica from Panama? Any information on the buses...
*c.) Would like to find inexpensive accomodation for a few weeks at a time, Rental ideas? Our plan is to start in Panama City area and works our way north to Costa Rica , but stay overnight in some interesting places for a few weeks at a time.
*d.) What is Columbia like? Would you take a boat across and tour around. What is there to see there...or do...
e.) Is it safe travelling in Panama, Costa Rica, and Columbia?
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You