Why I Left Panama

A few days ago I left Panama City, the capital of Panama and flew to Montreal, Canada, the largest city in the French-speaking province of Quebec. I only spent five days in Panama, after spending a couple weeks on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire.

I'm sure some people will be curious why I didn't explore around Panama and Central America more, considering there's so much to see in that area. I've followed some other travel bloggers who went to Panama and posted photos and videos of amazing beaches, jungles and waterfalls. When I flew there I was considering doing some exploring around the country, but ultimately decided it wasn't the right time.

My First Two Days in Willemstad, Curacao

An interesting past couple days. I flew the day before yesterday from the Caribbean island of Aruba to the neighboring island of Curacao. What a huge change, even though they're both part of the Dutch Caribbean/Kingdom of the Netherlands. Aruba is very Americanized and kind of sterile, though it has beautiful beaches, some interesting local neighborhoods and rugged desert landscapes in the interior.

Arriving on Curacao was like, BOOM, I'm now really in the Caribbean, culturally speaking. It's a crazy mix of indigenous Caribbean, African, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch. It has a pretty rough feeling to it, but the main town of Willemstad is also a lot more interesting and vibrant than Oranjestad, the main town on Aruba.