Coup de coeur pour le Panama

I enjoyed this journey in Panama: there are very interesting places: first of all the Panama Canal (about 14.000 ships cross this canal every year): the different locks and the locomotive pulling the ships. Then the skyscrapers: since 1970 the center of Panama City has changed: Edwin Brown is an architect who has participated in the creation of 83 towers. In the same town Eric Ameth Reluz , a chocolatier, believes in the Panaman cocoa and in the future of the Panaman chocolate.

In the Bocas del Toro archipelago Mariana promotes the visit of the mangrove using paddle boards and Esteban , a fisherman is fighting against the red lionfish, a predator which attacks the lobsters, he captures them and give them to Laura Kays , a restaurant owner and Liseth Castillo, the cook prepares the meat of the red lionfish as ceviche. Sebastian Cardona, a jeweler uses.the fins of red lionfish for making jewels.

Sophie begins her journey in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro: Island of Bastimentos , the dugout tour in the mangrove and the visit of the bat-cave of Baya Honda, then Island of Urraco with Francine Roy who manages a monkey rescue center and some bungalows: Sophie can see capuchin monkeys, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys and tamarins. Later she meets Ben Harris and they go to the island of Coiba: snorkeling among the sea turtles. After the sea Sophie travels to Boquete: coffee plantations; Sophie sees the harvest and the treatment of the coffee beans and tastes the famous Geisha coffee. On the next day she climbs with Rolando Coss the Barú Volcano (unfortunately the sky was full of clouds this day).

At Panama City Sophie meets Karin Sempf who introduce young boys and girls to marine biology and wildlife protection.

I enjoyed the nice encounters of Sophie: Rolando Coss, the Lamastus family, Ben Harris, Karin Kempf, Sophie Garcia, Francine Roy and Joseph Archbold the squid specialist and I appreciate the kindness of these Panaman men and women.