08.22 The second morning in Panamá City began with a shower and it is now continuing with the tennis from Wimbledon. It is the match Anderson versus Djokovic. Djokovic won the first set with 6-3 and leads the second with 5-3 and is serving. I slept with my head at the foot of the bed. This placed my head closer to the air conditioner.

09.47 The hotel breakfast in the dining room and some food we had in our room has been consumed. It is great with some strengthening food on the days when the regular breakfast is a little weak. Soon the day begins for sure.

10.10 We are going in a taxi to the Miraflores Locks. There we will take a look at the country's famous canal. A taxi is hard to order here. Instead you have to go out into the street to try to stop one of the many yellow taxis which move around the city.

10.23 The driver suddenly turned and stopped at the Mini Super Corozal. He's going in for some shopping. What the heck is a Mini Super? A little big, doesn't that make it an ordinary shop in terms of size?

One of the repainted U.S school buses in operation in Panama.

10.49 The taxi guy wanted to wait for us and take us back. We said thanks but no thanks because it would feel stressful. We also do not know how long we want to be here. He was not entirely happy with it and charged us five dollar more. We are now at the Miraflores Locks and are about to watch the Panamá Canal and its locks. Six years ago we caught glimpses of another canal, the Suez Canal.

10.59 We’ve moved up a steep flight of stairs, paid for the admission, been security checked, taken a look at the different floors and are now about to watch a movie about the Panamá Canal and its history. It's nice and cool in the big theatre. Moreover, it is wonderfully soft armchairs.

12.09 It was an interesting film which was followed by a visit to a museum here in the same building. Now we are having a sandwich and a Coke at a kiosk at the upper lookout platform. One seldom gets hungry in the tropical climate but we still need food. It feels powerful to be at one of the world's commercial arteries. However, it is not much boat traffic at the moment.

Miraflores Locks

Tourists waiting for the ships at Miraflores Locks.

Time for an information film, nice and cool in the cinema!

12.29 Finally! We have sighted a ship. The green and yellow tanker Sanko Innovator from Japanese Sanko Line is about to enter the first lock. There is a lot of people watching.

12.44 We finished off with another vessel. The to say the least, fully loaded black container vessel MSC Olga showed up before we decided to leave this place and move on to other adventures.

13.10 This was clearly impressive to see the boats slowly lowered through the lock. It costs at the most 389 000 dollars to take a ship through the canal. For $10, we are taking a taxi back to Panamá City. Here in Panamá the currency is called Balboa. The country has its own coins but uses U.S. dollar bills.

Sanko Innovator comes to visit, finally a ship!

Water level drops and the vessel is lowered to a new level.

MSC Olga is arriving at Miraflores Locks.

13.17 The taxi took us to the Parque Natural Metropolitano (http://www.parquemetropolitano.org) which will be the next stop on this eventful day. Now we're going out into nature. A nice girl greeted us and informed about the different paths; the lengths and how long they take to walk. The park consists of a piece of rainforest, which is right next to Panamá City. It is nevertheless, reported to include monkeys and lots of birds.

13.37 We chose the 1.1 km long trail Caobos. We are surrounded by sounds. There are sounds from various insects and birds. It is damp in the air and sweaty in the foreheads. We are having a bench break in a small hut. Along the way, we studied a small army of ants that quickly transported leaves for an unknown destination.

13.44 The sweat continues to gush out from our bodies. It is incredibly moist, almost no wind and the trail goes through a pretty rough terrain. We are pleased that we didn’t choose the longest trail.

Peter is deciding which trail to walk.

Christer is taking photos in the nature.

Sendero Caobos, one of the trails through the rainforest.

13.57 We have returned to civilization and are now on a path that runs next to a highway. Here there are cultivated forms of trees and shrubs in a small garden and we have just reached a quiet pond.

14.03 It is a gathering at the waterhole. There are turtles in and around the water and fast little lizards which run on water. Everything feels relaxed and comfortable. We rest here and hope that the sweat process will slow down. We begin to feel ready to return to the hotel for a little siesta.

14.27 After having looked at and trying to photograph some beautiful butterflies in different colours, we´ve returned to the main building and are enjoying a cool drink each.

14.39 We are now in a taxi on the way home. It was easy to get hold of it. We just stood by the side of the road and very soon a car had stopped. Our shirts are soaked with sweat.

You can see Panamá City through the trees.

One of the turtles we met at the dam.

We found lots of beautiful butterflies. Here is one of those.

15.00 We are back in room number 301. The reception didn’t have any key for us. We had to get it from the hotel’s hygiene technicians; the room had just been cleaned. Now it is time for showers and laundry.

16.18 We know that we should/must get out and arrange with something to of drink, visit internet and more. However, it is difficult to get going. This is pure room coma.

16.34 There has been a stop for orange juice in the hotel dining room. We are moving towards an internet cafe. The computers here at the hotel do not work that well and they look like they were taken from a science fiction television series in the 70s. Speaking of TV, the TV displayed a U-17 match between Burkina Faso and Germany. The result as of now is 0-3.

17.42 Our mission was successful. It went well to surf the net and to get hold of sodas. Now we are back in the room for a while.

19.06 The laziness made us lazier. It's time to go out again.

19.33 Everything is almost like yesterday, it was the same restaurant, Cafe Boulevard Balboa, it´s football on TV and I have ordered meat and fries. Christer has broke the trend and ordered pasta. We are also at another table than yesterday.

20.50 The culinary dinner was ended with a coffee down in the hotel dining room. We are about to pack our backpacks. Could it just be cooler in the room please!

Hotel Marparaiso, Panamá City.

Friday 24th of June

08.57 Happy Midsummer! Today we are going on through Central America and Panamá. An open window made the room cooler or at least a little less hot tonight. It is almost time for breakfast.

10.15 Christer looked out one last time from our hotel window and said, the chicken car is here! We are about to leave room 301 for the last time. We will soon make a taxi ride to the bus terminal Albrook, where we will find a bus going west.

10.47 It was easy to find a taxi and it was cheap to go out to the bus station. Our young driver talked constantly with us and praised the country's president, businessman Ricardo Martinelli. According to our taxi driver the president is not corrupt, he has improved the life for the country's pensioners, and has promised a subway in Panamá City and that the old smoke producing school buses in the city will be replaced with modern buses. Now I'm going out on a mission. I will try to purchase a working adapter. It will be bought either here at the Albrook Terminal or at the mall right across the street.

11.07 The mission was successfully completed. Now Christer is on a mission as well. He will buy bus tickets. The mall I went to, Albrook Mall, is larger than gigantic.

11.13 A man cries out, El Siglo! He is waving a newspaper that it says El Siglo on. We are on board bus 71. Our destination today is Penonomé.

12.23 The bus travels forward and downward along a slope. All around us are beautiful green mountains and hills. Now we are going upwards again. Music is being played and a common word in the texts is corazón, heart. Today's bus companies are Utrapep.

Peter in our room at Hotel Dos Continentes.

The less glamorous view from our balcony.

13.36 All of a sudden we arrived to Penonomé and we did not realize it and got off the bus in the wrong place. However, it was not a disaster it was only about one hundred meters extra walk. We are now in Hotel Dos Continentes (http://www.hoteldoscontinentes.net) and room 107. We were checked in by a man of Asian origin and we are now in a large spacious room with balcony. It feels cooler in this room compared to the former. The questions now are; does the new adapter work, is there a outlet in room, is the breakfast included and how we will go on from here tomorrow?

14.50 The adapter works, there are outlets and breakfast can be purchased at the restaurant next door. Now we are in a small park by the city church. I have for the second city in a row forgotten to take the copied papers about the town. Luckily, the town is small. We can find our way around anyway.

15.23 We went back to the hotel Dos Continentes and its restaurant. Here the tastiest fried chicken in Panama is supposed to be served and we have ordered it with accessory chips. Outside the cars are passing by along the Pan American Highway, yet another thing that we only have seen in books before.

Iglesia de Penonomé

Penonomé

16.56 There was a lot of food and tasty food at a cheap price. After that, we have been away and shopped at the Super Centro Coclé. The tropical rain is falling down but it's Midsummer Eve after all.

18.50 We are taking it slow and are zapping on the TV here in our room. We have been offered football, news of flooding in a future destination and Hispanic Simpsons. Sometimes it feels right to do little. This is perhaps what is called the holiday.

21.12 It's time for dinner. We crossed the road, the Pan American Highway, and into the fast-food restaurant, Pio Pio. There is a small diner with misted windows. It offers the various types of fast food chicken dishes. We were hoping for burgers, but it will be chicken all the way today.

Peter is ordering fried chicken at Pio Pio.

22.59 We run the air conditioner to make it cool in the room. We’ve set the exhaust upwards to avoid it getting to cold. I’ve taped it with electrical tape so it will remain in the upward position. It's time to say good night. There is an old Swedish tradition to put a bouquet of seven kinds of flowers under the pillow. If you do this, you will dream about the person you shall marry. Now we have not got together a bunch there will probably be no dreams about the future ladies.

Saturday 25th of June

08.59 It was tough to start writing today. Music is heard from outside. It's almost time to go on. It's been a cool night. Christer has, despite yesterday's preparations, been freezing in his bed next to the air conditioner.

09.29 We checked out from our hotel and asked about where we should the bus going west. We were directed to the Universal restaurant a short distance away. I'm as of now sitting in a bus shelter and Christer stands a short distance away. We are waiting for the bus to David. A salesman at the restaurant told us to get here.

09.54 We are in the same place and in the same mission. Where is the bus?

Christer is waiting for the bus to David.

10.13 The wait is over. The gasket is patched in the trunk. Now we are waiting for the arrival. The ride is bumpy. We travel with the bus company Gran Darien.

11.16 The bumping and travel continues. We have paid for the ride. The trip costs $ 11.30 per person. The landscape is what we have seen before, green and hilly. Now we stop in Veraguas. Is it time for a snack?

11.32 It was a snack stop at Restaurante Los Tucanes. I am, as the slave to caffeine I am, having a cardboard cup with the brown-black liquid. Veraguas is the province and Santiago is the name of the town where we stopped.

Peter is loading with caffeine.

13.07 Our itinerary is surrounded by leave covered trees. The sky is cloud covered and the traveling keeps running smoothly. A light rain falls from the skies. A car with cow in a cage on the truck just passed. We have stopped at a police checkpoint since we just crossed a provincial border. A gentleman wants to take a look at our passports. The police in Panamá have a badge that says that they serve God and Country. Would it work in Sweden?

13.32 We just left San Felix and are travelling further west towards David.

14.34 The bus stopped seemingly suddenly amid a few houses and a member of the bus crew said something to me. I could have sworn that he said Peter. We had arrived at David. The bus host asked if we were to stop here or continue towards the border to Costa Rica. We explained that we are supposed to get off here in David. The gasket was removed and we were caught by a grumpy taxi driver and now we are going in a taxi to the bus terminal in this city. Wouldn´t it have been easier to get the bus straight to the bus station?

14.42 Things sure are going quickly here! We got out of the taxi and started to move towards the bus terminal. We had barely begun to walk before a yellow "school bus" slowed down and wanted us to get on board. We jumped into the crowded bus and actually managed to find seats. We will travel on to the north for about an hour. A disadvantage with the old American school buses is the poor legroom. They are built for children and there are not any buses that adjusted the seats.

16.07 We went to higher altitudes and towards the rainy weather. The bus stopped in the center and we walked briskly to Hostal Refugio del Rio (http://www.refugiodelrio.com). The place looked empty. At last a small girl, about 3-4 years old, appeared. She looked at us and shouted "Mama, señores!". Then she took out a notepad and a calculator. She "wrote" and calculated. Soon she called for her mother again and the mother came. She checked us in for two nights. Now we are living in the room Colibri, each with a leased towel. No bouquet yesterday but Boquete today. That is the name of the town. The room is lovely.

Refugio del Río, Boquete.

Our lovely cool room.

Our patio by the river at Refugio del Rio.

17.08 Children are crying, birds make sounds and the café Central Park has a bunch of American guests. We have entered Boquete town and are now in the central area where there is a nice park. In front is the post office and Palacio Municipal José Domingo Candaneo G, in short, the town hall. Here and there one can see native american women in beautiful blue dresses. Boquete is at an altitude of about 1100 meters, has a cool climate and is famous for its delicious coffee. It has also become a popular destination for American and European retirees who have chosen to move here.

17.30 We saw more of our hometown before we sat us down at Restaurante-Bar Barú. The place takes its name from a volcano in this region. It is tempting to take a luxurious New York Steak for a good price. However, it is cooler here in the slightly higher altitude and hunger is ever so present and then you do not really enjoy delicious food. We’ve ordered a burger and a beer each. A large dog was here and visited us briefly.

18.36 It was tasty, hearty and real hamburgers; to them we had cheese, red onion, lettuce and tomato. Beside them papas fritas (French fries). Now we have walked on and are having a coffee with banana-/coconut cake at the Duran Coffee Store, which is a really cozy place. Here you can buy and drink delicious coffee.

Christer by the stream Quebrada Grande.

Beautiful flowers in Boquete.

Boquete town center.

Peter (and the dog?) waiting for burgers at the restaurant Barú.

19.40 We have been to the supermarket Romero for some shopping. The shop's slogan is "donde tú eres primero". We bought breakfast for tomorrow and beer and something to chew on for the evening. Now we are home in the Colibri-room and it´s laundry day. Outdoors the crickets play in full swing.

21.12 We are heading out to the patio. It's time for an evening beer out in the open.

21.58 It was some tasty beer but not quite as good candy. When we went out a Malaysian guy sat at the hostel´s only public computer. He still sits there and does not seem to feel any stress or panic.

23.11 The Malaysian left and was replaced by a young lady instead. Internet will have to wait until tomorrow, if it isn't occupied then as well..

Sunday 26th of June

08.26 It is Sunday and we have a day in Boquete ahead of us. Sounds are coming from outside. The river/creek Quebrada Grande gush and a rooster is crowing. I have just left the shower. Now I will dry before I either read further in "A good hanging” by Ian Rankin or see if our computer is available.

08.59 The computer was available. Now I have updated the world of my news and myself about the world. Christopher Shale, a British politician and friend of Prime Minister Cameron has been found dead and the Swedish car manufacturer SAAB has financial problems.

10.11 We have just been eating the breakfast we bought yesterday. We had juice, bread and yoghurt and for me coffee. This was eaten calmly at a table outside in the living room. Now let's think about today's tasks.

A street along the beautiful "villas" in western Boquete.

It's Sunday and people are drawn to the church.

11.15 We went out under an umbrella each. Now we are close to the town´s church. Outside it has a lot of people gathered and a procession can be seen, bells are ringing and the word of Santa Maria can be heard. We heard the song "Owner of a Lonely Heart" from a passing car. It is the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi which is being celebrated here today.

11.42 We put down the umbrellas in our backpacks and went "downtown" from the church. That's when the rain returned and we had to seek shelter under a roof. Suddenly there was a crash. Behind me a man had fallen into the gutter and he could not get up. He asked me for help and he got it. The three of us chatted, he asked where we came from and he swore that he had some sort of problem with his leg and that was why he had fallen. It is hard to say if it was the truth or if he was a bit drunk. We are now, minus the falling lord, once more in Duran Coffee Store. Outside are a few small horses. Is it falabella horses this year as well?

The bus to David is waiting for passengers.

We coffee drinkers were photographed.

12.02 While we drank coffee, a young man came forward and offered to take a picture of us. The Swedish suspicion towards strangers is heavily rooted and we wondered what he was looking for. The truth was that he just wanted to be nice. The photo was taken and we thanked him so much. Usually others ask us or we ask them to take pictures. This was something new.

13.11 There has been little walk in the town's outskirts after the coffee. We crossed the bridge over the Caldera River and then we went to the town's southern parts. There we saw some calves and a cozy everyday life. We are hungry and have just found the lunch restaurant Lourdes. There is no table service. Instead, we got the food from a canteen and we had rice and meat for just under US$4.

13.50 Lunch and the town walk ended. I was going to buy me something sweet at the gas station Delta but it was closed. Now we are back in our room again.

15.25 We're sitting at the patio reading in the books we brought with us; books by Ian Rankin and Jo Nesbø. We will take a short afternoon break and there is s soothing breeze. Music can be heard from down town.

We said hello to the locals.

Christer on Sunday stroll.

Peter takes a break at a bridge.

Lunch at Restaurante Lourdes.

15.53 Calm days are good but they should not be too calm for when we become lethargic. Now we're going out for a walk again.

17.36 We took a little walk among the houses in the neighborhood before we returned home and sat down in some chairs on the patio. After a while we were craving coffee and made some in the kitchen. Now we are inside the room again. TV is turned on, and on the CNN story on combat in Afghanistan.

18.42 Rockets rise into the sky and explode in a small bang and a flash of light. We are back at the restaurant Barú to have dinner. The rockets are probably linked to the celebration of Corpus Christi. We just heard police sirens and with the blue lights flashing a little sight-seeing train appeared.

19.41 It was really good dinner. We ordered some great meat, among it New York Steak. Now, we will buy some essential goods for tonight, for tomorrow's breakfast and bus travel. Christer is the first go in while I guard our little backpacks. In some stores it is usually required to hand them in so we might as well go in one at a time.

20.12 The shopping in the supermarket Mandarin went well for both of us. The range was a little weak, but now we have what we need. Now we will put up a strategy for tomorrow. We will then move on from here.

21.35 Tomorrow is planned as much as possible. We have sat in chairs at the patio under the stars and heard crickets/cicadas play. There is no tropical heat here at 1085 meters altitude. On the contrary, it is quite chilly late at night. Once you get used to the tropical heat. Suddenly it feels cold when it goes down to fifteen degrees above zero.

This lizard showed up at our patio.