TRAVELING TO PANAMA

UH-OH?

I’m not going to lie to you, but growing up in the 80’s Panama was not on any destination itinerary for this humble scribe. With the scandal of the Iran-Contra Affair and Manuel Noreiga’s drug trafficking enterprise out of Panama filling the nightly news, it was an easy bet that I would steer clear of the Central American country.

That was in the 80’s and Noreiga has been out of the picture long before his death in 2017, but admittedly there is some residual dread about traveling there.

In February we are traveling to Bocas del Toro for a hopefully relaxing stay in this popular tourist destination.

To think the narcotics problem has gone away completely would be ludicrous and there are areas of Panama you should not venture into. According to the U.S. State Department places like the Darien Gap, the dense inhospitable jungle 60+ miles long that separates Panama from Colombia and where there are no roads or no law enforcement, and the very rural Mosquito Coast on the Caribbean side of Panama should be avoided.

WTF?

You’re probably saying why would anyone want to travel to Panama then. Yes, it can be edgy, but the show of law enforcement in other places is prevalent.

Panama law

We sailed from Costa Rica to Panama several years ago, and we were reminded that there are strict rules.

When we crossed into Panamanian waters at night aboard the Variety Cruises MS Panorama we were boarded by customs agents. They looked at everyone’s passport and scrutinized the ship’s manifest.

Embera-Wounaan

When we landed on Iguana Island, a small island with white sandy beaches, our tender was challenged by a military crew wearing balaclavas and toting machine guns. The crew of the Panorama is Greek, and no one spoke Spanish, and our Costa Rican cruise director was still on the ship. Until the whole thing was settled, we were told to sit in the shade and not wander away. We wiled away the time watching countless hermit crabs prancing about the beach as iguanas ogled us curiously.

When we visited a village of the Embera-Wounaan one of the indigenous tribes living in the Darien Gap, we were watched by a couple of military soldiers who followed our group from a discreet distance.

IN STEP WE TRUST

Truthfully, the police presence was comforting. Another way to help waylay any misgivings, other than exercising commonsense in certain situations, is to register your travel itinerary with the US State Department. Each time we leave the country we register with their STEP program. It’s free and you will get alerts to any issues going on in your destination and where NOT to go. The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, don’t leave home without registering!

STEP with the US Department of State

 

WORRYWARTS?   

Perhaps, but, being smart in your traveling is smart. Not wading into situations, thinking you’re impervious, is smart.

One can spend their entire life not seeing this big beautiful world and be safe. Travel does take some people out of their comfort zone, but travel for us extends our comfort levels.  And, without traveling how could we ever experience the beauty of this world. In our earlier trip to Panama we swam with whale sharks and turtles and dodged hermit crabs and we are looking forward to returning.

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg

© 2026 by Gregory Dunaj

 

BOCAS DEL TORO

PANAMA BEYOND THE CANAL 

Punta Caracol Acqua-Lodge 

Next month we will escape winter and visit a very popular tourist spot in Panama and it’s not the Panama Canal. 

With alluring mid-80s temperatures in February, stunning natural beauty with lush rainforests and white-sand beaches with turquoise water teeming with diverse marine life and a vibrant culture, the Bocas del Toro (mouths of the bull) archipelago will be a welcome and budget friendly destination. 

Popular with backpackers, surfers, scuba divers, and ecotourists this area, on the Caribbean side of Panama near the border with Costa Rica, will be a great excuse to get away from winter.

Besides, we had been to the Panama Canal once before. We had sailed from Costa Rica to Panama in 2020 with the small ship cruise line Variety Cruises. Our final stop on that trip was Panama City, and we toured the Miraflores Visitor Center to watch massive ships squeeze through the locks.

MIRAFLORES VISITOR CENTER

VARIETY CRUISES 

OVERWATER BUNGALOWS

With nine main islands and countless cays and islets, all accessible by boat or water taxis, Bocas del Toro is not only beautiful, but very affordable.

Though we have often admired overwater bungalows in brochures, the cost of a stay was always very prohibitive for us. In Bocas del Toro though this “dream” of staying in an overwater bungalow is a reality and there are several available at a very nominal price. We are staying at the Punta Caracol Acqua Lodge, at less than $250 per night. This is a fraction of similar stays say in the Maldives or French Polynesia, or even at a Sandals Resort that we like to visit. As a comparison point, overwater bungalows at the Sandals South Coast in Jamaica are roughly $1,600 per night, PER PERSON.

LISTING OF OVERWATER BUNGALOWS IN BOCAS

A BOOK AND A HAMMOCK

The bungalows of Punta Caracol Acqua-Lodge are set along a mile-long coral reef where we can swim or snorkel off our private deck or relax with a book in our hammock. We’ll enjoy sunsets and a restaurant whose menu changes daily.

It will be a rustic stay as there is an emphasis on sustainable renewable energy, but there is a free shuttle boat that leaves for town three times a day, in case we need to get in some partying or souvenir purchases. I suspect though, we will enjoy the quiet and the warm weather of Panama while back home they will be in the deepest throes of winter.

Once we are in town there are water taxis if we decide to go to one of the area floating bars, with fares anywhere from $2.00 to $5.00.

floating bar Bocas

Other activities available to us will be a boat tour of several islands in the archipelago to visit places like Starfish Beach or Red Frog Beach and at least one scuba dive excursion. Or, that hammock overlooking the water and frolicking dolphins may be all the activity we will require.

PUNTA CARACOL BOCAS DEL TORO PANAMA 

YOU CAN GET THERE FROM HERE

Bocas del Toro is on the extreme western edge of Panama, and it is an hour flight from Panama City with Panama Air. Oh, you can be cheap and take a 12-hour bus ride from the capital for less than $30. The round-trip flights are around $280, but with the inexpensive accommodation at Punta Caracol we could easily afford it.

We are staying in Panama City for 2 days before our flight out west, but we are taking a cooking class instead of touring the canal.

BOCAS DEL TORO TRAVEL GUIDE

BTW I’ve been working on my Spanish. I will make sure I use the word mucho while in Panama. It means “a lot” to the people.

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg

© 2026 by Gregory Dunaj 

ADVICE FOR THIS YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

DON’T BOTHER

Okay, we’re a week into the New Year and I’m sure a lot of you tried to start 2026 with a proper attitude towards improving yourself. Dry January, diets, book reading, more exercise, etc. etc.  All noble endeavors, I guess.

Sadly, I’m sure a lot of you have already stumbled on some of those wonderful goals, but who cares right? It’s that Buddhist way: “Let that shit go.”

Have a beer, eat that donut, only peruse the New York Post headlines, and cancel that membership to the local Planet Fitness. (Why waste that $15 pm?)

In the long run you won’t feel frustrated by your lack of discipline and you’ll savor that IPA or relish that Boston Cream as its filling plops onto your tight t-shirt as you watch the movie version of that novel you thought you’d like to read…hopefully it’s on Netflix so you won’t even have to bother leaving the house.

Throw out that bathroom scale. Order pizza in. Don’t even attempt to tax yourself by watching the news or in the case of this NY Giants fan, any of the NFL playoffs. Watch incessant F-Troop reruns instead.

Get the dog to walk themselves. Have the liquor store deliver needed libations.  Close the blinds and don’t leave the house and please, don’t surf the internet for deals on beautiful destinations because you don’t want to travel.

WTF?

Yikes, that last bit about not wanting to travel is kind of revealing to you dear reader that this blog entry is farce, except for the bit about being a sullen NY Football Giants fan.

Ugh.

If there’s just one resolution or goal for you during this new year it should be to explore your world, if not the world. Where are you? How did you get here? How DO you get there? Learn, explore, and along the way be kind and be happy with wherever you alight this year, because, well, because it’s a Buddhist way.

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU WEIGH…

One last bit of advice is about exercise. Around this time the gyms are packed with people and their resolutions about “getting in shape.” Don’t worry, the crowds will dwindle soon enough. Keep at it, if only to be hearty and hale enough to enjoy traveling. Be a moving target and remember this always:

“It’s not what you weigh, but what that weight looks like” © by Gregory Dunaj

 

Thanks for reading and looking forward to this new year.

Love Janet and greg

© 2026 by Gregory Dunaj