Posts tagged Autonomous Region
Travel in Panama
Oct 12th
Travel in Panama itself is a wonderful experience due to its dense forests, tropical landscape and wonderful sandy beaches. Although, it is mostly known for its canal, the natural attractions of the country provide an irresistible enticement to far-sighted travelers. It offers some of the finest hiking, snorkeling and birding in the Americas.
Travel includes astounding rich wildlife and a stunning coastline of palm-fringed beaches. Panama has an unbelievable diversity of tropical birds. Tourists also travel to pay a visit to the Kuna’s, the vibrant and proud indigenous people of Panama.
The best period of travel in Panama, completely depends on the tourist plans. Travelers intending to spend most of their time alongside the Pacific Ocean need to visit during the months of December or January, when there is pleasant weather and little rain. People, who wish to travel in Panama for hiking purposes, can comfortably visit during these months. However, with airfares and hotel prices on the higher side during the dry season from the mid-December to mid-April, travelers can plan their tour well ahead of schedule.
While embarking on travel in Panama, it needs to be ensured that since the mountains of Panama could get extremely cold during the night, it is better to bring warm clothing.
Exciting Facts about Travel in Panama:
Panama has plenty of colorful festivals to offer the tourists planning to travel in Panama. These festivals draw huge crowds. Travelers on a party mood can pay a visit to the Las Tablas or Panama City during Carnival. Reservations for hotels at the time of Carnival are a must and need to be done well in advance.
Below mentioned are the famous places of travel in Panama:-
San Blás Archipelago: Situated near the edge of Columbian border, this archipelago houses the indigenous Kuna people. It is an autonomous region run by these tribes.
Panama City: This vibrant city has plenty to offer to travelers in terms of music, dancing, costumes and unrestrained merriment. Prominent events in this city involve re-enactment of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Religious processions are held throughout the city on Good Friday.
Colon: This urban jungle is a home to modern engineering marvels, pristine beaches, colonial splendors and lowland rainforests.
Panama Canal: Often known as the ninth world wonder, The Canal extends to the Atlantic Ocean from the Pacific Ocean.
On the whole, travel in Panama involves lot of merriment, fun and tropical enjoyment.
Bluefields and Bluefields Bay – Nicaragua
Feb 28th
Named after the Dutch pirate Henry Bluefeldt who hid out here in the early 1600s, Bluefields is located at the mouth of Rio Escondido where it joins the murky Bluefields Bay on Nicaragua’s eastern shore.
Bluefields is the capital of the South Atlantic Coast Autonomous Region and Zelaya dept; its population is about 42,000 people. Bluefields is the ideal point of departure to visit the Monkey point, El Rama, Corn Islands and many other interesting parks and nature reserves, an ideal destination for the nature lover.
The area around Bluefields was never occupied nor explored by the Spanish conquerors due to the thick forests back then present on the entire Atlantic Coast, forcing the Spanish to use the Pacific area to settle down.
The English did not colonize the area officially either. They did, however, ally with existing tribes and promoted the creation of the Mosuitia Worsens, which was subject to the British crown.
If you don’t want to fly to Bluefields or have enough time, you can go by bus to El Rama; you can get the bus in Managua at the Mayorero bus station. The bus can go no further because this is where the road ends and the marsh begins. From El Rama you must take a small boat that goes down the Escondido River to Bluefields. The complete trip takes about 6 hours by bus and another hour and a half by boat. Total cost is about $15 one way.
Bluefields is Nicaragua’s chief Caribbean port, from where hardwood and seafood, mostly shrimp and lobster, are exported. Bluefields was a rendezvous for English and Dutch buccaneers in the 16th and 17th century and became capital of the British protectorate over the Mosquito Coast in 1678.
During United States interventions (1912-15, 1926-33) in Nicaragua Marines were stationed there. In 1984, the United States mined the harbor (along with those of Corinto and Puerto Sandino). Bluefields was destroyed by Hurricane Joan in 1988 but was rebuilt. The population of Bluefields is mixed mestizo, Indian, and black.
Bluefields is indeed ethnically diverse. There is a wide cross-section of Afro-Caribbean, miskito, suma, garifuna and mestizos,
To reach Bluefields overland it is necessary to travel by road to the town of El Rama. From El Rama you go by launch down the Escondido River to Bluefields on the coast. Bluefields, Puerto Cabezas to the north and the Corn Islands, offshore in the Caribbean from Bluefields, can all be reached by air or by water. Two airlines fly the route from Managua.
Bluefields, and much of the Caribbean coast was hit by the 200-mile an hour winds of Hurricane Joan in October, 1998. Today, the architecture of Bluefields reflects its racial mixture and its colorful past… a mixture of British colonial, West Indian cottages and Louisiana-style plantations. Two of the most colorful carnivals in Nicaragua are in Bluefields.
Also known as the ¡Mayo Ya! Festival, Bluefield’s May Day celebration is unique in Central America, a mixture of the English May pole tradition and local music, folklore and dancing. In North America, this pagan-rooted party is about springtime, fertility, and the reawakening of the earth after a long winter. In Bluefields, May falls on the cusp of the rainy season, and the entire month is a bright burst of colors, parades, costumes, feasting, and, most importantly, dancing around the Maypole.
Every night is a party, and the festival comes to a rip-roaring peak at the end of the month. Look for it every evening May 1-31 (see the Palo de Mayo special topic). Fancy dress parades and all sorts of fun activities are on the program. The Fiesta of San Jerónimo is a similar festival held on September 30.
The image of the Saint is normally installed in the beautiful local church, La Iglesia de San Jeronimo. Ceremonies begin on September 20th with La Bajada de San Jeronimo when the image is removed from its permanent altar and placed on a pedestal that is beautifully decorated with flowers.
The most important of these processions takes place September 30th when nearly fifty thousand devotees from all over Nicaragua get toghether to take part in a mass led by the Archdiocese in San Jeronimo Church. Tourists are often taken aback to see hundreds of devotees rush towards the statue after the mass.
They pray before the image for a personal miracle or to thank the saint for an answered prayer. Eight days later, on October 7th, the image is once again carried out in a procession. This celebration la Octova de San Jero lasts twenty-four hours without interruption. The final festivity is on the first Sunday in December, with Las Tarimas.
