Road Trip in Ireland

A 10 day road trip in Ireland with three of my best friends?  This has to be the best idea ever.

Places visited: Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, Ring of Kerry, Dingle, Galway and Clifden

Pro Tip: If you don't know how to drive a stick or you aren't super comfortable with it, make sure you reserve your rental car well in advance.  There are few automatic cars available in Ireland, but you shouldn't have any troubles if you make arrangements ahead of time.  

 

First stop in Dublin, the Guinness brewery.  It was the first of may brewery tours, those Irish really understand how to make a good beer.

We spent Easter Sunday at the races in Cork. 

Kilkenny was the most delightful town, like Salem, Mass., it has a history of witch hunts, and a castle that overlooks the village. 

The entrance to the Hole in the Wall, a speakeasy like bar with a great history and the loveliest owner. 

The entrance to the Ring of Kerry, where you must be on the lookout for goblins, leprechauns or giant lorry drivers, as all are a bit dangerous on the narrow roads.  

The Cliffs of Kerry

The thing about Ireland, is that everywhere you go there are ruins of castles and a history long gone.  

Houses in Galway

The road to Clifden is covered with rolling farmland and quaint stone cottages like this one.

While in Clifden we stayed in a haunted castle on the outskirts of town and would walk to the city centre for a proper pub crawl.  It's better to walk than to drive, because in Clifden, cars have a tendency to drive over the edge (see the warning sign above).

An overview of our journey.  It was an awesome one.

New Year's in Colon, Panama

Colon, about 40 miles from Panama City, on the opposite end of the Panama Canal, was where we decided to celebrate the  New Year.  We had resolved to have one last adventure before the year's end, and the area didn't let us down.  We finally saw ships pass through the canal, wandered around a deserted US Military base, explored the ruins of an old Spanish fort, and slept in a building that was once the school for some of South America's most infamous dictators (but now is a all-inclusive resort).   Happy New Years, Panama!  What an exciting adventure it has been.

Watching a ship, pass through the canal and it was magnificent!


Even more amazing than seeing a ship pass through the lock, is to actually drive over it yourself!  Only at the Gatun locks, can you drive across the dam, as there are bridges for the traffic in Panama City.
Reminders of its previous life as The School of the Americas, gave our hotel little choice but to decorate the former cannon with a happy,  holiday penguin.
Sadly, many of the buildings in Colon, are abandoned and look like this one.  There are whole neighborhoods of buildings like this.

Ruins from a Spanish Fort overlook the Caribbean and Lake Gatun.    Both Captain Morgan (the original!) and Sir Francis Drake slept here.



Four days of adventure in Bocas Del Toro, Panama

Bocas Del Toro: what an adventure.  We snorkeled, hiked through rain forests, wandered deserted beaches, saw dolphins, and the tiniest of colorful, poisonous frogs.  We hired a man to take us through mangroves to a bat cave with pools of water we could swim in, and then there was the zip-line, the organic cacao farm and the friends we made along the way, who met us out for Panama and Balboa beers each night.  Bocas Town is small, but we quickly adapted to the slow lifestyle and with our new friends, we felt right at home.

In order to island hop, you must order water taxis.

There's really no place to hang your clothes on Playa Zapatilla, so we opted to use the rainforest trees.

Although this one isn't wild, there were tropical birds everywhere, even in our hotel bar.  One morning a wild parrot walked into the bar and decided not to leave, thus prompting many jokes and inquiries as to what his drink of choice should be.

Where to go in Bocas Town?  I think there are plenty of choices.

Red Frogs on Red Frog Beach.  Green ones like the one above, found in the forests of Almirante.  And so many others, it's just a matter of keeping your eye out for them.

Sunset on Starfish Beach (unfortunately, due to unsustainable tourism, there are only about 5 starfish on what was once a beach filled with so many starfish, "you could barely take a step without bumping into one."

Image: Property of Leilani Gushiken

We visited the Nagabe Tribe, who live in the Rio Oeste Arriba on Alimarante.   One of the best farm tours, I've been on in South America, they grow cacao in the rainforest.  The tour took us through the jungle, where we encountered frogs, sloths, chickens, and a really angry fire ant (I got bitten on my foot!), then we learned how chocolate is made (by hand: mortar and pestle style!) and finally had a traditional meal of taro root, leaves and boiled chicken.  What a cool day!  And we left with a greater appreciation of chocolate and the farmers who gather our cacao.

Image Property of Leilani Gushiken

Curious Nagabe girls, who check us out as we wander past their home.

Bocas Town used to be the headquarters for the United Fruit Company (Chiquita Bananas, anyone?).  Although the neighboring islands still have banana plantations, the only reminder of their UFC past, are piles of banana found on stalks in many of the local markets and fruit stands. 

Christmas Day in Panama City

"Why Panama?" they all asked.  Well, why not?  I had heard from some expat friends that it was THE place to go, so "untouched" and "just like Costa Rica was 15 years ago."  My office mate had been there a year ago and she had nothing but love for the country, so the decision seemed obvious.  We absolutely had to go.   And our thoughts on a Christmas spent in the tropics?  Well, "Feliz Navidad!"*   



Our adventure began with taxi cab negotiations for a ride around the city, including a trip to the very famous, Panama Canal.  (Which truly is an engineering marvel, insanely impressive!  And to think that it was created 100 years ago and very little has changed with the process, is mind-blowing.)  


The Miraflores locks are only 20 minutes outside of the city, with an incredibly informative museum, which shows visitors how the boats are raised and lowered within the locks to match with sea level or Lake Gatun-level.  Be sure to watch out for crocodiles though!!


After our adventure to the canal (where unfortunately we were unable to see any ships pass through), we headed across the Causeway to see the three islands, which are just outside the city.  With not much to do there, we headed back to the Casco Vieja (the old city and Unesco heritage site that made me giddy!)


Streets upon streets, of photogenic moments: the colonial neighborhood, where upscale hotels meet the slums.  If only it weren't Christmas day and the shops and restaurants were open, I felt like this was a neighborhood that we could really sink into.  



Although, our time in Panama City was short (just 2 days!), it did feel just right.  Neither of us felt like we missed out on anything.  We even managed to make it to the newly opened, Gehry-designed BioMusee.  Which is fascinating to look at, but not quite yet worth the cost of admission.

*I do have to warn you though, if you decide to head to Panama for Christmas or New Years, be mindful of the fact that very few places are open.  You may need to base your food choices on available hotel restaurants, so study up.