January 2011
This is another throw back post due to the closure of my Shutterfly Sharesite. The photo quality is not quite up to today’s standards. I might add in my El Salvador and some other trips later so I don’t lose those as well.
PANAMA CITY
Something to know about traveling to Panama. Copa Air does not operate like US airlines. You can show up two hours before your flight or 30 minutes and it does not seem to matter as Copa Air has the slowest check in I have ever experienced and they do not leave until everyone has boarded the plane (so I could have taken time to buy a coffee as the gentlemen in front of me advised and did…then boarded at least 20 minutes after I sat down, coffee in hand). Air Panama will also tell you a flight is sold out over the phone, then tell you the same thing at the airport counter, yet at the same time sell you a ticket and hand you a boarding pass. Somehow you are wait listed but confirmed all at the same time, so I had no idea if I would be given a seat until we started to board. Another thing to know is do not arrive on Martyrs Day, one of Panama’s major holidays, the day they honor those killed protesting American control over the Panama Canal. For those like me who did not know of the 1964 riots leading to 21 Panamanian deaths, there was a dispute over a group of high school students attempt to hang the Panamanian flag next to the American flag in the zone…there were protests, the flag was torn (disputes over whether it was intentionally or accidentally torn) and the Zone police opened fire. Riots broke out all over and well. So, the point is, this is a big holiday in Panama and not the best day to land as an American. It also means all restaurants close early so I was left with sushi and drinks at the hotel. The night turned out okay as I met a Californian living in Costa Rica who helped me decide the rest of my travel plans (combined with help from other friends) and I did not get sick from the sushi which was a plus. And did I mention the mojitos. The holiday continued the next day with little open, so I decided to move on to Boquete after hiring a driver to see Casco Viejo, the old town, and the Mira Flores locks – I did not want to return home having to explain why I did not go see the canal. I could not get my camera to work so no pics, but did take video which is not quality enough to post.
BOQUETA
As with Panama City, I arrived on an inopportune day as a large garden show was happening and every single hotel room was full. Unlike Europe, I could not just hop on a train for another city, so I asked around until I found someone who knew someone that could rent me a room. The owners of the house, Elizabeth and Larry, originally from Florida, were quite nice and Elizabeth took me around town where we grabbed a drink and met another solo female traveler from Canada (though originally from Holland). I had the pleasure of eating the worst hamburger I have ever tasted. The room they had was dark and uninviting and the tin roof sounded like it would blow off in the non-stop rain but was happy to have somewhere to try to sleep.
I started my next day by joining a guided hike to a waterfall (pics below). The tour company allowed me to tag along last minute with a group tour comprised of Brits and one Aussie. Quite pleasant folks and enjoyed hiking together. It was not the fastest pace, but so beautiful (and slippery from constant rain) that it did not matter. And I always love to splash around in the rain and mud with trees all around. I had only one small slip, and made sure I was always leaning a bit toward the right so would not fall on my holed out forearm. We finished the tour with coffee at a place called Cafe Ruiz which does coffee tours (though too late to sign up for one) and after, I walked to this really cool garden spot (it is the home of some older man who created the place and keeps it open free to the public). and wandered around town in the rain with a stop for lunch and reading and an internet cafe to check my emails.
BOQUETE TO BOCAS DEL TORO
I traveled to Bocas from Boqueta (well David, just outside Boqueta) by bus, one of the only ways to get there – a beautiful drive spoiled only by the trash that folks throw out the window into the otherwise pristine greenery, one being a coke bottle thrown by the Panamanian man sitting in the seat next to me. What the heck was wrong with leaving it on the floor of the bus! One interesting part was watching the live animals being removed from the roof where they were tied down (pics below). Must not be a very fun ride for them either.
From the bus, those heading for Bocas Town head for the water taxis. On this leg, I met Kim and Brandon, a couple from San Francisco. Turns out I spent most of my time on Bocas with them. The next day, Kim, Brandon and I went snorkeling together and were joined by two Canadians, Brian (tv photo guy) and his brother Jason (recently sold his snowboard business, Clyde). We all got along so well that we decided to meet for dinner that night. A couple of pictures of our trip are below. The snorkeling was amazing and I have never seen coral like that before. Reds, blues and greens and bizarre shapes that we likened to Avatar. Too bad it rained much of the time so a bit cold. That night we hit the town (such that it is) making our way to a bar that an ex-pat guy from the bus ride had recommended. This is where all the true drunks hang out. There were poles on the bars and the guys were swinging from them and pole dancing. The bar pics, including the sign are below. Then we went dancing for a short bit before the Canadians had to leave to pack for their early morning flight. The next day, off to Costa Rica.
BOCAS TO SAN JOSE
My five part journey from Bocas to San Jose was not the happiest part of my trip. It started smoothly enough as the private taxi picked me up at my hotel for our one minute drive to the water taxi. Leaving the island, I was relaxed as waves formed around me. This would be the end of the fun part of what turned into an 11 hour journey. Leg three was the ride to the border. They overbooked so we had more people than space and their solution was to throw our luggage into the back of a pick up truck and four of the women (me included) into said pick up truck with the driver and one of the staff. So, I was stuck in the front seat, legs angled to the right so the driver could use the stick shift, sharing a seat belt with Homer, one of the staff. So glad I paid the extra money for the private transport. About 20 minutes into this leg, it starts raining and the not so smart drivers realize they need to cover the luggage but of course they did not have the forethought to bring a tarp. So we turn around and head back to town to the driver´s house where they cover the now soaked luggage. Hours later we arrive at the border. It is still raining as we stand in a line waiting waiting to get our passports stamped. Once stamped, you must walk across a very rickety bridge (picture below) that is slick. Fun trip in flip flops while carrying luggage. Some of the planks flip up a bit when you step on them which adds to the fun. As luck would have it the Costa Rican border agent could not find the stamp I was supposed to have received. So, back I go to Panama over the bridge to stand in line again. This time I ensure the stamp is there and I venture once more over the river to the other side. Happy we are to the end of our journey, oh wait, we are not.
Over the bridge we are told that the shuttle for the last leg of our journey is an hour away and we are funneled into a dingy restaurant for lunch while Homer (the guy I shared the seat belt with) insists we tip him. For what I am not sure as I would have been better off on the cheaper public bus. As soon as we all order food and Homer is paid by everyone our shuttle magically arrives and is waiting downstairs. It is now Friday rush hour traffic so we are barely moving and we lose several more hours due to a very bad accident. To add to the fun of not moving, after darkness set in some men decide to pull over on the shoulder next to us and get out of their car to smoke. But for whatever idiotic reason, instead of standing next to their car, they walked past ours into the oncoming traffic lanes so that those cars have to maneuver to avoid them (the men saw no need to move when cars approached) and squeeze between them and our vehicle to get through. I started to calculate the odds of being pushed into a ravine and all the ambulances were already occupied with the fatality crash several miles ahead (the reason for the standstill). When we finally make it to the accident site, we understood what our driver meant when he said mucho dinero…a semi crashed into a bank truck which then burned up and apparently all the money with it.
We now hope to arrive in San Jose by midnight, only seven hours late, but as we head up the mountain in the rain and dense fog on poorly marked roads we learn that our driver has very bad night vision and is not familiar with the road. As a young woman from Montreal went on about how she dreamed she would die in a mountain crash and it was now coming true, another passengers helped me watch the road to keep us in our lane while we pointed to the markers that our driver could not see. I finally convinced our driver to tuck in behind a semi (that had passed us along with all the other trucks as we were going so slow) and follow his lights to the bottom of the mountain. When we saw the lights of San Jose we were all so relieved.
QUEPOS AND MANUEL ANTONIO
All I can say about this place is it is absolutely amazing. The hotel views were incredible (the few pics I have from the area) and Manuel Antonio park turned out to be quite enjoyable. At first a bit cheesy and there were folks dressed for some serious mountaineering. I had on flip flops that were more than sufficient. I was able to see howler monkeys and these really cute white faced monkeys. The latter I saw close up as they were swinging over my head near the beach in a less traversed area of the park. Very, very cool. Saw some other funky animals, butterfliess and hermit crabs. Much better than the indigenous animals I saw in Panama, which consisted of cats and rats and one crab on the beach. I met a few people from various parts of the US then ended up spending much of the day with an Austrian pediatrician (Gunther) and his 21 year old son. They live in Concord as Gunther´s wife grew up there. She was not on the trip as she is a teacher so could not join them. It is a small world as we learned early in our conversation that he is friends with my friend Susan´s ex-husband. Strange how connected we all are.
LA FORTUNA / ARENAL
I flew from Quepos on a puddle jumper and like other of my flights, there were only three of us on the plane, two other attorneys from DC plus me…yes, you can skip the jokes as we all made it safely. I am now writing from the hostel internet station in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. Indecision on my part caused me to lose my room at two spots (who would have expected places to fill up mid week…), including the private room I thought I had at the hostel. So I spent the first night on the top bunk of a shared room. I would have stayed the next night were it not so bloody loud. I was at least able to score a single room my second night which consisted of four walls, a bed and a single overhead lightbulb…oh and I had to share the bathroom with the campers, which was located down a flight of stairs near the pool. But I was able to sleep. La Fortuna, like everywhere else I have been in Costa Rica (absent San Jose) felt safe enough to walk alone at night. My first night there I went to a local restaurant where I met two brothers from Atlantic City. We had a great time and shut down the restaurant and I loved that I felt safe enough to walk back to the hostel alone at night.
I started my next day quite early and made it activity day. First, a canopy tour (zip lining). Weeee! Very fun sailing over waterfalls, tree tops and rivers. Nine in all. the only problem for me was that on the two really long lines, I did not make it all the way and had to pull myself along and up the cable until I reached the platform. I kept turning so was using the leather hand support to right myself, which would slow me down. So, on the last two, decided to rectify this and on the guide´s advice, removed my hand from the cable and just held on to the harness. Worked great for the eighth ride. But, on the last line, I still turned sideways and came in a bit too fast. The guide had a bit of trouble stopping me and my arm slid along the metal cable so I ended up with a rope burn on my upper arm. Surprisingly, does not hurt much today. We finished with a horseback ride on these tiny horses who seemed exhausted and unhappy. I felt so bad for mine as he stumbled a couple of times and was glad when we made it to our destination. Next was a volcano hike at dusk where we were joined by a lot of mosquitos indifferent to bug spray, managing to bite us through our long pants.
SAN JOSE AND SURROUNDS
San Jose is a large city with wealth disparity (not unlike everywhere else). I took the opportunity from my small plane to capture the dichotomy between the mansion with lots of land and a nearby less affluent neighborhood with houses crammed together and tin roofs.
I finished off my stay at Asclepios Wellness Hotel. Quite a nice change from the hostel. The grounds which I could not adequately capture on film were amazing. So very peaceful with calming music playing throughout. The hotel is small and surrounded by lush foothills and a volcano. Reminds me a bit of Napa. The service, for the first time on my trip, was impeccable. I found that most of the lodging, from hostels to larger more plush hotels, lacked the type of service you would find in the US or Europe. But this last place…ahhhh. The food was also amazing. And I had the place almost entirely to myself, so spent the morning stretching and doing light yoga overlooking the hillside (pic below of my yoga spot) before making my way to the gym to ride the bike and stare mindlessly into the surrounding greenery.
