It's official! I'm going to Panamá! Suggestions?
It is finally official...I'm going to Panamá for a week in February! The tickets have been purchased and I am overjoyed! I'll be flying into Panamá City and spending the nights in Playa Blanca, but I hope to see as much of the country as I can during my visit. Now for my questions:
Is there anyone here on the forum who lives in Panamá? Is there anyone here who has visited Panamá? Do you have any suggestions for must-sees? I will, of course, be visiting the Canal, but I'm curious about hidden treasures.
I'll have a native panameño with me during the week, and I'll be taking his suggestions, but I just wanted to get some feedback from all of you lovelies here on SpanishDict.
Thanks! I can't wait to practice my Spanish!
6 Answers
Maple, you are going to have a wonderful time there. My wife and I were there a few years ago in Farallon at the Royal Decameron, right next door to the Playa Blanca. El Valle is one of the closest "must see" attractions and if you're into surfing check out the beaches just 20 minutes up the road from your hotel, there are surf camps there. The only thing I didn't like about Playa Blanca (The name of the area, not the resort) is it's isolation from the rest of the country. It is over an hour to anything other than what I've already mentioned. Pennenome is a nice town to shop around for local stuff (Half an hour by public transportation) But the real attractions of course are Panama City and the canal zone, and you have to visit the Embera people. They are one of the indigenous tribes on the Chargra River and that is about 1 1/2hours from Playa. Get a temporary tattoo while you're there. We are avid scuba divers and if you are also I will only say don't plan on doing any there. It was as bad as diving here in New England as far as visibility and really the worst warm water dive we have ever been on in over 20 years of diving. If you want to dive go North to the Caribbean coast. Feel free to PM me. I envy you!
Very cool! I visited there many, many years ago. One thing I enjoyed was taking the train from Panama City to Colon on the opposite coast and back again. It's not very far, so it doesn't take all that long. Eat empanadas. Look for molas made by the Cuna Indians. They're layers of cloth with the different patterns cut out and sewn together. They use them to make their traditional clothing, and sell them to tourists as mommentos.
Hola querida amiga... mira videos con gente de Panamá charlando, hay que entrenarse un poco para su dialecto y así no te sea tan difícil entenderlo.
Some of the typical features of the Caribbean Spanish are typical of Andalusia (south of Spain): instead of pronouncing the s at the end of a syllable, it is aspirated ("doh" instead of "dos") using the glottis, unlike in English. Sometimes the CH is pronounced almost like the "sh" in the English word "ship", so instead of "cacho", you'll hear "casho". Also, there is a certain tendency -like in Cuba- to replace some tap R sounds with L at the end of a syllable ("amol" instead of "amor"), but apparently it is not regarded as standard.
Major wow, maple, that sounds awesome, another fluent speaker!! jeje
At this moment we have three people abroad: Marianne is in Guatemala, Echoline in Costa Rica and you will be in Panamá, that sounds swell!
That is great, Maple! It will be a wonderful time of year for your visit. What an opportunity!
