Popa Paradise Beach Resort

Panama as a destination brings interesting folks from around the world.  In the last six months we’ve played host to guests from Australia, UK, Canada, US, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy, Israel, Columbia, Ecuador, Chile and Costa Rica.

We meet such interesting people, and stay in touch with many.  This picture was taken by Jaron while visiting Popa over the holidays.  Thanks Jaron for sharing this lovely image!

Like every country, Panama has some great New Years traditions.

One favorite is the burning of effigies.  Locals create elaborate life sized dolls or ‘muñecas’, that look much like a scarecrow.  During the New Year’s Eve festivities, these dolls are burned in celebration of the passing year.  Often the dolls resemble famous people or characters.

This photo was taken by Chef Emily, who celebrated the stroke of midnight with employees on Isla Tigre, our neighboring village.  The muñeca was created by Onilda, our breakfast cook and bread baker.

One of the amazing sights around the waters of Bocas del Toro is the local transportation.  Forget freeways and cars, think sailboats, motorboats and dug-out canoes.

Still commonly used by locals, the dug-out canoes are called cayucos.  Take a hike into the jungle, find your favorite tree, cut it down and start carving.  It comes in handy to have a few friends help bring the boat out to sea.

We are well into the Panamanian holiday season.  Today is Mother’s day in Panama, a national holiday that is widely celebrated.  The month of November is loaded with Patriotic holidays including independence from Spain and from Columbia.  As we roll into the new year, our busy season takes off.  We look forward to welcoming many guests to our island holiday paradise.

Big thanks to The Visitor/ El Visitante weekly newspaper, who wrote a feature article on Popa Paradise last week. There was a front page photo featuring our swim-up bar, and some happy guests. Inside were several more great pictures and the following article. (more…)