Page 47 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

Travel essenTials BASICS 45
$230–320 per week, not including board and Mail
lodging. Make sure the institution is registered, that
staff are qualified and that the teaching method- it is reliable, but if speed is of the essence the
ology is not just “chalk and talk” before committing standard Panamanian postal service is probably
any money. Wgoabroad.com/language-study not for you; a postcard from Panama can take five
-abroad contains a list of recommended schools. to ten days to reach north america (25¢ stamp) and
a couple of weeks or longer to meander to europe
LANGUAGE SCHOOLS (35¢ stamp), australasia or south africa (60¢ stamp).
Habla Ya Panama Plaza Los Establos, Boquete 20–22 T720 While post offices (correos) are relatively elusive in
1294; Av “G” Norte, Bocas Town T757 7352; 1st St, Le Bleu Panama City (see p.86), they are more visible in the
Building 2A, Panama City T730 8344, Whablayapanama.com. provinces; they are marked on the maps in this
Spanish by the River Entrada a Palmira, Alto Boquete T720 Guide. Opening hours, though generally Monday to
3456, Wspanishatlocations.com. Friday 8am to 5pm and saturday 8am to noon, do
Spanish by the Sea Calle 4a, behind Hotel Bahía, Bocas del Toro, vary. For a speedier delivery, you can send your
Isla Colón T757 9518. letter or parcel express from the post office, though
Spanish Panama Edif Americana 1A, Vía Argentina, Panama City this service is not available for europe. alternatively,
T213 3121, Wspanishpanama.com. use one of the more expensive private mailing or
courier services widely available, such as Fedex
Laundry (Wfedex.com/pa) or Mail Boxes etc. (Wmbe.com).
Post offices also offer an entrega general (poste
Most mid-range and top-end hotels offer a restante) service, keeping letters for up to a month.
laundry service, while aparthotels (see p.77) and Passport iD needs to be shown when claiming post
some hostels have their own washing machines for and you can’t collect on behalf of another person.
guest use. Otherwise you could find a lavamático The sender should address items as follows: receiver’s
(not as easy to locate in Panama City as in the name, entrega General, name of town, name of
provinces), an old-fashioned launderette where province, republica de Panamá. if you are receiving
you bundle your clothes into a machine, and then post in Panama City then the postal zone also needs
a dryer, for no more than $5 per load, including to be specified – enquire at the branch in question.
detergent and conditioner. The more ubiquitous
lavanderías, which more closely resemble dry Maps
cleaners, usually cost slightly more, especially if you
want clothes ironed. Country and city maps of Panama are increasing in
number and quality though there’s still some way
LGBT travellers to go. There are also some rudimentary trail maps
for the parks in the former Canal Zone, usually
Homosexuality was finally decriminalized in available from the park offices. international Travel
Panama in 2008, which illustrates not only the Maps (1:300,000; available online at Witmb.com
country’s prevailing social conservatism but also and Wamazon.com; $12) – updated in 2014 – and
the fact that things are changing. The asociación de national Geographic (Wnationalgeographic.com)
Hombres y Mujeres nuevos de Panamá (aHMn) – at both produce good maps of Panama, though the
the time of writing only the Chiriquí chapter was latter updated only the text, not the map itself, in
online (Wfacebook.com/aHMnPCH) – is active in 2016. in Panama itself, large-scale maps are
campaigning for lGBT rights and low-key Gay Pride available in Panama City at the instituto Geográfico
marches have been held since 2005. The lGBT nacional Tommy Guardia (Mon–Fri 8am–4pm;
scene is discreet; the clutch of nightclubs is not T507 9686) on avenida simón Bolívar, opposite
widely advertised (see Wellgeebe.com). However, the entrance to the university; that said, some are
on the Panama pages of lGBT travel websites several years out of date and would really only be of
(for example Wpurpleroofs.com/centralamerica use if you were planning some wilderness hiking.
/panama.html, Wgayjourney.com/hotels/panama
.htm and Wglobalgayz.com) the number of openly Money
“gay-friendly” accommodation listings, though
small, is gradually increasing. in general, hotels in Panama adopted US dollars (referred to as dólares
Panama City and north american- and european- or balboas) as its currency in 1904, shortly after
run establishments are likely to be more tolerant. separation from Colombia. apart from a seven-day

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