Weekend trip to Panama
Greetings everyone!
It has been awhile since I have been able to post! Classes over here in Costa Rica have really picked up and the work load has been time consuming, but it is all worth it with this beautiful view outside of my classroom windows!
About a week ago, my classmates and I, who are also in the same program as I (ISA-Heredia) traveled to Panama for four days. We left on an early Saturday morning, and returned late Tuesday evening. Many people don't know this, but when travel to Costa Rica from another country, you enter as a tourist. You then receive a 90 day visa to stay in Costa Rica. However, since this program is longer then 90 days, my classmates and I had to travel to another country for at least 72 hours in order to enter back into Costa Rica, and properly renew/get another 90 day visa. This was one of the main purposes of our trip to Panama, which is the neighboring country to Costa Rica.
We took a bus to the border between Costa Rica and Panama, which in total, with stops and all, took about six hours. It wasn't too bad of a bus ride. I was excited to get off the bus when we got to the border/immigration control area. Crossing the border into Panama from Costa Rica was fast and smooth. We received a stamp on our passport exiting Costa Rica, and then another one entering into Panama.
After this my group and I took a water taxi to a group of islands called "Bocas del Toro", which is on the Caribbean side. We stayed in a hotel on the main island, called "Isla Colon". The first night in Panama we just went out to eat. Since the island is filled with lots of tourists, the currency was in US dollars. It was definitely a lot less expensive then eating out in the streets of Heredia, Costa Rica. The following day we all went on a group excursion that included several stops! Some of the things we did, and areas we stopped at included: Starfish Beach, dolphin sightseeing, and sloth watching. We even got to snorkel, and were able to see fish and the coral reefs underwater! Since it's the Caribbean Sea, everything looked exactly how it's portrayed on pictures, including the water, that was a super clear blue!
That Monday, the day before we left, was one of my classmate's birthday, so we all went out to celebrate! Since we were on a chain of islands you had to take water taxis to any place you wanted to see. We made a trip to a beach, and just hung out there throughout the day. At night, we went to dinner, and got to see a fire show, which even included a man swallowing fire. It was incredible! The last day of our trip in Panama consisted of us waking up early on Tuesday and packing. Then we had to take the bus back to the border of Panama and Costa Rica. It was the same process as coming into Panama. We received a stamp in our passport showing our exit from Panama, and then another stamp entering Costa Rica once again. With this new stamp shown, we renewed our 90 day visa, and now we can finish out our ISA program here in Heredia. Overall, Panama is a beautiful country and the one difference I noticed is that it is a lot hotter then Heredia, Costa Rica. Also, the groceries/personal items are a lot less expensive. I would definitely recommend traveling there if you're able to!
It has been awhile since I have been able to post! Classes over here in Costa Rica have really picked up and the work load has been time consuming, but it is all worth it with this beautiful view outside of my classroom windows!
About a week ago, my classmates and I, who are also in the same program as I (ISA-Heredia) traveled to Panama for four days. We left on an early Saturday morning, and returned late Tuesday evening. Many people don't know this, but when travel to Costa Rica from another country, you enter as a tourist. You then receive a 90 day visa to stay in Costa Rica. However, since this program is longer then 90 days, my classmates and I had to travel to another country for at least 72 hours in order to enter back into Costa Rica, and properly renew/get another 90 day visa. This was one of the main purposes of our trip to Panama, which is the neighboring country to Costa Rica.
We took a bus to the border between Costa Rica and Panama, which in total, with stops and all, took about six hours. It wasn't too bad of a bus ride. I was excited to get off the bus when we got to the border/immigration control area. Crossing the border into Panama from Costa Rica was fast and smooth. We received a stamp on our passport exiting Costa Rica, and then another one entering into Panama.
After this my group and I took a water taxi to a group of islands called "Bocas del Toro", which is on the Caribbean side. We stayed in a hotel on the main island, called "Isla Colon". The first night in Panama we just went out to eat. Since the island is filled with lots of tourists, the currency was in US dollars. It was definitely a lot less expensive then eating out in the streets of Heredia, Costa Rica. The following day we all went on a group excursion that included several stops! Some of the things we did, and areas we stopped at included: Starfish Beach, dolphin sightseeing, and sloth watching. We even got to snorkel, and were able to see fish and the coral reefs underwater! Since it's the Caribbean Sea, everything looked exactly how it's portrayed on pictures, including the water, that was a super clear blue!
That Monday, the day before we left, was one of my classmate's birthday, so we all went out to celebrate! Since we were on a chain of islands you had to take water taxis to any place you wanted to see. We made a trip to a beach, and just hung out there throughout the day. At night, we went to dinner, and got to see a fire show, which even included a man swallowing fire. It was incredible! The last day of our trip in Panama consisted of us waking up early on Tuesday and packing. Then we had to take the bus back to the border of Panama and Costa Rica. It was the same process as coming into Panama. We received a stamp in our passport showing our exit from Panama, and then another stamp entering Costa Rica once again. With this new stamp shown, we renewed our 90 day visa, and now we can finish out our ISA program here in Heredia. Overall, Panama is a beautiful country and the one difference I noticed is that it is a lot hotter then Heredia, Costa Rica. Also, the groceries/personal items are a lot less expensive. I would definitely recommend traveling there if you're able to!
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