Our son Jake (33) is visiting and we take off for 11 days in Panama. I've read so many interesting things about Panama and it is touted as an ideal place for U.S. retirees (a couple of years to go yet) so we've decided to give it a look. Our Adventure Life tour should give us a fairly good cross section of the country as we will spend some time in …

We're up early for a quick breakfast on the patio. Our guide, Arial, picks us up at 8 for a hike of Camino del Oleoducto (Pipeline trail) which is part of Parque Nacional Soberania. The area is beautiful and we see dozens of birds including motmots and tocans and a tree full of howler monkeys. I attempt to tell Arial the story of how howler got …

Up early again and Rolando takes us for a long hike through La Amistad Peace Park. They have to wait for me on the up-hills... Rolando is very nice and he and Jake get to chatting - half English and half Spanish. Its amazing how smart, educated and well traveled the guides are. We have a late picnic lunch at the trail head and drive back into …

Well, while we got our massages yesterday, seems that Jake has done some research. He has found a local place he wants to take pictures. We eat breakfast outside on the patio and head over to "Paradise Garden". This is a garden/animal rescue place run by a "retired" British couple. They spent 2 hours with the 3 of us showing us …

This morning we transfer to Bocas del Toro. Rolando picks us up early in the morning - so early that we have gotten a "breakfast to go" from Ava. The drive is interesting. Its a grey day and we drive up over the mountains to Almirante. The road was washed out in areas and we stopped to see the view down to the Atlantic. Almirante is a …

We haven't read great things about the diving in the Bocas but we've scheduled 2 dives anyway. We check in first thing in the morning and the process seems somewhat chaotic - should have been a sign! I have brought along a camera, housing and flash that I haven't used before and I'm worried that the flash isn't going to work. It doesn't. My rental …

This morning we are scheduled for snorkling and a visit to Red Frog beach on Bastimentos. Guess what! Its rainy and cold. It's never cold in the Bocas. We set out anyway and with a group of about 8 plus the guide. The first stop is in Dolphin Bay where we do indeed see pods of dolphins. The boats in the bay take turns driving around in big …

Just a nice relaxing day in which we bummed around the town, did a little shopping and eating and generally soaked up the atmosphere. We heard the sounds of drums in the distance and followed them to the local school yard where the boys were all practicing the drum corps. while the girls cheered.

One of our new friends at the local bar …

This morning we transfer back to Panama City and the Albrook Inn via the Bocas airport. Seamless connections. We are meet at the airport by our guide and taken to visit both Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo which are very old Panama (ruins) and a section of Colonial Panama. Both areas are very interesting, both on the Pacific coast (south) side and it …