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Published: April 22nd 2007
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Let me start off by saying --- Bocas is amazing, Panama is redeemed, and all is well. And i'll follow that with another apology...it's so hard to keep this updated!! Either I am having too much fun, internet is crappy, or internet is tooo expensive to spend an hour or two doing photos and whatnot!! And besides...all the best stories have to be told..not read!
In this blog you will hear me rant and rave about the wonderful and incredible and beautiful and funnest place in central america (so far...and well...i guess it´s really the only place i've been since panama city...so..hmm...maybe not the best parameters...ANYWAY)
Bocas del Toro. Caribbean coast of Panama. Stunning! I was supposed to be there for the weekend..and ended up there for almost two and a half weeks! Talk about getting stuck! I arrived on Good Friday from Panama city (which got better after I discovered the shopping..yyeeow!) The town was literally shut down - no alcohol, no restaurants, nothing - just a great hostel and great new people to meet. Needless to say I survived the first day there. The following two weeks were full of sun (sooo hot), rain (and then
Seco Ice - ¨Pure Latin Party¨
That drink...yummmy...and the tag line for it? Priceless!! On the snorkel day tour with Joey, Rachel and Sophie it would get sunny again!), starfish (on the beaches...worn as bikini tops...), Red Frog Beach (incredible waves, sand and palms), snorkeling (beautiful corals, cute fishes, fun times), scuba diving (did my PADI open water license with Starfleet Scuba, great company, great guides - Chombo and Eddie, incredible sites, awesome experience -minus the taking your mask fully off underwater at 15m ahhhhhh. Saw sting ray, spotted drum fish, cave fish, a wreck, eels, snake thingys, queen angel fish, sea slugs, beautiful fish and coral etc Cant wait to dive in Honduras - Utila), Seco Ice (Canned drink with the tag lin PURE LATIN PARTY (in english) that was pretty much the theme for our boat trip), the Iguana (wicked bar), Barco Loco (crazy club), Sophie (my awesome friend from Amsterdam - or Sophia Loren to make it easy for people to remember our names..), Matty (awesome dude from Saskatchewan who shared my love for country music and dress up parties), Rachel (crazy Aussie chick - awesome times...but she left us too early!!), Joey (American dude who owns a sushi/bar place called Blowfish in Bocas), Bryce (cool dude from Saskatchwan also - not an official heike resident...but always around the hostel!), Heike
hostel (greatest hostel in Bocas, highly recommended - say hi to Laura for me if you go), an 80's party, a Halloween party (you really gotta get creative with such limited supplies!), learning to drive a motorcycle, and all in all a whole lotta fun.
It's hard to write about a place when you spent so much time there and had so many good times. But i've definitely got some good pictures, and great memories of the place. I'm telling everyone I meet now to go there. So..GO there!!
With a heavy heart I left Bocas...but I took part of it with me. In the form of my Scuba guide - Chombo! He had a few days off work, so he came with me to Boquete (inland Panama, cloud forest - 4 hours away). It was awesome to have someone come with me - otherwise I wouldn´t have wanted to leave!! We spent a few days there, walking around, renting horses to tour the countryside (His horse was fast. Mine was a dud!) It was super fun, the weather was great, and then he returned to Bocas...and I continued on to Costa Rica (I was tempted to go
They filmed survivor RIGHT here!
not the english american version...but a french one! back to Bocas...let me tell you...but alas...i told myself - ONWARDS!)
I arrived into Costa Rica, hated the first place i went, travelled a whole other day, and finally got to somewhere I liked. Quepos/Manuel Antonio. It's an increeeedible national park on the pacific side - saw tons of monkeys, crabs, iguanas, lizards, etc and of course incredible beaches and forests. The trails were fantastic through the park and I really enjoyed the day I spent there - even though I was on my own again. I left there a day later, for another full day of buses (that´s the problem with central america - hardly any night buses!!) to get to Monteverde, another cloud forest in Northern Costa Rica. I did a few more beautiful hikes, got scared half to death by a crazy wild pig on the trail, and really enjoyed nature. As hippy as that sounds. And the hostel was great. 5 bucks for bed AND a breakfast!! Fantastic!!
Left there this morning for La Fortuna - near the ARenal Volcano...i'll update sooner rather than later i hope!! Miss and love you ALL!!!
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ronald labrosse
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hugs from the fat man
lolo how are we ever going to keep you down on the farm, now that you've tasted the good life and staar fish bikini top oh lala.. keep; up the fun and be very safe lotsa love faat man