Farewell Bocas del Toro. Hello Panama City!
As we described in our last post, one of the reasons we were motivated to finish our time in Bocas del Toro province on Isla Colon was future travel logistics. It was MUCH easier to arrange stress-free transportation back to Panama City than if we stayed at our OjoBIO Airbnb on the mainland.
Weird but true.
This was important because we were also scheduled to begin our first Workaway volunteer experience when we arrived in Panama City.
We were going to stay with a European couple who were living in an apartment long term for their jobs. Experienced Workawayers themselves, they give back by opening up their place for other travelers to stay and share their experiences. And we help out in whatever way is mutually agreeable.
It was also time to finally pick up my new 10-year passport at the US Embassy in Panama City. We still had a few weeks left before the deadline for pickup, but frankly, we just wanted to get it in hand at this point.
So how did everything go down?
Let’s find out.
Getting Back to Panama City
As mentioned in our last post, we purchased a package through a travel agency in Bocas Town on Isla Colon to get us back to Panama City.
I found out about this sort of package online, although exact details were lacking. But after speaking with the local travel agents, it was clear that it was a sweet deal for any traveler needing to get back to Panama City with a minimum of stress, uncertainty, and miscommunications.
For $40 USD per person, the package included:
- Water taxi transport from Bocas Town to the mainland port town of Almirante
- Taxi transportation from the Almirante water taxi dock to the Almirante-Panama City bus station
- Direct luxury bus transportation from Almirante to the Albrook Bus Terminal in Panama City
In total, I calculated that the trip would take around 12 hours, depending on traffic and how long we stayed at rest stops.
It was going to be a long day!
We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning and arrived at the Bocas Town water taxi dock.
By 7 am our water taxi arrived and we boarded. They checked our tickets, stowed our luggage, and we were off to Almirante!
The trip to the water taxi dock in Almirante took about 30 minutes, and it went very smoothly.
When we arrived, taxi drivers expecting our arrival called out to passengers by name, loaded our luggage, and then stuffed everyone into their taxis.
They then drove the 2 km up the street to the Almirante-Panama City bus station, which specifically handles buses going directly back to Panama City.
The bus attendants checked our tickets, stowed our luggage in the hold, and we departed at 8 am sharp!
We were amazed at how quickly and efficiently passengers were hustled from Bocas Town to the Panama City bus. They clearly do this all the time!
The 10-hour bus ride to Panama City was completely uneventful and the views were lovely.
Here is the route we took:
The bus was super comfortable (with AC and reclining seats), so it was easy to relax. We made 3 rest stops along the way, with one of those being for lunch.
So by the time we pulled into Albrook Bus Terminal at 6 pm, we were actually in good spirits and ready to meet our Workaway hosts!
And after a quick Uber ride, we were soon at their apartment in the San Francisco neighborhood of Panama City.
Our Workaway
Prior to our arrival, we scheduled a 4-night stay with our European Workaway hosts, Adam (from Poland) and Niki (from Slovakia).
They are a lovely couple in their 30s, who are living in Panama City for a couple of years because one of their employers has business ties here.
Adam and Niki are VERY experienced long-term travelers and Workaway participants, although they have had to slow down for now.
And they admit that their Workaway volunteer expectations of guests are a little weird. They don’t really expect anything!
A typical Workaway host would expect guests to help out for 10 – 20 hours each week in exchange for lodging and (sometimes) food. They simply like to give back to the travel community by providing travelers with a bedroom, sharing stories with their guests, and swapping travel/Workaway tips.
Adam and Niki really leave it up to the guests to decide what they do for them, although there are no expectations.
In our case, we decided to be in charge of dinner duties, with Rhonda cooking and me cleaning. Rhonda cooked a variety of meals, including chicken coconut curry, Tigrillo (an Ecuadorian plantain dish), and Cincinnati-style chili!
During the day, Adam and Niki had their jobs to do. So Rhonda and I sought out good cafes and places for lunch, did errands, and explored the area near the San Francisco neighborhood a bit.
We also picked up my new passport during our stay!
When evening came, we all got together to eat, talk about our travel experiences, and what we all do to make ends meet when we are all traveling long-term.
It was really nice to spend time with a couple that has done exactly what we are doing! We got lots of great tips, and we hope to hang out with them again while we are staying at our own Airbnb in Panama City.
Thank you Adam & Niki!
And if you are interested in pursuing Workaway opportunities for yourselves, sign up for an account through our invitation link. It helps support our travels at no cost to you!
My New Passport
Readers may remember my passport loss fiasco when we were leaving Ecuador back in April, as well as my subsequent scrambling to apply for a 10-year replacement through the US Embassy in Panama City.
And although that process went off without a hitch, I still needed to physically visit the US Embassy in Panama City to pick it up when it was ready!
We were in Pedasi, Panama when I was notified that my passport was ready to be picked up, so we weren’t exactly in a position to just swing by and pick it up.
The notification email I received explicitly stated that I had a 90-day window to pick up my passport at the embassy, starting from the date the email was sent.
So since that window would more than cover our travels in Boquete and Bocas del Toro province, we decided to simply wait until we returned to Panama City according to our normal travel schedule.
But picking up my passport wasn’t quite as simple as just showing up at the embassy, although that is effectively what we did.
There were specific rules we needed to follow. Namely:
- Passports could only be picked up at the embassy on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays at 2 pm.
- I needed a valid USA ID to pick up my passport.
That’s it.
So the first Monday after we returned to Panama City we called an Uber to take us to the embassy at 1:30 pm.
I brought my barely used Florida driver’s license for ID.
And no, we didn’t take photos of this experience, although it would have been interesting for you all to see. The armed guards get twitchy when people take photos on the campus, and all computing-based electronics had to be surrendered to security upon entry anyway.
We waited in line at the perimeter security gate with other US citizens picking up their passports, and at 2 pm sharp there was a cattle call for all of us to enter the US Embassy campus.
We walked across the campus until we reached the building that housed the American Citizens Service office. We then passed through security (similar to what you see in airports), entered the office area, took a number, and waited until our number was called.
We waited about 15 minutes until it was our turn and, after showing the staff member my ID, I was given my shiny new 10-year passport!
And it was the leveled-up passport book with FIFTY pages for visa stamps instead of the usual thirty-five!
The US government must have felt sorry for me.
As has been the case each time we need a US Embassy overseas, the staff treated us well and handled all of our needs with speed and efficiency. We really appreciated it!
All of the hoops I had to jump through to fix my passport problem may seem excessive to some, but it really wasn’t that bad all things considered.
I’m just glad we had the flexibility of time to deal with the problem!
[For those who want to read the entire series of posts about my passport SNAFU, CLICK HERE.]
What’s Next?
As I am writing this, we have already settled into our own Airbnb in a Panama City hi-rise, which we will call home for the next 28 nights. We’ll introduce it to you very soon!
It will be fun to explore Panama City without the passport pressures we had last time.
And it feels completely bizarre that July 31 marks the end of our 1-Year travel plan!
We’ve seen and done so much, and it was surprisingly affordable. Wait until you see our final budget numbers.
Until next time…
Thanks for reading!
Leave a comment below and subscribe to get email notifications whenever we post!
Follow Two Travel Turtles on Facebook and Twitter!
2 thoughts on “Farewell Bocas del Toro. Hello Panama City!”
Yay passport!
Though despite its limitations, I must say that I like that purple cover. Kinda makes it feel like a festive emergency. Glad you have replacement in hand.
I was the most fabulous citizen in the passport line, to be sure! 😉