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Published: November 5th 2010
group pic
the whole gang from SRAfter another long boat ride back to the docks, we boarded a bus to take us to the border of Panama and Costa Rica. There we went through Customs and Immigration and I have never felt like I was burning alive until that moment. I swear less than 5 minutes and all of us were literally soaked in sweat. It was like an oven there! To cross the border between Panama and Costa Rica you had to walk across a sketchy bridge that was rusted and a little shaky (granted there were cars and trucks passing on the same bridge) and at the end a truck was waiting for customs when we crossed, so we were literally holding onto the truck and inching our way past while hoping we didnt miss our footing and fall off the bridge (just a little scary!). Once we reached the other side we boarded a micro-bus and had another bus ride to another boat! The boat launch where we arrived was really sad because all of the people there had toilets that dumped human waste into the bay. That same water that got the human waste was used for cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, bathing...etc. It
border crossing
rickety and unsure was really pretty disgusting. However once we left that bay the water was beautiful and you could actually see the bottom of the water (twas so clear and like crystal blue). The boat ride was really rough as waves kept hitting the boat as we passed into the ocean and it felt like your tailbone was going to rupture but we arrived in one piece.
We roomed in groups of 3 and got all settled in. Then we explored the town for the rest of the evening with dinner on your own. The town was really pretty with a lot of character and people ate everywhere from a boat, to a bar that had a mini coral reef w/ fish and no railings to catch drunks from falling into water, to steakhouses. I ate in an italian restaurant where I got octopus! It was really tasty and delicious. After dinner a lot of people went back to the hotel to hang out and relax, but others went out onto the town and found the local discos. The one bad part about this town was that drugs were really common and it was typical to get asked about buying drugs
another pic
the border to Panama every time you went out. However a lot of things were a lot cheaper than Costa Rica!
Thursday we ate breakfast and then quickly boarded a boat to go island hopping for the day. The entire day was a mixture of going to beaches and snorkeling! I finally learned how to snorkel and started to see some amazing corals and tropical fishes. I never knew how many different formations of coral there were or how many colors of fish that lived near the coral reefs. The water was extremely salty and every time you got it on your lips it felt like you hadnt drank water in so long. Also we visited a beach where there were so many starfish just lying in the water. We were able to pick them up and hold them in our hands, where suckers from the starfish would start to attach themselves to you! I think I got a sweet picture of me holding a couple of them. One girl got stung by a jellyfish and had to get somebody to pee on her arm to relieve the pain! That was hysterically funny and awkward but it did help the pain to go
getting on the bus again
another non-airconditioned...UGH down. After a pizza dinner, so many people were wiped out so a lot of people returned to the hotel. I ended up playing cards for a while that night with people from the Puntarenas group.
Friday was more of the same. In the morning we went to a bay where we ended up seeing dolphins for the entire morning! Unfortunately my camera decided to die on me so I didnt get a lot of pictures this day. It was absolutely amazing to see the dolphins play in the water and I think we ended up seeing more than 7 of them. I am stealing a few pictures of the dolphins from my friends because my camera died but what a magical experience to see them playing in their natural environment! We ate lunch at this restaurant on the water where there were some prime examples of coral reefs, unfortunately in the shallower water there were also prime examples of coral bleaching as well. Huge fish were around the restaurant and it was a lot of fun to swim with them! They would let you get pretty close-up to them too. I spent about 2 hours in the water
view of the bay
riding to destination swimming and looking at the parrot fish, and other fish resembling Dory, Nemo, and others from Finding Nemo! The water was so shallow in the reefs and you would just float on top and watch as you swam by countless zones of coral and fish. It was really interesting because as you swam you would get "stung" by the coral defenses as they released them into the water. It was no more than a light stinging sensation but it was really interesting.
Then we went to a private beach where the water was perfect for body surfing and we spent most of the afternoon there in the water. The waves were fairly large and were the right size to jump them or to let them carry you in towards shore. It was a lot of fun to just play in the ocean for a while. After that I joined the girls on the beach and tried to deepen my tan! The final act for the day was to view larger coral formations and swim in a secluded bay. This bay was a lot deeper with more developed coral formations, but a lot more bleaching as well (which was really
sad knowing that it happened). The coolest part about this bay for me was the fact that I got to touch jellyfish without getting stung! It was pretty large and it was cool watching it move through the water.
Then we returned to the island hotel where we got dinner, and I again had a different type of octopus. Let me tell you I was completely wiped out after swimming all day! I went back to the hotel and just talked with people before heading to bed after a bit. I dont really remember a lot of this night as I was really out of it due to exhaustion. It was an amazing end to the trip! To get back to Costa Rica we retraced our steps including crossing the rickety bridge...and let me tell you that bus ride was super long (over 10 hours!).
Panama used American dollars but had different coins (balboas) so that was very interesting, and a lot of things were cheaper in Panama than Costa Rica. The only bad part about the trip was one of the students, an older woman probably in her mid 50's, was really a pain to travel with.
She constantly complained that we were immature and were drunkards (when she would be drinking at 8am and was drunk most nights) as well as inconsiderate (when people would walk her back to her hotel rooms). Also she constantly would go off on her own and get mad when people locked the room because she wasnt there, or just say she had enough and needed alone time. It just seemed she was so focused on the negative when people were really making efforts to reach out and include her in different things. On the bus ride back to Costa Rica it seemed nothing was right. The volume for the movies we were watching was way too loud and she couldnt here (3x), she had to have light and why werent the lights working (1x), she needed to get out and stretch immediately (3x), she needed to know exactly where we were and what were we doing and when were we going to stop because she had enough (1x)....the list goes on including what she was mumbling under her breath. It was just very hard to deal with her when she was being a Debbie Downer and hard to travel with.
Overall the trip was great (the movies on the bus were so depressing we watched 4 and all had to do with death...including the one about Dr. Death in Michigan about assisted suicide...) but it was a blast. I would heartily recommend any person going to USAC to do the big trip!
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