A Series of Things that Suck (and a couple of things that don´t)

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Bocas Del Toro » Isla Colon
January 20th 2008

Published: January 21st 2008

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El Scook Y Natalia

Now that's a view

Volcan Poas, Lido of the Gods

Well, it's January, and you're all probably at work, having visions of Nat & I drinking cocktails served by Monkey waiters in the cloud forest, hating our guts... Well, prepare to engage the schadenfreude portion of your brains, as the travelling backlash starts here.

I'm not going to write anything about the brilliant two weeks we spent with Sarah and Aoife, as hopefully they're doing that right now (ahem, you're late guys!) However it's fair to say my impressions of Costa Rica went down a fair way, firstly after someone tried to nick Sarah's bag on the beach at Mal Pais, then after a nasty case of food poisoning and/or gastric flu, then getting my wallet nicked (complete with all my bank cards but thankfully only about $6 in it).

3 days and nights lying flat in a tiny room that stinks of drains is no fun, but it's particularly galling when you have some amazing virgin rainforest surrounding you and you can't see any of it! Naturally I responded to these set backs with traditional British stoicism ("I'm dying! I'm dying! Where's my MOM?!"), as did young Natalia (professing the extent of her illness at 3 minute intervals,

Very Ill!

And not afraid to let everyone know. Every 3 minutes.

in case the virus had struck hard at my short term memory).

Upon recovery, we did have a couple of very cool days in the Santa Elena cloud forest reserve, seeing some fabulous birds (though unfortunately not the elusive Resplendant Quetzal), mammals, and big (man-eating) lizards. Check out the photos.

The next move was a big mistake. We went back to San Jose, which is roughly what an entire city of Elephant & Castle would look like, though possibly a shade less charming. We did manage to fit in a trip to a particularly impressive volcano - Volcan Poas. It's surrounded by a stunted rainforest (kind of bonzai jungle), and has a fantastic surface of Mars style crater, complete with a lake of pretty much pure acid. However this was but a small intermission in our official Week of Suck, as the following day whilst trying to board a bus out of Costa Rica, some chancers managed to get my wallet and scarper. I now have no access to cash, and Natalie is making me beg for dinner, which I'm pretty sure wasn't in our marriage vows!

Given that we'd missed the last bus to Panama sorting

This Cat likes Crisps

out cancelling cards, and had no desire to spend any more time in San Jose, we managed to get on a flight that afternoon on a little propeller plane. Our destination - Bocas del Toro (crickey that was dramatic). This is a series of islands on the Caribbean cost of Panama, with fabulous diving, snorkling, some surf, and a language school, which we've just started at.

We celebrated our arrival last night with a bender that Eernest Hemmingway would have been proud of. Flor de Cana rum, by the way, is officially the Best in the World. Hoorah! Holidays rock.

Anyway, I've got to run, there's a Howler monkey here with a very pressing question about how I'd like my Rum Collins...

Love,
Si xxx

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