Blogs from Chiriquí, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 5

Geo: 8.24538, -81.8702O.K! It's Barb's turn to report on this great trip, so I'll try to summarize some of the highlights. Yesterday was an idyllic day of relaxation at the beach. Because our house is so close to the beach, there was a lot of back and forth. Frolicking in the surf, with and without boogie boards, beachcombing, etc. Dinner (after an unintentional scenic route to get there) was at an outdoor pizza place, run by a real Italian, waitress Spanish speaking only, of course, so that was interesting, and really good food (not all pizza). Today was our Boca Chica (1 1/2 hours away) adventure, a pre-planned day trip to the marina there where the big fishing trips go out of. Getting places has been interesting because they really don't seem to use addresses around ... read more

===English version below=== We nemen de bus in Panama City naar David. Amai, 8 uren reistijd. Gelukkig is er wat verstrooiing op de bus. Een vent wandelt door de gang en organiseert een quiz (en Español naturalmente). We begrijpen nog net dat gevraagd wordt naar het kleinste land ter wereld. We doen ons voordeel als Europeaan: El Vaticano! Correcto, we winnen een armband! De armbanden zijn een cadeau, nadien probeert hij zijn juwelen aan de man te brengen. Oef we zijn eindelijk in David. Snel nog een bus naar het natuurpark La Fortuna. Nog net voor zonsondergang en na een super steile klim met veel te zware rugzakken komen we halfdood toch nog aan bij de meest alternatieve backpackers lodge 'Lost and Found'. Wij zijn hier de oudsten, tja iemand moet het zijn hé. De volgende ... read more

We were awake nice and early for our big day on the rapidos (god my Spanish is getting good). Well, it wasn't because we were so excited/nervous that we couldn't sleep. It was because (1) the curtains in our hotel room were basically a sheet that didn't stop any morning light coming through; (2) the bed was so uncomfortable that Rach and I both found ourselves sinking down into the middle; and (3) the hotel backs onto a supermarket delivery dock and a bloody big semi decided to rock up at 5am, and keep the engine running as the entire thing was unloaded. It sounded as though it was backing back right into our hotel room! Anyway, so wasn't a great start but we had to be up anyway. We grabbed a quick breakie at the ... read more

Hello my lovely blog-watchers! Time for another update! Let's see, last I left off I was headed to Culebra a second time... I went with Erick, his wife, his son, and two nephews again. Let me tell you, having kids there makes finding frogs just about a bajillion times easier. They easily caught over half of the 29 frogs that I collected on that trip! I had a good time and almost enjoyed the hike there and back. I managed to keep a faster pace than last time! I kept telling myself to "channel my inner Dr. Lindquist" because for some reason that man has ridiculous endurance. Anyway, I of course have to have a bug story. I can't go anywhere without some sort of story related to a creepy-crawly, can I? So, the first night, ... read more

I know you've all been waiting on the edge of your seat for a new update, so here goes. (Also, I'm sorry there are no pictures, but I will add them to the blog later and republish it. You'll have to wait a week, though, because I'm headed to Culbra again tomorrow morning.) I left off a few days before I set out for Culebra, to Erick Olmos' cattle rancho in the middle of Parque Internacional La Amistad. Alejandro and I left Finca Dracula at 5am to get a taxi to Boquete where we grabbed some breakfast, bought some supplies, and hit the trail by 8am. Nine and a half hours, with mud and water in my too-big, too-short boots, we made it to the rancho. As we crested the hill and saw it for the ... read more