We came to this little coastal surf town to surf, learn some Spanish, and volunteer at a near-by hospital. We stayed in this amazing little apartment. It felt like we were in a remote beach house and had the ocean all to ourselves. The crashing waves blocked the sound of everything else. We spent most of our time hanging out on our balcony with our Swiss friend Patrick who we had met in Matapalo. One morning as we were sitting and enjoying our morning coffee on the balcony I saw a pod of 50 dolphins swim by. As we watched them pass they turned around and went by again.. and again.. and 20 more times, swimming right in front of our place. Dana and Patrick ran out with their snorkels and surfboards and the dolphins swam ... read more

Pablo’s hometown. No longer the world’s cocaine capital, it actually reminded me of Vancouver. It had a cooler climate, described by some as the city of eternal spring, and the area we stayed in was very posh and full of funky clothing and ultra-modern furniture stores. Our hotel itself was also super modern (painted a lovely shade of lime green!! with dark wooden furniture and hard wood floors). The kitchen was also very funky and I regret not taking a photo of it. I had a wonderful day checking out shops and drinking incredible cappuccinos. So nice after the 6 day trek!... read more

Finally we arrive in South America. Cartagena is the most beautiful and romantic city in Colombia and possibly South America. As we sailed in on the calm water just after sunrise, the first thing we saw was the old wall which was built around the old city to keep pirates out. The city had been sacked and burned down a few times by Captain Morgan as it was the port town where treasure hunters left back to Europe. As we approached we saw several ships which looked like tanks zooming around with giant machine guns at the front. A bit intimidating welcome! After a 6 hour wait for immigration to let us into the country we went strolling through the old, walled-in town just in time for sunset. We had our first taste of typical Colombian ... read more

We wanted to spend some more time in Panama but we had already spent way more time in Central America and we were eager to reach Colombia. In Panama City we explored the old city which was destroyed by Captain Henry Morgan in the 1600s. Some of it had been rebuilt but there were a lot of buildings with collapsed floors either filled with garbage or quite contrastingly, plants and trees. Everywhere you looked there were stark contrasts. You would see a fine dining restaurant next to an ancient abandoned building, and next to that an equally decrepit crumbling building but with several families living in it. As beautiful as it was, it was quite a dangerous area where we could not go out at night. A group of 15 big guys were robbed at gunpoint ... read more

By this time I was feeling dirty and in need of a splurge so we rented a nice (5star standard to us) little room which was CLEAN (thank the heavens), and had a porch steps away from the sea. We watched the sunset over wine and guitar. The second day Dana went surfing and I had the day to myself to work on my residency applications, swim in the pool and go for a 2 hour kayak through the mangroves. A man was cutting down coconuts and with them down came a fer-de-lance, a deadly snake. No one was harmed but I did get a cool photo! ... read more