Page 46 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

44 BASICS Travel essenTials
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possessions while abroad, and many private medical Language
schemes also apply when overseas. in Canada,
provincial health plans usually provide some cover for Spanish is the official language of Panama and
medical treatment when out of the country. some the first language of more than two million of the
student insurance packages also include vacation population, though a recorded thirteen other first
travel. When shopping around for a policy, bear in languages are spoken across the country. The
mind that what are termed dangerous sports, which latter are mainly indigenous but include Panama-
usually include the likes of scuba diving and white- nian Creole English, preferred by around 100,000
water rafting, sometimes require an additional afro-antillean Panamanians, primarily resident in
premium to be paid. should you have to seek Bocas, Colón and Panama City, and Cantonese or
medical attention, keep all receipts, and if you lose Hakka, spoken by around sixty thousand
something valuable, get a police report (denuncia). Chinese-Panamanians. While many urban middle-
Whatever the situation you will still need to access class Panamanians speak English, some of whom
sufficient funds to cover such emergencies (hence are bilingual, the “everybody-speaks-english” myth
the usefulness of a credit card) while on your trip, and is easily dispelled. Official estimates reckon
apply for reimbursement on your return home. around fourteen percent of the population can
communicate in english but in small towns and
Internet rural areas you’ll find many speak virtually no
english and in a number of the remote indige-
Where internet connectivity is available, almost all nous communities some villagers, especially
hostels and most hotels offer free wi-fi. There are women, do not even speak spanish. Your travel
also numerous government wi-fi hot spots, though experience in the country will be greatly
you have to register and the speed is very slow. enhanced by learning at least the basics of
However, internet access – along with mobile spanish before you arrive. The language section
phone coverage – is very limited in the Darién and in the Contexts chapter of this Guide is a useful
Guna Yala. in the former, wi-fi is restricted to a few starting point (see p.314).
places in the major settlements of Metetí, la Palma,
Yaviza and Garachiné; in the latter it is only available Learning Spanish in Panama
in Puerto Obaldía, unless you manage to catch a a good way of getting to grips with spanish is to
signal outside a government office on one of the attend a language school. This also gives you an
larger village-islands. We indicate in the Guide entrance into Panamanian life, especially if you take
where wi-fi is available in these regions, though up the cultural immersion or homestay options
even then you should bear in mind that the service and become involved in the volunteering projects
is often unreliable, especially in the rainy season on offer. Most schools run an extracurricular
(roughly May to mid-Dec). programme, which almost inevitably includes salsa
in general, the exponential spread of smart- classes and excursions, while some courses
phones has led to a decline in the number of specialize in language learning combined with
internet cafés across the country, though in most activities such as scuba diving or surfing.
towns the local library, at the very least, usually has Group, small-group (two to four people) and
a couple of PCs. rates are generally $1 an hour – one-to-one tuition is usually available; group
note that the “@” sign is usually achieved by classes, the cheapest option, generally comprise
pressing alT, “6” and “4” keys simultaneously. four hours of lessons per day at rates of around

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