Our Panama-Columbia 2015 trip: Begin Grand Circle Travel trip to Panama City on January 2, 2015

We flew on a direct flight from LAX to Panama City to join 21 other travelers to a city with an almost unending flock of high rise buildings. What a surprise. Most people associate Panama with the Canal and not the grand and vibrant City. Note, we are still on our trip in Columbia and won't be back in LA until January 18, 2015 when I will begin to add my pictures and videos. This process will take a month or two before we leave on our next trip to southern Spain in late April.

From: Program Director Yesenia Yorlet Yepez Mejia [mailto:angelicalgirl12@hotmail.com]

Subject: After the Panama Trip

My dear fellow travelers,

I hope you have a good and safe trip back home and towards Cartagena. It was a great pleasure to get to know each one of you and to show you the country that I am proud of Panama.

As a group of very well season travelers you all are, you know things not always work 100%, but you know something that is the same way in life. Despite of our incoveniences on the Discovery, I think overall we had great experiences in Panama.

I did my best to show you about our way of living, traditions, music, economy, politics, and the most important the real people of Panama. The day by day Panamanians.

We met so many people Panama and did so many different things. We strolled into San Felipe de Neri Market and talk to the local people selling their products, we visited Colonial Town and met Sonia that felt in love with Tuna. We had the opportunity to meet the Guna indian lady making her mola.

We traveled to the Azuero Peninsula and had so many experiences such as meeting Hector at the Marshlands, the elders in the Chitre Plaza, the two Police men as we stroll in Chitre, Raul and the Carnival customs, Belkis and William the Polleras makers, Pancho and the children dancers, Milyn and the Pottery makers, the tasty bread of La Arena. To some of you the Rum Tour with Rodolfo, Eduardo Cano the organizer of the Pollera Congress and Dario the mask maker.

On the way to Summit we met Reynaldo and we had the discovery of the Hat making. Of course we had to remember our ride in the Red Devils Bus it was so much fun. And later the plantain cooking experience “patacones” at Edita’s house.

This was a very active group, we had our nature walks at Summit Radisson Hotel, at the Spirit of the Forest Trail and then our visit to the very interesting Harpy Eagle Center.

The Grand Circle Foundation at the Embera Village to learn their real deal, they shared with us about their lifes and the home hosted visit.

We visited the new Expansion Project of the Panama Canal and we had a ride on the first Metro of Panama.

We had the unexpected, you were extremely flexible and open for all the changes we did on the trip, there was such a great camaraderie and I am quite sure this is the begging for new friendships. And I want you to know something you were pretty lucky with the weather despite that the temperature was high we did not feel it because of the trade winds.

Attached our group picture while we stop at Playa Gorgona along the Pacific Side.

Warm regards from the tropics,

JJ, Your Program Director

The following are pictures of our group taken throughout the trip followed by pictures and videos of the cities and groups that we visited (double click to enlarge image):