Page 127 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

ArchipiélAgo de lAs perlAs The Panama Canal and CenTral isThmus 125
Casa Tortuga Paseo Urraca T6253 6000. Authentic is the real draw. Service is variable. Daily 7am–3pm &
Italian restaurant in a family environment (which may 6–10pm.
mean sharing a table with other guests). Pricey but tasty Vlandy’s By Vlandy’s supermarket, close to the Air
set three-course menus cost around $30, with wine on top. Panama office T250 4037. Friendly fonda on a shady
Reservations are a must. Wed–Sun 6–10pm. patio overlooking the airstrip, offering a handful of tables.
Restaurante Miraolas Hotel Mar y Oro, Playa Cacique Tuck into a plate of comida corriente ($5), usually involving
T250 4067. The grilled seafood, including lobster and chicken or fish with abundant rice, or have a simple dish
crayfish – the house speciality – is usually decent enough from the small à la carte menu, such as pork chops with 2
(mains from $20), but the delightful breezy cliff-top setting patacones ($6–8). Daily 7am–3pm (lunch noon–3pm).

Isla Saboga
Just across from Contadora lies the slightly larger Isla Saboga, whose four hundred
inhabitants populate the main village, Puerto Nuevo, perched on the hilltop above the
main pink-shell beach, spilling off a central paved path. Many villagers commute to
Contadora to work; others fish and ferry tourists in their boats or carry out subsistence
agriculture. The island’s eighteenth-century hilltop church – a rare trace of Spanish
occupation left in the archipelago – is worth a quick peek before you head across to the
delightful Playa Encanto, where a new multimillion-dollar resort development has yet
to secure its stranglehold.
At low tide, it’s an exciting two-hour scramble south over rocks and across coves to
the soft salt-and-pepper expanse of the island’s premier beach, Playa Larga, from where
you can hike down a dirt road back to the village in less than thirty minutes.
arriVal and deParTure isla saBOGa
By boat The daily ferries from Panama City to Isla transfer to/from Contadora. A 10min boat ride from
Contadora (see p.123) will drop off/pick up passengers at Contadora’s Playa Galeón costs $5 if a boat’s going your
Saboga if there is demand; otherwise you will have to get a way, but it will cost more for a private charter.
aCCOmmOdaTiOn and eaTinG
Beyond the expensive, high-quality cuisine available at Playa Encanto, there’s little culinary enjoyment to be had in any
of the village fondas on Saboga; value for money, service and quality are all highly variable.
Community house At the top of the steps from ★ El Remanso Villa 30 El Encanto, Playa Encanto
the beach, by the police checkpoint; contact Sra Mare T6575 2447, Wsabogavacations.com. Part of the
(see below). With a superb hilltop location, this exclusive El Encanto development, above a secluded spot
community house has four small, basic en-suite rooms, on the beach, peering through trees to the sea. Two
beds with decent mattresses and a shared balcony lovely studio apartments with fully equipped kitchens
overlooking the bay. Great value. $25 ($175) and two spacious rooms, tastefully designed and
Paula Nani Beach Bar Saboga Playa Encanto T6693 rich in wood, with all mod cons as well as expansive
2002. Catering mainly to middle-class day-trippers from balconies and easy beach access. The owners also
Panama City and chalet residents, this sophisticated raised- manage other property owners’ house lets. Minimum
deck rancho at the back of the beach offers a small selection two-night stay. $150
of delicious mains ($15–17), ranging from burger and Señora Mare’s Puerto Nuevo, main street T6641
chips to succulent seafood, as well as refreshing home- 0452. The warm Sra Mare offers a handful of clean, simple
made lemonade, expensive cocktails and superlative sea double and single rooms in the heart of the village, with
views. Daily 9am–9pm (kitchen until 5pm). ceiling fan. $25

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