Boquete is a mountain town known for its natural beauty, perfect climate, abundant wildlife and adventure, delicious coffee and great people. But did you know that Boquete is also the perfect home base to explore the province of Chiriqui?

Once one of the richest and most densely populated neighborhoods in Central America, then a model of neglected badlands, people have different feelings about Casco Viejo nowadays. Some like it and some hate it, but one thing most can agree on is that Casco Viejo just feels different. You sense it the minute you turn off Avenida Balboa or enter valiantly through its bordering Chorilo slum. Few places in Panama have such recognizable iconography: a low-impact profile of colonial peaks and arches, narrow alleyways, and this overwhelming sense of potential caught preciously in an eternal stage of transition. 

The first time I ever visited Panama, I was amazed the way the city transformed so abruptly into the jungle. "Here you are in a downtown metropolis and then holy shit! You're in a fuckin' rainforest!" That was, at least, the way my friend Brent liked to describe it. To the more eloquent of us, the landscape transition was akin to switching movie sets. This would have been the most dramatic incident Brent remembered about Panama were it not for the monkey with diarrhea.

If scavenger hunts and hiking, two things I desperately, almost embarassingly despise, had sex and produced a child, it would be something that very closely resembled the leisurely pursuit of birding. Throw in some golf etiquette and the potential mind-numbing of an unsuccessful fishing outing and you have Panama birding. Experts will tell you otherwise, that Panama is teeming with rare breeds you won't find anywhere else in the world. But imagine shopping with your girlfriend, in search of a very extraordinary purse, just to find it in a window for several seconds before it flies away.

As a kid, jetskis were always a forbidden fruit. My brother and I categorized them along with video game systems and sugar coated cereals as things that we were never allowed to have and thus things we discriminated against religiously. During summers at the beach, I'd see pickup trucks with jetskis in tote and say to myself, gee that's just so...tacky. Owners of jetskis were the same people who owned chicken coops and guns. I figured if I wasn't permitted to enjoy things like jetskis, I'd sure as hell do my best to make those who could feel uncomfortable. "Heard one of those things took off a kids arm down in Love Ladies last summer," I remember saying to this kid on the beach. "Pureed his hand into a bloody pulp. And blood in the water attracts sharks." I was like ten at the time. 

Playa Venado, Bocas del Toro, Santa Catalina: Panama is home to a couple really good surfing hotspots. And having known this country for a number of years and never even attempted to ride a wave, I finally decided it unfair (or at least under-appreciative) not to at least try once and see what all the fuss was about. Plus, I liked the idea of hanging ten. It sounds rad.

As an avid planner, Friday morning of every week is the time I allocate to collect or search for various things I've realized I desperately need. Components for a homemade meat smoker, for instance, or several pieces from Speedo's new line of chlorine-resistant swimwear. I write these things down throughout the course of the week so I don't forget them, as they tend to come to me at any given time. If I happen to see a billboard, I might write down the make and model of the new shoes on display. If I see a man gunned down by drug dealers, I might remind myself to get a bulletproof vest.

The island of Taboga in Panama is one of lush natural landscape and rich cultural secrets. It's not far at all from Panama City which makes it the perfect weekend escape, potentially for Panama's jet-set crowd; a perfectly rustic alternative to the posh Pearl Islands. For me, it was the Rueben show.

We set sail from Balboa Yacht Club around six in the morning upon a boat called Casa Blanca. "She's 48 feet long" the captain boasted, at which point I stopped to question why vessels always have to be female considering they have no attributes that directly resemble a vagina.

To me, the Caribbean coast of Panama is a sexy mo-fo. From the hurly-burly real estate boom of Panama City, to the gold rushed Pacific beaches an hour East, it seems that many areas on the Atlantic side are experiencing this delightful feeling of disregard; one in which local families can eat their dinners by the sea, void of the jabbering chitchat and talk of investment that is the fast life.

Day 1 ----------

Left Chepe 7:10AM arrived Paso Canos 2:00PM. Beautiful day all day, maybe the most tranquil trip yet. Border crossing 25 minutes, so far every thing on schedule. Stopped in Volcan to chat with Orlando and his daughter Tehany, (Tahitian name) of Chiriqui Reality. The trip up to Volcan today was just supreme; I mean this area is absolutely beautiful. I can see my self doing something here.

Day 3 -------------

Punta Duarte in the province of Veraguas, this is the part of the Azuero peninsula--a peninsula that I have been yearning to visit.

The night before came and went quickly and before I knew it I was waking up to my chirping alarm at 4:00 AM. It was early but not the bad kind of early: you know, the tired, almost angry early for work or school? It was the good early: that happy darkness that reminded me of pre-dawn packing for Europe and exciting dewy cab rides to the airport. I popped out of bed and looked at my grinning reflection in the mirror—I was going to San Blas.

I boarded the plane, a wobbly, achy looking prop jet which appeared to have been discarded by some American airline some time back. The seams that held the plane together were rusting and the tires could have used new treads. The plane actually reminded me of the ones I used to take when I was really young, from LAX to John Wayne Airport in Orange County—but the key part being that I was really young, perhaps 15 years ago. This plane looked like it had been sleeping for the past century. It looked as unused as the shower cap in a hotel bathroom. Though when it was time, the take off was quick and relatively painless—as we flung off the runway like a slingshot and climbed several hundred feet before the airstrip even ended.

Day 1--Panama Travel Left Escazu 6:45 AM arrive Paso Canos 1:10PM This was a half hour longer trip than previous trips, reason; you guessed it, the roads in CR after last years rains were in worse condition.

Day 4: Panama Travel Drove to Playa Venado stopping at Pedasi to take a few pics of this quaint little town that looks like an artist's village where no artists live.

Before I begin this blog, I'd like to pay respect to the late Oral B Sonic toothbrush. Oral B ran steadily for 34 full days without its missing charger. Oral B is survived by his brother Oral B dental floss and estranged wife Crest White Strips. He died at this 8:52 this morning. May he rest in peace.

Oh sorry, Today I went on a belated introductory tour of Panama City...

This time I stepped in it. On Friday, February 17th, I worked a day shift with a tugboat captain, patrolling the waterways of one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The Panama Canal.