I haven't done a lot of travelling and am going to Panama in a couple of days - a 21st birthday present from my family. I have got the 2004 Rough Guide to Central America and the Lonely Planet Panama from last year but I've read guides to places I know myself and they get it so so wrong so often. Does anyone reckon there are wonderful places in Panama missed out of the guides, places with maybe less obvious but more rewarding charm (I thought Colon sounded like it could be a lot more interesting than the guides make out, from them it seems like the main thing about the place is its dangerousness)? Or are there places they enthuse about that are really not worth bothering with? Apart from wanting to know for practical reasons, I am also interested in this general question of how trustworthy the guides are. I went to Brazil very briefly last year and the hostel that everyone was at was not in any of the guides, and it wasn't even that new. So any thoughts would be much appreciated. Ta.
In the 30 years I've been going to CA, Colon has always been considered dangerous. All the reasons for going there...shopping, hopping a boat... can be done elsewhere. I've been in Nicaragua summer of '79. Worked also in Guat. and El Salvador during the height of their civil wars. Peru during the Senderos. But Colon... no one has ever made a case for going there. Now...as to the honesty of the guide books.... that is another issue. During most of that travel time I've recommended LP guides. Given the incidents with the latest LP Panama and Guatemala and LP/BBC's idiotic explanation for the Panama snafu and their blatant refusal to deal with the Guat. issue, I can't recommend either one. If you are interested in the details do a search...though be aware that LP is conducting a systematic pogrom of past posts that don't meet the BBC's neo-Stalinist ideology. In a pinch PM. Also do a search for reviews of Rough Guide and Moon. Both have their pluses and minuses. I think it really comes down to what are your interests.
I very much like Moon guidebook from 2005. It certainly has some minuses, and it's not the newest but it's uncomparably better than LP (which uses old info too), and gives really a lot of insider tips about the general travel in Panama.
There is some sort of free-trade area at Colon, so locals do shopping trips from Panama City.
Panama City is a big, vibrant place, a good base for travel by bus. One odd bit of advice from the US State Dept. is that the University of Panama is a bit hazardous due to rampant leftists. As a guest of the University last month, I can assure you that the biologists aren't rabid. Of course the driver of the University van insisted I should go see Darien.
To correct #4 re free trade zone in Colon - this is set up for wholesale selling not retail and you can't just walk in buy something and leave with it - locals aren't allowed in unless by appointment with a business. Foreigners can enter showing their passport - all purchases are either shipped to your home or if time permits taken to the airport for your departure flight. If you know what you want you might find a deal on electronics, cameras, watches etc but it can be hard to find store that even sell merchandise retail.
I agree with the last LP guides - not great at all.
Cheers,
Andrew
The prices in Colon are for the most part only a significant savings if you come from a place with high taxes and tariffs. Downside is the cost of getting there and as already stated risk of robbery. Thieves know you are going in with cash since the best discounts are on cash sales. And they know the packages you are carrying out are high value items. These days it's too easy to find similar deals on the net.
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