2008 - Washington DC
2010 - Cuba
2011 - DR, Bermuda, & Cruise
2012 - DR & Costa Rica
2013 - Cruise, CR, & USA
2014 - SE Asia
The Year Off 2015 - 2016
- Preamble
- Thailand & Malaysia
- Italy
- Germany, Belgium, & Lux
- Czech, Poland, & Germany
- Austria, Slovakia, & Hungary
- Slovenia, Croatia, Austria & Germany
- England & Scotland
- Turkey
- Colombia
- Peru: Lima & Amazon
- Peru: Cusco & Inca Trail
- Peru: Cusco to Lima
- Mexico, Guatemala, & Belize
- New Zealand
- Australia & Thailand
2017 - The Balkans
2017 - Hungary, Romania, & Switzerland
2018 - New York
2018 - Amsterdam, Poland, & The Baltics
2019 - Costa Rica
2019 - France
2020 - Thailand
2023 - Mexico
2023 - Iceland & Cruise
2024 - Philippines
2025 - Japan
2025 - Iceland
2026 - Panama
Short Trips
Lists
Links
| January 29, 2026 - Thursday | El Valle de Anton | Panama |
Panama. My fiftieth country. I arrived in Panama in the morning on a red eye
flight. I managed to sleep about three and half hours on the plane. I picked
up my rental car and drove about two hours to El Valle de Anton, a small
town. It is in a valley surrounded by small mountains. The roads are in
rough shape, pot holes are everywhere. I found the place I am staying at,
dropped off my bags and then went on a two hour hike called “La Indica
Dormida”. It was basically straight up, then walking along the ridge, and
then back down. Good views.
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| January 30, 2026 - Friday | El Valle de Anton | Panama |
| Got a great sleep. I did the Cerro Iguana Hike in the morning. Similar to yesterday’s hike but to a different part of the mountains. It got really windy on the ridge. On the positive side it keeps the mosquitoes and fly’s down. Spent the afternoon reading, then walked to the center of town for dinner. Food prices are reasonable. | ||
| January 31, 2026 - Saturday | El Valle de Anton | Panama |
Hiked Cerro Gaital in the morning, mostly through jungle/rainforest. Slipped
and fell on by butt once. Saw lots of leaf cutter ants. Okay views at the
end. In my opinion, the weaker of the three hikes. Having done the three
main hikes here and not finding anything else in town to do, I am glad to be
moving on tomorrow. I enjoyed my time here, although two nights is probably
better than three.
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| February 1, 2026 - Sunday | Santa Catalina | Panama |
| No much to say about today, drove 5 hours to Santa Catalina. I arranged to go snorkeling tomorrow. Walked from the main part of town to a beach 25 minutes away. Not a great beach, kind of dirty. Saw people surfing, the waves were 3-5 fee high. | ||
| February 2, 2026 - Monday | Santa Catalina | Panama |
| Went snorkeling. Stopped at three places to snorkel. First had jellyfish that stung, but not too bad. Saw a whale shark, it was easily 15 feet long. Got pretty close to it for a second or two, maybe 20 feet away. The second stop had a turtle and hundreds of fish. The third had even more fish and what I think was a manta ray. We also stopped on Coilba Island for bit. I saw bright red macaws. Very pretty. Got sunburned in a couple of places, will be more careful tomorrow. | ||
| February 3, 2026 - Tuesday | Santa Catalina | Panama |
| Went snorkeling again. Different company, but basically the same stops. Saw three turtles, lots of fish, two stingrays, and at the last stop saw another whale shark. Not sure if it was the one from yesterday. For about 30-45 seconds it was just below the surface of the water and I was swimming beside it, about fifteen feet away. That was awesome and the highlight of the trip. | ||
| February 4, 2026 - Wednesday | Panama City | Panama |
| Long, long travel day back to airport to drop of car, then metro into city. Staying a 5 star hotel. The price was very reasonable | ||
| February 5, 2026 - Thursday | Panama City | Panama |
Morning tour from about 7am to 12pm. First to the Miraflores Visitor Center
to see the Panama Canal. It was okay, it takes a while for the ships to go
through the locks. The 45 minute movie on the construction was excellent.
Then we drove to the three islands south of old town, and then into old town
itself where the tour ended. I had lunch in the old town which was very
mediocre, and went into an old church. Back to the hotel for a bit, then
went to the Multiplaza mall and walked around. Food is much more expensive
in the city.
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| February 6, 2026 - Friday | Panama City | Panama |
Was really lazy this morning, just stayed in the hotel room. In the
afternoon I did a food tour, which included a stop at the local fish market.
It was good. When done, I walked along the Cinta Costera about one hour back
to my hotel. It was a pleasant walk. I found a cheap local food place near
hotel that was pretty good.
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| February 7, 2026 - Saturday | Panama City | Panama |
In the morning I went for a hike at the Metropolitan Natural Park. Decent,
but didn’t see any animals, even birds, other than some very small turtles
in a pond. Nearby is Albrook Mall, which is the second largest mall in the
Americas. Walking through it, I can confirm it is massive. Fly home tomorrow
morning.
 Overall I enjoyed Panama, but it is very much a place that once you have seen it, there is no reason to return. So I would probably not return to the three places I went, but there are some other areas of Panama that I would go to if I came back to Panama such as the San Blas Islands and Bocas del Toro. |
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