Deep boarding

We met at Under-sea Panama for our deep boarding/snorkeling tour that left at 10:00am. It was a very cloudy day and sprinkled a bit on us as we rode out to the islands.

We stopped on the boat ride out to see the sloths that live on the islands. These sloths are different than the ones we saw in Costa Rica (two-toed instead of three-toed).

We also stopped in one of the bays to watch the dolphins. These dolphins are smaller than the ones we are used to seeing because they do not venture out of the coves between the islands and due to the decrease in swimming space, they do not grow very large. Our tour guide only spoke Spanish, so we had a bit of a difficult time interpreting his explanations since a lot of the words he used we had never heard before, but I think we got the gist.

We then headed to Zapatilla island which was our snorkeling destination. They let us jump out of the boat and snorkel around the reefs by ourselves for a while which was awesome. The max depth in this area is 20ft so you can free dive to the bottom and check out all of the coral and fish. It was really beautiful; it had stopped raining and the sun had come out so the water was illuminated. Our snorkel time was cut short though because one of the men in our tour group became violently ill and couldn't stop puking in the water. The guides decided it was best to move him to land so we headed to the island. Once on the island, we had time to ourselves to explore, swim around and lay on the beach. The water surrounding the beach was so shallow that you could walk all the way to the little islands surrounding it.

While we waited on the island, the tour guide divided us into groups of 6 for our deep boarding adventure. Deep boarding is like snorkeling except that you are being pulled behind a boat and are in control of your own board, which you can steer to bring you up to the surface for air or down and around to see whatever there is.

It was a really fun time although I wish we could have gone more than once because once I felt really comfortable with it, it was over. Once we were done deep boarding, we had lunch and then headed out for some hiking around the island.

There were supposed to be caimans (like small alligators) on the islands so we walked around looking for them in the swamps- we didn't find any.

On the other side of the island, there was another pretty beach. Sea turtles use this beach for nesting so the eggs had been marked with red tape so that people knew they were there and didn't step on them.

After we were done with the island, we headed back towards Bocas. There had been some storm clouds growing as we were headed back but we were not prepared for the absolute downpour that was unleashed on us in the boat. The driver stopped at one point to try to wait it out which was insane because everyone was getting pounded by rain. One of the couples behind us gave us their towel to cover our faces since the rain was hitting us like needles. We were thrilled to get home and take a warm shower.
We had gotten back relatively early so we got a little dressed up and went out for a nice dinner. We went to "Casbah" which was a Mediterranean restaurant owned by a British guy. We had a delicious appetizer tray with tabouleh, hummus, olives, etc and then shared some Greek chicken which was stuffed with figs and goat cheese. It was amazing!

Everyone in town had insisted that we go to "Aqua Lounge" for their Saturday ladies night party and since there were free drinks from 9:30-10:30, we decided to go. The bar/hostel was pretty awesome; water was incorporated into their whole outdoor area (water trampolines, swings, etc) and I could see how it would be a ton of fun during the day. It was pretty much dead when we got there, but we hung around and ended up meeting some people from Houston that were a lot of fun and we stayed and danced until 2:00.

Posted with Blogsy

Bike ride to the beach

I woke up feeling a little better so I thought I should force myself to eat some breakfast, hoping that some food might help speed up my recovery. We stopped at a restaurant with a beautiful view of the water and I made myself eat some eggs and fruit.

Since we had been immobile the day before, we decided that we would rent bikes and ride them down to Bluff beach. We were able to find a guy that would rent them to us for $5/day and so we headed off with our swim gear. We rode through a part of the town we hadn't been to yet and realized that Bocas was actually a bit bigger than we had thought. The beginning part of the road to get there was paved but as we approached Ponch beach (another local beach closer to town), the road went along the beach and just became sand; not optimal for bike riding so we had to walk the bikes while.

We finally made it to Bluff beach and started to realize why people say Bocas is beautiful. This part of the island was jungly with beautiful beaches and large waves; a vast difference from town which is littered with trash. We were really hot from our ride down there so we jumped into the ocean to cool down. The waves were unexpectedly violent and Alyssa got thrashed by two in a row and had enough. I moved back behind the break and had some fun trying not to get swept up in the waves with these two Israeli surfers who were doing the same thing.

It started to rain, so I came in to the beach to sit with Alyssa and read. Luckily, the rain was short lived and we had some good hours laying out. We decided to begin our journey back and to stop at a restaurant we had seen at Ponch beach on our way out to get something to eat and sit in their huge, comfy lounge chairs.

Neither of us were starving so we decided to split something. Ceviche seemed like the easiest thing to get but once again we were disappointed when we got fish ceviche. Fish ceviche is officially awful and we are never ordering it again. We stayed and read there for an hour before heading back; we needed to have the bikes back by 6:00.

Since there isn't a ton to do in Bocas, we tend to break up the day with our meals. For dinner, we decided to go to a place Alyssa had read good reviews on called "El Ultimo Refugio". I had forgotten that I left all of my cash in my beach bag and the place didn't take credit cards, so we had to make due with the $40 Alyssa had with her (which essentially just meant no drinks, not that I could drink anyway). We ordered papaya shrimp as an appetizer and then I got a chicken salad and Alyssa go the seared sesame tuna. My salad was great (though I couldn't eat much of it) and Alyssa said it was the best tuna she'd ever had. This restaurant was clearly owned by an American (she came by the table after our meal to make sure everything was good) because its one of the only places in Bocas that has prompt service or employees who act like they give a crap. Most of the time you wonder if anyone even works at these restaurants...not big on customer service but they always make sure that tip is included in your bill.

Posted with Blogsy

Bocas del Toro

We woke up still in the hell hole of Almirante and packed ASAP. I was of course extremely sick, so doing any task took a lot of effort. We hailed a taxi at 9:20 thinking that we could make the 9:30 boat. We did get there in time but of course the boat still didn't leave until 10:00. I was just happy not to see the men from the night before who clearly worked at the dock, although we did spot them as our boat pulled out.

It wasn't too long of a ride over to Bocas (maybe 30 minutes) but it was a good way to see the town of Alimante from the water. I was dismayed at how run down their homes were and Alyssa was terrified that each house had an outhouse that emptied directly into the water.

As we neared Bocas, the buildings and changed dramatically and we began to see a lot of tourists walking about. Although I am not always a fan of overly touristy areas, after one night in Almirante I was thrilled to see tons of other white people.

Once we landed, we went in search of a hostel. We found one quite easily off of the main street called "Hostel Hansi". Since we are staying here at least 4 nights, we got the nicer room with hot water and balcony for $28USD/night.

It is nice that Panama uses US currency (makes it easy for those of us using a different currency every week) although they often slip in one of their own coins and confuse me. We grabbed some coffee while we waited for our room to be ready and did some research on things to do in Bocas. It's not much of a scuba destination, so I think I will do some snorkeling with Alyssa. Bocas is comprised of a few different islands, so we are going to try to make it to at least three.
After this much movement, I was absolutely exhausted and needed to rest. This is the second day I haven't been able to eat much and I just had no energy. Finally I mustered the strength to walk around town with my sister. The town appears nice at first glance, although there is quite a lot of trash always strewn about. The more annoying thing though is that the local people here just hassle us constantly. I had gotten into the habit of being so friendly with the local people but now in Panama I either ignore them or pretend I don't speak English or Spanish because once you engage in conversation they will not let you go until you yell at them or buy something. It's really unfortunate.
After the walk, I was completely drained and had to lay down for the rest of the day. I felt really bad leaving Alyssa with nothing to do, especially because it was such a beautiful, sunny day, but I just could not move. Luckily, this hostel had a tv with one America channel that plays the WB shows so I was able to relax like I would have at home if I was sick. While I was dying in the room, Alyssa went to a local art show on the beach.

I finally convinced myself that I had to eat something although everything sounded awful. I ended up at the little market across the street and settled on making Mac and cheese since it was cheap and I knew I wouldn't eat much of it. The kitchen at our hostel is immaculate which always makes me happy. As I was cooking, I met a very nice girl from Costa Rica who is here on vacation with her boyfriend before she moves to China for a year to study tourism. It's funny how no matter where you are in the world, people and situations are actually relatively similar.
After eating about 2 bites of mac and cheese, I decided the best course of action at this point was to take an Ambien and pray I feel better in the morning.

Posted with Blogsy

Journey to Panama

We had decided to stay at the same noisy hostel as the night before because it was just too much work to try to move to a different place but we made sure that Lars moved to the room behind us so that we could ensure the fan would not be turned on. We got to sleep in a bit as our boat left at 8:45 but unfortunately I was not feeling very well when I woke up. We packed up, grabbed some fruit and coffee and headed to the boat. It was already full when we got there so Alyssa sat in the back so I could have the front seat and hopefully get some air flow to prevent me from getting motion sickness.

It was only an hour boat ride across the Golfito Bay to Golfito, but once we got there we had to find out which bus was going to the border. Luckily, we had over heard a few other Spanish speaking people who were also going to the border so we waited at the bus stop until they got onto the correct bus.

Once on the bus, we had a few hour drive to the Costa Rica/Panama border at a city called "Paso Canoas".

This border was much better than our experience at the Nicaraguan border and everything seemed to be working smoothly. However, we had not realized that you needed to have $500 cash or a bank statement showing how much money you had to enter the country. I only had $200 with me but after looking very confused and asking if they had wifi so we could pull up our bank statements, the guy said it was no problem and let us through. It will never cease to amaze me what problems we can sweep under the rug simply by smiling a lot and being overly friendly/mildly flirtatious. I normally frown on women using this tactic but at a border crossing I am totally fine with it; it is so stressful, use any means necessary!
We got across the border and immediately a guy was asking us if we needed the bus to David. We did so we jumped on just as it was pulling out of the station. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but I like fast travel, the quicker the transition the better! We had no idea where we needed to get off but we knew it took over an hour to get to David so we kept a lookout for bus stations. Luckily, one of the couples in the bus had been on our shuttle earlier from Costa Rica so since we recognized them, we asked if they knew where the bus station was and how to get to Bocas del Toro. They spoke Spanish but understood us well enough and inquired with the bus driver on what we should do. In the end, that bus ride only cost $2.25, which was a great deal for a bus with a/c!
We got to the bus terminal, found the bus to Bocas and purchased a ticket for $6. They give change in both US currency and Panama currency which I find funny, though it is 1=1 so I guess it doesn't matter. The bus was completely full but Alyssa and I got seats in the back which gave us a little more space. They played the latest Fast and Furious movie on a little screen in front which kept me entertained until I was able to pass out for about an hour. We hadn't eaten lunch but I wasn't hungry since I wasn't feeling well and Alyssa had some fruit and snacks to hold her over.
It was a three hour drive from David to Almirante, which was the town that we would need to get the boat taxi in to go to Bocas del Toro. We knew the last boat taxi was at 6:00 and we had planned the trip accordingly. What we didn't know was that there is a time change between Costa Rica and Panama which put us an hour behind schedule. When we arrived in Almirante, we knew we had missed the boat by 15 minutes so we were prepared to get a hostel for the night. But there were taxi drivers waiting outside our bus asking if we were headed to Bocas. We said yes and they assured us that there was another boat that we could take for $5 that would be leaving in 10 minutes. We took the taxi to the dock and there was no boat. The taxi driver assured us that if we waited a little while, a boat would come by that we could take. Of course, a boat never came. Instead, there were a bunch of local guys hanging out by the docks that were trying to convince us to let them drive us there in their boat for $50. We of course said no and then they insisted that it would be cheaper to take their boat than stay the night in Almirante since there were only two hotels in town and each cost more than $50/night. We of course knew this had to be bullshit. These men hounded us for about a half hour before finally another cab drove by the deserted docks which we were able to hail. The men who had been talking to us ran to the cab to speak to the driver first telling the guy where to take us. Luckily the driver was nice and when we asked I'm if there were more than two hotels in town he said, "of course, there are tons". He took us to a nice, reasonably priced hotel in the middle of town which had a/c and hot water for $25/night. We tried to find a restaurant nearby so that we wouldn't have to walk very far. The town was extremely unsafe and all of the roads were dark. The man who ran our hotel pointed out a restaurant right down the street from the hotel so we went there, no questions asked. Chicken, rice and salad for $3.50- pretty damn cheap. Unfortunately by this point I was feeling so lousy I could barely eat. We went straight back to the hotel and I tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately I didn't sleep at all. I was either freezing or on fire and spent the whole night awake and miserable. Panama is not off to a good start.

Posted with Blogsy

Corcovado National Park

We got up super early to catch the 6am collectivo (basically just a local truck with seats in the back) into Corcovado National park. We hadn't gotten any sleep the night before because although the hostel seemed quiet, there was a fan in the room behind us that was turned on in the evening and sounded like a jet engine. Alyssa and I had been up all night and I was in a horrible mood as a result. We had run late getting to the collectivo and hadn't had time to get breakfast but we just assumed there would be something to eat once we got there. The truck ride was about an hour and a half through the jungle, making many stops to pick up/drop off local people on their way to work or school. (As you can tell from the pick below, Alyssa is not thrilled about being up so early and I am trying really hard not to look pissed off, LOL!)

Once we arrived, we quickly discovered that there would be no breakfast for us. This was not a place for tourists and most of the people who did come here, camped for many days within the park so they had their own provisions. There was one tiny store which sold boxes of cereal and granola bars so we made due.

We began our hike through the park. I had imagined a jungle trek but the entire hour and a half walk was actually along the beach. It was beautiful, but we could tell already that the storm clouds were rolling in. There were quite a few river crossings so I was glad I had worn my water shoes (no real choice since I lost my tennis shoes) because then I didn't have to stop all the time to take off my shoes.

Our first stop was "La Leona" where there was a supposedly a restaurant we could get food at. This was completely inaccurate. There is an Eco lodge there but they only serve food for the people staying there. With the new knowledge that we wouldn't be eating until dinner, we trudged on towards the ranger station. Once we arrived, we were surprised to learn that you needed a reservation to go to the park (Alyssa had actually read something about this online but Lars was adamant that Lonely Planet said you only needed a reservation for camping). Dismayed by this news, we headed back to the Eco lodge to see if they could sell us a reservation. Luckily they were able to do it, it would just cost us $5 more than in town ($15 instead of $10). We paid for the reservation and headed into the park.
The return collectivo to town left at 4:00 so we had a few hours to hike in and then we would need to hike back out. This part of the trek was through the jungle although it was not too far from the beach. The ranger explained to us that the animals prefer to be near the ocean and there would be a higher concentration of them there. As we hiked, it began to pour on us. We had anticipated this and brought our rain jackets. It did make it hard to take pictures for a while though because I was afraid of damaging my camera with water.
We saw tons of monkeys, parrots, toucans, coatis etc...so many animals I could not name them all. The jungle was alive with animals and we walked in silence with the crashing of the waves masking our footsteps hoping that we would see as many as possible.

As we hiked around, we were a bit weary from lack of sleep the night before and lack of food, so we had plenty of time to act silly.

We finally had to head back and catch the bus to Puerto Jimenez. We were starving and exhausted when we got back so we immediately went to a pizza place to get some food. This was our last traveling day with Lars but I still could not muster up the energy to go out and get a drink, I was starting to feel a sore throat coming on and knew that drinking would not be a good idea.

Posted with Blogsy