Panama by www.born2travel.it

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05. 01. 2007 Farallon (PANAMA)

After 10 hours of flight and 3 films, we're flying over the Dominican Republic on this first trip of 2007! Panama! This little strip of land, the end of Central America and the last frontier before "penetrating" into South America via Colombia. And yes, this tongue of land borders Costa Rica to the north, the dangerous Colombia to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific to the west. And today, for the first time in our lives, we swam in this new great sea, which, unlike its name, is the most dangerous in the world. The water is nowhere near comparable to the Caribbean! Having landed in Panama City, we're wrapped in a very unpleasant humidity, which, however, our bus's air conditioning on full blast soon makes us forget...

To reach our "holiday village" we travel two hours of road, and my attention is immediately caught by the lush vegetation, at times impenetrable, and right away my mind began to fantasise, imagining maybe hidden coca plantations and disguised drug traffickers controlling it all! We also cross a bridge overlooking the celebrated Canal, the one that made Panama famous all over the world and that has enriched this little state so much! But, having reached our hyper-touristy village, a contagious disappointment takes hold of us. But where are we? In Beverly Hills? So many luxurious big 4x4s, Americans and Canadians everywhere with their bellies on display, their loud "masters of the world" ways...

This isn't the Panama I expected; it felt like I'd landed by mistake in California! But our traveller's spirit takes us, after dinner, straight out of the village for a little walk in the little town of Farallon! A collection of classic Caribbean-colonial cottages, with little gardens with hammocks and families, a bit like it used to be in Italy 50 years ago, gathered around the "hearth", chatting away. Maybe the hammock is their "hearth"! People greet us, smile, are friendly to us.

The children come up to us, the young ones joke with us, and we enjoy these moments, even when Carlo proposes a minute of silence to listen to Nature speaking to us! On the way back we stop to chat with a cheerful little family, we ask how they usually spend their evenings there, and they, amazed: "What? There's the dance hall right there! Every evening people dance!", as if to say, what a stupid question! They should see how we spend ours, instead, in our grey country in winter, after a stressful, boring and tiring day at work! It's really true, they're happy with nothing and they're content! That poet was right that only children and the ignorant are happy, because they have no knowledge of anything!

06. 01. 2007 Penonomè (PANAMA)

We spend the morning splashing around like eels just released into water, playing football with the Colombians, joking with the latter about drugs and coca, and taking long walks surrounded by the friendliest little birds and fighting with the sun, which here too beats down hard!

In the afternoon, with a local bus and 3$ round trip, I, Jeff, Carlo and aunt Anna set off to discover the nearest little town: Penonomè!

Very funny, the journey in the little minibus that stopped every time it saw someone along the road. Arriving at our destination we notice the curious looks of the people, always smiling. Let's say this country can't exactly be called a tourist spot! We wander among the classic Caribbean little shops with multicoloured advertising signs painted directly on their walls!

A very likeable little old man, a tailor by trade, welcomes us into his 1940s "workshop"; an elderly woman proudly shows us her nativity scene in her living room! This, to me, is the right spirit when you travel!

Back at "base" we meet Lorena, a cheerful woman from Vicenza (even though she's a municipal traffic warden, joking!), on holiday here alone, and she immediately becomes our "mess companion"!

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