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Sign at Explorador
Translation: "The only mistakes we make in life are the things we do not do." Back in beautiful Boquete to fulfill one of our trips missions, volunteer work!! After talking to the owner of Spanish by the River in Boquete, while out in Bocas, we decided to head back in this direction to teach English at an after school program called Casa Esperanza, and for Adam to take some Spanish classes.
Casa Esperanza is a program that serves the indigenous Ngobe Bugle population of Panama. It is an after school program for children who may otherwise be unable to attend school due to insufficient family funds. It was set up to decrease the level of child labor in Panama, and allow these amazing kids the chance to get an education. The program provides transportation to and from school, home, and Casa Esperanza. They offer classes in health, psychology, government, and provide a time for the kids to do their homework. We volunteered to teach English classes to those with the desire to learn.
Obviously, we are not trained teachers and were unaware of many of the cultural aspects that would play into our experience from the outset, but ´poco a poco (little by little)´ you learn. We made the mistake of assigning homework
for a language class. When the majority of our classes hadn't done it, we were a bit unnerved. We asked our classes why they hadn´t done it, and they didn´t say a whole lot. Before we left that day, we spoke with the program director about this problem, and she promptly let us know that homework was a bad idea. A lot of the kids don´t have electricity. They live in the mountains in houses with dirt floors, and it is dark by the time they get home. For this reason, they have homework time as a part of Casa Esperanza. We wish we had a recording of the director saying homework was a bad idea, so we can run and tell our old teachers.
Another challenge besides lack of teaching experience, and cultural differences were the extreme age ranges of our classes and varying abilities within those age ranges. Eventually, we got the hang of the varying age groups, and separated them into different classes. We ended up with three 45 minute classes a day, and each of them was full of age appropriate activities. Did we mention we had no teaching materials? It kept us a bit
busy, and is our excuse for not having kept up with our blog (sorry guys). This is definitely a recommended experience for those with big hearts, extra time on their hands, a good command of English, and patience.
´Spanish by the River´ where we stayed for three weeks was in the most gorgeous setting of any language school we have come upon. For our first week we were the only guests, and felt like we had our own gorgeous apartment equipped with Direct TV (lots of movies). We took advantage of this time to fine tune our cooking skills. Emeril, watch out!! We were thrilled to be in one place for awhile with access to a stove and fridge. We now make scrumptious marinara sauce, and have perfected a few Mexican favorites.
Adam took two full weeks of Spanish courses at Spanish by the River, along with teaching for our first two weeks there. He studied a lot, and his Spanish is greatly improved. Busy guy!!
On this trip to Boquete we did accomplish a couple of our prior goals. We hiked the Quetzal Trail between Boquete and Cerro Punta. This trail is in decent condition, but
The Disappearing Bench
What was once a bench is now a trellace on the Quetzal Trail has suffered from major erosion due to heavy rains, and its steepness. The sets of stairs so pleasantly located on the trail were an obstacle to climb due to the bottom step being about 4 feet off the ground in many places. We went the 'hard way' because from Boquete you climb pretty much straight up hill for about 3 hours. The trail was gorgeous, but due to it being rainy season our views were limited as the day had already clouded over by the time we reached the high point. After the hike it was another 1.5 hour hike through gorgeous pasture lands to reach the town of Cerro Punta then a 3 hour bus ride back to Boquete through the driving afternoon rains. Unfortunately, we didn't happen to see the namesake of the park. The quetzal is the stunning national bird of Panama.
We were also fortunate to check out a couple of unique and stunning gardens. Mi Jardin es Su Jardin (My garden is your garden) and Explorador were fancifully done with a bit of eccentricity which led us on magical journeys through the crazy lawn art. The Explorador specialized in using recycled materials for its
décor. Explorador also had beautiful quotations in Spanish goading you along in wonder as to what words of wisdom waited around the bend.
Jill got to go climbing!! Yippahh. According to Cesar my climbing guide he has the only registered climbing company in Panama. I was slightly hesitant when I first saw the rock we would be climbing because it looks very easy, as if you can grab big jugs the whole way up. To my pleasure, the adventure held the challenge I seek in a climbing trip. I fell a few times, worked on a 5.10c (that means its hard) for quite awhile and finally rocked it. It was a blast, and made better by the fact that it was my climbing partner Jeroen's (another student at the Spanish school) first outdoor climbing experience. He embraced the sport with such enthusiasm that it was a pleasure to watch.
On our last free weekend we decided to splurge and rent a car to head off to Boca Brava, an island off the Pacific coast of Panama, for the weekend. It is not very touristy yet, but we're sure it will get there. They are currently grading the road
Ins
Owner of Spanish by the River in Boquete. to Boca Chica (an entry point to Boca Brava) to be paved. In the past, the fact that you needed 4-wheel drive to access the town deterred the hoards of tourists that are sure to descend on the area in years to come. The island doesn't have much on it, which we enjoyed greatly. We were pleasantly surprised by the size of Hotel Boca Brava and its apparent grandeur when we arrived there on yet another water taxi. The accommodations were basic, and again we were cheering the geckos in our room to eat all of the bugs, which would have been an impossible task. We joked about breeding geckos and releasing them on the island, but we're sure that would have all sorts of unforeseen and possibly negative environmental effects.
The hotel is one of two establishments on the small island. Some of the amenities included two private beaches, the largest bar in town with a great view (including two parakeets as bar mascots), hiking trails, and a lush jungle setting (all the bugs were included in the price). We had heard great things about the owner and his hospitality. Apparently we rubbed him the wrong way, or
Ins's Kids
Cute,wild,crazy,and bilingual. only dealt with his evil twin brother, because we did not see the friendly side of him. By looking at the bar we had high expectations for the rest of the hotel. We only had to see our room to be let down. The room had obviously not been cleaned in a while, had many bugs (lots of gecko food), and the beds were amongst the worst we have slept on in two months. On a positive note the price was right, the bathrooms were clean, the room was large, and the island was beautiful.
We had planned on going snorkeling in the national marine park not too far from there, but were deterred by the hefty price tag ($65 for a boat for the day). Fortunately, as we were asking to arrange a boat to take us back to the main land we met a very nice couple from Montreal who were looking for a couple of people to share a boat with them for the day. Yay!! Much less expensive. Apparently $65 does not include a boat without leaks. We were slightly apprehensive of the boats condition for our impending 45 minute boat ride to our snorkel
site after seeing water slowly seethe from a crack in the bottom of the boat. After expressing this concern to our boat captain he let us know we shouldn’t worry about the slight leak, and gave us a look that could have only meant, ‘Silly Gringos’. After all isn’t that why the giant sponge is in the boat with us? We went out to a couple of gorgeous spots around Isla Balearnos (we think that's the name). Our day consisted of tons of fish, abundant reefs, and a sunburn on Jill's back that lasted about a week. Ouch. We took a break for lunch on a beautiful white sand beach on Isla Balearnos to discover the world’s pilgrimage site for hermit crabs. There are vast colonies of the cute little buggers. When walking on the beach literally hundreds are visible at one time. They even have the hermit crab version of the French Riviera, where all the cool crabs live. Where the beach ends, the crab condos start. They form organized lines, traveling up well established trails to these tropical paradise habitations set in the mud wall at the end of the sand.
All in all we had a
great time while in the Boquete area. We definitely got a chance to get to know the people of Panama much better. We were able to become a part of their community rather than just sideline observers. The kids at Casa Esperanza were great, crazy at times, and absolutely amazing. After almost a month it was time to move on. We leave with a bittersweet feeling, but ready for the adventures of the road ahead in our last week of travel.
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