Insider tipp: Last weekend I explored the charming small town of Portobelo on the Caribbean Coast which is a hotspot for Panamanian weekend retreats; however, it still remains mainly unexplored by foreign tourists. The only way of getting there- except from day tour with a tour operator EcoCircuitos Panama – involved a bumpy ride in a colorful old school bus, where happy salsa music loudly went along with the roaring old engines of the rattling bus.
It was hard to believe that this laid-back village has once hosted Central America`s most important harbor. Only the old ruins and the UNESCO forts, which are spread out all over the charming fishing village, prove of its glorious past. If you tour with a naturalist and interpretative guide you will travel to the battles between Pirates and Conquistadors.
A short boat ride away, I found cast-away Caribbean beaches, where lush rain forests meet white sand, turquoise waters and coral reefs. And while already being astonished by the unreal beauty surrounding me, two toucans were peacefully flying over the picturesque bay, forming a scenario like in a dream.
If you are interested in this tour and many more, please contact us for more information. We offer snorkeling tours in the Caribbean side of Portobello. Contact info@ecocircuitos.com
EcoCircuitos Panama in conjunction with our international wholesalers is proud to announce that we sign the TAP plea and we encourage our clients to use bottles on their trips! Let´s work together for a safer and greener planet!! We will provide stainless steel, PBA water bottles. Join us in the fight against plastic!
We provide our clients with a stainless Steel PBA free water bottle as a positive solution to plastic water bottles. A percentage of all sales go support the Panamanian Foundation for Sustainable Tourism which supports conservation, education and rural tourism projects throughout Panama.
new bottles
CLEAN WATER– We all know we can’t drink the water in developing countries because it might make us sick from any number of microscopic critters which could cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps or worse. Most people buy bottled water which has huge environmental impacts as well as being expensive and possibly unhealthy. What to do?
Travel prepared to clean your own water or use water in containers provided by hotels and operators if they have it. WHY?
To avoid creating a trail of plastic water bottles everywhere you go
To ensure the safety and supply of your water
To save money and time
IT’S EASY: There are many bottles you can choose from. We love Liberty Bottles.
For more information go to TAP www.travelersagainstplastic.org . Please consider signing the pledge not to use plastic water bottles while traveling. And then be the change you want to see in the world.
24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles.
Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting.
90% of the trash in the ocean is from plastic.
Eighty-six percent of single-use plastic bottles become landfill or litter in the US.
PET is made from crude oil. PET bottles produce toxic emissions at rates of 100 times that of glass.
Cheaper
Bottled water can cost as much $10 per gallon. We are paying 2 to 4 times the cost of gasoline for a product that is virtually free.
If tap water cost the same as the cheapest bottled, monthly water bills would come to $9,000.
Health
Antimony, which is found in PET plastic bottles, in small doses can cause dizziness and depression; in larger doses it can cause nausea, vomiting and death.
This is increased by storage in heated areas. Where was your bottle of water before you got it?
DO THE MATH
In the first two months of 2012, 8.1 million U.S. citizens traveled abroad according to data released by the U.S. Office of Travel & Tourism Industries.
8.1 million travelers over two months =48.6 million a year (estimated)
3 bottles a day for one 2 week trip= over 3.4 billion plastic water bottles used.
Reuse bottles at home as well
Three corporations dominate the bottled water market in the US. Pepsi has 13% of the market and Coke has 11%, both of which resell treated tap water, by putting it through an energy intensive process called reverse-osmosis. This process takes more energy than turning seawater into drinking water.
San Francisco’s tap water comes from Yosemite National Park and is so pure the EPA does not require it to be filtered. A bottled of Evian water at $1.35 could be refilled with San Francisco tap water once a day for over ten years before the cost would total $1.35. Be the Change. TAP
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