Airport face-off

Now, the question on everyone’s lips, which is my favourite airport? The answer is definitely not Panama. I got stuck there for hours and hours, and the internet wasn’t working there, so I couldn’t do any work, but instead of just giving up, I just sort of pretended to do work for ages. And in my desperation I kind of groveled to some airplane stewards to access the special lounge with internet, who then said they might if I stood there and waited so I was just standing there waiting for 30minutes and then they eventually kind of shooed me away. How embarrassing.

Guyana and St kitts airports charge you to get out, and nobody ever has the right change, which in my books is pretty desperate way to keep tourists in, so they don’t do well. Miami airport is efficient, but too big, bit maze like. I also missed a connection there thanks to panama delays so it’s a little tainted in my memories.

Moving to the good ones, Jamaica had awesomely friendly taxi drivers at the airport. Barbados let me go to the business lounge once – which was very exciting. But I think the winner is St Lucia. Despite having a waiting room the size of a large bed, it wins because it’s on the beach. I mean, the xray machine was probably 30 seconds walk from a beach shack selling rum and fishcakes. You could hear the waves.

So now that question has been resolved, and you can sleep at night, here are some photos of the rest of Panama (which is great once you leave the airport).

Panamanian Art Attack!

Panamaniam road (I just like saying 'Panamanian')

Panama Canal - looking kind of spooky

GIGANTIC boat in background on canal. They often have less than an inch either side of the boat at the moment, and have little trains that pull them along. They're thinking of doubling the width.

Impressive skyline - they see themselves as the next Singapore. Along with shipping, someone told me their other major industries are apparently offshore banking and money laundering. It's kind of the gateway from S.America to US, it comes in Panama dirty and goes out clean. The observant of you will see one of my bosses heads floating in the sky.

Industrial canal type stuff video, check out huge containers

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Panama city waterfront/skyline. Unfortunately just out of shot there were pelicans flying about and vultures

It's not all skyscrapers. Other people live more like this.

Iguanas, kites, explosions and turtles

So, it's pretty exciting, the other day in Trinidad, I was in the taxi, and I saw this huge bright green leaf move slowly across a yard. And then I realized it was a lizard. A huge lizard. My taxi driver got pretty excited too, but not because it was an iguana, apparently, they’re all over the place. But because nobody had eaten it yet. Apparently, if an iguana that big touches the floor, any trini in their right mind would kill it and cook it. I hope it got away.

I also saw a kid flying a kite next to a pylon, which worried me a lot, but the taxi driver said on the bright side at least he didn’t attach video tape to the end as tassles, as most kids do. Apparently if the tape hits pylons the electromagnetic-something-or-other in the tape short circuits the wires and it literally explodes and knocks out electricity for the whole block.

Oh, and finally, I saw a turtle (not in the streets of Trinidad, this was underwater in Barbados). In fact, I saw several! Luckily for you, you can see it too, because I had an underwater camera. Click on the video below. Amazing. The underwater camera later proved to be not quite as water proof as I hoped, and now is in camera heaven, but not before I took quite a few photos. I will now have to return to my pink mist camera (arg), but in the meantime, enjoy some underwater animal action.

(note that a girl kicks the turtle in the head twice...)
(Baby tortoise)

(slightly more mundane, every time I come back drunk after a night out this toad is by my doorstep and I cannot stop myself from taking photos of him and probably traumatising him. he's massive)