Bocas del Toro: young, wild, and free in the Panamanian Caribbean!

[**Click here for the Italian version on Bigodino.it!**]

I just came back from a trip to Bocas del Toro with 2 of my dearest friends, Claire & Ben, who came visit me in Panama from far away.
...Needless to say that it was LEGEN - wait for it- DARY !!! Besides the beauty of the place, I had so much fun with the guys, enjoying both Bocas and Panama City and surroundings, Pacific and Altantic oceans.

Bocas del Toro is a beautiful archipelago located in the north-western side of the country, towards the border with Costa Rica, and which -thank God- is still not as touristic as many popular destinations and still gives you the pleasure to find youself alone in virgin beaches.

After the friday night out in Panama City and 0 hours of sleep, we ran directly to Panama City Albrook airport for our morning flight to Bocas! ...And after 40 minutes, paradise found!!

Partners in crime: ready to meet Ben in Bocas!

Not to miss:

• Red Frog Beach - Ten minutes boat from Isla Colón (the main island where the plane lands and where we had the hotel), this emerald-water & white-sand beach is lovely. You can surf, body surf, chase coconuts, and simply have beautiful walks along the sand. And it is not crowded at all!

Arriving to the island of Red Frog Beach

Heading to Red Frog Beach

Ben =)

Coconut hunters!!

• Fishing day - You can´t miss the adrenaline of fishing a tuna, spotting a shark, and (if you want) to snorkel in those beautiful waters! At the end of the day, you can cook the fish caught or in your hotel/hostel or in a restaurant. A Catalan chef cooked our big tuna and macarela for us and prepared DELICIOUS tataki, tuna tartare, tuna sashimi etc. Just the best thanksgiving dinner ever =)

Our second caught of the day! Tuna!

• Isla Zapatilla - 30-40 minutes away form Isla Colón by boat, Isla Zapatilla is composed of two little islands which are incredible. They are covered of wild palmtrees, with pure white sand and cristalline water. Super wild and it´s inhabitated! You can combine it with the fishing day (as we did), or just go there for the day and make a pic-nic on the border of the blue water.

Isla Zapatilla

Claire and I arriving to Isla Zapatilla

Paradise found in Isla Zapatilla

Love them

• Rent a bike and discover Isla Colón - Isla Colón is lovely and it really deserves a tour around, to discover all those places/beaches which are not so popular but yet amazing. You can rent a bike for some dollars for the whole day or some hours and just go around. For example, i LOVED Bluff beach (our footprint were the only ones on the sand of the whole beach - spectacular!), and the bike tour on rocky/sandy roads along the sea is very nice. (My bike was, of course, fucsia!)

Playa Bluff - just the three of us!

Lunch break

Arrived in Playa Bluff with our bikes!

• Relax on a hammock after the beach day - If you stay in a hotel which is right on the water border, there´s nothing like relaxing on a hammock on the water after a long beach day!!!! Especially if you share the hammock with someone like Claire or Ben... (I have been to Hotel Olas, and for the position and price I can recommend it!)

 

• See the dolphins - We didn't have the time to do it but there is a harbour where spotting a dolphin is almost 100% guaranteed!

What else to say...Visit Bocas! And see the amazing video that Ben made of the trip ;)
Gracias chicos!!!! I miss you

Sydney: a quick breathtaking view of one of the most gorgeous cities in the world!

***For the Italian (and with more touristic tips) version, click here!***

 

OMG I have no time for writing as often as I wish!!! I am leaving for Bogotà for a long weekend in some hours, I am so excited guys!!!

I was just thinking about my time in Australia some months ago so let me write a couple of thoughts!

It was many months that Laura and I were planning our graduation trip Down-Under (= nella terra dei canguri, for my Italian readers ^^), and finally, in April 2014, the big day arrived and the Cargo plane piloted by captain RS brought the only two lucky passengers to the other side of the world. With another connection, some hours later we finally got to Australia, the Southern Land.

We have visited several places and I will tell you about all the best experiences that we had little by little. Now, I wanted to show you a little bit of Sydney, one of the most beautiful cities I have visited so far.

What I especially love about Sydney is that you have both the multicultural, lively and never-sleeping environment and comfort of the big city, and at the same time the wild, surfer coastal side of a beach city...You can enjoy a drink in the cosy cafés of The Rocks or in Darling Harbour, a glass of wine in front of the Sydney Opera House at sunset, a walk on the Coastal Walk along Bondi beach, a surf day in Manly beach, or go exploring the botanical garden with a spectacular view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge....

I LOVE big cities on the seaside!!! They have that something that purely urban cities don't have, that is the escape, the sense of infinite that the water of the ocean gives you... People are also more relaxed, they enjoy life in a different way. Of course, it is normal when you get out of work and have the option to go and take a ferry to Manly or jump in the blue waters of Bondi! The climate is perfect as well, temperate and often sunny thoughout the year (except from when Laura & I went there, #mainagioia - #neverajoy!!!!)

Well, I have to go and make my Fucsia Trolley for Bogotà, so I don't have much time ;)...But please enjoy the breathtaking pictures of Sydney! =)

The Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge

From the ferry, coming back from Manly beach

Harbour Bridge

Laura and I, in Bondi Beach

Manly Beach

Darling Harbour

Welcome to Panama City, Bienvenidos a PTY !

It's a month now that I got to Panama City and it's time to show you a little bit of the city!

One month since I left my beloved familiar and friendly continent Europe for a new, completely unknown adventure, in a country where I barely knew someone and of which I knew even less.

35 kg of baggages, that's all I phisically took with me from home, and a lot of memories. Another house moving, again! When I got here I was more scared than I had ever been: it wasn't just a relocation to a new place on my own -I had already done that many times and I actually like the feeling. Honestly, it was especially the fear not to keep up with the new job I would have started 3 days after my arrival. I was feeling that I didn't really deserve that position and I was scared I would have deceived all my colleagues and most of all my boss, that gave me such a great opportunity to work with him. I was so scared that my mom, for the first time, came with me for the 10 first days !!!

Thank God, everything went so far so good !

Panama City is just amazing: a mix of modern and old. There is everything a young person needs to have, inside and outside the city...Pacific and Atlantic/Caribbean oceans at 3 hours ride distance, Central and South America at some hours distance, and especially beautiful wild sea/country landscapes right outside the city, where you can escape during the weekends and surf.

For the moment I have just spent a couple of days at the beach in the Pacific side and I was glad to see that leaving the city means really to explore the local culture. The rest of the country, yet to be explored, looks also incredible! Can't wait to visit San Blas and its indigenous region, Chiriquì, Santa Catalina, Isla Iguana, Bocas del Toro etc. etc.

Here the pictures and explanation about the top-7 parts of the city that I have liked the most.

1. Casco Antiguo
It is the ancient, colonial city of Ciudad de Panamà, located in the right corner of the city. It is curious to know that the real former old town ("Panamà Viejo") was actually in the opposite side of the city -now surrounded by skyscrapers- but the pirate Morgan had burned it in the 17th century and it was then re-built in another better located side of the city: the current one.
Casco Antiguo looks like a little fortress. I love it because you can appreciate many contrasts: you walk among beautiful Spanish colonial buildings, some totally elegantly renewed and some which are still very old, where poor people live, with no roofs or no good structure. Also, from Casco Antiguo you look at the city and have the best skyline ever! I can't help watching again and again the Panama City skyline. By day it is of a pastel colour, by night its buildings are illuminated by coloured and flashing lights.
My favourite place from which I admire the city are the rooftop terraces of the many nice bars located in Casco Antiguo, in the company of a delicious margarita. There are also a lot of other things to do: from the National Theatre (a little opera house), to the culture house, to great restaurants.

Claire and I in Casco Antiguo

One of the markets in Casco Antiguo - now just relocated to a new place

Catedral Metropolitana de Panamà - Santa Maria la Antigua

Tantalo rooftop

View from my favourite rooftop bar in Casco Antiguo

Casa Gòngora

2. Cinta Costera
La Cinta Costera is a long walking and bike path which connects Casco Antiguo with Punta Paitilla, inaugurated in 2009. The perfect place to have a walk by day but especially by night. You can go for a run after office, having the sea and palm trees on the one side and the skyscrapers in the other side. There are many facilities and people will be there running as well, so you won't feel alone and you will always find activities to do there: people doing yoga lessons on the grass, or playing tennis/basketball, doing excercises...For example, I signed up for a class of folkloric/country Panamanian dances every thursday with locals, and it is so much fun!!

El Mercado del Marisco - seafood market

Jogging by night

3. Panama Canal
One of the biggest engineering workd on earth, the Panama Canal, is just 10 minutes away from the city. It has just celebrated its centennial and one of the locks, Miraflores, is the perfect place to get to know more about its history and see at some meters from you the huge container ships crossing the canal. To know, if you speak Italian, check out here my recent article with the curiosities about el Canal de Panamà.    

4. Cerro Ancòn
It is a 200-mt hill between the city and the Canal Zone, with a huge Panamanian flag on its top. It has been under the US jurisdiction for most of the 20th century, and for Panamanians it is actually a very important symbol representing the re-taking possession of the Canal Zone from the United States, after the signature of the Torrijos-Carter treaty (1977). Surrounded by green, you can enjoy a gorgeous view of the city's skyline, as well as the logistic infrastructure around the canal.

On Cerro Ancon, with my friends =)

5. Sal Si Puedes (= "get out if you can")
Some streets away from Casco Antiguo, right after Santa Ana square, there is a little artisan market called "Salsipuedes", which means "get out of here if you can". Tourists normally don't go there because the whole area is not considered safe at all, and they usually go to the ones in Casco Antiguo, which are, of course, much more expensive!!! That's why when I was using my Reflex I realised every local was watching me and not very well ehehe. But everything turned out well and I made awesome deals and negotiations in the market. Among the things, I was able to buy the long folkloric fuchsia skirt and yellow shoes that I needed for my country dance classes ;)

Sal sipuedes

Plaza Santa Ana

6. Seaside
During weekends, you can either leave for the whole weekend to the seaside or spend just a day at the beach, in places at 1 hour and half from the city. You can go there by bus with local people for 2 dollars or by car on your own/with friends.
I have been only to Coronado and El Palmar and both have been a good occasion to escape the city and relax! On Saturdays I started to go surfing with a little group of girls and we are actually pretty good ;). In just one day, you regenerate youself! After the surf, you can take a siesta or have a fresh ceviche or a fresh fruit "batido" at the beachfront bar.  

After surf @ El Palmar

Coronado

7. Diablos rojos

Last but not least, I wanted to show you a very typical Panamanian symbol: los Diablos Rojos (="Red Devils"): the typical bus of the city which are all different from eachother, personalised with the name the owner gives it, with trumpets, decorations etc. They are known for driving fast like crazy -it reminds me of Buenos Aires' buses!!- and I admit I never tried them. By night they don't have ANY lights on, and it literally could happen every kind of thing to you if you get in, especially if you are a tourist! Also, I live next to my job and I usually move by foot or taxi (very cheap)...But before I leave Panama I will surely try el Diablo Rojo !