Capurgana Day 3

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Rainy season is really punctual. Ever since May started it has rained every day. Not all day long but at least at some point. Last night it poured. It was sooo loud. Now I'm sitting outside looking at all the dark clouds, willing them to go away & give me some last bits of sun before we head home. It's still warm of course & muggy & I'm wearing a sundress so I can't really complain. The sun is still super hot when it does come out so that's nice. It's interesting because their summer is really just a couple months long. It rained a lot in January & was kind of cold & now it's already raining in May. I have always imagined the Caribbean as hot & sunny all year long. Silly me.

This morning I sat outside & had coffee until Geoff woke up. We then had another round of delicious breakfasts with aromaticas. Yummy. Maria Jose was sitting upstairs on her deck, buck naked, talking to us the whole time. So funny.

We caught a boat out to the town of Sapzurro, which is just over in the next bay. We're going to walk to another town in the further bay that is called La Miel & is actually in Panama, but you are allowed to walk there. Then we plan to walk back to Capurgana from there, it's a hike up over the ridge in the jungle. However, it's been raining all night & there are still a lot of ominous clouds in the sky, so we'll see.

Our boat ride to Sapzurro was funny. The captain kept leaving the dock & returning to the dock because he was waiting for two more passengers & he didn't want us to all sit in the boat waiting & get seasick. It was like Groundhogs Day, we'd drive out, do the same circle, return to the dock, where he'd have the same conversation with the guys on the dock (where are they? Why aren't they here yet? etc, etc.). It was super funny. Finally we were off. It really looks like it's going to rain....It didn't rain but the ocean was still crazy so all of us got soaked from the waves splashing on us. Due to the fact it was Mother's Day, the boat was filled with women mostly, moms & daughters, & a few hubbies & wives. All the women would scream every time a wave came over us & then break out into hysterical laughter. A little girl & her mom behind us would scream soooo loud every time we dropped off a wave. We were all cracking up.

We made it to Sapzurro soggy but giggling. We then climbed the hill to get to La Miel in Panama. Sapzurro is a tiny town. It took us about 5 minutes to walk all through it. Once we started climbing the hill toward Panama we could clearly understand why the ocean is so murky. The trail was full of water & the mud that is made is completely claylike & deep red. It was a mess walking up that hill but fun still. We got to the top & that is apparently the border because there were two police there, one from Colombia, one from Panama. They asked for our passports. We, of course, didn't bring them because we were told we didn't need them. Ooopss! I explained this & the guy went on to ask me a jillion questions like where are you from? why are you here? what kind of work do you do at home? Who's this guy with you , your friend? He doesn't speak Spanish? (those last two questions are super common, everyone asks us that). After I answered every question he would usually ask me the same one again. Verification I guess? Finally when he decided we weren't smuggling drugs or whatever he let us go but told us we should always carry our passport. tee hee hee. Woopsie.

Then we hiked downhill. What was funny though is the Panama side of the trail was beautiful. Cement stairs, cement pathways with hand rails the whole way day. Colombia's side was dirt steps that were currently mud puddles because of all the rain. So, we walked through La Miel, super duper teeny tiny, & sat on their beautiful little beach & talked & talked. We talk a lot lately about going home. Trying to prepare ourselves for it if we can. We feel ready to get home but not ready for real life. We talk a lot about our future & goals & dreams & what that all means. We're definitely trying to prepare for the inevitable culture shock & depression that will hit us upon our return. Everyone tells us it will happen & I don't doubt it. The structure & order with which we live our lives in the U.S. will be the hardest I think. I'll miss the people on the streets selling fruit & fried treats & yelling them out to you when you walk by. Oh, there are a lot of things we will miss, that much we are sure of.

After some QT on the beach we headed back to Colombia. We ended up talking with the border patrol guys for some time. Everyone wants to chat & when they learn we're from the U.S., Americanos they always say, they have questions for us about all kinds of things. It's always fun & interesting & a challenge because I have to translate for both parties, the Spanish to Geoff, the English to the locals. Whew! But, that is what really helps me learn even more. It's a fun challenge.

In Sapzurro we walked around a bit looking for food. Because it's Sunday & El Dia de Las Madres, most places were closed up. We found a little bar/restaurant on the end of the dock & ordered a beer. We watched a bunch of the locals building fires & stirring huge pots of rice & soup over the open fire, apparently for Mother's Day. Then it started absolutely torrentially downpouring. Sheets of rain. It's incredible how fast the rain comes down. They had to grab all their pots (which it took 2 big guys to carry one pot) & carry them indoors. The rain was not going to let up for some time. Once the rain started we figured we'd order some lunch because we weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Everyone was wet & laughing about it. I just love sitting & people watching. Pure entertainment. It rained & rained & rained, then stopped. At this point a group of young guys brought a pig from around the corner & tied him to a pole in front of us, which is where they had been cooking. This poor pig. I think she's going to be dinner. The poor pig was also tormented by young boys messing with it & then finally the pig got out of her "leash." That was the best. We watched 5 young guys chase this pig around & try to grab it. All the while the pig is snorting & making noises & dodging them. Everyone came out of their stores & houses to watch & laugh, us too. Finally, this old man steps in & yells at all the boys & gets the pig all tied up again. Super duper entertaining. Once she was retied to the pole she started digging a little hole so that she could lay down. She used her nose to dig the hole & made it big enough to fit her entire body. Impressive.

By now it hadn't rained in some time so we decided to brave the muddy jungle & walk back to Capurgana. It was soooo wet & muddy in the jungle & filled with bugs, spider webs & mosquitos. Good thing we brought bug spray. We saw several Poison Dart Frogs, black with bright green spots, cross the trail in front of us. They were so pretty. From the top of the ridge you could look down on both the bays of Sapzurro & Capurgana. It was beautiful.

We made it back into Capurgana, muddy & wet. The town was pretty much shut down & everyone was hanging out in the main park where there was music & food vendors all set up for Mom's Day. Ariel was waiting for us there because he knew that's where we'd enter into town again & he walked us back to the hospedaje, which was all locked up. He had Maria Jose on his shoulders & she fell asleep with her head on his on the walk back. Too sweet.

After a nice shower to remove all the mud we headed out to find internet to send our moms love on their day. There's one place in town with internet & it's a restaurant on the beach. We ordered a drink, emailed, blogged, talked about what our next step is in our travels, & talked with Daniel about diving. We had a hamburger that was pretty good & headed back home.

There aren't any banks in Capurgana & the Colombians want absolutely nothing to do with the American Dollar, which is the first time we've experienced that, so we have to try & change more money tomorrow morning early. Ariel changes money for us, but usually not a big sum. Money is always a challenge when traveling through various countries. All the different rules.....We'll figure it out, we always do.

Off to bed. It's pouring down rain again. Lighting, thunder & all!

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Photos

Our hostel.
"Aqui es Capurgana"

Transportation in Capurgana.
No cars here.

La Miel beach.
Honey beach. :)

Poisonous Dart Frog
We saw so many just hopping across our trail. Yikes!

Sapo!
aka Toad.